Nisei Deal Final Blow To Krauts 442nd’s Sensational Gains Lead To Crack-up Of Nazis And Northern Italy Theater

Washington, D. C. — American doughboys of Japanese ancestry carried the brunt of the attack which finally smashed the German hordes in northern Italy and led to their unconditional surrender to the allied armies on Wednesday, press dispatches revealed this week.

Sensational gains before the final crack-up of the German army brought heavy casualties to the nisei soldiers but expressions from parents, brothers and sisters, the majority of whom are in relocation centers, were of sudden relief that the fighting had ended and the famous fighting unit would have respite.

“Members of the 442nd infantry regiment, composed of American doughboys of Japanese descent are in the vanguard of the 5th Army’s great offensive which has smashed the German army in northern Italy, the War department reported Wednesday. “Making sensational gains of 76 miles in five days, the 442nd took part in the capture of Genoa, Italy’s largest seaport, on April the 17th and then forged ahead to enter Turin, the last great city of the Po River valley, on April 30.

“The 442nd entered Genoa along with the 473rd Infantry Regiment, which then swung around in a southwesterly direction. Both regiments are attached to the 92nd Infantry Division made-up of Negro troops,” the War department’s release stated.

In the week before the surrender of all German forces in northern Italy and western Austria, the 442nd held Turin, industrial city of 629,115 population and the last important Italian metropolis to be yielded by the Nazis.

This city was occupied and held by the American doughboys of Japanese ancestry with the assistance of Italian patriots, who have spared allied troops much fighting in recent weeks.

The 442nd had taken a leading part in the Italian campaign since the invasion of the peninsula in September, 1943, when allied troops won the shell- swept beaches at Salerno.

At Anzio the nisei soldiers wrote history in blood, in one of the most sensational chapters of the war. Later the crack nisei unit was sent to southern France following D-Day.

Backing up the line, the nisei added to their battle record as they surged through northern France and into Germany. Their most famous exploit in the European theater of operations was saving the “lost battalion” at Biffontaine in November.

As allied troops battled northward through Germany, the 442nd was secretly returned to Italy and the “forgotten front” where fighting had been stalemated for several months.

With their final return a final push was made, ultimately leading to the complete subjugation of the German hordes.