Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Seaforth News, 1942-12-24, Page 7DAILY MUSA= OF .11,,C.A.T.P. PLANES eeeesseeetieseeseseeeeese.• rt#ee"--' • eleeS(sehee. In three years the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan has grown from a vision and a few blueprints to a vital factor in the confident hopes of the United Nations, The Plan which already has placed thousands of trained airmen in the aerial fighting fronts of the world is still growing and its production of aircrew is still accelerating. Day in and day out, training planes of the BOATP in Canada fly an average of 2,000,000 miles. Trips to the moon are. still fantastic but the distance travelled by training aircraft is ap- proximately the equivalent of nine one-way trips to or from the moon. CHRISTMAS IN PRE-WAR DAYS By: George M. Speedie There were eight . of us all told and we were gathered from widely different parts of the world. The Alristmas season is always a spe- 1 time When sailors foregather. Even atter the lapse of years, I recall that big fellow from some- where in South .Ainerica, the ,two sailor lads from Glasgow and two from London—both pairs appar- ently anxious to compete for a syrize In their fine sense of humour. There was a man frons Denmark, also; but the one who interested rae more than others was a, young sailor from ,Toronto. It was Christmas Eve, and prep- arations for the celebration of Christmas were abundant. The Christmas tree—the largest that could be had—lay at the end of the Hall, waiting far the sailors from the home vessels to erect in its proper place and to decorate according to the usage of past .11r * - This place of meeting for those young sailors from all over the seven seas was the British & American Sailors' Institute in Ham- burg, Germany. I was there for years as the Chaplain to the sail- ors frequenting that great port. "Great" Is permissible, for at that time it was the third or .fourth largest port in the world. On this Christmas Eve we gathered around the fire. As Chaplain, I suggested that we each tell our best Christ- mas story. it was simple to get them to talk. The sailing ship trees were particularly interest- ing. The Toronto sailor confined British Colonial Empire Is Not Coming To End — - — Lord Cranborne Asserts Cit- izens Have Mission To Do Replying authoritatively •to crit- ics of imperial policy, Lord Oran - borne declared not •long ago that "the British Colonial Empire is not coming to an end." "The work we have to do is only beginning," the House of Lords was told by Lord Crap - borne, retiring colonial sacrotary, who replaced Sir Stafford Cripps as lord privy seal in the recent cabinet shakeup. We citizens of the British Em- pire have a mission to perform . . essential to the welfare of the 'World . . to ensure the survival of the way of life for which the United Nations ale fighting and in harmony with the principles of the Atlantic charter," he said. ""In that great missiou we must not and shall not fail." "Lot ue not forget," he said, "that what stood between Hitler and absolute victory in 1940 after the fall of lerance was not Bri- tain, an isolated island standing alone in the eea, but the British Empire, that commonwealth .of free peoples and dependencies which, only clung closev as the aungee grew." '"Ve say, slid truly, that the Vilna:Ate objective of •our 1)011V le t' immune eelf-g'oveettnielit itt the cdeoelee," he said, it himself for the most part to the Christmae stories he had heard at the Sunday School of which his parents were members. He told' his stories differently to the other men. He was educated and had had experience on the Lakes as a sailor. All would have gone welt but father and he had had a seri- ous misunderstanding that drove the young chap to sea. Something opened the gates of memory and he .thought of Home. There was a motto on the wall just over his head "A Home From Home" which probably made him think of his home in Toronto. We encouraged him to talk of it for it was Christ- mas. * * ' * Strangely enough, perhaps, Christmas was usually a quiet day at the Sailors' Institute at Ham- burg. For one thing the offices of the British Consulate downstairs were closed. The vessels going to the British Isles and the "Tramps" to all parts of the world bad a free day as far as it could possibly be arranged, and the English people in Hamburg had their Christmas at home with their friends. It was the occasion for the quiet enter- tainment of "Boys away from Home"—lonely lads on the great sea of life, and our Toronto friend was among them, There were quiet heart to heart talks with him about 1115 early experience of Sun- day School and Church, and the Pilot of the Galilean Lake and he said, "I will (Asa and go to my Father." Probably that Is not quite the exact way he phrased it but, looking hack over the years, let me say that was the decision he reached on that Christmas Day years ago. . * Yes, years have passed, and I am now in Toronto. When first 1 came, I looked up my friend of Hamburg clays but changes had taken place. The house had been demolished. And so: we had met and parted like ehip s meeting in the night—the pathos of it! It is surely a matter .for thank- fulness at this Chirstmas season that organizations such as the Brit- ish Sailors' Society are keeping open door and a hearty welcome to the Sailors of the Navy and of the Mercantile Navy all over the seven seas. VOICE 01 I -Ii PRESS IMPARTIAL RAS', While some people are busy trying to sell the maudlin idea that we are fighting the Nazis and not tho dear, good German peePle,it is comforting to find that the Royal Air Force dralsiii AO such distinctions, With all duo respect to His Grace of Canter. Wily, or anyone else who may feel sentimental at times ebout the enemy, the bald feet is that, without the enthusiastic support of the 'German people' aforesaid, there would have been no rise of Nazism. --Brantford Expositor WITHSTOOD A LOT , The human body is a wonderful instrument. Although be lived without water and had only one- half an orange to eat for twenty- two days Capt. Edward V. Bioko, backer was in .excellent shape when rescued from a rubber lifes boat in the mid -Pacific, according to 11. S. Navy Pilot Lieutenant Joseph Isner. —Sault Ste, Marie Star —a -- HELPS TO EXPLAIN IT War orders placed in Canada by the United States so far total al- most a billion dollars. That's liow close relations are between the two countries and it helps to ex- plain why Canads has been able to pay its way without relying on lease -lend aid, —Sault Daily Star —o— • A BIT TOO THICK Remember hearing: "No matter how thin you*Slice it 10 15 still ba- loney?" Well, no matter how thin you spread it, the butter situation is still a bit too thick. —Woodstock Sentinel -Review _0_ COST OF DEFEAT Stalingrad, it is said, Cost the Boche 3,300 men a day in killed alone over the 90 -day siege. A. terrific price even for victory -- but Hitler paid it for a defeat. —Ottawa Journal —0— BRITAIN'S GREATEST WEAPON Not. since mid -summer of 1940 his there been any doubt about Britain's greatest weapon and the source of her unconquerable strength. It is Winston Churchill. —Detroit Free Press HAVE NOTEBOOK HANDY Even a doctor will tell you the best thing to take when you are run down is a license number. —Guelph Mercury --o— DEFLATED Mussolino must be feeling so small right now that he could crawl with ease through a stick of macaroni. --Hamilton Spectator Prime' Minster's Pay Of 24 Hours Mr, Churchill Adds Two Hour§ To Working Effort By Midday Sleep There are 24 hours in the day of each Prime Minister, measured by the clock. The use made of them aopends on physical etans- ina, mental vigor, gifts at organ- ization. No Man CAA long 011411TO the strain of the position . who is not endowed with an iron consti- tution or is unable to restore his strength with sleet:. The greatest commanders and the greatest etateemen have been able to sleep at will and to do so at the height of a campaign or a crisis, * Gladstone normally slept the moment 'he put his head on the pillow and was not distarbed by a debate in the House but only by , an unusual occurrence like the construction of a Cabinet, During the First Great War Lloyd George disciplined himself strictly at the table, went to bed about 10 so'. clack, woke early, read memoran- da, telegrams, newspapers, and sometimes dozed again before get- ting up for a 9 o'clock breakfast. During the day he snatched short spells of sleep, "For everpurpose of business or pleasure, mental or physical", wrote Mr, Churchill, "we ought to break our days and our mach - es into two. When I was at the Admiralty in the war 1 found 1 could add nearly two hours to my working effort by going to bed after luncheon." And today as Prime Minister he is reputed to continue the practice, to the dis- comfiture and disablement of his colleagues and Wets of ,staff. The Duke of Wellington got up at 5 o'clock every morning and made appointments with Palmerston be - f ore breakfast; Mr. Churchill makes them for after dinner and prolongs them far into the night. NEW BOSS To Paul McNutt has been given the tremendous task of allocating all U. S. Manpower, both in in- dustry and the armed forces. LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher " brought home a poor report card. . . . What did you bring, Pop . . . half your pay envelope?" Bluey and Curley of the Anzacs Nokl Look, SuPPOSitkitv THE. mut 31,* is SEKIC04tai, Th BUTTER IS THE AFRICAN COAST. THE .WAR . WEEK ,,-- Commentary op Curren! ,vents Clearing Tunisia . Of Axis Powers Key To Open Sea Lanes To Allies Gen, Dwight D. Eiseneower, see preme onmeander of the Allied forces in Northwest Africe, is un- likely to delay his task of clear - Ing Die Axis out of Tunisia any longer than I abolutely Imes - eery, for, until all of Tunisia is in his hands, the sumiessful United Nations ventures elsewhere in North Africa cannot be fully at - teethe), says an article in the Christian Science Monitor, Indeed the primary mission of the earn- Paign is to regain control oe the sea route through the Mediterra "aNlloi until the narrows dividing the Eastern and Western Mediter- ranean are firmly in Allied con- trol can the route through that .sea be again available to shorten the long haul around the Cape of Good Hope by about 10,000 miles and release vitally needed ship- ping to other uses. While Tunisian ports remain in. Axis hands, the enemy can make the short runs from Sardinia and Sicily under cover of darkness. As long as communication of this character can be maintained, stores, mechanized equipmeat, and heavy materials can be provided in fer greater quantities than would be possible by air trans- port. So the sooner these Porte are taken, the better. Importance of Sicily Furthermore Hitler is reported to be hastening all available air strength to Sicily and Sardinia, where the Nazis have previously erected formidable fortifications. Control of the Mediterranean, as Mussolini's mouthpiece, Via, ginio Gayda, pointed out in his book, "The Problems of Sicily," depends upon Sicily. Sicily, he said, was Italy's vital base through which all historic move- ments from Europe to Africa and vice versa had proceeded. The quicker Hitler's dispositions can be attacked then the less trouble there will be in project- ing future Allied operations. Once the Axis is swept tram North Africa, Hitler will have good cause to worry. Already he has moved troops into Southern Frances and into Italy in antici- pation of these areas being select- ed by the United Nations as sec- ond front objeotives, but there are many other miles of ' sea front that must be covered. From the primary mission of opening the Mediterranean flow several secondary objectiVes, some of which bulk almost as large in their ultimate etfect as does the primary. mission. Among them ,55 the insuring of the total destruc- tion of Ails forces in Libya, 'se- curity of the Suez Canal, and ob- taining positions from which thrusts in force against areas in Southern Europe can be launched. Coasts to Watch Although the Nazis apparently have discounted the possibility of an Allied attempt being made through the Iberian Peninsula, probably because of the difficulty of forcing the passes in the Py- renees, there are the Dalmatian and Greek coasts to guard in addi- tion to those of France and Italy. Nor is the possibility ot a descent on the Atlantic coast of Europe to be neglected. The Russian Winter is now at work on the Nazis. What effect its grip will have during the next six months cannot be foreseen, but Hitler has many more worries with which to cope than was the case last year when the Russian winter an but wrecked his east- ern front. Allied planus undoubtedly win play a couspicuous part in forcing the Axis from Tunisia, but planes cannot do it all. An armored clivi - ion has been calculated to con- sume 75,000 gallons of gasoline in its first 100 miles of march. To carry that fuel by land re- quires 50 lorries. Each 100 miles thereafter require another 50 lor- ries, silica the lorries thenieelres use up gasoline. • Tho United Nations are indeed fortunate in holding the Atlantic ports of Morocco through which supplies, as needed, can be sent in ease the U-boat menace looms lane: in the Mediterranean: "Africa Manoeuvres" .„ cm% BOYS is 1' MusTARZ PoT Mc:Nude ALorje PAST 14E. JAM SPOON.— 5EE WHERE g' MUSS0 MOD Other Allied Ports They also hold, in Algeria, Orau, Alglera, Bougie, and 13011e. Sep- arated from 00o° by Bizerte and Tullis are the Libyan ports of To- bruk and Denim in Lieut. Goa Sir Bernard L. 1VIontgontery's Lunde. Bengasi should bo Jim moat valuable port for General Mout- gemery , in his drive oa Tripoli- tania. No official Informittion is forthcoming here about the pre- sent state of that pert, but prob- ably, for the time being, it 10 vir- teeny out of commission, Eye- witpess accounts of the much. - bombed part deseribe havoc in the harbor there as far warn Wall anything else in North Afriett However, it is extremely dial - cult to put a port out of aelion altogether. Bizerte -Tunis Raids Tobruk may be virtually oat of action while it is being repeatedly bombed, But when the bombing ceases it can soon be back In .00m- eniseion unless ships have been sunk in crucial places. Even then no port is completely out of ac- tion so long as there is water. Damage to port installatione: however, which was severe at Bengasi, considerably affects the amount 00 traffic which can be handled. Air raids are reported to be al- ready battering the .Axis in the Bizerte -Tunis area, and heavy Un- ited Nations ground forces are said to bo closing in on their ob- jectives, but not until the enemy strength has been felt out and overcome can we be sure that our primary mission in North Africa, has been attained. However, Hitler realizes his danger full well, and he has been pouring reinforcements into North- ern and Eastern Tunisia by air and sea ever since the Allies made their thrust. He is reported to have withdrawn air support from his sanely pressed forces before Stalingrad and in the Caucasus in order to implement hie strug- gle for a bridgehead in Tunisia, and German troops have been rush- ed to Southern France, Italy, and Gteece. Russian Counter -offensive Pressure on the Russian Front is being eased, and the Russian counter -offensive, perfectly timed to the United Nations push in North Africa, is under way. Ger- man troops are said to be shunted first in one direction and then in another, and are being drawn from Norway and other lightly -held areas. Garrison duty is being rele- gated to Austrian, Hungarian and Italian troops. Taken as a whole, the bits of information that come from Eu- rope seem to form a composite that is none too favorable for the Axis cause, and indicate that Hit- ler at last has been deprived at the benefit he has so long derived from being able to exercise the initiative in projecting au offens- ive. Duesseldorf Ruined 190,000 Homeless Dusseldorf is a ruined city with. "no less than 190,000 people made homeless" and an undetermined number killed, the Air Ministry news service said, quoting a letter written by one resident to an- other in Berlin. The letter, which reached Lon- don through neutral channels, said: "Ton may Unfelt God you gut off to Berlin in time, On September 10 we had the biggest 'blitz' ever. The first raid was big eisough, out no comparison with this one. 1t is impossible to exaggerate how bad it was. The bouthardmeet at the front couldn't be woree. "The whole of Duesseldolf was in flames . . . Duesseldorf Ilse be. come a regular city of ruins. H. la a pathetic sights No less than 190,000 people wore tirade Lome - less. Don't know how many were killed. Material damage is celoseal. "The night train to Berlin is still in the station. it was just start- ing when it got a direct hit. It was crushed like a machbox. "You won't. know Duesseeriorf again wow. voosonzumuraw......movemweesormi.....mwaRovagsgamoommotainvamonsansmeanikeas By Gurney (Australia) 114EIZE moB 'ERE PLATE. 05 TRIPE,....47 onr ///