Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 21 November 1944 — Page 11

partment

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‘The Forgotten F ront

PLY Fa oh PAIS SE a Rog Wh SH * a v

(Mr. Wolf, European war correspondent for NEA Service, Is substituting today for Ernie Pyle who is on , Vacation but expects to return to an assignment on the war fronts in the near future. This is the first’ of

* three articles on Europe's “Forgotten Front.”)

WITH THE FRENCH FORCES OF THE IN. TERIOR, Atlantic Front, Nov. 21.—It is .an open secret that the No. 1 problem discussed by Churchill and De Gaulle in Paris was the French demand for arms and equipment for the French Forces of the Interior fighting on the Atlantic m= front. * « This is the war's Forgotten Front. I have just returned from an extended tour of large portions of this German Atlantic wall. It "consists of six separate portpockets manned by an estimated total of 75,000 Germans., It runs : from Lorient and St. Nazaire on . the north to Royan and Pointe de Grade—keys to the Gironde estuary and therefore to the giant port of Bordeaux, which the F.P.1. liberated months ago. Harried by the allied armies north of the Loire and by the F. F. 1. south of the river, these large Germdn forces retired to positions which they had long fgértified, stocked and prepared for just the role they are now playing; delaying as long as possible allied entry into key ports of the Atlantic. The Germans are well dug in, have with them tanks, including Tigers, and heavy artillery up to 240 millimeter naval guns. They are said to have at least three months’ food supplies. Other supplies are regularly flown in from Germany—unopposed by the F. F. I air force, which consists primarily of a handful of planes rebuilt from aircraft shot down or stolen from the Germans. Also flown in are key German officers, mail, and newspapers—all to boost morale and make sure none gives vent to his defeatism by. surrendering. In the field opposing this well-armed German army is a force of perhaps 45,000 volunteers of the French Forces of the Interior. There are probably that many again in the PF. F. I. who are ready and waiting to fight but for their lack of clothes, guns and ammunition.

Finds Same Old Story

EVERYWHERE along the Atlantic front I found the same story. The F. F. I. lacks clothing, lacks guns, lacks planes and tanks and artillery, lacks ammunition—indeed lacks everything, except the spirit necessary to wipe out these German salients in the west One front-line company I saw had five different

* types of rifles—British, American, Belgian, French

and German—which they had received by parachute or plunder, In another area I saw a company come

out of the line without its rifles. These had been handed over to the men of the relief. company because there weren't enough weapons to go around.

F.F.1. Men Are Bitter

FROM THIS situation a great bitterness is growing up against the allies—and especially against the ‘United States. Most men of the F. F. I. believe that clothing, guns and munitions can come from America alone and they wonder why they haven't received them. Responsible officers of the F. F. I, are first to real{ze why they could not be given first priority on supplies. Most troops are not trained for full scale modern warfare. There is a certain amount of lack of discipline,, “What can you expect,” a cqlonel asked me when I commented on the fact that the guard had not saluted him, “when men have neither proper uniforms nor proper weapons?”

On the other hand, Col. Adeline, commander of |

the southern half of the Atlantic front and regular army officer who graduated from St, Cyr in 1916, told me that his men have had sufficient training to do the job. “Naturally, we would have to adapt Maquis-style tactics in part,” he said, “but given arms we could clear the Germans out.”

Held Up Whole Division

THEY FEEL doubly bitter because they have risked so much for the allied cause and contributed so much to it. One small unit now underarmed and underclothed a4 the front held up a whole German armored division in the Dordogne for a week during early June when its presence in Normandy would have aided the Nazi cause tremendously. po And they feel bitter because they feel they need so little. “Two or three heavy allied bombings or a small naval task force would at least show the Germans that the allies haven't forgotten us,” a regimental commander in Pointe de Grade said. He estimated that with comparatively few pieces of heavy artillery and some needed ammunition his men could free the Bordeaux area in two to three weeks,

A captain of a company near La Rochelle—a veteran of the last war, a man of means, who could now be comfortably at home were he not so determined to rid his country of the hated Boche—summed up the spirit of every man I talked to. When he spoke it was not as an officer to a war correspondent, but as a Frenchman to an American. There were tears in his eyes as he said, “We ask nothing from you but the means to fight for our country.”

Inside Indianapolis By Lowell Nussbaum

MANY OF YOU fellow zoo enthusiasts no doubt have been wondering what on earth had happened to the Indianapolis Zoological Society, Inc. Well, sirs, we have big news for you today. The society's directors have just met and elected officers. The president of the society is Henry O. Goett, former superior court judge. George A. Saas, of the gas company, is vice president, while Toner M. Overley, manager of the Better Business Bureau, is doubling as secretary-treasurer. These officers were elected to serve until the society's first annual meeting in February. The b.. directors’ meeting was held in the office of President Goett—whose name, incidentally, is pronounced na “Get,” not “Goat.” Besides the officers, the directors include william J, (Curley) Ash and, of course, Old Inside. The board adopted by-laws, and will meet next week to consider further steps incident to acquiring a real zoo for Indianapolis. Since the society was founded a month ago, we have received numerous letters and phone calls from people who are genuinely interested in doing anything possible to establish a zoo here. Very much appreciated was a letter from H. O. Roberts, president of the Evansville Zoological society, offering the Indianapolis society any assistance he can give. He says: “As you perhaps know, we have the only real goo in the state of Indiana here in Evansville and are operating it through a Zoological society in cooperation with the city administration.” Thanks, Mr. Roberts. We may be down to see you one of these days.

No Name Calling, Boys

WE'VE BEEN disillusioned. We always knew that ordinary Democrats and Republicans could be induced to walk down the same side of the street together—AFTER an election—but we always had the idea that those high in party politics—say, the party chairmen—viewed each other askance at all times, And now comes a news story announcing the formation of a new law firm. One of the partners is Arch N. Bobbitt, the former Republican state chair-

The V-2

' WASHINGTON, Nov. 21.—American rocket experts agree that the Nazi robot bomb, the V-2, is still in an experimental stage, which means that the Germans have not put if into mass production. They probably won't do so until they learn that it is accomplishing the job for which it is designed. At present tthe V-2 penetrates as much as 30 feet into the earth when it hits, leaving the tail. sticking up about 20 feet. This limits the area of the blast. It is believed that the Nazis are trying to achieve #& burst of hot, sharp fragments by causing the bomb to explode just above the ground, and they probably will continue experimenting until they get a bomb that gives that effect.

‘A Ton of Fuel a Minute

UNLIKE THE V-1, the V-2 is a true rocket, known to engineers as a spinner, It carries enough fuel for about seven to eight minutes of flight, using about a ton of fuel a minute. It also carries enough bottled gas, either compressed air or possibly nitrogen and liquid oxygen to force the fuel into the nozzle, where. the hot gases which thrust the rocket up 60 or more miles into the air are formed. These gases leave the combustion chamber through jus which are bored into the back plate at

My Day

CHICAGO, Monday—I have had a. number of Jetters in the course of the last few days, sorhe of them

umn that the President did not promise, in the cam-

-paign of 1040; that our boys should not leave these

shores. In other letters, the writ‘ers stated that they have read articles in the newspapers which. that I was wrong, and they Wished to assure me that they had

man. Another is James L. Beattey, the present county Democratic chairman. We don't see how they'll ever get any work done for keeping an eye on each other. ... Dern that Larry Gordon and his radio program! We had decided not to print the answers to any more of his Telo-Test questions. But it looks like we're going to have to do it again, in self defense—to keep from telling everyone, individually. So: “Deseret—The provisional state organized in 1849 by a convention of Mormons, comprising the greater part of southwestern United States south of the 42d parallel and west of the’ Rocky mountains.” .» Don Christian "has received a medical discharge from the navy and has returned to his old job as a specialist in the OPA food division.

The Ravenswood Clatter

OUR NEWEST competitor in the publishing field is the “Ravenswood Clatter,” a two-page, mimeographed paper published by the Ravenswood Junior River Patrol—a boys’ club. The first issue came out Saturday. It lists Phillip Nicholas as editor, Robert Williams as business manager and Donald ‘Fowler as news editor. We understand the boys were a little embarrassed by one or two minor misspellings. Don’t Jet a litle thing like typographical errors bother you, boys; just blame the printers. That's the way we do it. As might be expected with a staff of youngsters, the volunteer fire department gets a pretty good play. In fact, the lead story starts off with “A fire at the home of the Williamses on Haynes avenue would have consumed the home, had it not been for the Volunteer Fire Department.” Another item points out. “At any rate, someone is thankful for our Fire Department, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of 1521 E. 72d st., left letter in the bakery, thanking them for saving their house and furniture.” One of the stories comments on the new rural delivery service which has been inaugurated, The item: “The whole town was. overjoyed at the thought of getting rural mail delivery. Somebody's always taking the joy out of life, tho. No mailboxes could be had. People are now receiving their mail in bird houses, milk boxes and oversized tim (that was one of the typographical errors) cans. But that's war for you!” The first issue was distributed free, but after this it will cost you a nickel to get the news of Ravenswood.

By Robert N. Farr

an angle of about 45 degrees, so that when the flaming gases rush out they cause the rocket to spin and literally chew its way through the atmosphere. This spinning motion stabilizes the rocket in flight, 80 it needs no fins. The V-2 probably travels about 1000 miles an hour, or about 300 miles an hour faster than sound. Some sort of cooling device undoubtedly is necessary to prevent it from getting so hot that it detonates its explosives before it reaches the earth.

Like a Telephone Pole

SINCE THE V-2 strikes the ‘earth with terrific speed, more than one detonator seems likely, as well as a time fuse. This system of multiple detonators practically eliminates the possibility of duds. The V-2 is shaped like a telephone pole, with the warhead rounded to increase its penetrating qualities, according to Stockholm reports. Reports from Nazi Adm. Dgenitz hint that Nazis are fitting up submarines for launching the 25-foot V-1 rockets against American cities. These reports can be discounted for if the Nazis had such intentions they would keep them secret. The subs would have to come to the surface to launch the rockets, making them an easy target for the coastal defense planes and blimps.

By Eleanor Roosevelt

was adopted n Chicago less than two months ago. It said: ‘We will not participate in foreign wars, and we Will not send our army, navy or air forces to fight in foreign lands outside of the Americas, except in case of attack.” : 3. On Oct, 23, 1940, in Philadelphia, the President again said: “We are arming ourselves not for any

By Tom | Wolf !

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The Indianapolis Ti

SECOND SECTION | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1944 PAGE 11 CAPTURE OF METZ POINTS ALLIED MIGHT DIRECTLY AT PRUSSIA— Labor

Saar Basin....A s Natural Invasion Route

By Solence Service ASHINGTON. — Less than 50 railroad miles to the east of the newly— conquered city of Metz in the Lorraine is the German city of Saarbrucken in Saarland-—one of the 16 German states—and the Saar basin which forms a natural invasion route . from France into Prussia. The Saar river flows generally northward through the great Saar coal field to Konz, Where it joins the Moselle which in turn joins the Rhine at Koblenz. 2 o = THE ROUTES leading from the Alsace-Lorraine area in France, now occupied by American forces, directly eastward into southern Germany encounter the difficult Rhine and the steep western slopes of the mountains in the Black Forest that face the Rhine valley. The Saar river basin passes between hills and mountains on either side, but these mountains are less precipitous than those of the Black Forest. The Saar basin route leads also directly into the Ruhr basin, Hitler's great steel manufacturing and chemical area. N o » » Saarland (or Saar as it is often called), is a relatively small area, only about 12 times the size of the District of Columbia, but important because of its coal deposits and their néarness to the iron deposits in Lorraine. Saarbrucken is an industrial city where the coal and iron ore meet to be converted into metal for German munitions. Its industries supply Nazidom with iron, steel and machinery, and also with coal gas, ceramics, glass, and chemicals. The Saar is an area of great value to both France and Germany, and over its ownership

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The Saar basin, whose industrial might is graphically portrayed on the above map, is in the direct

path of Yanks advancing into Germany.

Important source of Nazi war production, the Saar’s capital

is Saarbrucken, a modern industrial city comprised of huge steel plants and smelters. Inset map shows

location of Saar basin.

and control there has been much-

controversy. ] 2 " » AFTER THE close of world war I, the treaty of Versailles gave France absolute possession of the coal mines as compensation for the destruction of her northern mines by the Germans, and as part-payment toward German reparations. To assure the welfare of the

HUMAN INTEREST—

—The treasury department has

a|~ WARNERTON, La., Nov. 21 (U.

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Old Money Goes’ Into Pulp Vats Instead of Fire

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (U. P)

no more money to burn. Because of the paper shortage, the treasury department announced it would stop burning up worn and mutilated bills, bonds and stamps and would mash them up instead to produce some five tons of high-grade paper pulp daily.

RRS

TWINS BORN IN 2 STATES

P.).—Add this one to the recent series of multi-birth stories: Mrs. Jerome Walker increased the populations of both Louisiana and Mississippi over the week-end by giving birth to twins —one in each state. It happened while racing the stork to a hospital at Tylertown, Miss. A six and one-half pound

it reached the state border. A second baby girl was delivered at the hospital.

SOUVENIR BACKFIRES

WASHINGTON, Nov, 21 (U.P.), —When 15-yeah-old Joe Griffith's big brother Hugh came home from overseas he gave his kid brother a battle squvenir—a detonator, used to set off a German mine. Yesterday Joe was riding in the back seat of a streetcar when the detonator went off in his hand. He lost two fingers and a thumb, No one else in the car was inJured. x

GRENADE GETS HORSE WITH THE 96TH INFANTRY DIVISION ON LEYTE, Nov. 21 (U. P.).~Riflemen of this division, who had been ordered to shoot anything that moved, waitet tensely in their foxholes one night for an almost certain Japanese counter-attack in the fight for Labir Hill Suddenly a trip flare went off and two Yank grenades exploded. “Hell,” said a soldier; “we got something all right—but no Japs.” In front of them lay a dead horse and two chickens, 2

HE LIKES HIS OPERA NEW YORK, Nov, 21 (U, P.).— Norman H. Egenberg of Bayonne, N. J, an accounting student at Pace Institute, headed a queue two blocks long today and purchased the first ticket for the opening of the 60th season at the Metropolitan opera house. Mr. Egenberg, who arose at 3:30 and was in line at 5:30 a, m., said it was his fourth successive “first”

BARNABY

WRONG GUESS— Japs Say ‘Fag’ Scarcity Spells U. S. Collapse

By UNITED PRESS

JAPANESE propagandists cited the shortage of cigarets in the United States last night as proof that “the ‘American home. front is on the verge of collapse.” A Tokyo broadcast, recorded by CBS in San Francisco, said it virtually was impossible to find a pack of popular brand cigarets anywhere in the country and claimed this was “extremely serious.” » ” ” ‘WHERE ARE THE SMOKES?” LONDON, Nov, 21 (U, P.).— Speaking as “the voice of American servicemen in the United Kingdom,” tie. army newspaper Stars and Stripes ‘today published a front-page editorial asking’ Washington, “Where are the cigarets?” The editorial said the question was reasonable in view of a cut in the ration last week to five packs and the announcement yesterday that the sale of cigarets

to’ noncombatants had been sus--

pended in the United Kingdom.

inhabitants of the Saar and enable France to exploit the mines, an international governing commission, responsible to the league of nations, was set up and endowed with all powers of government formerly held by Germany. It was to hold authority until 1935, when the future of Saar would be detérmined by the wishes of its people. Among the approximately 850,- ” - o

MIRACLE IN METZ—

000 persons in Saar in 1935, more than 800,000 were German. At a plebiscite, or formal expression by balloting, held in January of that year over 90 per cent of the ballots indicated a desire on the part of the people to be a part of the Reich, so on March 1, 1935, the league returned Saar to Germany. After this war it may become a part of France. . » .

Famed Cathedral and Its

Priceless Windows Intact

By ROBERT

W. RICHARDS

United Press Staff Correspondent WITH THE U. 8. 5TH DIVISION, in Metz, Nov. 20 (Delayed). —

The magnificent cathedral of St.

Stephen and its priceless stained

glass windows have survived the siege of Metz intact. The towering cruciform pile, built on the highest eminence of the

city, somehow escaped the rain of

bombs and shells that fell on Meta.

The only trace of damage to be seen today was a single shat

tered window—an ordinary glass put in at the beginning of the war when the cathedral’s famous windows were removed for safekeeping, With a group of doughboys, I inspected the cathedral under the guidance of the caretaker. We'll call him Joseph, because that’s a good name and he proved himself a good man today. f J EJ » THERE ARE many inside the fallen fortress city, who showed clearly that they could take their liberation or leave it,

They almost scowled as they |

watched American soldiers advancing through their streets, But not this tall, gaunt man who has spent most of his life guarding the cathedral of Metz with its

wonderful steeple and its pictur-

esque gargoyles. He unlocked the great doors and led us up into the tower, There we could see the country-side for miles and spot tiny pockets where die-hard Nazis still were holding out against the business-like doughboys who were developing their ability to kill with automatic weapons to an almost methodical perfection. o » .

JOSEPH took us inside the great church and let us see for

ourselves that the building was

intact, We turned to leave, because it was getting dark and there still were many snipers hidden in the city. But he called us back. “No,” he said, “you haven't seen it yet. Wait.”

He pulled me by the arm and |

brought us down into a damp cellar far beneath the cathedral, There, packed side by side in wooden cases” lay the famous stained glass windows of St. Stephen'’s, exactly as the French left them when they were stored away in 1939, ” » » THE CARETAKER pulled up the boards from one case and showed us the window. It contained a portrait of one of the cathedral's earliest bishops, He held it out for all of our‘party to see, and one jittery doughboy, packing a. tommy-gun under one arm, got nervous. “Put it back now,” he told the old man, “You might drop it. I

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sure would feel bad if something happened to that.” So Joseph put the glass back in its case. “You are the first to see this since 1939,” he said. “Sometimes those Boches wanted to see, but I put them off. I always said: ‘We will look some other time, perhaps tomorrow.’ ”

ELEVATOR JITTERS— 3000 Pounds of Elephant Balks . . ’ . I At Riding "Lift CHICAGO, Nov. 21 (U. P).— Figuratively speaking, Judy, 3000 pounds of temperamental elephant, must have been laughing in her trunk today. Judy, imported from a Sheboygan, Wis, circus to play the part of Eddie, in the book, “Eddie, the Elegant Elephant,” spent two hours yesterday - autographing books in the book department of Marshall Field & Co.'s department store. » » n JUDY USED a rubber stamp which she held in her trunk to autograph the books, and she did very well at it too. Then came closing time, and Judy balked at taking the elevator down three flights to the ground floor, It was the same elevator she had ridden up on, but Judy objected to the return trip and all the coaxing by her trainer, Capt. Henry Thompson, couldn't change her mind. She just sat down, all 3000 pounds of her, and looked “perplexed. . » »

A HURRIED telephone call to the Brookfield zoo brought the suggestion that perhaps Judy would walk down if a ramp was built, So carpenters were called and hastily constructed a threestory ramp. © Five hours later, Judy tested the completed ramp gingerly, gave it her official approval, and lumbered majestically out of the building. P. 8. The balance of Judy’s twoday scheduled apeparance at Marshall Field's was canceled.

By Crockett Johnson

It hasn't won ye, officially. You see, the drawing won't be held until TOMORROW.

: bor is absent-minded) by a

Labor United In Criticizing U.S. Agencies

By FRED W. PERKINS WASHINGTON, Nov. 21~~The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, in- reports ' presented by their head officers to their conventions in New Orleans and Chicago this week, disagree on some impor= tant subjects. But in two they agree — criticism of the two federal agencies that affect them most directly. Both have unkind words

Mr. Perkins for the war labor board for much the same reasons—its long delays in disposition of cases, and particularly its failure after nearly a year to reach a decision in the most important case of all, the

unions’ demands for scrapping of the Little Steel formula. Both C. I. O. and A. P. of L. also attack the national relations board, but for differing reasons, although the underlying motive is the same—each labor body says its interests are being dealt with unfairly by NLRB.

THE A. F. of L's charges that NLRB encourages the C. I. O. in union “raiding,” and it calls for two amendments to the Wagner Act. One would protect craft orkers against industrial unions of the C. I. O. ‘type. The.other would provide court reviews of NLRB decisions in collective-bar-gaining representation cases. The C. I O. says that NLRB’s “recent acts reflect a retreat from the basic policies and principles underlying the national labor relations act and actually deprive. the workers of the nation of the fundamental rights which the act was intended to guarantee to them.” Items in this indictment are that NLRB “has usurped the authority to inquire into all the activities of labor unions and if not pleased with them may deny the protection of the act;” that it . has bungled the union rights of foremen; and has proposed to give employers the right, upon termination of union contracts, to request elections to prove the union’s majority status. » . .

ONE IMPORTANT question on which the two big organizations do not agree is that of labor unity, or a reunion between their forces. The C. I. O, report does not mention the subject. The A. P. of L, after reporting no meetings of the two “peace committees” in the past year, warns: “The cause of labor will not be ‘well served if we face the postwar period divided, disunited and fighting each other. It is reasonable to conclude that we will be forced to meet a severe test when the war is over. No doubt the enemies of labor will unite against us. That means we will be compelled to face united opposition on the part of our enemies and changed “economic conditions which will seriously affect our efforts to maintain American wage standards and conditions of employment.”

We, the Wome So af Last The Christmas Worm Turns

By RUTH MILLETT AT LAST women ought to be able to understand the look that comes on a man’s face when he _opens a package containing a kind

“Christmas necktie” — the hastily picked out by a woman hurrying to an important a pp ointment with her hairdresser, ‘Because women are getting that same incredulous look on their faces

these days ' when they Miss Millett open packages from their men

overseas. A grass skirt for the baby. A box of sweaters for the wife who never was and never will be a sweater girl. A solid silver candle snuffer. A good-sized model of a native boat for a child whose mother is living in a small apartment with no place to put any thing. » » ”

NO WONDER the women look

startled—when they see what their men folks, left entirely on their own, consider appropriate gifts. hy! The . only ‘reason the women aren’t used to gifts bought with such carefree masculine abandon is that when their ‘men are at

home their women see to it that -

they happen to know just wha to buy the little woman. ‘ Either, when an anniversaty, birthday, or Supistmus ap-

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