Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 11 October 1941 — Page 8

Inside Indianapolis (4nd “Our Town’ Belgians Get Revenge or on Axis.

PROFILE oF THE WEEK: Vincent Burke, man- |

ager of English’ s, dean of theater men in Indianapolis and an ardent fisherman. Vince works hard nine months of the year, but when summer comes he

locks his office, packs up and drives with his wife and son to their summer home at Manitowish, Wis. There he forgets everything but his No. 1 obsession. He fishes day in and day out, rain or shine, fishing luck or no fishing luck. Vince Burke is-a. quiet, unobtrusive man of 57. Five feet 6 or 7 inches tall, he weighs about 130pounds. His eyes are gray. Although he’s practically bald—all except. for a silvery fringe—few people know it because they seldom catch him when he’s. not wearing a gray slouch hat. He always sems to have a half smile on his face when he’s talking to people. When he’s in the right mood, he’s likely to jam his hands in his trousers pockets d go into one of those Pat Rooney soft shoe hes

Born at Hadley, Ind., near Danville, he moved here as a boy. And | hile still a boy—it’s going on 44 years now—he got first job at English’s Theater. He served as an usher and “gopher”—‘“go fer this” and “go’ fer that.” with the exception of a couple of years d the World War when he helped build motors at the Nordyke-Marmon plant, he’s been there ever since; He worked himself up the hard way, and when Ad Miller left a dozen years ago, Mr. Burke stepped into his shoes as manager.

Acts Like the ‘Help’

In a business where super-duper adjectives, bubbling enthusiasm, high pressure salesmanship and a mania for the spotlight are supposed to be the rule, Vince Burke is a rare individual. He doesn’t fit the description in any way. In dress, he’s more , than conservative. He never struts around the lobby, and lots of people who have seen him around the theater for years have never known who he was because he acts just like the ‘help.” When he has some publicity on a show to take to & newspaper office, he walks quietly up to the dramatic editor's desk, refuses a seat because he’s “only staying a minute,” lays down his publicity data and, after an exchange of greetings, departs.

Ana in his quiet, serene way, he’s pretty effective, - -

When the theater is closed and there isn’t much to do, he likes to get together backstage or in his) office with some of his cronies and play 500 rhum. | Sometimes he gets mad as the dickens ‘at the cards and slams them down on the desk. But he never} gets mad at the players.

He'd Rather Fish

For 30 years or more he’s been going to the same lake in Wisconsin ‘and spending most of his waking hours doing the same eS Oc-~ casionally he goes swimming or takes a long hike through the woods, but he'd much rather fish. Pike and muskies are his favorites. He always wears an old fishing hat, shapeless and with a floppy brim. He's had it a quarter century or so and wouldn’t think of giving it up. The fishing wasn’t quite so good up there this year and now he’s thinking of maybe trying his luck in Canada next summer. At home he relaxes by working crossword puzzles and listening to the radio—both at the same time. He prefers his puzzles tough and complicated. He likes most everything on the radio, particularly enjoys. the dramatic programs with Kitty Cornell as his favorite; likes the comedians, too, especially Fred Allen. He never eats between meals, and prefers the old fashioned, plain foods. There's nothing he likes better than huckleberry pie when he has picked the berries himself.. Other favorites are corn pudding and persimmon pudding. He smokes cigarets and occasionally gift cigars. He calls them “aisle seat” cigars. If he has a pet peeve, it's procrastination. He reads far into the night, delights in bloodcurdling detective stories. The more people killed, the better he Whos the stories.

Front Row, Center -

In his long years in the theater, he has known all’ the great and near great for several decades. Hundreds of them are among his friends. But of them all, probably his favorite person is George M. Cohan, whose picture is the only one on the Yaenter’s office wall. Vince has kept the theater's programs for years back, but he doesn’t have to consult them. ‘He can tell just from memory, :as a rule,» when a certain show was here, who was in the cast and how much business the show did. He loves every brick and-stick of wood. in the old ‘theater, but knows that one of these days it will be torn down and replaced with a new theater. . - And when that day comes, he has an idea to

sugges ys it so it has nothing but “front row, center” seats to satisfy “girl show” patrons;

up

Ernie Pyle is on leave of absence because of the illness of his wife.

Washington

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11.—Russia’s critical position makes it necessary for us to think what our course should be if a fatal blow knocks her out of the war. If that should happen, it would make only greater the danger which we felt when France fell. That danger seemed so great that we began building a two-ocean Navy, conscripted an Army and organized a war production machine larger than anything we had ever attempted. We also rushed surplus army supplies to England to re-equip her for defense because we believed it vital to us that Great Britain be saved. We turned over destroyers to Britain and obtained not only Western § Hemisphere bases but a pledge i that the British Navy would not i be allowed to fall into Hitler's hands. That is how we acted in the previous crisis of this war. It gives us a clue to how we should act if Russia falls and thus leaves Hitler in an even more menacing position. First, arm to the limit; second, strengthen Bri as an outpost of resistance; third, consolidate the power of our two nations. This world is net big enough for Hitler's system and ours. It will remain at war—either military war or economic war—until one or the other is broken up and reduced to inferiority sufficient to remove it as

a practical obstacle. If Russia goes down, it will still

be Hitler against the British and ourselves. If Britain should go down, then it will be Hitler plus what he can grab from the British empire, against ourselves and our hemisphere,

We Cannot Let Them Get Away

THE BRITISH EMPIRE is an enormous reservoir of raw materials and with it ‘goes an enormous fleet.

Between the British and ourselves is held the bulk of -

the seapower and the bulk of the raw materials. Our game is to hold and ally British strength to ourselves. ‘If we allow it to go under and slide over into Hitler's system, then the balance becomes heavily

In the Air

r Aare OF FOREIGN technical reports dis-

closes an ajrpower item of| tremendous import. We have known for some time that the Germans: have reorganized and re-established the French aircraft industry. The French naturally see in: this move 8 chance to rehabilitate the production facilities which will be all important to the future fighting power of France, no matter how the war turns out. : But what is being 'manufactured, what the orders are for in that rebuilt aircraft industry, and

.

what type of aircraft is on the’

work sheet gives us a clue to the form of air ‘strategy and tactics we may expect to see the Germans employ in the future course of this War. Whatever they are building, or having built, in the French aircraft industry is the type they expect to use in great. quantities. So we note with keen interest that they are ordering a vast number of Ju-52 transport planes from the French. The Ju-52 is a sturdy, twin-engined, all-metal plane, capable of carrying great payloads and landing and off in rather small areas. For many . years it had been the backbone of the German airlines, and it was the only type of transport used up to the outbreak of the war by the great airlines of

Europe on night flight easy, slow landing and and take-off.

More Chute Tactics Coming? DURING THE WAR the Germans have counted

on the Ju-52 ds the work-horse of the air force for

My Day

“British colonial empire.

schedules. ‘This was principally because of its stable flight characteristics and its.

By Raymond Clapper

weighted against us.. If it is held on our side we will have a combination of resources, industrial strength and world-wide sea power plus air potentiality that will give us the heavier weight. Our great strength would then dominate, but it must be complemented. For instance if Singapore fell into Axis hands and control over that area slipped away, important sources of raw materials would be gone. We consume more than half of the world’s production. of rubber. Raw materials are the key to modern affairs. They are what Hitler is desperately reaching for now. Between ourselves and the British we hold the bulk of them and we cannot afford to let them get away. .. The obvious conclusion from this -is that we ought now to be working out with the British arrangements for participating in the .control of rubber, tin, chromite, mica, graphite and other raw materials in the This is necessary to insure our own future strength. It is necessary to provide control over the postwar” world if we expect to have anything to say about it, and unless we.want to keep on going through these periodic wars we will have to take a hand in policing the peace.

Running for Cover Fatal

THE OPORTUNITY is here, through lend-lease, We are not asking and do not intend to ask pound-for-pound reimbursement for lend-lease aid. But in consideration of it we ought to have a more direct share in the control. of raw materials now almost completely under Anglo-Dutch domination. We are underwriting to a considerable degree the effort to defeat Hitler. The underwriting may become heavier. We are entitled fo ask in return arrangements that will help bring about a safer world order. The obvious move is a firmer consolidation of Anglo-American strength. This is a dangerous time for any retreat. The only safe policy for us-is a bold policy that reaches out to gather strength wherever it may be found. To run for cover would be fatal, for we should surely ‘be Sug up with and be locked in.

By Maj. Al Williams

transporting supplies, spare engines, and even gasoline and oil for the combat ‘air force units. It is also the standard parachute troop transport. Evidently the German strategists anticipate still: greater de-|° pendence upon parachute troop tactics. One type of American warplane well abreast of anything in its class that either the Germans or the British have produced is the Douglas DB-7. This

3

! Here's Story of

Goat of Tropical

How Victims

Of European Blitz Made Italy

Warfare

By GEORGE WELLER Copyright, 1941, by The. Indianapolis Times aod The Chicago Dally News, Inc.

* SAIO, PROVINCE OF GALLA SIDAMO, WESTERN

ETHIOPIA—BIlitzed at close

‘upon-the Axis.

Here is what happened:

equivalent of the American army. That black army was ‘aided by another army of patient porters to bear food and munitions up Ethiopia’s dizzy mountain trails. The two armies traveled from the damp groves of the Congo jungles, homeland of gorillas and pigmies, across the watershed lying between the Congo and the Nile, down the other side into the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan along the waters of the White Nile and, finally, across the salty wastes of the western Sudan to the mighty

rampart of mountains guarding inner Ethiopia.

# » ” BRITAIN’S ASCENDANCY in Egypt depends upon her maintaining control of the two Nile watersheds. The British force now besieging the last Italian forces near Condar aims to recover control of the Blue Niles Ethiopian headwaters in Lake Tana.

Congolese troops under the direction of Maj. Gen. A t Gillidert, Belgium’s solidly built sixfoot general, and commanded by Lieut. Col. ld Dronkers Maertens, have ‘delivered to Britain the White Nile’s headwaters.

An idea of the magnitude of the forces met by Belgium's handmade army may be derived from the fact that Gen. Gilliaert’s two lieutenant colonels and three maJors, heading three battalions of" colonial troops, received overtures of peace from no less than nine Italian generals and 370 ranking officers under Gen. Pietro Gaz,zera, Mussolini’s one-time war minister. To these are added 15,000 Ethiopians, headed by Eritrean noncommissioned officers, f J o ”

IN EVERY ONE of the bitter engagements culmination in the siege ‘of Salo, the Belgians were outnumbered between three and four to one. long as two months, due to the impassable roads and ebb conditions upon the tributaries of the White Nile, the Congolese troops were isolated from all supplies.

Heroism Without Fanfare

THE JURIDICAL pattern for the jungle war was set by the fact that Italian bombing planes had began using Belgian fields for takeoffs against England and a Belgian steamer had been sunk by an- Italian submarine. Governor General Pierre Ryckman on Noy. 25 proclaimed that a state. of war existed between Italy and the Congo and the Sudan frontier was crossed Feb. 2. The heroic ‘progress of the trans-African campaign was curtailed in secrecy not only for military reasons but because from the time the 1400-mile campaign opened until. now, Congolese troops were inaccessible. Starting from Watsa, in northeastern Congo, the first battalion to depart climbed slowly .out of the Congo watershed and descended by way of Yei to Juba, head of navigation of-the White Nile. En route the troops pitched

For periods of as .

quarters in Europe, Belgium

‘has crossed the entire continent of Africa to take revenge

Italy was the goat in a tropical campaign that has had no equal in continuous and varied hardship.

Belgium fashioned her African Force Publique, the

state police, into a modern

camp in the region where the aging Theodore Roosevelt came before the World War due his last shooting expedition. scarce white rhinoceros still a and girafies and elephants abound ere. . At Juba the column turned northward along the White Nile. River boats, with the current favorable, brought them in five days to Malakal where dwell the strange, long-legged Chillouck - people. The column then turned eastward, pushing their American trucks through two days. of blistering, waterless desert to Kurnuk. Maj. Isidore Herbiet, known to his battalion as Tata— meaning father-prepared for atJack upon Asosa, the first Italian

Attack Began March 11

THE COMBINED ATTACK of the Congolese troops and the British East ° Africans began on March 11, The Italians were too completely taken by surprise to meet the combined thrusts. ‘The Belgian losses there were chiefly through bacillic dysentery, whose mortality is 30 per cent, and amoebic dysentery, with a

death rate of 5 per cent. The Congolese porters, accustomed to the warm, damp nights of the humid Congo basin, caught bronchitis and pneumonia. Asosa’s fall set the pattern for the eventual Allied campaign in western Ethiopia. In the broad conception which Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell, then chief of the British Middle East command, had of the, campaign, the Belgians were the anvil and assorted Scot, South African, Gold Coast, Nigerian and Ethiopian “patriotic” troops were the hammers. The roads around Addis Ababa eventually began to work like a funnel, dumping fleeing Italian officers and Eri‘trean subalterns down a chute eastward and southeastward into the Nile valleys. The only Italian outlet to the funnel would have been at Gambela on the Baro River, where the Sudan frontier was undefended. “Gen. Gazzera p ed to make his counter-attack into Sudan here and in the town the Fiat cars and Lancia trucks bearing the name of Harrar show from how far he brought troops for the attempt. ” # »

HAD GEN. GAZZERA been able to cross the burning Sudanese plain from Gambela to Malakal’s' big airport, the British might have had .to withdraw troops from the Libyan front to defend their Sudanese rear. A single Belgian battalion was given the task of preventing this. Its 700 men and 400 porters in 11 days made the 800-mile journey from Asosa through country where the temperature ranged constantly above 100 degrees. To storm Gambela the Belgians, extremely fatigued by their journey from Asosa, were obliged to make a direct frontal attack upon the village beside the Baro River. The Italians placed machine-gun nests underneath a row of sycamore trees along: the river bank,

fr

5

Italian infantrymen fire from the scrub, typical of the country in Ethiopia.

making attack by water impossible. : ... A second :line ‘of machine guns,

totaling eight, were placed so - that their fire. covered the road

from the. Sudanese desert .as far as' “Sugarloaf,” a 300-foot conical hill, flanking. the road on the offriver: side. Its peak flanks .were ringed by: the Italians with machine guns in order to provide double domination. On March 22, the Belgians sent Congolese infantrymen creeping through the brush led by a white officer pistol in hand. They silenced the machine guns upon the river and then prepared to handle Sugarloaf. The machine ‘guns upon the latter harried them constantly but like most machinegun fire from ‘a height it was overcompensated and fell too low. tJ

Charge Steep Sides

THE CONGOLESE urged their officers to. allow them to charge the steep sides of Sugarloaf with fixed bayonets. The charge was made and the machine-gun nests wiped out. ' The Belgians lost three infantrymen killed, plus three white officers and 15 Congolese wounded. . Although the tall, eccentric columns of reddish ‘rock rising from the thick grass offered an ideal situation for guer warfare, chose e his first resistance atop a plateau at

a "narrow . but - violent mountain:

torrent called the Bortai. Strengthened by the arrival of a company of Stokes 80-m. m. mortars -and another battalion under Maj. Isidore Herbeit the Belgians moved into the attack.

Their ‘forces, now totaling . about.

1500 men and: 600 porters, - were y insufficient to seize the height - from the Italians, whom reinforcements from Gore, Bure and Jimma had swelled to about 7000 men.

» »

Belgians Rolled Back

THE ITALIANS took full advantage of their superior positions and armament nine days later when after a: two-hour - barrage they counter-attacked, The Belgians were forced. to withdraw beyond the - oir of dumpling‘ hills the road which, although a less strong position than the banks of the Bor--tai, made it impossible for the Italians atop Saio Hill to hold the Belgian lines continuously under observation. ‘Following the battles at the Bortai the Belgian : situation in the rear became critical, not due to Italian activity but ‘because of weather conditions combined with a break in‘ the . slender line of trans - Sudanese . communications

at the beginning of the rainy season. Several porters obliged to carry food ‘to the front lines died from undermourishment | and fatigue. ' "he officers, ‘living upon canned beef and rice, were also affected. Beriberi broke out, . The food supply fell so low the officers took: the camouflage nets covering - the trucks and seined the river for fish. The month of May, when ng fighting took place whatever, was the most difficult and most tragic: for the Belgian Force Publique.

8 » » THE RISE IN THE level of the rivers during ‘early June enabled reinforcements to come from the Congo via the White Nile. The Belgians’ first plan was to cut Gen. Gazzera’s army off from Mogi, the plateau town from which most of the food for the: 8000 Italians was brought.

For this task the Belgians were able to spare only about 250 men.

These 250," under Capt.-Comm. Pierre Bounameau Mogi on June 9. The Italian garrison, numbering about 300, held strongly in their wellfortified position and it became obvious that Mogi could not be taken except at heavy cost. The Belgians dug in around the town. Lt. Col. Leopold Dronkers Maertens gave orders that the Belgians “should “increase their patrol activities upon the Saio Plateau, doing their utmost to make the Italians believe that they were facing superior forces. Elephant grass, which the Italians had burned in April in order to have a sweeping line of fire, had now grown high again. . ” ” » THE BELGIANS used a ruse fiymiliar to American pioneers in fighting the Indians, frequently moving - ‘the positions of their guns even before the Italians’ artillery found their range in order to give the impression of multiple points of fire. The alarmed Gen. Gazzera tripled the Mogi “garrison, bringing it to 900 men. - Upon the arrival from the Congo of Maj. Gen. August Gilliaert, whom the men call “Kopi,” meaning leopard, because he is a big, quiet and catlike man, it was decided ‘that the plan for taking Mogi ' before - Saio ‘should be dropped and the meager forces en=tirely concentrated. upon Gen. Gazzera’s headquarters. When the British radioed the Belgians on July 1 that they had cut the 450-mile long Saio-Addis Ababa road at Midessa, Gen. Gilliaert prepared to close the mouth of the Belgian bag into which

twin-engined light bomber and ground attack plane is ‘really fast-and has a maneuverability seldom seen in aircraft of such size. The British call it the “Havoc” and are largely relying upon it for their night defense operations.

‘A ‘Beautiful Ship to Fly

THE “HAVOC” IS A beautiful ship to fly and behaves ‘beautifully in the air. Our own .pilots like it unreservedly, and so do foreign airmen. It is a deadly ship and many ‘experienced: airmen consider it of far greater utility than the Flying Fortresses. ‘It is fast enough to make the super-speed fighters hustle to keep up with or catch it, and is eminently fitted for the relatively short-ranged zones of this war. Both British and Germans have been pretty well sold on the idea of ‘not putting too many eggs in one basket,” in the form of giant four-engined bombers. One $20 anti-aircraft shell can bring down an expensive four-engined bomber, but no one shell of any type can bring down two medium-sized bombers such 'as the DB-T. For long-range work over the open sea, or fer surprise bombing attack in zones far from the scene of routine action, the four-engined bombers -are invaluable. We, have built much of our defense strategy on the Flying Fortresses because of their capacity to attack far out in the Atlantic against any such menace as an. Tvadiog fleet.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

tion in Montreal, Canada, and Boston, Mass. Today there are 1,244,410 members in the United States alone, The Y. M. C. A. is ‘one of the operating in United Service Organizations to provide recreation for young men in areas adjacent to the camps. In fact, there are few parts of the world in which the ¥, M. C. A. does not have some representative. : Criticisms have been leveled at the personnel and a% te PIOPRSI 1 VAIious Limes. That is inevitable— and probably vi because criticism spurs any organization to Jory nepal, work. = Yesterday morning I received at the White House the ladies who came with the “Fight for Freedom”

lunched at the Rockefeller Institute with Dr.

14 CONVICTED IN LABOR DISPUTE

Alleged Leaders in Strike At Richmond Facing Fines, Jail Terms.

WINCHESTER, Ind, Oct. 11 (U. P.).—Fourteen C. I. O. unionists were convicted last night on charges of resisting officers, brought March 27 following the re-opening of the International Harvester plant at Richmond. Twenty-three others were acquitted. Clifford Kerr, president of the

tee, and Robert Foley, Chicago C. I O. organizer, leaders of the sixweek strike, received heaviest penalties of $100 fines and 0-day Jai: sentences.

co-| judgment Oct. 20. Meanwhile, all 14 wil be {ros un $2000 bunds posted previously. Others sorivicted Were: Edward Wasniak, John Hull, Wil Theodore Lorek, Allen 5 Stanley Wronski, John' J. Semetul-

Cohn; did some shopping, and had a long talk with|ix,

Brown Meloney. She is a marvel to me, dss. I overjoyed to find her looking’ so well and TE s. matains work.

CAROrNinNg

1 left for Troy, N 256

ak * en :

Richmond local of the Farm Equip-| | {ment Workers Organizing Commit- 3

Judge John W. Macy will pass|

skis, Paul Chuey and Bruno Gawal- | d committee; caught a plane for New York City: gk, Alfred

HOLD EVERYTHING

“Sorry, we can’t sell any more gas,

ne Leoni of wt Bn”

2. :

a re

leaders than the “club swingers” Following the jury's report, An-

for Je olette, ad Sal

AMERICAN AIRLINES _

Jacobs, Indianapolis, ehief| TQ EXTEND SERVICE

NEW CLASSES IN DEFENSE READY

1/1000 Expected to Register

Next Week at Tech and Crispus Attucks.

A new unit of more than 1000 will

{enroll Monday and Tuesday nights

at Tech and Crispus Attucks High Schools for the national defense training classes, Edward E. Greene, ‘Emergency’ Training Program director, said today.

‘Persons wishing to enroll should| {be ‘at one or the other school be-

tween 7:30 and 9:30 p. m. Enroll-

ment at Tech will be in the school |

lunchroom.

Many persons have been dropped irom the rolls of the unit that is

just finishing its six-week course

: the | session trom 4:30 p. m. to 7 a. m,

.| Employed persons will be put into |7- | three-hour shifts, while unemployed |

persons will be in six-hour shifts,

attacked

the Italians were streaming. Believing that the British pure: suit was closer than it was, Gen. Gazzera blew the bridge over the Indina River, 40 miles east of Saio, thus buttoning the eastern mouth of his own bag himself. The Congolese offensive was still a dangerous gamble because the Italians were better armed and fed, held superior positions with more firepower, and outnumbered the three Belgian battalions between three and four to one.

» td »

Rain Takes Toll

WHEN THE FIRST battles of Bortai Brook had been launched they had been preceded by three days of rain and cold which took bitter effect on men and officers. This time a morning sun warmed the Congolese. and put them in battle mood. At dawn on July 3 the Belgian advanced posts opened fire and half an hour later all the batteries of artillery entered into action. The Italians replied with the full intensity of their superior cannonading power. The battalion under Maj. Dup= eroux went forward with ‘orders to take the hills flanking each side of the road. Simultaneously Gen. Gillaert sent the Third Battalion under Lt. Col. Edmond Vandermeersch upon the assignment which was the key to the entire operation—a long, swing‘ing movement around the right through grass higher than a man and along a goat-path carefully: plotted out. by a fortnight of scouting partiesiic’ The surprise operation’ was successful. ' The Italians, after falling back from the two hills, found themselves flanked upon their left by Col. Vandermeersch’s forces and unable to hold the ravine of the Bortai between the hills and the Italian secondary line of fortifications strung across the top of Saio Mountain. They melted away. downhill toward the Sudanese plain upon their right, not daring to use the road for direct retreat because it was continuously under the fire of Belgian artillery.

Sweet Revenge

It was 1:40 o'clock in the afternoon and the encircling battalion was preparing an assault upon the Italian heights when two Italian motorcars bearing white flags were seen descending the serpentine road toward the news ly-won Belgian positions. It w the "Italian Gen. Guasco bearing the former War Minister’s offer of surrender. Gen. Gilliaert met Gen. Gazzera’s chief of staff a short distance from the Belgian side of Bortai Brook. - The Force Pub~ lique of the Congo had crossed Africa to gain Belgium's first victory against the Axis. A Sweet revenge for the invasion of the faraway homeland!

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

1—The direction of the moon's revolution around the earth is from east to west, or from west to east? 2—Ireland, Bermuda or Tahiti is called the “Emerald Isle”? 3—What sort of conveyance is some= times called a “side-door Pullman”? 4—_Name the race horse which defeated Whirlaway in the Ni ragansett Special. 5—Whom did Franklin D. Roosevelt succeed as Governor of York? 6—Which of the following outdoor games was most popular int United States in the 1860s; croquet, hockey or tennis? A ee gi special a ments, “The Beautiful Danube” is a blues, ) als or symphonic cor

positic 8—What are the three branches the U. 8: Government?

.