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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1943-2-3, Page 3CLEANING. UP IN TUNISIA Handy horse trottgb somewhere in Tunisia makes a wash basin for British paratrooper cleaning some of that embattled country's mud off his boots. GIVES UP PRECIOUS 0 I S H E S, PANS TO CAMOUFLAGE MINES False Holes Dug in Roads To Delay German Advance. What Have Canadians To Sacrifice, So Precious To Them? Money Means Relatively Little But We Can At Least Give it. By Gregory Clark The Rental' sergeant was ex- ,hlaining to the woman by the roadside that his 20 men —' who had come in three trucks—were up to. "We are mining the road," he said. "A whole regiment .ot Ger- man tanks has broken out of Stalingrad. They may come this toad. We have been seat to delay them." "Why are you swearing?" the woman asked. "Because what eau I do with 18 mines?" cried the sergeant bit- terly. itterly. "When they hit tho first one, they will all stop while the Pioneers get out and search and find the other 17 . , "They can't leave the roa:d," said the woman cheerfully. "If they get out in these drifts, the , swamps will swallow their tanks like frogs." "2 know, I know," said the ser- geant. "Then don't hide the . mines," said the woman. "Just pretend to bide then,. Dig here 20 holes, and put three mines at random in three of the holes. The rest ase dumrules. But it .will take them jest as long to test the dummies." "You're a smart womaa," said the sergeant. "What can we put on top of the dummy holes?" "Plates, tin pots, anything," said the woman. "I'll. get mine." And while .the mine layers dug holes and buried only three mines at random in the sett, the woman The Pacific F' cean Calm and Peaceful Greater in Area Than En- tire Land Surface of Globe The Pacific Ocean was named by Magellan, the great Portuguese who was the first man to °toss it —ninety-eight days under sail, from the Straits of Magellan in South America to Guam, W. B. Courtney writes in Collier's. Be called it "Pacific"—calm and Peaceful, In this respect, Magel- lan was Iucky--a s many a Yank fighting man could testify, out of his green -faced misery. In its storms, as in all other things, the Pacific drives. the most conserv- ative onseryative to superlatives; it is biggest, widest, deepest, bluest, quietest, grandest and wildest.' n Its area is greater than tate en, tire land surface of the gobe. You could drop the whole United Status is any one or several ex- panses of the Pacific, and none of its frontiers would touch as much as an islet. Yet'its map in places is as salted with islands as the Milky Wiry, is with stars; although even here you may cruise among. them for days, as our transport did, and not sight land—so far are they apart. * * * The Pacific is nearly twice as large as the North and South At- lantic combined, and it has more than :double their total amount . at water. It. contains more than half of all the water on earth, in. eluding oeeees, arae, rivers and lakes. It is more than 9,000 miles Iong tt'oni Bet:ring' Strait to the Arltaretio Circle; and it as 10,000 miles wide at the equator. It tales the sun tonhours to cross it, or nearly one-italf,00 itsclay's join'- ney, It has the „greatest known deeps—the Philippine, east of the. Islands, and the Nero, off Guam, for instance, both going dews elk miles or more. Its average depth is over two and a halt tulles, By contrast, even the latest Gorman Wheats cannot submerge with safety more than ,000 Treat. came back with a sack full of her Precious dishes and pans. At halt -mile intervals along that ravaged road, the Russian ser- geant and his party dug setts .of 20 and more holes, burying only enough mines to make the sett deadly; the rest they topped with tin pots and plates that would ring dangerously to the German'e. probing rods ... and delay them another half-hour. For a dummy takes as long as a real mine to investigate, The: Germans came. .They were delayed. And the Russian anti- tank troops arrived in time to wipe them out, body, soul and hardware. But you have nothing you pos- sess which is as precious to you as those dishes were to thatInus- siasi woman living In a shanty. What's your gift to the cause? Address it to the Canadian Aid to Russia Fund, 80 Ring Street West, Toronto, Let Skeeters Bite To Aid Science Six mels sititng for hours every day in a sealed tent in Northern Australia encourage a cloud of mosquitoes to bite then?, prefer- ably at the rate of 10 a minute. They are entomologists racing against time to develop a more ef- fective repellant of the malaria- earwying• anopheles. mosquito as the rainy season closes up north. A repellant must be discovered, manufactured in large, quantities and distributed to the troops. The main objectives of the research- ers are to protect tete troops in the New Guinea jungles and over- come the ever-present (tenger of malaria outbreakon the Aus- tralian mainland. Malaria can put ,'out of action large numbers of troops for a prolonged period. Guerilla Warfare Within France Mratch for reports of organized guerilla warfare within France not. unlike that in Yugoslavia, though on a smaller scale, says Newsweek. Information leaking out of the country indicates that planned resistance is already under way. Disbanded French soldiers have been turning up at prearranged meeting places in re- mote sections, notably in Auv- ergne and the Pyrenees. These men have been responsible for several acts of sabotage that have slowed up traffic between France and Spain, There is one known instance of a German infantry patrol's exchanging fire with night raiders and suffering ,casu- aities, VOICE OF 1 Fla PRESS ARMY P,O, EFFICIENT Owen Sound Pilot Officer has just recently received a letter with a 'r'ecord, 1tailed to him in England in October, 1941, ik fol,. lowed him to Malta, Egypt, Libya and back to Egypt to West Af- rica, back to Tngland and then to Ca"mda .where 12 eaught up, But it c .fight up. 'l'!se Army Post Of- fice knows its business -- Owen Sound Sun -.Gimes, GOOD ANSWER An old lady in Holland gave a clever answer when charged with listening to 13730 broadcasts. "The Fuehrer," she said in her own defence, "announced he would be in London in :rune, 1940, Since then I've listened to London every day to make sure I wouldn't miss what he said when be got there." —Toronto Star. ALL IN ONE JUMP A 16 -year-old Toronto boy, missing since October 1, has been found in Georgia, where he is training with the First Canadian Parachute Battalion. His is a modern suceeus story. He took off from his mother's apron strings and landed in parachute. harness.—Windsor Star. OUR OWN ENEMY For high taxes, crowded street- cars, the shortage of gasoline, rubber, sugar; coffee and tea, we can blame Hitler if we like. But tor eater rationing we have only ourselves to blame.—Ottawa Citizen. THOUGHT FOR STRIKER When his son asks him, ten years hence. "What did you do M the war, Daddy?" surely no father will relish having to an- swer: "I went on strike in a wax' industry plant."—Stratford Bea- con -Herald. IT'S WORTH SAVING And don't take too much stocn in that rumor that the Germans are planning to scrap the Eiffel Tower. It's such an excellent jumping-offplace for Adolf when the time comes. --Ottawa Citizen, WHAT A QUEER' WORLD Sufficient evidence of the dis- location of the world: The Japa- nese are just as' busy making. gasoline out 'of rubber as we are making rubber out of gasoline.— New York Senn. THE GERMAN HEELS News stories say the Germans are being rocked back on their heels. The heels, no doubt, are Hitler, Goering, Himmler and and Goebbels.—Hitchener Record. An instrument has been devel- oped that enables blind persons to make precision inspection of certain machine products in war industries. Air Base Built In Three Days gnelaeers tl s e Air -borne R0ad.bullding Equipment Home from Nerlb 8lrlee, Brig. Oen. Strait C. Godfrey diselose,i a new weapon of his aviation eu- gllleers -, air -borne road -building equipment which.makes it possible to construct advaneed air bases almoet overnight, When it became eerc'ssarY to establish advanced airdromes to support the action. in Tunisia, Gen- eral Godfrey said, a call was put Infor 'the air -borne engineers. With their equipment, they were flown in cargo planes' to points as clots as possible to the selected sites, Withia tbree days, Flying Fort- resses were taking off from the first base, and a second base was completed the next day. "Om' Allies couldn't believe their eyes when they saw equipment be- ing »nloaded from airplanes and going right to work," he reported. Portable Hangars This kind or forebaudedness, he Fah], is going a long way toward solving the difficult supply prob- lem in North Africa, where for 1,000 milesthere are pule a single railroad and a narrow highway system along the coast. Among the .equipment, specially designed for tranepoi'tation in planes or gliders, are lightweight, portable hangars, a gasoline -oper- ated lighting unit for night con struetion work and lighting the field for night tying, a road scraper which canbe hauled by a jeep, and rollers to be filled with water or sand. The air -borne aviation engineers were first organized last summer. Their training was so rapid, Gen- eral Stuart said, that within six months they were at work in Eng- land and ready for the North Afri- can campaign, where most of their work has been pioneering. Tough Training "The idea beheld them," he ex- plained, "is that they can get into fields captured by paratroops or on invaded islands right with the attack units to make ready for air operations with a minimum of delay. "The saving of a few hours or days in the construction of such airdromes may have a great bear- ing on the outcome of a whole campaign." The air -borne aviation engineers go through a. tough training course. They are chosen from the Air Forces personnel for their stamina and special skills. They must have both basic combat and engineering training. Then they are instructed in operations of their specialized equtpinent, special engineering courses, advanced training ' with such weapous as submachine guns, carbines and rifles, and a course in Commando exerciser. SIDE GLANCES By George Clark 9-t "l don't think you're even trying to teach me to drive." THE WAR , WEEK -- Commentary on Current 0112 Churchill, Roosevelt Meet Afric Leaders Agree On 1943 Strategy Prime :Minister t'hurrhlil and I'reeidt'nt Roosevelt, together with their chiefs of staff and other military and civil officials, have canelucied a ten-day conference at Casablanca, Morocco, in which a general progs'atume et military strategy for 1943 was worked out. It has been disele:3ml ethat the United Nations would be satisfied with nothing slsort of the enemy's unconditional surrender, excluding the possibility of a negotiated Peace, me was (pal/tied by Mr. Roosevelt's statement that the de. struettou of pepulatious was pot intended, but rather the deeti'ue- tion of a philosophy `based on con- quest and terror. General Girand, High Commis- sioner for Frenell North Africa:. and General de Gaulle, leader of Fighting Prance, were also pre- sent at the conference. For obvious reasons, no details of the deeielons reached at this bistoric Casablanca conference bane been given to the public. French Problem It is evident from the place chosen for this meeting, held with- in a few hours' airplane flight from the African battlefront, that the lereuch • problem was upper- most In the minds orf both Mr. Churchill and Mr. Roosevelt. Nei- ther felt it safe to temporize long- er with a situation which found French factions in an open quar- rel and British and: American op- inion drifting dangerously apart. Fortunately Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill have more in com- mon than have most of their critics, on both sides of the At- lantic, wdien any -question regard- ing France becomes the issue, says the New York Times. Both Mr, Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill knew France intimately, under- stand France, and cherish a long friendship with the French people. Both are men of action, impatient with words, and the disagree- ments growing out of words, viten there is fighting to be done. Both passionately desire the re- birth of the French Republic. French Leaders Meet Sharing this faith, and meeting ori French soil, they could not tail to end the schism which has divided Frenchmen bearing arms against a common foo. The joint statement made by General de Gaulle and General Giraud has in it all the essential elements of an understanding that will suffice un- til the war is won. The two lead- ers have met. They have talked. They are "in entire agreement on the end to be achieved, which is the liberty 'of the French people and the triumph of human liber- ties by the defeat of the enemy." They will attain this end ".by the union of all Frenchmen fighting side by side with their allies." This is as ranch as we need ask. Nor have we the right to.ask more. We cannot expect' Fenehnlen, in France itself or in any part of the Frcvsrh EEnmpire, to surrender hen - est eunvietions about the penile needs of post-war lerallce. We cam not expect the political disaeroe- rnents whirl, so deeply 'divided pre-war France, and so,dareterous- ly sapped the .strength of 11 e Tined Republic, to vanieb Miran* lonely overnight, merely because we wouldlike to see all Freneh• mete united in every hope and every purpose. What we can ask, and what we can now expect, Is that Frenchmen of every party anis of 'every faction will sul,ord- inato 1i011tleal disagreemente t0 the immediate and essential teak of driving, from the soil of France the arch -fiend, Hitler, who pots - ens and corrupts and tyrannizes the French people. A Fair Bargain We aro entitled to believe that the agreement reached between General de Gaulle and General Gi- rand at Casablanca under the aus- pices of the cbiefs of state of the two gloat English-speaking democ• racies carries this implication and this promise. Certainly it carries, on our side, a commitment from which we can- not escape with honor: a commit- ment to use all our intelligence and all our power to make certain that no post-war government es set up is France except in accord- ance with the freely expressed wishes of the French people. This is the fair bargain signed at Casablanca. Complete Agreemgent Concerning the military daces' ions reached at the conference we are not entitled to go beyond the language of the communique itself. But that language is crisp, confi- dent and promising. "Theatre by theatre," the entire field of the war was surveyed, "and all resources were marshaled for more intensive prosecution of the war by land, sea and air." There was "complete agreement " $ a upon war plans and enter- prises to be undertaken during the campaign of 1943 against Ger- many, Italy and Japan, with a view to drawing the utmost advantage from the markedly favorable turn of events at the close of 1942." The Americans and British were at all times in close touch with Stalin and with Chiang Kai-shek. Attending the conference were field officers from the African campaign, fresh from experience with the newest weapons and the latest tactics. The whole discus - sem took Dime in the reality of a present battlefield from which at- tacks may be launched in a halt dozen directions at the Continent of Europe. The communique ends on a bus- inesslike note: "The President, the Prime Minister and the com- bined staffs, having completed their plans for the offensive cam- paigns of 1943, have now separat- ed in order to put them into active and concerted exeeuttai." THE UNCONQUERABLES They Still Retain Their Sense of Humor . Laughter continues to be a po- tent secret weapon of Europe's conquered peoples, and the grim Nazis have yet to fled armor thick enough to ward off the thrusts of wit, sarcasm and satire directed against them. In Nos -way recenty the Quisling- ists had to forbid all newspaper mention of Oslo's eat-oxtertinination campaign. One leading journal lent entbesiastic support of the drive two yeea•s ago, with a strong edi- torial entitled: "Out . With the Rats!" To readers who substi- tuted the word "Nazis" for "rats," the editorial provided no end el delight and it was plaint that the writer had planned it that way. When Quisling's official newspaper ran an indignant editorial in re- ply, the laughter was all the louder. In more sober vein, a Swedish newspaper reports that the Nazis have forbidden the singing of Martin Luther's famous hymn, "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God," in Norwegian chinches becaue of the stanza containing the lines: Their dreaded prince no more Can harm us as of yore; I3is rage we can endure, For, lol IIis doom is sere. Suspicioue Nazis fear that the Norwegians may at times think of Hitler when they sing about the "dreaded prince." Meanwhile in the Netherlands the able subjects of Queen Wilhel• mina continue to find ways of drowning out unwelcome Nazi speakers, When a crowd does not peal its bicycle bells for this pur- pos, it may resort to such cheer- ing and applause that the speaker gives up in disgust. * * ,x But a new stratagem was used to halt a Dutch Nazi propagandist who sought, by loudspeaker, to address the town of Hilbarenbeek. No sooner had he begun orating than the carillon of a nearby church inexplicably began to play. The Nazi shouted for 15 minutes, Ms every syllable drowned out by the bells. Finally he had to com- pel the burgomaster to order the • air raid sentry atop the choral tower to turn off the music. By such tricks and tiu'usts, by subtly -phrased newapo.per an- nouncements and by ants -Nazi jokes that spread like wildfire, the unconquerable people have made humor and derision a pow- srfiil part of their "war of nerves" against the Nazis. Bliley and Curley of the Anzacs .....AND THAT COVE CURLEY GE'T'S Sec. PAIR OP SOCKS SENT UIM PROM HOME , HE HAD PLENTY OF SOCKS 60 HE SELLS HE A PAIR oa' two Boo,/{ "Careless Curley" .,.,1411€N 1 PUTS THE SOCKS ON, SLOWED IF 1 DON'T FI2ID A TEN SOS 'NOTE STUCK DOWN IN TH' Wfl14 LOVE FROM NIS SISTER NA HA , By Gurney (Australia) YoU'LL COUGH THAT i' Ll Qt.b ...,You COW.... IF NE GOT to CHASE YOU POR. A MON'T'H /' n