Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 20 June 1941 — Page 3
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NATL _ MEN
AY, TUNE 20, 1
[ 7-DAY BEAT BRITISH]
RATION
New Type of Picked Soldiers—Told to Stay at Post Until Dead or Victorious—Wins Battle of Hell Fire
hh Se . By RICHARD
WITH THE BRITISH LIBYAN DESERT, June 19:
. United Press Staff Correspondent
Pass—But Most Die in.Fight.
D. McMILLAN
IMPERIAL 5 p. m.— (Delayed: via Cairo
and London) .—Germans have held the Hell Fire Pass on the
‘Egyptian-Libyan frontier in
a four-day battle against a
British steam-roller offensive.
It was a battle in which both sides had ‘for enemies,|
aside from each other, roasting heat and searing sand; a desert wind which cuts like a whip-lash and leaves raw sores; the blinding, interminable glare of the desert; flies, thirst, the stench of rotten, molten earth under, trudging feet.
The Germans have held the
pass with a new type of soldier, whom the Imperial troops call a seven-day-ration
' man—a man who is put at a fixed post: by himself, with rations for one week, and told to stay there until his side
- has won or he is dead.
‘These men are a new German contribution to military science. They are recruited as picked men in the same way parachute troops and . Stuka dive bomber “suicide” pilots are picked. They are crack ma-chine-gunners who are placed in nests at vital spots in the desert on a seven-day trick. : I watched them all during the raging battle of Hell Fire Pass, using all types of machine guns and the rapid-fire one-pounder guns of the naval pom-pom type. Their guns throbbed in the moonlit desert night like the pulsing of a great African native war drum. Almost Broke Through "I watched - British Tommies Sand troops from the hill country of India advance on these men with the bayonet, under an intense barrage by British artillery batteries; climbing the dusty crevices into the pass ‘under a pall of snuff-colored desert dust mixed with the grayish-blagk smoke of bursting shells. It looked at times as if the whole front of the steep escarpment was a wall of twisting, spouting fire. The Indians, seasoned in fighting on the Northwest frontier were especially adept in hopping and scrambling from boulder to boulder. They and the British made two big attacks with the bayonet. They killed many Germans who were holding the machine gun nests, and they almost fought through. But there were too many of the “seven- : day” men. The Germans had manned every inaccessible cleft in the rocks, it appeared. Their losses were frightful, but they held the ass. D There was a magnificent spectacle at night when the Germans sig‘naled their rear lines. They are equipped with signal rockets. Each day, as the molten sun sank and the stars came out, the sky was ablaze’ with vari-colored lights as the “seven-day” men began. their
signaling. It was evident that, like the parachute troops, they had signals to say that all was well or that help was urgently needed at a given
point. It was evident also that the signals were answered. After the first big’ attack, the Germans started "sending up reinforcements as soon as dark permitted, and when the Britons and. the Indians made the second attack, they found a new, strong force against them.
. Ft. Capuzzo in Ruins
During the second attack nearly every one of the ‘“§even-day” men ‘was wiped out. The Empire bayonet troops went up the escarpment
and through the new German blockhouses strung in a snake-like line along the front. But that night, again, the Nazis replaced their dead with new “seven-day” men of the Afrika Korps. ; This battle showed that the Germans had landed strong mechanized : units in Italian Africa. The “seven-day” men fought and died and were replaced in countless positions between the gleaming
white mass of rubble that had been |1a
Italy’s Ft. Capuzzo, and the blistered plain below. Every time the Imperial forces mopped them up, they found more of them the next morning established in new posts in ravines, among rocks, and behind piles of rubble in the desert.
Thermometer at 120 It is difficult to make it plain just
what the Imperial—and German—
troops went through in this battle. Even the desert snakes and lizards seemed torpid because of the heat, but the soldiers sweated under their tin hats and carried on. Heat? * You pick up a rifle and the barrel burns like a poker fresh
* from the fire. Thirst? You try fo
Hg
* Here Is the
ease the parching ache in yeur throat with water, half-boiling, from a gasoline can, a salty, brackish, filthy looking liquid which nevertheless eases the pain of cracked lips. Hungry? You open a'can of corned beef. The meat comes in lumps, cooked by the sun to a tasteless, greasy mass‘in 120 degree heat. Dirty? You find a little tainted water and rub sand and rubble along with soapy lather into smarting skin and eyes. Tired? You can lie down amidst prickly camel thorn and risk the bites of scorpions. If you want shade there is none till evening except under an oily, hot munitions truck.
Few Ciyilians Endangered
I was one of a very few spectators. That is one of the few merits of desert warfare: The innocent bystander is absent. The desert is given up to fighting men and their tanks, cannons, machine guns, armored cars and fighting and bombing planes. There are no civilians to killed. It was all a place for fighting men along the 15-mile front between the emerald and turquoise Mediterranean below Solum, and the blasted, smoking Ft. Capuzzo whose walls had been ripped to tatters by British guns. The men who did the fighting were mostly clerks, shop assistants, bus drivers, insurance agents and so forth, a year ago. They live and march under terrible conditions for months on end without complaint, and even with & laugh. A fellow correspondent said to
me: “A strange thing about the British even in a ‘desert and in the middle of a battle they still manage to make their cup of afternoon tea.” 5 Not Too Hot for Tea
That was true. At least one Tommy in every company takes advantage of a lull in the fighting to light a fire, boil some brackish, tartainted. water - and brew some “char”-black, scalding tea. Another strange sight was the Germans trudging back as prisoners, emerging suddenly from the smoke in No Man’s Land while the planes roared in the dazzling sky. All the fighting troops captured were Germans. But some of the Imperials got back to the second line, where they took some Italian prisoners. £ It appeared that the entire area of Solum, Hell Fire Pass and Ff. Capuzzo is held by Germans. Théy seem to be short of clothing. I saw many who wore an adaptation of the Italian green uniform with a peaked German forage cap: The Germans complain of thirst and they, like us, marvel that the Tommies find time to make tea.
G. A. R. MEETING CITY
Times Special MUNCIE, Ind, June 20.—Nexi
Grand Army of the Republic will
veterans vcted at the closing session of the/62d annual meeting here yesterday. : Dr. John H. Stone will be State commander for the fifth consecutive year. "His senior vice commander will be Dr. E. H. Cowen, Crawfordsville, and Davis’ S. Moist, Union City, will be junior vice commander. The- Rev. Barney
O. N. Wilmington, Indianapolis, was appointed assistant adjutant and assistant quartermaster general, and Mrs. Irene Compton was re-appointed secretary. Joseph B. Henninger, for 10 years assistint adjutant, resigned because he is live in California. :
BABY BORN TO FERREES
of The Indianapolis Times’ business manager, at Methodist Hospital to-
‘well.
The baby has been named Evan Gauntt Ferree.
"ARMY IN THE|}
MARTINSVILLE TO BE]
year’s encampment of the Indiana|-
be in Martinsville, five Civil War |
Sione, Noblesville, is to be chap-|day n # ’
An eight-and-aahalf-pound boy M was born to Mrs. Mark Ferree, wife | Mobil
day. Mother and child are doing}
rear
‘To West Point )
Corp. Robert: Strecker, 21-year-old member of the 11th Infantry, stationed at Ft. Custer, Mich, is one of 26 enlisted men who have successfully passed entrance examinations for appointment to West Point, and has been ordered to report there June 28, He comes from a military family, his father being Sergt. Maj. at Bowman Field, Ky. The family home ‘is in Cincinnati, although they are at present. living in Louisville, .
VICHY BATTLES FOR DAMASCUS
Allies Enter Suburbs, Try . To Capture ‘Street Called Straight.’
LONDON, June 20 (U. P)— Vichy troops are resisting fiercely Allied forces which have penetrated the garden suburbs of ancient Damascus and are trying to fight their way through to the famous «Street Called Straight” which bisects the town, dispatches said today. ! Indian troops had, forced their way into the Mezze Airport section west and southwest of Damascus. A Free French force on the south, which had advanced up the railroad, was believed to be taking the brunt of Vichy resistance. A third force was approaching the city from the east. The Vichy commanders were reportéd to Lave thrown a heavy force of tanks and armored cars zainst the Free French, including os who had escaped Syria to Palestine, and seemed determined that if anybody took Damascus it would not be the Free French forces. : Confidence was increasing here that the fall of Damascus was near
.| at last, and that the capture of
Beirut and the collapse of Vichy resistance was in sight. : Beirut News Inadequate | Capture of Damascus would put the Allies in command of the central railroad junction and of most arterial roads. ‘' | News from tke Beirut area on the coast was scant. , Some reports said that ‘Australian patrols were still about 12 miles south of the city; orders that Allied artillery was within shelling distance. | A column which had advanced
an attempt to trap the defenders of Beirut. ;
-
OFFICIAL WEATHER
; U. 8. Weather Bureau
| INDIANAPOLIS FORECAST—Fair and continued warm through tomorrow and Sunday; temperature this afternoon about ay | Sunrise ...... 4:16 | Sunset ....... 7:17 TEMPERATURE —June 20, 1940—
n
‘8 a. row BAROMETER 16:30 a. m......30.20 : Precipitdtion 24 hrs. endin Total precipitation since Deficiency since Jan. 1. MIDWEST WEATHER
Indiana—PFair and continued warm this .afternoon and through tomorrow and Sun-
lay. | Ilinois—Fair and continued war this Sun-
afternoon and through tomorrow an
7 a.m... an, 1
| Ohio—Fair and slightly warmer tonight; tomorrow increasing cloudiness followed by scattered showers in west portion at night.
WEATHER IN OTHER CITIES, 6:30 A. M.
Station Weather Bar. Temp. imarillo, TeX. .....s..Clear 29.86 65 Bismarck, N. D. ooo. Clear : Boston Cle
fleveland o...... Denver
w Yor )kla. City. maha, Neb.
ur,
lamps, Fla. ..........PtClds Washington, D. C. .. Ptoidy
IN INDIANAPOLIS
Traffic Record County City Total 9 33 52 .. 34 32 68 | —June:19— Accidents ... 24 | Injured Arrests ..... 38 | Dead THURSDAY TRAFFIC COURT
: Cases Convic- Fines Violations Tried tions Paid Speeding | 6 Reckless driving.. 5 Failure to stop a
19 19 14
Totals .........37 35 $126 { MEETINGS TODAY . Indians Motor Rate & Tariff Bureau, erin. 10:30 8. m. and 2 p. m. Hotel ee tamp Club, Hotel Antlers, 8 United Service Organizations Committee, oon, Claypool : dicn e Builders A " 8 E me an apolis ‘Athletic Alqciation ational
MEETINGS TOMORROW St. John's Class of 1915, 2°p. m. and 6 P-Lime ing, 8 a. m. Hotel
Mosier, 18, Cit; $30 Kenneth
. Office Management Association, | . m., Hote \ Rarciohe cal Co.. 8 p. m., Hotel aimer Opti Emm
MARRIAGE LICENSES
~ (These lists are from official reco in the County Court House. The Tras therefore. is not responsible for errors in names and addresses.) Rolland Eugene Trembley, 25, Northern; Ethel Mae Wal n, 50, of on
ive. azelwood, 22, of 755 Center; Cora Mae Bell, 18, of 727 Douglass r Raymond Miller, 21, of 27 Dorothy Westerfield, 20, of 1545 Finley. William Edens, 22, Acton, Lower, 19, New Bethel, Ind Verl Warfield, 19, Mars
, 21. R. R. 20. Box 166-K; eund, 18, R. R. 20, 723 nald Tjomsland, 27, of versity; Helen Yoder, 24, of 363 8S. Audomes Picld, 21. of 2814 P : ames Field, of 281 ark; Harriet Marcia Franklin, 20; Pittsburgh Pa. : Clarence ot, 35, of 261 Villa; May Hensley, 186, 2
Clara Junkhans, Wesle,
en , of 660 Warren; Elizabeth Mary Bohiinger, 23, of 1325 8.
Sheffield. , 25 of 1665 Columbia; "of e263 N. California; of 626 N. California.
Delaware; , of 2702 Guiiford.
Geo. Applegate. 43. of 5831 Winthrop: Mary Wilson, 50. of 5531 Winthrop. Vance May, 23, of 3054 Ruck? e; . Bileen
Barth; | Ind.; Doris] | " Hill; Doris
X B §317 Uni-| J
610. Villa. Hubert Duckett. 31, of 843 Home Place; | $t
| Willis Dickinson, 24, of igeYater Drive; Alda Morris, oy cogs
| James Thompson, ’23, R. R. 5, Box 386; Lillian Loyise Weingardt, 18, of oi
pruce. , Richard Hatcher, 29, of 2047 Columbia; gaddie Brewer, 28, of 2039 Boulevard
“Charles Ogden, 19, R. R. 7, Bo : Emly Cook, 18, K. R. 7, Box 2m0-C, ml BIRTHS .. Twin Boys Kenneth, Irma Weiss, at St. Francis, z Girls a
| Jesse, Ruth Corlett, at City. | Samuel, Elizabeth Light, at St. Vi ! Genevieve Perkins, at St. Vi | LeRoy, Kathryn Born, at 8t. Vin | Harry, Jaanita Zeller, at Methodist. | ‘Alex, Alice Jane Katz, at Methodist. i Claude, Stella Kendall, at 218 E. Pleasant Run Parkway. 4 ; Oscar, Alma Rugenstein, at 1150 Blaine
Floyd, Argatha Lolla, at 1034 W. 26th St. Homer, Goldie Hill, at 1329 Bec toniaing. Leslie, Lucille Mathus, at 1631 Milburn, Henry, Ruth Collins, at 344 Douglas. Boys ster, Agnes Hunt, at St. Francis. By Helen Harve , at St. Arkillus, Freda Brenson, at By
cis. William, Minnie Payton, at AT rnold, Margaret Breeden, at Methodist. e ae at 351 N. East : Ke . ha Stonehouse, at 537 8. ‘i John, Amanda Grier, at 736 Edgemont.
DEATHS . Orris G. VanHorn, 55, at Methodist, Caloinoms,
p08, White, 49, at 1528 Montcalm, cerearth bo Armstrong, 76, at Methodist, ¢hronic myocardit ong. 95, al Ne Hazey McG
a ———
invoked com ing to and from the eight
between Beirut and Damascus was | believed to be making progress and | | was expected to swing westward in
5 - cGregory, 49, at City, tubercu-j =~
AT ATLANTIC BASES
WASHINGTON, June 20. (U, P.). —The Army and Navy, for the first time in the present emergency, have pulsory censorship. At present it affects only: 2 - Atlantic bases leased. from Great Britain. ‘The War Department said no.cen-
"| |sorship will be ordered within the)
continental limits. of the United States and explained that the present move was an alternative to censorship of mail by the British at the bases.” = Army officers will censor both incoming and outgoing mail and Naval officers will perform the same
NN AP % 1) .
INVOKE. CENSORSHP | 7
r Despite the between
attempt at armed { Red Army, large as.
function at Naval bases. \
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way of raw materials, but if he asks too much, there can be little doubt that Russia would resist any ‘While the is, is scarcely |tised to the world by for Hitler's efficient | radio, said forces, Stalin doubt-iunits of the Red Army
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