New York City Told Of Nazi Missile Threat In June 1945

Photos public domain Eisenhower (seated, middle) with other US Army officers, 1945. From left to right, the front row includes Simpson, Patton, Spaatz, Eisenhower, Bradley, Hodges, and Gerow.

Get into a conversation with a long-time Queens resident and you're likely to discover a  subscriber of the Long Island Star-Journal, a daily paper that informed the community about local and world news until it folded in 1968. A banner across the Star-Journal masthead reminded readers that the newspaper's name came from the merger of the Long Island Daily Star (1876) and the North Shore Daily Journal-- The Flushing Journal (1841).

Welcome to June 1945!

The war in Europe ended in May, but Allied experts stated that if the war had lasted another six months, Germany might have bombarded New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia with giant rocket bombs. This was based on a month-long survey of a huge rocket assembly plant 800 feet under the Kohnstein Mountains near Nordhausen, Germany. Blueprints for long-range rockets were found and German scientists said they were prepared to turn out the missiles in sufficient numbers to neutralize American air superiority.

Rare color photo of the flying fortress, B29.

On June 19, Queens roared its greeting to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander, who arrived at LaGuardia Airport on his second stop of a whirlwind victory tour of the nation. The city was Eisenhower's for the asking, the third person ever to receive its keys, the others being Admiral George Dewey upon his return from Manila Bay and General John J. Pershing, the victorious commander of World War I.

There was a brisk 15-minute pageant of greeting at the airport, and then the official party left on a 28-mile parade that wound up at City Hall, with a ticker tape canyon on the last lap. Thousands upon thousands lined the route. After the City Hall ceremony, with 550 wounded soldiers sitting in a special box among the spectators, the General went to Gracie Mansion for lunch with Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The mayor described the lunch as "potluck", since it was Meatless Tuesday. Next on the program was a ball game, the Giants against the Braves, and then dinner at the Waldorf at $18 a plate for some 1,500 guests.

In the Pacific, the war raged on with U.S. B-29s firebombing Japanese cities. Tokyo Radio reported that Japan intended to attack the United States with piloted bomb-carrying balloons and had converted its entire naval air force into a suicide corps. Japan had released hundreds of pilotless balloons, which had a ceiling of 54,000 feet and took 100 hours to reach the U.S. As soon as the result of this test was in, "large-scale attacks with death-defying Japanese airmen manning the balloons will be launched", it was announced. Every Navy plane was ordered to crash itself against an Allied warship. A correspondent of the Tokyo newspaper Mainichi observed: "If this tactic is successful, victory is assured for Japan. If otherwise, the Navy will have many heroes for our shrines."

After two weeks of salvage work, the 364- ton former excursion steamer Colonel Clayton was raised from its watery grave off the old College Point Ferry slip. The boat had sunk in February. Credit for the salvage diving work went to Harry Walters, 45, of Newark. Walters was legless, which allowed him to get around easier in compartments of sunken vessels than "full-sized" divers. He had a special diving suit attached to a smallwheeled wagon that he called his "ouija board". "I get around better than they do down there," he explained.

The Long Island City Emergency Squad was called when a physician determined that Robert McVey, 63, of Corona should be hospitalized. McVey was placed in a chair. With ropes tied to each chair leg, four policemen carried him down the stairs to the street. McVey continued to joke with the policemen during the entire operation. The only problem the police had was keeping him in a sitting position. Robert McVey weighed 400 pounds.

There was a rash of suicides in Queens. On June 22, a woman leapt under the wheels of an "el" train at the Queensboro Plaza station. She left a note requesting that her husband be notified. On June 23, a man identified as Nicholas Jones of Long Island City jumped off the Queensboro Bridge and was killed instantly after a 200-foot fall to the street at the northeast corner of Queens Plaza South and Vernon Boulevard. On June 25, the Star-Journal reported that Jones' death had touched off a wave of three suicides, one being that of Mrs. Marguerite Appel, 47, of Jackson Heights. She was the wife of Patrolman Appel of Astoria. While the patrolman was eating breakfast, his wife picked up his weapon, which was lying on a table in the living room, and put a bullet in her temple. She left a short note asking forgiveness.

On June 29, a 28-year-old discharged veteran, Willis T. Bramlett, brooding over his estranged wife, opened three jets on a gas stove in a friend's apartment in Forest Hills. The gas exploded shortly after midnight. Two apartments were wrecked in the blast, which was heard 10 blocks away in Rego Park. One occupant of the building, who happened to be in the hallway at the time, said a huge sheet of flame shot from the first floor to the sixth floor. Some of the building occupants ran to the apartment and saw the two entrance doors blasted away and flames burning in the kitchen. Without turning on the lights, they extinguished the fires and left the apartment unaware that Bramlett's body lay on the kitchen floor under debris. A few minutes later, the police arrived and discovered the body. In the neighboring apartment, Mrs. Lorraine Kerr said, "Everything was quiet, and the next thing I knew, the wall was coming at me and I was showered with plaster."

Leo Durocher, strangely silent and subdued, was arraigned in Brooklyn Felony Court on a charge of felonious assault. He and Joseph Moore, a special patrolman at Ebbets Field, were accused by John Christian, a medically discharged soldier, of Moore's taking him underneath the stands, where he was hit with a blackjack and Durocher's fists. Evidently Christian had disagreed loudly with Durocher over tactical maneuvers during a Dodgers game against Philadelphia. About 200 persons crowded into the courtroom for the legal proceedings. They were attracted by the fact that Durocher, who earned the nickname "The Lip" because of his non-stop talking talents on the diamond, had been accused of objecting to somebody else talking in a loud voice. Durocher and Moore were continued in $1,000 bail each for a later hearing.

Moviegoers could enjoy: "Without Love", starring Spencer Tracey and Katharine Hepburn, "Zombies on Broadway", starring Bela Lugosi, "And Now Tomorrow", starring Alan Ladd and Loretta Young, and "Tarzan and the Beautiful Amazons", starring Johnny Weismuller.

That's the way it was in June 1945!

Ever wonder where Astoria ends and Long Island City starts and why these names are used interchangeably? Come learn about the history of our community on Monday July 14 at 6 p.m., at a lecture, "History of Astoria & Long Island City", at the Steinway Library, 21- 45 31st St., Long Island City.

Many people think the Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall is a new concept. Learn about the history of beer gardens and how they became the favorite pastime of many Queens residents in the 1900s on Wednesday July 23 at 6:30 p.m. The lecture "Beer Gardens of Queens" will include a taste of pilsners, ales and lagers and a discussion of what makes each brew unique. Call for reservations for this event at 718- 278- 0700. Must be 21. $5 for GAHS members, $10 for non-members

For more information, contact the Greater Astoria Historical Society at 718-278-0700 or visit www.astorialic.org.