Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 June 1943 — Page 9

- MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1943

SECOND, SECTION

Hoosier Vagabond

NE ORs AFRICA (By Wireless).—Our last day was as interesting as any on the whole trip. We took off early from Tripoli, and most of us were glad to get on our way. Fighting was then still going on in Central ; Tunisia, and the luftwaffe was active, so we made a wide circle around to the south. We flew for many hours. The air was bitterly rough, and it seemed to us we would never get anywhere. We were over the Sahara, and I have never seen desert so utterly. void of anything as the desert that was then beneath us. It was the billowing, spaceless kind of desert you see in the romantic movies—yellow and luscious enough to eat. It was truly beautiful in a ghastly, naked sort of way. Down among those rippled dunes no life could long exist. Once I walked up into the cockpit. Lt. Richard Litsey Jr. of Sherman, Tex., was flying the plane, and he said: “How are you going to describe what this looks like?” I told him T didn’t think I could describe it, and he id he too felt completely incapable of picturing it to anybody else. Then he said: “Let’s go down and take a good look.”

Roar Down. Into the Dunes

AND DOWN we started. The other passengers ere either sick or asleep, and I'm sure it didn't help oir repose when we unexplainedly started going down, down, down, over that remote, lifeless no-man'’s-1gnd of infinite sand. We went down until we were only a few feet above the ridges of the dunes, and down there we discovered to our amazment that these dunes were sometimes two and three hundred feet high. Their rippled sides were so beautiful they made you feel sad. For hours we flew over this lovely, tortured segment of the world. Finally we came out into the suburbs of the desert—foothills and occasional oases. I began to recognize it as country I had traveled over by truck when we went to search for some crashed planes last winter.

Nazis Cornered,

~ (Lowell Nussbaum’s column will be resumed tomorrow.)

WASHINGTON, June 28. —For the first time Nazi officials admit that bombed Germans are “beginning to lose their nerve.” This is such an astounding confession that one suspects some propaganda trick, particularly when it is coupled with Nazi broadcasts that allied bombing has “practically erased” some of the Ruhr cities. Granting that the Nazis have proved themselves masters of propaganda, and that they may benefit by this new technique, there is no doubt that the raids are wiping out whole factory areas and that the populations are feeling the strain. The first is attested by allied air photography. The second is re- : ported by responsible neutral observers, as well as by Germans, who have recently gone from Germany to Sweden and, Switzerland. .. Also there is the report that Hitler has ordered three million civilians evacuated from the Ruhr. If this is true, ‘the situation must be bad.

: No Longer Able to Deceive People

» SUCH A large number cannot be removed without

seriously curtailing production in the still operating

sections, and without retarding the vast salvage and repair job in the destroyed districts. Moreover, evacuation increases the strain on Germany's trans- . portation system, already the weakest link in her ‘war chain.

England

LONDON, June 28 (By Wireless) .—Great Britain .

is looking at this war in terms of a “Part One” to be followed by a quite different “Part Two.” Much more than is the case in America, the British expect

a considerable change of pace after Germany is defeated. That doesn't mean England is not interested in defeating Japan. But it does mean that England, " which is now the advance base in the fight against Germany, sees herself dropping out of the combat zone and fighting a war remote from her home shores, as we are doing now. Accordingly people in the government expect many changes at the end of what they call “Part One,” which is concerned principally with the defeat of Germany. For instance, the huge air raid precaution services, the home guard, the anti-aircraft defenses, and 1 other activities connected with the bombing of gland and the danger of invasion would have no further purpose and would be rapidly dismantled. ~ A partial demobilization of troops is expected, and a partial conversion of war industry back to peacetime work. The period after the defeat of Germany, while “Part Two” of the war is going on against Japan, is regarded here as a fortunate opportunity to cushion Sythe shock of demobilization by taking it more grad- * "ually than after the last war,

Deny British Will Lose Interest

WHEN CHURCHILL spoke of this in his March broadcast he was promptly criticized for neglecting the ~ Pacific war. There has long been a fear by some in America, that Britain would lose interest in the war after Germany was defeated. But when high government officials are asked about this they stoutly deny it, saying Britain has too many interests in the Far ' East to take any such position.

NEW YORK, Sunday, June 27.—I had a most tragic letter from a man the other day. He not only has a great sorrow to bear in the loss of one of his sons in the war, but is adding great bitterness to his | sorrow by believing that these losses come only to inconspicuous people. .The names in the paper, he says, are never names that he recognizes as prominent persons and he wonders if the sons and daughters of people in high position are kept out of danger zones, or given special protection, while his child had to take the risks of the dangerous work, wherever he was. I answered his letter, but because I fear that there may be "others who think the same thing, : and whose sorrow is all the harder 3 Io bear because of this bitterness, I want to say to hem here that there are high officials in Washington » have suffered these §ame sorrows since the war and many friends of mine had said a final -by to sons or husbands who have given their

By Ernie Pyle

At last we came over northern Algeria, and to the last hour of our homeward flight. By now it was late in the day, and everybody was in a tense, expectant, homecoming spirit. Even the sick ones couldn't help feeling an animation. The pilots seemed to feel it more than anybody else. They kept the plane only a few feet off the ground, and it seemed we must be going 500 miles an hour, Flocks of sheep ran wildly before us. Arabs stopped their oxen in the fields and ducked as we flew over them. The plane banged and bounced and tore into the mountain passes ahead of us as though it had its teeth bared. As I have said before, northern Algeria is incredibly beautiful. Its great ridges and green forests and gentle valleys and white clouds are a divine progeny such as nature seldom conceives. We roared into and through this spectacular beauty —sometimes almost scraping the red roofs of Arab villages perched on nearly inaccessible peaks, sometimes twisting through narrow passes that we passengers swore were not wide enough for our wings, sometimes soaring out over ledges that dropped down thousands of feet and left us suddenly motionless, it seemed, above the patchwork valleys far below.

And Then, the Climax!

AND FINALLY we came home, or to what we who are now so long out of America have come to call home. . The long peril and agony of travel were over. It was a gigantic relief to feel the ultimate ground under-

neath us again. We piled out with an inner feeling of accomplishment that practically made us individual heroes to ourselves. We emerged as though expecting some welcoming throng at the airdrome to break into uncontrolled cheers in our honor. Fortunately no such thing happened. For as I climbed down the ladder I caught a heel on the narrow steps, lost my balance, and fell sprawling onto the ground. I tore my pants, and skinned my knee nastily. It was my only accident in nearly 15,000 miles of travel. But so high were our spirits at being home again that even the burning in my knee felt good.

But By Ludwell Denny|

Finally, evacuation spreads the contagion of fear. This is what Hitler has been trying to curb by internal censorship, by preventing refugee travel, and

by keeping furloughed soldiers away from devastated * homes. The danger of a nation-wide fear epidemic, spread by Western German refugees, is so obvious that Hitler probably would not risk it if Central and Eastern Germany were still unaffected. But the Berlin, Nuremberg and other districts have had their own foretaste of what the Ruhr is getting. Allied bombing has reached such a scale that it is no longer possible even for the Gestapo dictatorship to deceive the docile German people.

The Danger of Kidding Ourselves

SUCH BEING the case, it is not surprising that the astute Nazis now make a virtue of necessity by admitting the fact in the hope that this will rally the people to even greater sacrifices of desperation. What other course is open to Hitler? Certainly Hitler can gain by this new technique if Britons and Americans are suckers. The moment we are convinced that Germany is cracking, there is a terrific temptation for us to let down. That is the chief worry of the allied governments right now—as indicated a few days ago by Gen. Marshall.

Sure, the Germans are getting nervous—and more desperate. But if we kid ourselves into believing that a cornered military power will surrender without supremely desperate blows, we are the ones who will get licked. It will take everything we've got to beat the axis.

By Raymond Clapper

It is almost certain that Britain will have a general election as soon as Germany is defeated. There has been none since 1935. Persons under 28 never had an opportunity to vote in a general election. There are men sitting in commons now who are superannuated, and some who got in by the narrowest of margins, such as one who was elected by an edge of only some 60 votes. The managers of the conservative party want to put young war veterans in parliament, so there is strong pressure for holding an election without waiting for the defeat of Japan. In any such campaign there would be a tendency on the part of the government to curry favor by harping on the withdrawal of wartime restrictions. I think we in America will have to be prepared for a general letting down in England, although I don’t think it will mean any real letdown in the fight against Japan.

Three-Way War Against Japan

THE WAR against Japan is expected to be carried] -

on through three kinds of operations—naval, air and ground. The preliminary will have to be the retaking of Burma and of airdrome sites in China, in both of which Chinese troops ought to be expected to carry the major part of the load, with the British and Americans handling their supplies. Bombing must utilize long-range, eavy-1oad: carrying R. A. F. Halifaxes, Lancasters and Stirlings as well as our daylight bombers. Certainly we are going to need the slugging leadership technique of Chief Air Marshal Harris, That means the R. A, F. and British heavy-bomber production must.continue full blast. Naval co-operation should mean continued build - ing by both America and Britain as long as Japan is undefeated. Also continued cargo-ship construction. For the Japanese war is going to take heavy tonnage. In the light of those considerations the British feel they can safely readjust their war life to a different tempo when “Part Two” begins, without relaxing on their pledge to throw their full weight against Japan.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

in the assignments given. Perhaps the boy who has had great advantages before he went into the service has a greater sense of obligation to bear himself with as much courage and take as many risks as any of those with whom he finds himself. Nothing can compensate for the loss of those you love, ‘whether they. are your children or your friends. If you feel, however, that the cause for which they fight is a just cause, and that you are doing all you can to make the future safer and better for them if they return, and for their fellow human beings, you accept the inevitable and struggle on in the: future without the added burden of bitterness. I left the country this afternoon and came to New York City to see Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr. who is still in the hospital after five weeks of serious illness. This evening I am to have a joy which I hope many mothers share with me. Our oldest son was invalided home some months ago from the Southwest Pacific, and is on a two-weeks furlough from hospital care. I have not see him for a year and a half, so I look forward to greeting him with his wife this evening with a kind of excitement which I cannot describe. He will be with us for a few days, I hope.

These are days in which one grasps every Joyous t : ; 1

wy all Va! el

i

ltalian Navy Was Best of Mediocre Military Forces

XIIT—CALIBER OF ITALY’'S ARMED FORCES

THE ITALIAN AS A FIGHTER has long been the butt of jokes abroad and, in general, has the reputation of being one of the world’s worst combatants, whether on

land or sea or in the air.

Acfually, we found that the Italians were not half so bad as they were generally believed to be by others, and not half so good as they thought they were themselves. Our association with Italian fighting units in Ethiopia, Spain, and the present war gave us the impression that the men themselves would make a better showing if they had better training, equipment, generalship and, even more important, good captains and majors to lead them. Also, we discovered that the three armed branches were of three different calibers.

that, the best.

The navy was the least Fascist of all and, because of Mussolini once said, “I don’t know any-

thing about naval matters, so I let the navy look after

itself.”

The army, a hybrid organization comprising both regular soldiers and black shirt militia, should rank next in effectiveness and efficiency. The aviation, which is virtually one hundred per cent

Fascist, was always the worst. And frequently, be-

cause of its lack of cooperation, it was the cause of many disasters suffered by the other two armed branches. We were always impressed, whenever aboard an Italian ship, by the Bristol fashion in which everything was kept, compared to the sloppiness of the Italian army and aviation. The Italian navy had become extremely proud of itself and therefore was deeply hurt when the BBC made fun of it by broadcasting: “While the United States navy drinks whisky and the British navy prefers rum, the Italian navy sticks to port.” Mussolini was so furious that he wanted the fleet to steam right out and engage in combat witn the British, but not daring to meddle in navy matters, he acceded to the more prudent policy of his admirals, and the navy was permitted to continue with its hide-and-seek strategy. » ” »

Asks About Navy

WE MET TWO ITALIAN naval officers at a cocktail party one night and asked them why it was that the Italian navy appeared to be afraid of a big battle with the British.

“But you don’t understand the setup,” one of the officers said. “In the first place, the Italian navy is not a self-contained fighting force in itself. When it was developed before the last war, and for that matter for many years after the last war, it was intended to fight alongside the British navy. Consequently, it is only a complement of the British navy.” “Yes,” the other officer said, “you could hardly expect a complement to attack the main body of which it was once supposed (o be a part.” In contrast to the navy, the army was constantly a victim of the political whims of Mussolini, who tried to make the army fit into his foreign policy rather than adapt his foreign policy to the military capacity of the country. The regular army and the black shirt militia distrusted and hated each other. Also, the old army officers objected to receiving orders from a man who, before becoming dictator, never had held a rank higher than corporal.

» ” =

Army Undermined

THE FASCIST ARMY, whether black shirt or regular, was from the very start undermined by politics. Not once did the Italian soldier have the feeling that he was risking his. life for his country half so much as that he was merely being a pawn for somebody else’s gambit. We are inclined to think that if the average Italian soldier had an honest conviction that he was really fighting for something worth while, he might not be deserving

df the bad reputation he has

abroad today. He has also been let down by bad strategy, bad tactics, bad organization behind the lines, and just general inefficiency running all the way back from the frontline trench to the Palazzo Venezia. Aviation always remained exclusively Fascist and, as such, was the most corrupt and inefficient of the three armed branches. It was used as a political playground in which party leaders could show off their talents for war without coming under the discipline of the army or the navy. It offered an opportunity to politicians like Ciano and Pavolini to perform a few spectacular stunts and then return with war records to their ministerial desks. y

Ri Bln

garded Italian aviation as his pet service. While his followers quaked, the dictator would take off in an airplane and land unexpectedly at any airfield. There was no telling when he was coming or, for that matter, how he would land. ”

Mussolini Terrible Pilot

THERE WAS ALWAYS another pilot at the controls, but even so it was extremely dangerous because Mussolini insisted on playing to the gdllery. He had to be seen doing the actual taking off and landing. His landings were -described to us by one flier who was frequently a member of his crew as “modern-day. miracles.” The most spectacular achievement of Fascist aviation in the early part of the war was the bombardment of the British-owned Bahrein islands in the Persian gulf. It represented a round-trip flight of several thousand miles from the nearest Italian base in North Africa. It was the sort of spectacular performance that Fascists were enthusiastic about— even though there were no practical results.’ It was typical of Italian aviation, which boasted of a few aces who were marvels at individual exploits, but could not carry out the day-by-day routine essential to winning a modern war. Probably no people in the world are given such long military training—at least on paper—as the Italians. It theoretically begins in the cradle, because every child, as soon as he is born, is regarded by the Fascist government as being a member of the Figli della Lupa—Sons of the Wolf, :

” ” =

Early Military Training WHEN THE TINY tots enter kindergarten, they practice marching and learn all the elements of parade formation. At the age of

6, the child is promoted to membership in the Balilla. He is

Use Straw Shed, Purdue Advises

Times Special

LAFAYETTE, Ind, June 28.— With the present increase in livestock numbers, together with a decrease in the supply of building materials and labor for new construction resulting in acute housing and storage problems on many farms, it has been found that straw sheds provide satisfactory temporary shelter for -all kinds of livestock, according to C. H. Reed, farm building specialist at Purdue university. Now is the time for farmers to go to the wood lot, cut some poles and build® the framework for the straw=covered shed, so that it will be ready when the -thrasher arrives. Experience of thousands of Indiana farmers has shown that a well constructed straw shed is an excellent shelter for hogs to protect them from the hot summer sun, said J. W. Schwab, Purdue extensionist.

LAWENCE O. E. 8. MEETS

Lawrence O, E. S. will meet in the Lawrence Masonic temple at 8 p. m. Thursday. Mrs. Matilda Darling, worthy matron, and J. B. Darling, worthy patron, will preside. A dinner will be given preceding the meeting.

JUDGE RHOADS TO SPEAK

Judge Mark W. Rhoads of the Marion county juvenile court will discuss “Things Indianapolis Can Do About Juvenile Delinquency” at

Italian warships in formation was the least Fascist, and because

given a wooden gun and put through mock field maneuvers. At 12, the Balilla boys become Avanguardisti and are given small--caliber rifles ranging from B-B guns to .22’s. They also begin to study Fascist theories and doctrines. At 16, the schoolboys become Giovani Fascisti and are given real guns. At 18, the premilitary period starts, and all boys, whether at school or working, must devote their Saturday afternoons to this

_ training. At 20, the regular mili-

tary training starts and, in peacetime, continues for a year. With all these years of training, both physical and mental, it seemed. strange that every Italian youth did not develop into an ardent Fascist. But the fact was that the so-called Fascist ideals ran counter to the Italian character. Fundamentally, the Italian is non-militaristic and loathes all forms of regimentation. All the uniforms and Fascist regalia with

BATHERS HURT AS PLANE HITS BEACH

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Cal, June 28 (U. P.).—Seven children were in critical condition and 42 other persons were recovering from cuts and burns today as army officials planned an investigation into the crash of a burning P-38 fighter plane in a crowded beach area. The most seriously injured were Faith, 8; Frank, 6, and Rosalva Borrega, 5, and Mary, 13; Rudy, 9; Ruben, 6, and Frances Silva, 4, children of two Mexican families who were picnicking when the pilotless plane struck the sand a short disstance away and exploded. The plane hurled blazing debris and gasoline in all directions and the force of the blast knocked many persons from their feet. Witnesses said the plane was flying in a formation when it burst into flame. The pilot bailed out and landed a mile away from ‘the popular beach area.

ARMY FLIERS KILLED

MONTGO Y, Ala, June 28 (U. P.).—~The Gunter field public relations office today announced that Lt. Joseph W. Madden Jr., 28, son the former chairman of the national labor relations board, and warrrant officer Joseph A. Gepko, both of Pittsburgh, Pa., were killed yesterday when their plane crashed near Kingsport, Tenn. -

BLAZE DESTROYS CIRO'S HOLLYWOOD, June 28 (U. P.). —Fire of unknown origin destroyed Ciro’'s, swanky Eoliyweoa night

i a hi a Hae iit Loma

during maneuvers before Italy entered the European war,

ARIA) LY

KEVYNOLDS ond ELEANOR PACKARYL

The navy

of that, the best of Italy’s armed ‘forces.

which Mussolini bedecked Italian boys could never change this; so that as soon as Fascist precepts were hard to follow—that is, when they involved hardships and sacrifices as in wartime—the average Italian instinctively turned against them. ” ” »

Reject Fascist Ideals

WHEN THE ITALIAN boy was called up to serve in the army he went with a hodgepodge of Fascist ideas in his head; but by the time the average recruit had been in the army a year or so, he had generally rejected most of these ideas and in their place had a kind of political vacuum because, always having been isolated from other ideals, he had nothing to substitute for his erstwhile Fascist principles. Unless, paradoxically enough, it was a bit of American philosophy. There was hardly an Italian family that did not have at least

| Quisling's. Cousin Works for U. S.

CAMP STEWART, Ga. June 28 (U. P.) —Capt. Gunnar Quisling, cousin of the notorious Norwegian Quisling, has turned over to the United States government two inventions “that may prove invaluable toward winning the war,” the Camp Stewart public relations office reported today. The U. S. army Quisling is chief of the camp's eye clinic, is a native of Madison, Wis.,, and is one of four brothers, all of whom are physicians. His late father, Andreas Quisling, was a brother of ‘the Norwegian Quisling’s father and came to America 50 years ago. Capt. Gunnar Quisling’s inveations “must remain a secret at this time,” it was announced, “but in due course the great contributions of a Quisling to democracy and freedom will become known.” The army captain said he met the Norwegian traitor in 1931 on a visit to Norway and believed the fact that Vidkum Quisling was married to a czarist Russian was largely responsible fdr his becoming a Nazi tool.

WAR. II MOTHERS TO MEET

Mrs. Gretta Roush, national president of Mothers of world war II, will discuss plans completed for the war mothers’ state convention here July 16-17, at a meeting of the Indianapolis unit 20 Monday afternoon in the Indiana war memorial.

MOCK WEDDING PLANNED Old age pension group No, 18 wil

one member in the United States, These ¢verseas relatives frequente ly sent money and always wrote of the greatness of America. In many tases they may even have exaggenated their prosperity in order to impress the people back home, but they did do one thing, consciowsly or unconsciously, and that was to sell the United States to the Italians. We were constantly meeting people of all classes who proudly told us that they had a brother, a cousin, or an uncle who “was doing splendidly” somewhere in the U.'S. A. In almost every case, tlhe Italo-American had fared much better than the stay at-home members of his family. It was a propaganda that Muse solini cpuld not combat,

NEXT: War against the United States.

Wopvright. 1943, Eleanor Packard; University , Press; Feature Svhdicate,

by Reynolds and published by Oxford distributed by United ne.)

NAZI PARTY GHIEF IN HOLLAND 1S KILLED

LONDON, June 28 (U. P.).—Frita Schmidt, head of Germany's Nazi party in; occupied Holland and Netherlangs commissar for special services, Ss been killed in an ace cident in France and will be given a state funeral, German dispatches ree ported today. The DNB news agency said Adolf Hitler had ordered the state ceree mony. i The dispatches said only that he “met with & fatal accident” while on an official journey. : Aneta, tch news agency, said Schmidt had been active in the cone scription of Dutch workers for labog in the Reich.

HOLD EVERYTHING