Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 26 September 1941 — Page 3

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26, 1941

Mcrensed Nazi Pressure On Bulgaria . May Presage Attack On Turkey

By MAJOR GEORGE FIELDING ELIOT Copyright, 1941, by The Indianapolis Times and The New York Tribune, Inc. Increased German pressure on Bulgaria, and. a tart exchange of recriminations between Bulgaria and Russia, hint very strongly at the

possibility of Bulgaria becoming a belligerent on the side of Germany. 5 This move may be for the purpose of getting Bulgarian troops for use against Russia; but it seems more likely to presage increased German press on Turkey and perhaps an attack on that count; The Bulgarian army was restricted to 20,000 men by the Treaty of Neuilly but the military clauses of that treaty were abrogated in 1938. Since then the Bulgarian army has been greatly enlarged, and much German equipment has been obtained. # Bulgaria can probably mobilize 12 divisions and two cavalry divisions, a total, with corps troops, of about 250,000 men. There should be enough rifles. machine-guns and field artillery available for this number, : There is very little mechanization, and the air force is very small

Maj. Eliot

The Bulgérian soldier has always been a good fighting man, but it is to be doubted how well he will fight against Russia, the liberator

_The Battle of Crete

= For 4 Days and a "Death Rained From

Captain of H. M. S. Warspite Dozed in’ Chair on

Bridge and Was Wakened Only By Poke in Ribs.

By WILLIS S. DUNIWAY United Press Staff Correspondent

ABOARD H. M. S. WARSPITE, NAVY YARD, BREMERTON, Wash., Sept. 26.—“I have never seen so many planes in the air together,” Capt. Douglas Blake Fisher of his majesty’s battleship Warspite said today, as he gave for the first time for publication his account of the Battle of Crete and the perilous evacuation of the is-

land by the British forces. For four days and nights the Nazi bombers roared over, dropping their deadly cargoes on warships,’ airfields and land stations and returning to their bases in nearby Greece for fresh

loads. During that time, Capt. Fisher never left the bridge. He dozed occasionally in a special chair on the bridge, and if he was too dead tired to awaken when the inferno was resumed after a lull, a subordinate would poke him in the ribs. Bombs rained down in a cloudburst of steel. Mingled with the roar of attacking and defending planes was the bark and boom of apes and small anti-aircraft

8 British admiralty regulations prevented Capt. Fisher from saying what damage or casualties “his ship suffered. The Warspite is in for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard drydock. It is the largest British warship being repaired in this country. 8s 8 8

Greatest Air Attack

THIS 26,000-TON, 26-year-old battleship has been in more major engagements than any capital ship in the world. She was in the battle of Jutland in the previous war; at Nar-' vik, Norway, in this one; twice engaged the Italian fleet at Calabria; bombarded Ft. Capuz-. zo, Valona and Bardia; nearly won the battle of Cape Matapan against the Italians single-hand-ed, and then went to Crete for the attack and evacuation. Puffing his pipe, the Warspite’s tall, 51-year-old cuptain told of his experience while riveting machines made a din outside his cabin. But he paid no attention. It was only a whisper compared with Crete. “It was the greatest engagement between planes and a battleship of which I know,” Capt. Fisher said. “The Germans attacked with all types of aircraft—dive and high bombers and torpedo planes. ! 8 x =

“Play-by-Play Broadcast’

“THE GERMANS were sending troops to Crete by air ‘and sea. It was the job of our light forces to stop the sea-borne reinforcements, which were mainly in captured Greek fishing boats. “We in the Warspite were covering our light forces, which were attacking the surface convoys. I .am proud to say, too, that all She surface reinforcements were

War Epic

The first personal experience story of the Battle of Crete has been told by a man who played one of the most important parts in the battle itself and the evacuation of the island under terrific fire. The captain of the veteran British battleship Warspite describes a war epic for the first time by one who experienced it.

‘manned the guns. It is surprising, but you actually can sleep through such noise if you have to. “Over the ship’s public address system the executive officer described the progress of the battle for the benefit of the men below decks. “It was something like ¢he play-by-play of a football match—‘that one was close off the port side’ or ‘theyre attacking such-and-such a ship now.’ . 2 ” 8 Nobody Got Rattled “UP IN THE CROW’S NEST a lookout armed with a powerful telescope trained his glass on the bombers, watched for the release of their missiles and told the bridge so the ship’s course could be changed. “By the time the bombs are near enough to be seen, though, it is hard for a big ship to dodge, but you can generally tell which way the attack is developing. There is a ‘300d bit of luck in it, of course. “Many of the Warspite’s crew of 1400 were young men from 17 to 20. They proved themselves real men and sailors at Crete. “It was astounding that there never was the slightest trouble with anyone being rattled or not carrying out his job properly.”

2 = 2

Under Attack 25 Days

CAPT. FISHER said the Warspite covered the retreat of the British forces and was not actually engaged with any enemy ships. Her role was entirely anti-aircraft. “We were . to overcome the enemy’s air superiority,” he said. “We had all available ships at Crete and a motley collection of evacuation vessels it was. ‘We all wore tin hats. Mine Vas bamnied white but I don’t it made a good target. If a bomber ever got that low our gunners would have taken care of it first. “We were under attack 52 days in all during our stay in the Mediterranean,” Then he added thoughtfully: “But I can’t remember anything unusual.” -

F.D.R. 'Shoot First Speech Put Us in War, Nye Claims

BOSTON, Sept. 26 (U. P.)— Senator Gerald P. Nye (R. N. D.) believes that the recent ‘shoot first” speech of President Roosevelt was “a declaration of war by Presidential proclamation.” Addressing about 7000 at an America First Committee rally last night, Senator Nye said that the speech was one of a series of steps “for involvement of our country in the war.” ‘“Anyone who is honest with himself,” Mr. Nye said, “must look back . upon these steps and what has fol--Jowed as being very direct institutions for YolyBmeny of our country in the

In Name of Peace, He Says

“The culmination could onl such a speech as the Bi made a few nights ago to the American people. That speech was nothing more and nothing ‘less than a declaration of war by Presidential proclamation. But again, I would remind you, that his play was in the amp of ‘keep America out of

St President elt finally gets what he has been issuing as invitations for, |if we a into a shooting war in Europe, that war must always be referred to by his‘torians as. ‘President Roosevelt's war,’” Mr. Nye said. As five steps toward belligerency, Mr. Nye listed repeal of the arms embargo, = peacetime conscription, , transfer of over-age destroyers to

Referring to the sea conference between Mr. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Mr. Nye said they were “two men in a boat who have inflicted upon the peoples of their countries, and particularly ours, barefaced frauds, when they undertake to make us believe that our successfully fighting the European war is going to bring freedom of the seas.”

RUSSIAN PRODUCTION CRIPPLED, BERLIN SAY

LONDON, Sept. 26 (U.P.).—A large part of the productive capacity

knocked out, Minister of Labor Ernest Bevin said today, and British workers must undertake a year of “all out” production to aid the Red Army. Mr. Bevin said that Russia has “made resolute resistance” the German invaders, but that Britain must make great sacrifices. He said that at least six to 12 months of “all out” production was essential to aid in ae Rus sian resistance.

IN INDIANAPOLIS ON PAGE 13 OF THIS EDITION

pe (Of the Soviet Union has been|

and traditional Slav protector. of Bulgaria. He would fight much better against the hated Turk. Moreover, the Bulgarian army is not well enough equipped to fight the Russians, while it is probably not too much inferior in equipment to the Turks. Reports that a German force of two armored divisions, two motorized divisions, and a strong air detachment are in Bulgaria suggest

that the Germans are making up exactly the elements which Bulgaria,

lacks, and lend color to the theory that pressure or attack on ‘Turkey is the purpose in mind. 8 » 8 8 » 2

THIS IS FURTHER emphasized ‘by the return of the German Ambassador von Papen to Istanbul, where he is reported to be planning a huge dinner party at which news films of the German successes in Russia—carefully edited of course for full effect—will be

shown to the guests, including a number of Turkish officials and nota“bles.

The purpose of the German threats to Turkey might, in the beginning, be no more than to acquire the right of passage through the Dardanelles for Italian warships. At the moment the Russians have almost complete naval command of the Black Sea, and the Germans have not yet acquired any bases from which their aircraft can contest this command. The farther the German armies penetrate into the eastern Ukraine and the Don region, the more necessary becomes sea-transport to their communications.

STRAUSS SAYS:

: ‘The Russian roads in the Ukraine are now becoming, and will remain for some weeks, mere quagmires of thick, sticky black mud. The Russian railways are not much use because of the change of gauge; German accounts of the occupation of Kiev tell of the systematic care with which the retiring Russians have destroyed everything of possible value to the invader, so that captures of locomotives and rolling stock must be very small, and the German engineers (efficient. as they are) cannot quickly change over hundreds of miles of railway from the wide Russian; gauge to the German standard gauge. Transport by sea would,’ therefore, be of the utmost importance to any German advance beyond the. Don. By the Black Sea Fleet stands in .the way. 8 2 8° - THE GERMANS HAVE now in the Black Sea only the few ships of the Rumanian navy; the only source from which these can be reinforced is the Italian fleet, and Turkey holds the straits by which the Italian fleet can enter the Black Sea. A few Italian cruisers, destroyers and submarines, perhaps partially manned by German crews, might make all the difference.

sy ! 2 2 2»

But so far as may be judged from the utterances of the Turkish

press and radio, Turkey's answer to any demand for the passage of Italian warships, whether under the Italian flag or by the subterfuge of a “sale” to Bulgaria, would be a decided “no.” This attitude may not be“permanent; it may be affected by Ger-

STORE HOURS SATURDAY. 9 A. M. TILL 6 P. M.

man pressure. There can be no doubt that the Turks are jpresed; - by the recent German successes in the Ukraine. Should the : tinue, the result might be a: Turkish capitulation to German ¢ for passage of warships through the straits. But British and Russian pressure is likewise making i in Ankara. The Anglo-Russian occupation of Iran, followed b his ; at joint defense plans for the Caucasus, will be Bole by a’ v ; which would need support if attacked by German ; The British are now well established in Syria, pi the ti revels } : is a thing of the past. Turkey is caught between two fires; may de- | : cide either way. One facet of the German plan may well be to keep the: from launching an offensive in North Africa i This may be an important consideration, as the ‘weather grows cooler in the western desert; a great British success in’ ' would : be a disaster of the first magnitude to the Axis, and would free large | : British’ forces for use elsewhere. : Indeed, the very presence of the Axis army in Libya, while it cone tinues, must always be a source of anxiety n the British come mand, who are now apparently thinking in terms of a great Anglos | Russian front extending from the Caspian Sea to the edge of the ' Libyan Desert. i A strictly neutral Turkey is probably the best bastion of such a front; but that state of affairs may not long endure, and a Santsiog either way at Ankara is bound to have far-reaching effects, |

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