Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 16 February 1942 — Page 2

~ BEFORE IT FELL

island Was a Blazing Hell Left Just Before

of So 7. Sho a Bombfire as | Surrender,” War

“Correspondent Writes,

(Continued from Page One)

| were women and a few were children.

+ ;

Most of the rest were Royal Air Force: men.” I know they were the only fighting men evacuated up to then,

i They were evacuated becaus

e their lives were considered

| absolutely essential to the Allied cause. Other of the Royal Air Force have arrived here since

| my ship gills in Saturday night.

1 MADE MY LAST visit to the fiontif it could be

"called a front a few miles . Tuesday afternoon.

outside Singapore City, last

Officers and men, infantrymen and artillervrrien, all ' | said then that it was all over, that they had no hope of

stopping the Japanese.

Ever since the Japanese landed a week ago Sunday on Singapore island they had kept up an incessant attack by artillery and dive bombing planes not only-on the fighting lines but on Singapore City.

| British Had No Planes

/

Hundreds of shell and bombs craghed into the heart

of the helpless city.

It was a pyrotechnic display of unbelievable grandeur and terror. -It kept up like that for 48 hours on | end, without a pause. The thunder of the bursting bombs made one deaf. , You could ‘not hear people ‘talking at. your side. "Up at the front, the troops were| undergoing dive bombing day and night, but all] they could do was lie in the mud all day and take it. There were no British planes.

«Singing Chinese Lost?

‘The troops on the northwest island sector when the Japanese made their first landing, on that Sunday night eight .days ago, were compelled to leave their positions because it was impossible for anything to live” under ‘the Japanese ' bombardment. They had to leave all their own artillery. ’ Hundreds Chinese volunteer troops who had gone singing to the front to meet ithe hated Japanese,

aboard, most of whom came on at the last minute. The captain asked for volunteers to round up more European women. I have no idea how many were left in the island. I went aboard with only the clothes on my back. That. is. how quick we got out. Two days before I left I had been forced to abandon my suburban home and camp in the office in town. Our ship was under constant fire by Japanese artillery which was laying down a big barrage. From Pulau Brani island, half a mile off the city, British artillery was pouring shells into the Japanese who by then were sweeping in on the city. The shells whistled over us. All one could do was hug the deck and hope that one of the shells would not fall short.

were in this sector. Nothing has

Refugees Without Escort

been heard of them. Refugees arriving here described] the Japanese landing on the at coast of the island at the Sele airdrome area. (This landing never was ota admitted.)

Last of Air Power

1 tried Feb. 17 to report that the airdrome had n evacuated. I was under, ort artillery and mortar fire, and untenable. : I saw the airdrome and its build Ings scarred or shattered, but empty. | ' Royal Air Force men were removing the last remaining stor ‘and preparing to| blow up th underground fuel reserves. ‘Only one airplane was there. I was a derelict Sunderland flyin boat, an enormous seaplane whi ‘once was the pride of Singapore. It ended its career in the middl f the airdrome, a lone thing, with Japanese mortar shells popp. all around it and the r

us. Almost to “Last Man” I remember that I wondered EE

have happened if a lucky sh from one of the mortars had struc one of the gasoline dumps.

Some a ih Who arrived here y. told me that of the 400

. forces were holding a line ‘northeast across the island betw ‘the Tanglin barracks, a little outside Singapore City on the not west side, and the naval base at northeastern lend of the island.

Destroy Oil Storage Tanks

The line was roughly 4% miles ‘ from the, | messed point,

of the city at the ba, was fram the barracks

4 the ba the strongest na line —. wi Be found. || The ba

J near the ‘ical gardens adjoin .an ‘estate ‘which the sultan of Johore owns. | The day before I left I saw the last prepara made to destroy rif gp Reniy and the demolition k was doubtlessly effective. .

H Cireat

* The night apore was Vv

) ouds of Smioke

which I left, Singdark. of black smoke rolled over the entire island. The smell burning oil stung one’s and brought tears to one’s ayes.

| There was not much food aboard. ‘The captain, looking over the passengers, was somewhat find there were only 20

fal

L asi]

tan- |

The Japanese planes were keeping up a tireless dive bombing. You could see their black shadows passing in a blur. They would streak eastward, and there would come a great flash. Then, a little later, the sound of a

||great explosion would reach you.

Our ship pulled out. It was unescorted because there were no Navy ships to escort it. I looked back at Singapore, at a night ablaze with a terrible gun fire and with smoke and flames mingling. Both the Japanese guns and our own were blasting at the oil tanks, as were Japanese planes. Luck With Searchlights

As we started out, Japanese planes began bombing heavily. Japanese gun fire blazed out on the shore, and some of those aboard said they could see Japanese landing barges making their way into Keppel harbor, soyfhwest of the city between Singapore and Balang Mati island. Two searchlights guided us out of the narrow harbor entrance. Japanese artillery shelled the searchlights but did not put them out. The searchlights continued to play on the water until we had cleared the mines and the boom ‘at

"| the entrance.

Confidence in Batavia

Our ship was carefully rationed on the way to Batavia because there was insufficient food for its almost stand-room load. We arrived at our evacuation port Saturday. It was refreshing to come here, where the people appear confident, much more than those of Singapore ever ‘were. + I have the impression that there is much more of a concerted war effort in the Netherlands East Indies than there was in Malaya.

BROKE PLEDGES

Charges Graft by ‘Same

People at Same Stands.’ (Continued from Page One)

$150 each for the two Mr. Funk alleged that “suddenly and strangely f for” them when he there would be a $3000 s

them,” Mr. Funk asserted relative of the proprietor of a certain downtown tavern where you and your deputies for many months kept your sub-headquarters.”

Who Made Shakeup?

Mr. also asked “whether you (Mr. Blue) have been a prosecutor of Marion County? All of us recall that while you were in Florida early in your term, basking in the sunlight at the taxpayers expense, a wholesale shakeup was made in your staff. Who made that shakeup and why didn’t you. return before it was done? - This presents an intriguing question, because the people elected you as prosecutor and the changes obviously were made when you weren't even here.” Although Prosecutor Blue, in his letter to Mr. Funk, wrote that he had discussed the “policy racket” and Indiana Ave. situation with the latter, Mr. Funk replied: “I call your attentoin to the fact that the conversation you have ref-

George A. Henry (attorney) during the week of Oct. 18, 1941. This was neraly four months ago. 1 was {present at that conference. ... At that time, Mr. Henry advised you of the situation on Indiana Ave. and elsewhere in the county. ...

Alleged Promises Cited

“He told you that he had persons who would supply you with sufficient evidence on which to base affidavits or grand jury investigations. ... You ‘admitted to him, in my presence, that graft and corruption existed on the Avenue and that you

Mexican, who just had been found by the police in the canal, had been murdered in a joint but that there was nothing you could do about it. “You confessed helplessness to make the necessary inwestigation and said you ‘could not prove a case. You admitted that policy rackets were rampant but said you could get no convictions. It was then that Mr, Henry's offer to you, in my presence, was made. . ., You left the office with a promise to return and canvass the situation with him personally in the next week or few days. Brings Up 2 Per Cent Club “Nearly four months have elapsed and Mr. Henry advises me he has heard nothing further from you. . Now, on the &ye. of a primary, Jou write a letter to ‘me. Why, I confess I do not know, except that perhaps you anticipate that I may enter the prosecutor’s race gaint you this primary.” Mr. Funk charged further that the Prosecutor had broken a promise to “investigate and prosecute the Two| Per Cent Club,” and that despite recent revelations of “the at number of slot machines on which Federal taxes were being paid in this country, no one has heard of any steps being taken by you to correct the evil?” i“What about the shakedowns made, and threatened, to violators of the law, by, certain members of your own staff?” he asked. “Do you remember! the incident about a certain downtown club where negotiations were being conducted for the replacement ‘of certain slot machines?” Warning that “there are many other questions - that could be directed to you, and I suspect that they will be before the end of this coming campaign,” Mr. Punk said that he had prepared his reply to Mr. Blue's Feb. 9 letter in two sections. “Don’t you think that these matters had better be straightened out before we go into the second section of my reply?” he asked.

Even before

Today's War Moves

their occupation of Singapore has

been consolidated, the Japanese have opened a full scale drive for Sumatra and Java and are attacking with renewed intensity in Burma.

The culminating phase of the battle for the south-

withdraw to Australia, leaving all of the rich Indies to the enemy. The nearest Allled base would be Port Darwin on the northern coast of Australia, and that would be subject to bombing from Timor and New Guinea and by planes from Should the Japanese make Port Darwin untenable, the Allies would have to operate from thousands of miles AWAY, basing: en Bydaey.ang Melbourne.

Java Is Vital Point

It would make the eventual grand on assault by the Allies against the Japanese a difficult and slow task. It is so vital to hold ‘Java that it is likely to be. the scene of the heaviest fighting of the war, probably very soon. Speed is the essence of Japan's plan of attack and her forces are not likely to pause to reorganize before striking.

Allies Lose Oil Supply

By capturing Singapore, the Japanese have gained control of the Strait of Malacca, with easy access to the Bay of Bengal. They can send unlimited reinforcements by

Westen Pacific now has been reached. The united nations face a showdown, the supreme test of thei ability to maintain a foothold in the Indies. : The test is the turning point of the war. will have to give up their sole remaining base at Soerabaja on Java and

If .they lose it, the Allies

Looking southward, ‘the Japanese Possibly have sealed the fate of Sumatra by taking Singapore. By occupying Palembang in southern Sumatra, the Japanese have drawn perilously close to Batavia, seat of the allied high command. They have Java blocked off from the west, north and east, from Palembang to Amboina island. The loss of Sumatra would mean the loss to the Allies of the bulk of their oil supply in the Indies, since Sumatra accounts for about one-half of production. The Dutch destroyed the installations at the great oil center of Palembang, and the Japanese thus wil not derive any immediate bene But the Allies will be by - the difficulties of transporting

United States. Moreover, the’ Japanese will be able to prey on shipping in the Indian Ocean. x

HEH

sea to Burma, whose defenders alare hard 28

FUNK SAYS BLUE

Possible Rival in Primary!’

his office which would have reverted, to the county general fund.) “One of

erence to occurred in- the office off:

were of the personal opinion that as

‘Service officials at Washingion Sat-

oll from the Middle East and the

About mid-morning, Attorney tossed ‘aside his law books, pulled

registrar is Mrs. Mabel K. Moss. - ® ® 8

an airplane machine gunner. here.” He said that this wife, whom he married in Municipal Court here on the day he was released, agreed to his plan. : : » » 2 . This was “the second time up” for a number of veterans of the last war. “I have one behind me, and I guess I can take this one,” commented George Vait, 40, an employee of the Motor Vehicle License. Burean, as he registered at the Claypool Hotel. Mr. Vait enlisted in the Army during World War I af the age of 16.

» fd ” Wisecracks were at a minimum. Over three-fourths of the registrants were heads of families and they saw nothing about the registration to joke about. Most of what litle conversation was, purtined to He brug of Singa-

of men registering today as this is information of a military nature. The new registranis will not be called to service, according to an announcement made by Selective

urday, until after the 1-A men in the present draft board lists have been called. A lottery will be held in Washing-

determine the order numbers of the new registrants. Then the local draft boards will send each of the registrants a questionnaire. From the information given on these questionnaires, the. draft boards will classify the registrants.

believe fit for military service,| taking into consideration their de'peridents’ and type of jobs, will be placed tentatively in Class 1-A. Then, the men placed in Class 1-A will be sent to the Army examining board for a physical examination. And if they pass they will be placed definitely in Class 1-A and it will be only a matter of days until they are called,

Register All Aliens

Registration is expected to be held within the next few months for the 18-20 and 44-64 age groups. These men will not be subject to call for military ‘service but will be classifled for civilian defense and war production activities. Today's registration covered all

ARMY, NAVY SEEK MORE BLOOD GIFTS

The Army and Navy have requested in the last two weeks five times the amount of blood donations originally asked for, according to William H. Book, vice chairman of the Indianapolis Red Oross. Mr. Book said that the Red Cross goal is now 1,000,000 units of blood, instead of 200,000. This means that Indianapolis donors must contribute at the rate of 100 a day. Beginning this week the Mobile Unit of the Red Cross Blood Donor Center will increase its schedule of trips to Indiana cities, and will be out four days a week. In’ stressing the acute need for blood, Mr. Book asked for more volunteers. He suggested that they call the Blood Donor Center, Lincoln 1441, to arrange an appointment. The center is on the fifth floor 6f the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce Building. :

CHIANG PROMISES REPORT

CHUNGKING, Feb. 16 (U. P.)— Gen. Chiang Kai-shek has promised

the State House and over to the Claypool Hotel to register.

it's ‘Fathersand-Son' Day As Uncle Sam Calls Again

(Continued from Page One)

General George Beamer, 37 (left), on. his raincoat and walked out of The

pore and the stand of General MacArthur. The 20-year-olds just kept silent in the presence of their elders. : 2 x = Registrars reported that many men inquired: “How can I get this over right now? I'd like to enlist and have the training now.” They were advised to see the Army recrviting office, » » »

Draft officials were surprised at the turnout during the early morning. Many men were in line when the registration places opened at 7 a. m. And they kept coming all morning, despite the rain. ” ”» ” Five girls were kept busy at the switchboard at State Draft headquarters answering questions. If there is a question you want to ask about the registration which closes at 9 p. m. today, call LI-6501.

300, 000 Hoosiers Register: 130,000 Listed in County

(Continued from Page One)

ton, ‘possibly next month, which will |

Those men whom the draft boards|

These girls wi be eis to help you. ”

men not previously registered who were born on or after Feb. 17, 1897, and on or before Dec. 31, 1921. All aliens, including those ' who had declared their intentions of. becoming citizens, were to register, Persons physically unable to register today should notify their draft boards. A traveling registrar will be sent to register them. The registration was simple. Registrars asked registrants only mine questions—their name, address, age, place of business, employer's name, telephone, birthplace, mailing address if different from your residence and the name of the person who will always know your address.

Each Man Gets Certificate

Registrants were giver a registration certificate which they must carry with them at all times. -Fail‘ure to possess a registration certificate is a violation of the Selective Service law and makes one liable to prosecution by the Federal Government. All registrants were urged by draft officials to register at a registration place in their own draft board area in order to avoid confusion in transferring cards from one draft board to another, However, if it is impossible to register at home, +a person may register at the closest Tegistration place. Registrants must notify draft boards of any change of address.

GOP Gets 'Plum’ At Courthouse

“ONE QF the major “political plums” in the Courthouse has been taken over by the Republicans, Republican majority members of the Board of County Commissioners today gave tlhe Courthouse lunchstand concession to Jack Zumpfe, a8 Republican precinct committeeman in the 11th Ward. The concession was held by Mrs. Ellis Scott, a Democrat, for many years. The lunchstand operator is required to pay a rental of only » monthly. bois

i ————— F.D.R. OPENS BOND DRIVE OTTAWA, Feb. 16 (U, P.).—President Roosevelt, opening Canada’s three - week $600, loan campaign in a radio address broadcast from Ww last night, said the United Nations would “fight and work and endure together until our common purpose is SeCOmplishen.” 2 3

(0,8. ADDS J 170 BATTLESHIPS

000 victory,

NO. 19)

Navy Must Control Seas, “Knox Says at Launching Of 35,000-Ton ‘Alabama,

NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 16 (U. P).— Secretary of Navy Frank Knox said today ‘that the United States has! passed 4nto the “war era” in the production of supplies and ships which, in the end, will bring victory. at the launching in the Norfolk Navy yard of the. 35.000ton battleship Alabama—fourth of a class of the most powerful warships afloat—Mr. Knox said the Navy now is operating over three-fourths of the globe. “Today we know beyond a doubt that the burden upon our Navy is the greatest it has ever had to bear,” he said. “We must protect our shores and our coastal commerce. . “We must protect those strategic areas vital to our defense—Hawaii the Panama Canal, the Caribbean. We must defend our good neighbors to the southward. “We must protect the flow of supplies to Great Britain, that citadel of freedom. We must check as best we can the surging flood of Japanese aggression in the Antipodes, until we can muster our forces to send it hurtling back to whence it came.” When the $80,000,000 Alabama and preceding new ships of her class are completed the Navy will have 19 battleships, the greatest battle

‘|force in the world. Eleven more

battleships of still heavier classes are in the published two-ocean fleet program under contract. Counting the' Alabama, six new battleships have been launched in recent years. The five others are the Indiana, the North Carolina, the Washington, the South Dakota and the Massachuseys,

Hero Hailed

Man ) Couldn't Find Swim Place,

Saves 2 in Creek.

A YOUNG man from the East, who has been complaining that there is no place to go swimming | in Indianapolis, totay was hailed: as a hero for saving two boys from drowning, He is John Haufe, 24, of 2841 N. Delaware St., who came from New York last April to take a job as a tool engineer at the CurtissWright’ Corp. propeller division. | He rescued. Cecil Jeffries, 13, of 2345 Talbott Ave, and William Stanley, 14, of 2302% N. Talbott Ave., from Fall Creek Saturday. -«.The boys were paddling a leaky boat with wooden planks for oars. The boat suddenly filled = with - water and sank. The Stanley boy, who can swim, succeeded in holding his companion up in the deep water. But they could no longer stay afloat after their heavy clothes became soaked. "Numerous motorists drove by, paid ho. heed to the boys. Mrs. Willlam Allen Wood, 2502 N. Alabama 8St., was the first to discover that they were about to drown. She tried to stop several car’s, but they drove on. Mr. Haufe recognized her signal of distress, immediately sized up the plight of the boys. He was tearing off his clothes as he opened the door of his auto. When Mr. Haufe grabbed hold of the Jeffries boy, the other boy was able to swim to shore. Exhausted, the two young “mariners” lay on the bank for a while. Then they were wrapped in blankets and taken to their Pines;

fall of France, Britons demanded with increasing insistence a radical and immediate change in the direction of rthe war and a merciless purge of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s cabinet. They received their first news of the surrender of the British garrison through Japanese communiques. Then Mr. Churchill, in a world broadcast, announced ‘it in three words: “Singapore has fallen.” For nearly a whole day, there had been no other official news of Singapore. The British people knew that one of the few such surrenders in their history had come atop the humiliating cruise of a German battle fleet past the Dover coast within range of short guns,

Rescue 1300 Soldiers Long after the Japanese had an-

nounced the surrender, the British

Broadcasting Corp. heard the Singapore radio at 9:37 a. m. (Indianapolis Time) give a routine broadcast of world news. The announcer ended: “Good night everybody. We shall be on the air as usual tomorrow morning.”

night London time, when Mr. Churchill made his speech, that the official announcement came that it was all over. An Australian correspondent who reached Batavia from Singapore reported that an Australian warship had rescued 1300 soldiers from a burning transport which 40 Japanese planes were attacking seven miles off Singapore.

Churchill, Makes Defense

The Japanese planes attacked the warship savagely, the correspondent reported, and three of ‘them were shot down. By then the warship, drawn up alongside the transport, was filled to capacity. Whaleboats were lowered and they

It was not until 9 o'clock last:

Fear 60 000 British Troops iy Are Prisoners af Singapore

(Contisibed from Page One) &

rescued another 200 men, ‘but they

had to row back toward Singapore,

Mr. Churchill in-his speech Sune day made ‘a studied defense of his war direction, a foretaste of what he must tell the House of Commons when he faces it this week. He reviewed the events since the fall of France, the Russian smashe ing of the Nazi legend of invincie bility, the Japanese sneak attack and the American entry to the war, He balanced one against another, emphasized the value to the Allied cause of Russia’s gallant stand and the American declaration of war, and pointed out how Britain, for a long time standing alone, had been forced to digtribute its rela tively small supply of war mae terials over a vast area. Mr. Churchill spoke of the gravity of Japan’s attack, as coming from

‘| a warrior nation of nearly 80,000 ,000

people. Makes Plea for Unity

Then he made his plea—for na= tional unity, and reached his pero. ration. Thi¥, he said, was one of

those moments when the British

race could show its quality and its genius, “This is one of those moments when it can throw from the heart of misfortune the vital Impulse of victory,” he said. “Here is the moment to display that calm and poise, combined with grim determination, which not so long ago brought us out of the tary jaws of death. . . . “We must remember that no longer alone , . of the human race are now moving with us , . . let us move forward steadfastly together into the storm and through the storm.” The indication was strong still that Mr. Churchill's own position was secure provided he acted soon and vigorously to buck up the war effort, with especial reference to the actual fighting. Newspapers generally called on the nation to criticize methods, not men.

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President Roosevelt a “detailed report” on the use planned for $500,000,000 America is lending China, it was made known today. He expressed gratification to the President for “having accepted my suggestion en toto with no conditions attached to the loan.”

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