Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 25 March 1941 — Page 31

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1941

The Indianapolis Times

SECOND SECTION

Hoosier Vagabond

(Editor's Note: Ernie Pyle has just returned from London by Clipper. Following is one of several articles based on material he gathered while there.)

MAYBE I'VE GOT a gruesome streak, but before I left England to flv home I got to wondering just what they diq ahead of time over there in the way of cold and calculated preparations for handling their potential “plitz” victims. Well, I found out, and I still think it's pretty interesting. There is a whole new island-wide system of hospitals. The setup is temporary, and as flexible as water “Dispersal” is the byword in Britain today. and the hospital system can “disperse” very quickly. Hospitals aren't any safer than anything else these days, so they have to be ready to pick up their patients and flee at a moment's notice. In fact the Ministry of Health is all ready, if invasion ever comes, to evacuate all hospitals and all institutions for defectives, right ahead of the invasion. But back to the preparations. In the first place, they laig their whole new hospital scheme in the country. They didn't want to concentrate hospital facilities in the big cities, for hospitals get “blitzed.” So, they hauled off and built 280 new hospitals.

It Gives Him the Shivers

Just think of starting, two years ago, to build 280 hospitals for people who weren't hurt yet, but were going to be. That gave me the shivers. One hundred and ten of those hospitals were hurry-up wartime affairs called “hutments,” which very much resemble our cantonment barracks of the last war. The other 170 were asylums for the feeble-minded, hospitals for the blind. poor farms, small colleges, universities, They simply moved out the regular peacetime patients, or crowded them into one end. By this method they created brand-new hospital space for 250,000 patients. Furthermore, they had 20.000 beds in tents, but these have been taken up, for they weren't needed. They built 1000 new operating theaters. To equip these they had to have a million new surgical instruments. And that, my friends, is England's normal instrument-manufacturing capacity for exactly 30 years. But with the help of America they squeezed

Inside Indianapolis (4nd “Our Town)

LAWYERS, SAY THE LAWYERS, are a lot like people. They procrastinate and sometimes are selfadmittedly lazy. The Indianapolis Bar Association lawyers have been meeting two or three times a year to hear their members review outstanding and interesting cases for them-—cases they always promise themselves to read but seldom do. Some of them came to rely so much on these meetings that they asked Thomas M. Scanlon, chairman of the committee on legal education, to arrange more of them. So. starting tomorrow, meetings will be held bi-monthly where some of the more active members will review decisions. Mr. Scanlon said the whole thing came to a head at the last meeting when a Wisconsin tax case was reviewed. The lawyers stayed around after the discussion and argued until it looked as if they might not get back to their offices for any afternoon work.

The Good Samaritan

ALLEN GIDDENS, 19-year-old soda fountain clerk at Dorn’s Massachusetts Ave. drug store, was late home from work the other night—but he came home a hero. : He left the store in a taxicab. The cab was hailed by a man who was desperately anxious to get to the hospital to give a dying relative a blood transfusion. Young Giddens turned the cab over to him, but went along ‘to see if he could help. He could. The

Washington

WASHINGTON, March 26.—I believe that we are on the eve of the most anxious days that Americans have known since Lincoln stood at his window and gazed across the Potomac, wondering whether the house would stand. We should, I think, steel ourselves against the fact that we shall likely be hearing bad news before we hear good news. There must be some hard days ahead before the tide can turn. England is bleeding badly now. A few more Plvmouths and she will have difficulty in breathing. Nobody here believes that the full force of Germany has been unloosed. Will England be choked, port by port? Only about five have to be knocked out. The call for help is becoming more desperate. For the first time & London newspaper has thrown aside tactful restraint and has urged that the United States send its naval vessels in to convoy ships. England needs, said this newspaper. every American captain, every engineer, every American seaman who can be spared. I know that some of our best-informea officials believe we must soon begin to convoy. From what I hear. I am convinced that this step is coming. It may be nearer than any of us think.

British Navy Inadequate

Berlin seems confident that American aid will be too little and too late. Col. Lindbergh agrees. Time will tell. It is very late now. The sea war is growing more costly every day. Shipping losses suggest quite pointediy that the British Navy is proving inadequate to the task. The Manchester Guardian's naval expert reports that the two German battleships which have been out raiding have succeeded in returning to port. If that is correct it sharply emphasizes the need of more warships and more aggressive use of them. Some suggest that we turn over more destroyers to England. But there is expert opinion behind the idea that American warships would be more useful under American naval

My Day

“HOBCAW.” GEORGETOWN, S. C,. Tuesday.—We left Washington yesterday in the rain, but gradually the sky above us became blue and we were flying over those white, fleecy looking clouds which make you wish you were in an open plane and could jump down into them! They look like the most delectable kind of feather bed and always remind me of the enormous feather bed I once slept in in Oberammergau, years and years ago. It was my first experience with the genuine article and I was a little appalled by it. But I found it warm and comfortable and decided that like so many other things in life, it was only because it was new that I doubted its acceptability. Our hair or cotton mattresses with plain wool blankets, must seem strangely hard and uninviting to the uninitiated! Even the fleecy clouds left us before we reached Charleston, and we could see clearly the alternating open fields and woods below us. In Charlestown, Bernard Baruch and his daughter, Miss Belle Baruch, met us and we reached “Hobcaw” in time for a cup of tea and a stroll around the grounds before dinner. For a long time we sat on the porch and watched the squirrels. A little black spaniel, though he seemed to be fairly well trained, was safely shut indoors and then the peanuts were thrown out to attract the gray squirrels,

By Ernie Pyle

those 30 years down into one year. Today they have their million new instruments. They are all set. Then they whipped together an organization of 2000 doctors and 120,000 nurses, 3000 first-aid posts, and 20,000 ambulances. And threw into that frontline casualty service 180,000 people—80,000 on the ambulances, 100,000 in the first-aid posts. But now, hetween the first-aid posts and the country hospitals, there had to be transport. So they took 1100 big passenger buses off the highways and converted them for hospital transport. They created 28 ambulance trains of nine cars each. And they had 100 boats on the Thames ready to take bomb casualties up the river to safety, but these were never used. And as a backstop for the base hospital system, they put 20.000 beds for convalescents in big private mansions. Any of these mansions can be converted into full-fledged hospitals in a few days.

Routine Surgery Must Wait

London, for hospital purposes, is cut up into 10 sections like 10 pieces of pie. Anyone injured in a

certain “wedge” is taken to one of the regular city hospitals within that wedge. Then the next morning he is taken by bus-ambulance out to a country hospital, but still within the theoretical extension lines of that wedge. There are 50 of these big new country hospitals surrounding London. They are anywhere from 15 to 45 miles from Charing Cross, which is termed the center of London. A vast change eame over London’s 350 regular hospitals. Their two top floors were all evacuated. Also, where possible, the ground floor. Longtime patients were moved out to these newly built country hospitals. So were the main hospital staffs. Only skeleton staffs were left in town. They don’t do anything that can be put off. If] your appendix can wait till tomorrow, you're whisked | to the country for operation. Children’s adenoids are staying in for the duration. Any routine surgery that can wait, has to wait. The idea is to keep the

city hospitals empty in order to handle victims of

a sudden blitz, and also to get patients out of the |

bomb area. The whole thing has worked fine so far. The hospital system's capacity has never really been tested. Why, do you know that England, before the “blitz” started, was prepared to handle up to 30,000 bomb casualties a day! So far as I could find out, they have never had more than 1100 a day at the very peak.

man's blood was not the right type. But Giddens’ blood was right and the sick woman lived.

We've Been in a Draft!

DRAFT NOTES: There's a young registered pharmacist living on the North Side who worked for a long time and finally got to own his own drug store. He received his Selective Service questionnaire a couple of weeks ago. He's 30 years old, unmarried and in perfect health. In other words, as he says, “he's IT.” After a couple of night's cogitation and worry, he realized that things could be worse. He

had a young assistant in the store, also a registered pharmacist, smart and dependable. So, he thought] he'd let the assistant run the store while he was away | in the Army. Yesterday's mail had a letter for the assistant. You guessed it, Uncle Sam wants him, too. . . . There's a new war shortage to be added to trained workmen and materiel—young women who are getting married and quitting their jobs. It works this way, according to employers we've contacted: The young lady's young man can't get a job, so they can’t get married. Then he gets a job, at Allison's, say. The young lady marries her young man and has to make his breakfast, so she quits. Voila, a shortage.

Better Luck Next Time!

ONE OF OUR REPORTERS, Earl Hoff, had a fire in his car Monday. He had rushed to the rear compartment, grabbed a pair of pliers and jerked out the offending "hot wire,” but billowing smoke remained. An overalled truck driver poked his head inside the open door and asked if he could help. “No, thanks a lot,” said Earl. “I just got it out.” | “Shucks,” complained the truck driver, “I thought | I'd get a chance to use my new fire extinguisher.

By Raymond Clapper

officers. direction. Mrs. Roosevelt said at her press conference that! when the President returned from his cruise he would | call for what would amount to total national mobiliza- | tion. He made it clear in his address to the White| House correspondents recently that we were out for! total victory, and that there was to be no turning back. Obviously what lies ahead is a more forward ad-| vance into this situation. I think every American must be prepared for that. We are committed to victory—and therefore to whatever is necessary to win it.

‘Our Trial Has Just Begun’

This means two kinds of activity, one directed at! the immediate crisis, which is grave indeed, the other! directed at the long pull. And you may be sure that it will be a long pull, whether England stands or falls. Either way, cur trial has just begun. Defeat of Hitler may be a long job. Defeat of England will mean a much longer job for us, the maintenance of an armed camp in America for an indefinite period. As to the long pull, there is no need for the slightest apprehension. Our industrial effort is certain to produce astounding results in time. We don’t yet realize our size and strength. They talk| about $7,000,000,000 being a lot of money. William S.! Knudsen told a Senate committee the other day that) it was not much money for America As President of General Motors, Mr. Knudsen said, he handled $1,800,000,000 in a single year—for a single firm. Big as the long-haul task is, American resources, American genius, and the will which is growing more determined every day, are more than a match for it. | It is this crisis right now that will really tax us. The test is whether we can muster the immediate! equipment and the will to make it most effective, | whether we can supply enough in time to keep the battlefront standing in Europe. Either that or we submit to having the battlefront—economic, political and military—shifted to this side. Those are the hard realities as seen by informed persons here.

The inclination seems definitely in that

By Eleanor Roosevelt

First one ran down the big live oak tree in front of us, and sat up looking around until the sound of the nuts falling on the porch made him draw nearer. Gradually, from every tree, more squirrels appeared until eight or 10 darted up and seized the particular nut he had seen, or chased one of the others away. Even if there is plenty for all, apparently the rather human trait of wanting what your neighbor has is strong in the animal world also. The little squirrels wanted each other's peanuts, even more than they wanted those lying on the ground which they could have for the taking. Moss waves from the branches of the trees. Those through which we approached the house and immediately argund it, are some of the most beautiful old trees I have seen. Even though we drove through some swampy land, this place seems to me a friendly, cheerful place, lacking that eerie quality which I find often prevalent in Southern landscape. Eeriness is interesting, but it is pleasanter to live in an atmosphere of warmth and cheer, The sunset was beautiful, setting across the marsh. Since this is a game preserve, on our way back from dinner at Miss Baruch’s house, we saw a deer with shining eyes, on the right side of the road. This is a peaceful place and I can well understand that a busy man would find not ony relaxation, but an opportunity to rebuild depleted energies here and to start out again with a sense of having drawn strength from close proxmity to the calmness ard wisdom of nature. In this hospitable house, how many

guests must have gone back to work grateful for this experience.

Both Sides of the War

Nazis’ Knock-Out Blow

Is Scheduled

3,000,000 Mass on Coast

This Year;

Here is the third of a series of parallel stories by two American reporters who recently returned from a tour of Europe and England.

By LYLE C. WILSON (Copyright, 1841, by United Press.) THE GERMAN ATTEMPT TO KNOCK out Great Britain is due this year. Invasion strategy already is in its preliminary stages—a vast encircling blockade movement in which the Third Reich seeks to strangle Britain

by sea and air.

But it appears that Germany wants to be sure be-

fore shoving off across the been hit and hit hard by preliminary air raid and

blockade tactics.

Twice Germans have misjudged the breaking point of British morale. They believed Great Britain would quit after Dunkirk and the capitulation of France. Tiien came the air attack on London and Southern England. As that violent strategy progressed last autumn, well-in-formed Germans made champagne bets with American friends that the war in the West would be over by Christmas, I heard expressions of annoyance in Germany because the British did not quit last June. I heard expressions of admiration for British civilian courage in standing up to the air raids. But most of all I heard expressions of confidence that German victory is just around the corner.

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3,000,000 Massed

For that invasion effort Germany has massed on the coast 3,000,000 men, possibly more, Estimates—more like guesses—fixed the number of German submarines available for the spring blockade at up to 600. Much more reliable information was that Germany has increased the number of her airplanes from 20,000 to more than 30,000 since the summer of 1939. Some of those planes are obsolescent. But the German air arm is ample for assignment of 1000 or so planes to patrol the waters north, west and south of the British Isles, Recent reports of air attacks on British convoys or individual ships west and north of Great Britain indicate that the air blockade strategy is developing toward the blitz proportions which Hitler has promised would be reached next month. It has been estimated that Germany could launch at least 250,000 men against the British coast by surface vessel in an at-

s

u B It By JOE ALEX MORRIS (Copyright, 1841, by United Press.) THE PEOPLE OF Great Britain—bombed, battered, and besieged — never stop thinking about how they expect to win the war. They know they cannot win it alone or quickly against a Continent that has all but fallen into Nazi hands. Only the most optimistic believe that, even with good luck, the Hitler grip on Europe can be broken in less than two years. Many neutral observers sympathetic to Britain fear that even if the Germans fail in the 1941 campaign, the prospect is for an exhausting deadlock unless direct American intervention could swing the balance.

But the British think only in terms of ultimate victory after they have weathered the horrors that they expect in 1941, and they are quick to tell you how it can be done,

» 2 ”

'We Haven't Really Started’

You begin to get the idea when you stand with the commanding officer of a bombing base at midnight and watch a big, grey-green British bomber race down the dark runway, dart up-

| ward like a shadow against the

sky and head for the German

| coast.

“That,” the commander says with conviction, “is how we're going to win this war. One day, when we have enough of those babies, they are going to blow a crack in Jerry's brittle surface that will break him wide open.” The British know now that they can take it. But they believe that it will be a different story when they hand it out. “We haven't done any real damage to Germany—yet,” the commanding officer goes on. “The invasion ports have been busted up. Some of them have been damaged as much as our south coast ports. But we haven't: really started yet.” Almost the same words were used later by a Cabinet Minister in answer to my question: How can Britain win the war? But he added: “We are going to bomb and bomb and bomb but the war will be won by a combination of methods. Remember that the Germans seemed to be winning the World War almost until the end. Then they cracked. The Nazi system is powerful but it, too, is brittle. It, too, may crack wide open just at the moment when it seems most undefeatable.” ” ” ”

How British Figure

Here are the things on which Britain counts to win: 1. Air superiority. Nobody outside the cabinet and the general staff has much idea of British air strength but this month the

Channel that Britons have

tempt to land them within 24 hours. There are, in addition, some 120,000 parachute and glider troops to bring the initial striking force to 370,000. Back them up with the German air power and you have an idea of what would be thrown at Great Brit ain in the first invasion hours.

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That Would End It

If such a force landed and made the landing stick, the war in the west woud be over. If an invasion attempt were made and failed to come off, German morale would suffer a sharp and painful shock. Some persons believe that failure of an invasion effort would turn the tide of war, I came away from Germany convinced that an invasion of England would be undertaken only after the most complete blockade and aerial preparation and that rather than risk failure on the British coast the whole invasion strategy would be postponed, even until next year. But Hitler by inference, and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop directly have promised Germany victory this year. The expectation of the German people, therefore, creates some degree of pressure upon Hitler to make the Nazi theme song come true. Its title is: “We Sail Against England.” I was told repeatedly by Germans that there were many plans for an invasion of Great Britain and that when the time came, Hitler would say which and when. One plan was outlined by an early Nazi military prophet on a scale which would require troop landings in Eire and Ulster as well as directly on the British coast, That plan was drawn by Prof. Ewald Banse, who was named professor of military science at Brunswick Technical College as soon as Hitler came to power, His book, “Space and People in the World War,” was banned by the Nazis coincident with its pub-

:

of their bomb-wrecked homes.”

total number of first-line British planes was described officially as vastly closer to equality with the Nazis (estimated to have 18,000 first-line craft) than during the Battle of Britain last September. The British have no doubt that, with American aid, they eventually will gain air supremacy. 2. An ever-tightening sea blockade. There is no suggestion at the moment that Germany has exhausted her vital war materials, but the British believe several essential materials will be short next winter. They want more American co-operation to pre=

“Germany is hoping to break the British spirit by an undeniably effective blockade . , .”

»

Here are

shown bombs dropping from a Nazi Messerschmitt d uring an attack on English ships off Britain's East

Coast.

lication in Great Britain, and he was removed from his professorial chair. The German version of the incident is that the book was banned and therefore was repudiated.

Among Hitler's Plans?

I know that an American reporter—not connected with the United Press—wrote some months ago a story based on Banse's hook and its outline of the strategy of an Irish invasion. That story never got out of Germany. If the book were not a public document easily obtainable in any big library, I would not feel free to refer to it here because the question of Ireland's relationship to the war is of major concern to both belligerents. Banse's theory was that a nation that could handle the British fleet could land in force on the southern and eastern coast of

vent new supplies from reaching Germany. 3. Increasing bitterness, privation and opposition among the Nazi-conquered peoples on the continent, as in Occupied France. (I was told later by many Frenchmen escaping from northern France into the free zone that there had been a vast increase in resentment against the Germans in the last two months.) The chief British fear is that outbreaks will come prematurely. 4. The moral effect on the Ger=man people as well as on the common people elsewhere in Europe of full American aid to Britain or

HOLD EVERYTHING

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FOOTZ PAWN SHOP

vs RR GLEEP HARDWARE RR

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“The captain tries to get in a little advertising now and then!”

Great Britain and, as a secondary strategy, base in Eire a landing force which would move from Dublin against Liverpool and from Belfast against the industrial areas of Scotland.

It seems reasonable to suppose that Banse's plan is among those from which Hitler will make his choice when and if he decides to invade. Today Germany is hoping to break the British spirit by an undeniably effective blockade, and the British R. A. F. is hoping to curb German invasion enthusiasm by smashing up their embarkation ports on the coasts of Belgium and France.

Challenge and Reply

Listening to my radio in Berlin —there is no prohibition against foreigners tuning in enemy stations—I often heard the British broadcast a challenge to Germany to come on over and the German

Expects Nazis to Crack at Crucial Stage as

of a declaration of war by the United States. The importance of this point may be illustrated by the fact that everywhere I went in Britain, Portugal, Spain, and France the first question asked was when or whether the United States would declare war,

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Practice for Invasion of Own

5. An expeditionary force that could invade the Continent. In this connection, British troops are practicing landing maneuvers on the coast of Scotland today and there is tremendous agitation for the British forces in the Mediterranean to defend their vital foothold in Greece. This is a prob= lem that has been complicated by the fact that British leaders want to avoid any chance of another “glorious withdrawal” such as occurred in Norway and at Dunkirk. The British admit that all of the foregoing possibilities of eventual victory depend more or less on the United States. You need only look around the lobby of a big London hotel to see how vitally the question of air strength, for instance, hinges on America. There may be half a dozen rugged young American pilots in the bar any evening, waiting transportation back home after having flown American-built bombers to Britain. Even more directly, the success of the British blockade of Germany (which now means a block= ade of almost the entire Continent) depends on American cooperation. Hugh Dalton, the British Minister of Economic Warfare, would like to see drastic intensification of the United States’ action in this direction. At present the British feel the United States is willing to co-op-erate in the blockade, but this cooperation is limited because it is not centralized under a strong administrative head with far-reach-ing powers,

reply that they would come in their own time, “Good night everybody,” the British Broadcasting Co. announcer would say. “Good night everybody. There is clear weather over the channel this evening— just in case anyone would care to pay us a call.” A few minutes later William Joyce—Lord Haw Haw—would be on the air ridiculing the “British habit of setting dates for the invasion and then celebrating failure of the invasion to come off. “Germany still holds the initiative,” Haw Haw would remind his listeners. “And Germany will dictate the development, of the war against Britain and when the invasion shall take place.”

TOMORROW — Germany’s ra-

tioning system, n ” 1 8

Bitter About Some Exports

The British were bitter about some United States exports. The government was shocked to discover that American oil drilling machinery was being exported to Soviet Russia. The purpose of that deal was obvious, they pointed out: The Germans were attempting to develop the Russian oil fields and thus circumvent the British blockade and the United States was indirectly assisting, The British viewpoint was explained to me this way: “Germany has steel but is now using reserves of cotton, rubber, copper, alloys and probably oil. Some products needed by Germany are going in through Russla and Japan and a small amount through Iran. “If the United States centralized its control of exports instead of handling the problem through various departments and if the United States put into effect an embargo or quota system that would include Japan and Russia, one of the greatest dangers to suc= cess of the British blockade would be eliminated.” The British do not contend that Germany is suffering serious shortages at present. But when Britain's air force reaches its peak, they point out, the British bombardment will be concentrated on destruction of oil supplies, factories and communications. Then, they believe, the Germans will feel the power of the blockade, and the crack-up will come suddenly. Furthermore, when British troops invade the Continent they will be among friendly populations and their task will be far easier than the invasion problem faced by the German Army, = » ”

‘Blockade Can Win War

But how, I asked, can Britain be sure that the people of the occupied regions will be friendly after being bombed for months by the R. A. F. and suffering privations of the British blockade? There was no positive answer to that question, although the Brit ish are convinced (and opinion in Free France supports them) that the people of occupied regions are sympathetic. Whether they will be after the hunger that threatens them in the next 12 months is another question but the British are not likely to let food get. through to Europe (except a dole to Spain) unless there is greatly increased pressure from America. “Don’t forget that every day the war continues British women and children are dying in the debris of their bomb-wrecked homes,” it was explained. “Their suffering is greater than that on the Conti nent. The blockade is one means of ending the war and we intend to end it as quickly as possible.” TOMORROW: Fighting the sub« marine and air siege.

POPE RECEIVES SOLDIERS VATICAN CITY, March 26 (U, P.).—Pope Pius XII granted general audience today to 2000 of the faith ful, including 150 Italian soldiers and 40 German soldiers, all of whom kissed the pontifl’s ring.

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