Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 11, Number 45, DeMotte, Jasper County, 18 September 1941 — WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Greer Incident Is Believed Nazi Test Of American Foreign Policy Position; Japanese Paper Sees Defeat for Germans; General Winter Nears Eastern Front [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Greer Incident Is Believed Nazi Test Of American Foreign Policy Position; Japanese Paper Sees Defeat for Germans; General Winter Nears Eastern Front

By Edward C. Wayne

(EDITOR’S NOTE—When •pinions are expressed in these columns, they are these es the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) _____________ (Released by Western Newspaper Union, t , . „

One Was Attacked; One Sailed Safely

GREER: A Test by Nazis

The encounter of the U. S. Destroyer Greer 200 miles southwest of Iceland with a German submarine turned out to be an incident of the utmost importance in defining America’s position in the world war. It was not so much the nature of the battle, but the wording of the German announcements concerning it that increased its significance to Americans. For the Nazis not merely admitted that it was a German submarine which was involved, they placed the blame squarely on President Roosevelt, not only because of the President’s general foreign policy, but went beyond this and charged that Mr. Roosevelt had given general orders for the American navy to start shooting. The Germans asserted that the Greer vyas the aggressor in the fight, had not merely contented itself with ascertaining the position of the submarine, but had begun the shooting, and that the German craft had defended itself without “being in a position to know’’ the nationality of the U. S. craft. The President took the attitude that the Greer was on proper U. S. business on the high seas, that he saw no reason to consider a German blockade zone as having any effect on the freedom of the seas for American vessels, and that the Greer, in attempting to “eliminate” a German submarine after an attack, had acted properly. In many quarters it was believed that the prime purpose of the U-boat attack on the Greer had been to create an incident which would test out the' strength of the President’s foreign policy, and perhaps create a national tempest to have American troops withdrawn from Iceland, and the naval vessels ordered to keep out of the eastern parts of the Atlantic. Perhaps, if the Germans had said: “We are sorry, but the torpedoes were launched .from a considerable distance, and we had thought the Greer was a British destroyer,” the furor over the incident would have died in a day or two. No bones were broken or armor plate dent. But the Germans decided instead to charge Mr. Roosevelt with having ordered the American ship to attack the U-boat, and the reaction, as far as could be seen, was quite the reverse of what the Germans had planned and hoped for. One congressman said: "I’d believe Roosevelt against Hitler any day in the week.” And that about summed up the general public reaction. Most interesting was the excitement of certain super-isolationists, who immediately, following the encounter, had said that the Greer was attacked by a British submarine in a gigantic plot to get the United States into the war. The acceptance by Germany of the submarine’s identity deflated these arguments abruptly.

JAPAN: Sees Defeat?

Arrival of a second tanker-load of oil at Vladivostok without Japanese interference was accompanied both by a stiffening of the British-Ameri-can attitude toward Nippon and a sensational article in Japan NewsWeek practically predicting a Nazi defeat in this, the third year of the war. No attempt w r as made to suppress the publication in a paper which often reflects the views of high goverriment circles. At the same tirrlg a national newspaper poll disclosed that Americans had voted 70 per cent in favor of a curbing of Japan even at the cost of war. Japan's News-Week said: “The situation ushering in the third year of war is such that although it does not indicate that the Nazis and their ill-founded plans have been defeated, it does mean that by the end of the the finish the horrible carnage should be within the grasp of the Allies. “However well Hitler may have thought his march to world dorriination, it is now quite apparent that even he is fallible.” . Regardless of the official or unofficial character of the publication, observers saw in the permission to circulate this article a powerful sign of a milder Japanese viewpoint toward the world situation, and a doubt in thinking circles as to the wisdom of the Axis tie-up for Japan, an affinity which the United States and Britain were doing all in their power to break down.

LENINGRAD: Defense of City

Despite conflicting reports about the status of the battle for Leningrad, it \yas evident that the defense of the city already had started, and that once again the Russians were surprising the world with the tenacity of their resistance, and their willingness to make huge sacrifices for eventual victory. Early in the German invasion of Russia it had been stated that if the Russians were willing to make the necessary sacrifices, and were willing to fight on even though forced into retreat that might cost them Leningrad, Moscow and Kiev, the Germans would find them as tough a nut to crack as the Japanese had found the Chinese. France had the same opportunity, but had failed. Would the Russians really fight. The answer to that question already had been written in the history of 2 Vz months of warfare on the eastern front, and the Russian defense of their homeland was challenging the admiration of skeptical England and even more skeptical America. The end of September was going to bring the end of favorable blitz weather for the Germans, and most military observers believed the Nazi army was in for a tough winter in Russia. Claims were still conflicting, but the admission by the Germans of upwards of 1,500,000 casualties on their own side spoke volumes for the real character of the Russian defense. The Finns were claiming “confusion” in Leningrad and the “city in flames,” while Moscow reported its defense intact, and counterattacks on the borders of the city succeeding. The German communiques claimed only that her longer-range guns had found the city’s industrial plants, but told of severe resistance “by men, women and children.”

CRUISERS: Pair Take W ater

At Kearny, N. J., and at Quincy, Mass., two more cruisers took the water to add strength to America’s two-ocean navy, and a third’s keel was laid the same day at Philadelphia. The Kearny ship, a 6,000-ton speedster, was reported to have a speed of 43 knots, equal to the fastest destroyer. Many secret features give her this speed, it was said. The other vessel, the San Juan, launched at Quincy, was of similar characteristics, but all information about her in detail was withheld. The launchings brought the total of ships far past the 338 figure on August 1, which did not include the new battleships North Carolina and Washington, floating but not yet in actual service, also many smaller craft. The fleet actually in service included 15 battleships, 6 aircraft carriers," 37 cruisers, 168 destroyers, 112 submarines.

FORTRESS: Plane of the Hour

Although there are only a few “fortress bombers” in Britain taking part in the air blitz of Germany and occupied points, the work they were doing was bringing much commendation that many styled them “America’s outstanding contribution to warfare.” There was little mystery about the new ships, for they were simply a translating of the “stratoliner” into a warplane. And the United States, recognizing the favorable reaction to this air weapon in actual use, immediately implemented it by giving a $337,000,000 order to Boeing and designating two other factories to make them in volume, giving Douglas a $9,700, 000 contract for a few, and ordering the Vega factory to get ready to put them out on a basis of interchangeable parts with those made by Boeing and Douglas. 0 - What the Fortress plane, as Britain called them, could do was being demonstrated almost daily in warfare. The usual communique was that a bombing had been carried out, and “all our planes returned.” A jaunt from Britain to Berlin was just a short hop for these planes, carrying a huge load of bombs and moving high above accurate antiaircraft fire, often not seen or heard until their explosives started hitting the ground. Yet at least one had returned partially damaged after an encounter with seven Nazi fighter planes, which were forced to attack it from down under. The usual technique of fighting a bomber is to sw’oop on its tail from above. The planes are four-motored, of excessively high speed, capable of flight, fully loaded, at 40,000 feet altitude, carry a big crew, heavy armament, and a tremendous load of large-caliber bombs. It is known that a navy plane of similar proportions is soon to be launched and tested in this country. It is even larger than the Fortress bombers.

PLOT: To Fuel U-Boats

Baltimore, a port-of-call for the German submarine Deutschland during the last war, got a thrill out of the revelation that a Portuguese freighter, the Mello, was seized at Norfolk, Va., after loading in the Maryland city a cargo of 1,000 gallons of lubricating oil, believed destined for German submarines at sea. The Mello put into Norfolk, and during a routine customs examination, the supply of lubricating oil, which the ship was not licensed to carry, was found, and it was listed simply as “stores.” The U. S. attorney at Baltimore issued a warrant for the arrest of the captain, J. C. Martins. He was charged with violating two presidential proclamations which listed certain items which could not be exported without license. A customs investigator said: “We believe this sort of thing—you call it a racket—has been going on for some time.” He explained that with 75 ships loading at once, and only 25 customs investigators to examine them, many vessels are "get ting awa/’ with large quantities of unlicensed material.

Almost at the same time that a Nazi sub attacked the U.S.S. Greer near Iceland, the safe arrival at Vladivostok was announced of the 8,428ton American oil tanker, Associated. (Below) The Associated carrying 85,000 barrels of high-octane gas for use by Soviet aircraft is the second tanker reaching the Siberian port without incident despite some Japanese talk of stopping American ships in a Japanese sea zone. The Greer, undamaged, dropped a depth bomb in a counterattack on the sub. The incident is the first in which an American warship figured in the present war. Showing (at top) is the U.S.S. Roper, sister ship of the Greer.