HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1942-03-12, Page 2VOICE
OF THE
PRESS
YOUNG MEN DOING BIG JOB
Bill Kaseberg is a. 27 -year-old
young man whose name is not
Similiar to many Canadians. But,
he is the superintendent of the
1{8,90,000 Boeing Aircraft plant on
ilea Island, at Vancouver. He le
Just one of the young mess ens
gaged in directing production of
warplanes at that base. Officials
of the company say ,all the men
who "carry the load" are under 30
years of ago.
Yeung men smart enough to
study aerial engineering a few
years ago are r:triding right ahead
in aircraft manufacturing today.
Their services are valuable beeausai
more and more warplanes are
needed by the United• Nations.
Without those planes our combat
armies cannot meet the enemy on
anythink like even terms.
Other young- men will fly the
completed planes. These gallant
pilots and other airmen are the
individuals who offer their lives
that we might live.
—Windsor Star
—0— -
TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
It isn't funny aur more, but
gamely a little _sickening, to read
of Berlin radio broadcasts beamed
for East Asia telling how Wotan,
the German pagan god, is one with
the Japanese god of the Pain and
the winds as fellow -symbols of
pure Aryanism, linking Germany
and Japan in a supernatural bond.
The appalling thing about all this
twaddle is not merely that it is
heational, silly, and impudently
faked. Itis that millions of people
have been induced to aot on the
ceders of the kind of mind that
parduced it.
That, too, is what we are Sight-
ing. —Kitchener Record
—0—
THINK IT OVER
Chinese dig out roads with their
bare hands.- Dutchm.en pick up old
rifles and fire into a wanplane-
hidden sky. Australians clutch at
bullet -torn throats — while soave
Canadians, living better than
they've ever lived before because
of war work, won't invest in Vic-
tory Bonds until they're paid a
*oat -of living bonus!
—Windsor Star
—0 --
SCORCHED EARTH
The Russians blew up their great
;110,000,000 dam, and Pearl Har•
hair, which cost close to $1,000,.
000,000, is badly smashed, and the
Dutch burn up $100,000,000 worth
of oil wells, and Singapore, which
east $500,000,000 is practically
reined. This wary is making the
, last look like a mere skirmish.
—Ottawa Journal
—o—
"BAD MEDICINE"
The Nipponese soldier carries a
26.25 rifle, 400 rounds of immure.
,tion, five days of iron rations—
a^ioe and sardines — a tin hat, a
spade, first-aid kit, a fanatical
spirit and a bitter hatred oS the
White Man. You can't fool with
that sort of guy.
—London. Free Prose
—0—
THAT BONUS
Trying to figure out what the
east of living bonus means, who
gets it that ehouldn't, and who
doesn't get it that should, together
with the problem as to whether
anybody gets it and when, is a new
game that has taken t!ie place -of
the crossrweed puzzle.
—Peterborough Examinee
—0—
PLEASURE bRlVING
What do you mean by "pleasure"
driving—when Junior wants to go
faster, Grandma wants to go slow -
ow, the baby cries and Ma still de-
mands to know where you were
last eight? —Windsor Star
—0—
e GOING NOWHERE NOHOW
All this extra daylight isn't go.
Jag to mean mtwch, with no place
to go and nothing to go in next
Summer.
—St, Tbomas Times -Journal
—O—
A WAY OUT
When they start eating less
sugar maybe the women won't need
the rWbber girdles they may not
be able to get.
—Sherbrook Record
—0—
ROD BOUNCES BACK
Premier Tojo calls China a
spoiled child — but is having a
tough time giving it a licking.
—Kitchener Record
Norwegians Rode
To Work In Style
Sixty-five workers were order -
led transferred from Oslo to Ger-
man ships near Bergen. They
mere handed money for "travel-
ling expenses" and told to be at
the East Railway stationin time
to catch a certain train.
Only three of the sixty-five
showed up the others had van.
islred.
When the three reached Bee
gen, they found three buses wait-
ing to transport thein to the work-
ing place,
To the great amusement of
spectators, each of the three
bearded a separate bus and rode
off to the new jobs in style.
NDIYIDUAI.
e
-avutivcc Ina
A Week!y Column About This and That in The Canadian Army
In the Great War of 1914-18,
a common pleasantry was to rug-
gest that if a man was a black-
smith in civil life they made him
a cook in the army. Actually, l
never ran across an instance, al-
though there were times while
struggling with a recalcitrant.
piece of. plum duff that I thought
That the cook would probably
make a good blacksmith, There
is no doubt, however, that the
army in earlier days, in common
with private business, very fre-
quently employed a man in the
wrong place because it didn't
know his capabilities.
"Them days have gone for -
over."
Today, the Individual Citizen's
Arany welds individual citizens
into a composite force of special-
ists each employed in his proper
sphere.
And this doesn't happen by ac-
cident!
Before very long there will not
be a single instance of a square
peg in a round hole from Lance -
Jack to Lieut. -General --- we can
go even further than that—from
Private to Field Marshal.
I am not sure whether psychol-
ogy is an art or a science. Prob-
ably the psychologists are not sure,
either, but personal managers in
industry—and don't forget your
army is the biggest single industry
in Canada today—long ago found
out that psychologists could im-
prove industry's efficiency and
cut down waste of materials, man-
hours and man -power by testing
the capabilities of applicants for
employment.
This is what the army is doing
today through the Directorate of
Personal election which applies a
eapability test to soldiers of all
ranks in order to determine their
fitness foh their present jobs,
their capability to undertake
greater responsibilities, their apt-
itude for instruction in specialties„
Colonel G. B. Chisholm, M.C. and
Bar, of Toronto heads this per-
sonnel selection directorate and
he has gathered to serve with him
In this important work some of
the outstanding men in the Do-
minion. They arrive at their
conclusions by the combination of
an interview and what is known
as an "M" test.
Those of you who are familiar
with general knowledge tests car-
ried out periodically by "Tine"
magazine will have some idea of
what these tests are, There is
a difference, however, in that the
"M" test, developed after experi-
ments conducted with more than
10,000 Canadian soldiers, is so
designed that it discovers the cap
pability of the subject rather than
just his general knowledge.
And its conclusions, sometimes
combined with other' special testas
determine the potentialities of the
man tested regardless of his edu-
cational standing.
When it was first announced
that every • member of the Cana-
dian army would undergo thio'
test, considerable trepidation was
reported. There was apparently
a sort of tribal fear of the •arta
of the medicine man. This hsa
now been dissipated, largely be-
cause many a man who might
otherwise have been condemned
to the modern equivalent of "foot-
slogging" today, as the result of
the "M" test, has been trainee
in one of the many specialties
required in a modern army.
For the benefit of this column,
I was permitted to take this teat.
I can't tell you what it consists
of because there are thousands
more yet to try it, but I can tell
you, and 1 am assured by members
of the Personnel election staff,
that my reaction is pretty gene
erally shared, that it was inter-
esting, informative, and a very
pleasant experience — in fact,
when this job is finished, I would
like to be able to copyright some
of the tests and collect royalties
from, them an excellent parlor
games.
Each test is led up to by a
short sample which is carefully
explained by the examining offi-
cer and no man is allowed. "to
race the stop watch until he thor-
oughly understands the nature of
the test he is about to undertake.
It is not an "I.Q." test—it is a
test of capability. It doesn't
show entirely what a man knows
—it does show if he is capable
of learning. The tests are car-
ried out in groups of not more
than fifty and there is an assist-
ant examiner for each fifteen
men.
To us, the individual citizens
who employ the individual citi-
zen's army, the "M" test .is an
assurance that, when the Awe
diian army has an opportunity to
get down to it, the right man will
be in the right place and the
right result may be confidently
expected.
IN ER CONVOY
By LIEUT. E. H. BARTLETT, R.C.N.V.R.
Around a table six men were
gathered.
They wore no uniforms, did
not look like fighting men, but ..
One had felt four ships tor-
pedoed beneath him.
Another had felt the blasts of
both torpedoes and bombs.
A third had stood to his post
on his ship's bridge while shells
from the guns of a surface raider
struck home, and had lived to be
captured by the German raider
and to be rescued by British de-
stroyers.
A fourth, his ship disabled for
many anxious hours, had. rolled
helplessly in the Mediterranean
within striking distance of Ital•
Ian warships , , and he chuckled
as he told of how the "Eyeties"
were afraid to come out "into
their own blooming Mare Nos-
trum !"
These were not men matching
tall talesbut captains of ships
Merchant the Navy gathered,
en the eve of sailing once again
into the war zone, in friendly con-
clave in a Canadian Naval Centre,
Their references to the experi-
ences they had known were brief,
for these experiences were behind
them, and the job which lay ahead
was now all that mattered.
From their talk, though, their
stories were gleaned.
The story, as a start, of the
captain four times torpedoed,
His son was sailing with him in
one ship, an 18 -year-old boy who
already had qualified as an able-
bodied seaman, and already could,
claim to be a veteran of the Battle
of the Atlantic.
The captain was on the bridge •
when the torpedo struck. Where
his son was, he had not known.
The ship, heavy with a cargo of
machinery, sank in 48 seconds.
The captain was flung from
the bridge to the sea, without
even his life belt to give him a
fighting chance. Astern of his
ship an oil tanker had also been
struck, and her cargo was flaming
on the sea's surface. On the
fringe of this blazing oil the cap-
tain battled for his life.
He swam clear, helping support
himself with pieces of wreckage
and debris from what had been
his ship. Around him his officers
and crew, those who had survived,
waged an equally desperate
struggle.
An oil -covered seaman swam to
his side.
"You'd better take my life belt,
air" he advised, "I'm a better
swimmer than you."
The captain's indignant pro-
tests were quelled by a firm "Oh,
come on, Dad" from the seaman.
It was his own son.
Both father and son were res-
cued, together with many others
of their shipmates. And father
°cl son are back at sox again
not in the same ship. There's
a limit to the strain a ship's cap-
t,taji eau stand,
'.i'h;� second captain is very
Iloud of his ship.
Ieisbrand new, 10,000 tons
pf cargo carrier built despite Hit-
';,ler's boasts that he would blast
the Old Country's ship -yards to
1:4anrbles. The captain, short and
one but very wiry, tips the scales
at 122 pounds!
Behind him is an encounter
With an enemy surface raider.
It was the same raider which
caught the Zamzam, and she came
up to his ship in the pitch dark
of a night, 24 years afterwards
to the day, when he first was tor-
pedoed in the original Great War.
Outlined in the blazing search-
lights of the raider, his ship was
'an easy target. The first salvo
sent his funnel crashing to the
deck, whipped off the after ,end
of the bridge, set the deck cargo
alight. The second salvo carried
away the foreinast and the wire-
less cabin and crumpled inte
twisted metal thesteering gear
and engine room telegraphs. With
the ship steaming helplessly in an
erratic circle, the captain ordered
the crew to the boats.
Three boats were lowered, their
shattered, charred hulls taking
water fast but at least keeping
the survivors afloat. After seeing
all his men safely from the ship
the captain with the third engin-
eer who had remained with him,
took to the water.
Ten minutes later he was picked
up by the raider's launch, which
then picked' up his ca'ew. For
about a month they were prison-
ers. The story of their release
when British destroyers overtook
their prison ship is now a matter
of history. But the captain's page
in history would not be complete
without the information that serv-
ing with him In his ,brand new
10,000' -ton ship of today are the
Chief Officer; Third Engineer and
three sailors of the crew who
survived the raider's guns.
Meet, now the captain. who
found it "really amusing" (his
own description) when his ship
was torpedoed. True, he got every
one of his men away safely, with-
out one as much as being scratch-
ed, but ... amusing?
"You know, it was the coal
which made it funny," he re-
counted. "When the torpedo hit
home the pressure in the bolds
forced the coal up through the
hatches, almost like a fountain of
black dust. By- the time I got
down from the bridge to the boats
I looked like a nigger.
"We pulled away clear and
watched 'Tier go down. We were
quite happy, you know, because
we had been able to send out a
call for help, and a few hours
later a big Sunderland flying boat
came along. We had quite a talk
with our lamps during which he
told us to stay where we were,
because help was on its way. We
lay -to at sea anchors and had a
good sleep, and were picked up
all smiling in the morning.
"Nothing to talk about, really,"
he added, rather diffidently;
"Quite amusing, all of it."
Not so amusing was his next
•experience, a bombing attack in
which his ship was set afire and
four men killed. For 24 hours,
with the help of a patrol boat
which carne alongside, they fought
the fire, and then his ship was
towed safely to pori for repairs.
The ship is back at sea to -day
... and so is her captain.
It was "the luckiest man afloat"
who took up the tale. He's as
quick to laugh as he is to move;
and his crew says that in a jam
"the old man" moves fast.
"In the last war my father
went through all of it, and didn't
see a thing," he said. "In this
war I'm doing the sane thing.
Just take the ship out, and bring
her back again.
"I think it must be because I
had my scares in the early part
of the war. Just before war broke
out a German battleship passed
us, and we didn't know whether
we were at war or no. And later
on, a German raider got very, close
to us, but she didn't see us. And
then we broke down off the Ital-
ian coast, but the 'Eyeties' were
afraid to come out after us and
when they did try to make a run
for us some of our destroyers
whipped in and chased two of
them ashore. No, 1 haven't seen
REG•'LAR. FELLERS --Hidden
STOP FOOUN° WITH THAT CGOAT
OR WE'LL BE LATE FOR THE
:'ACt'14''tES!
DON'T PUT THOSE TICKETS
IN YOUR POCKET, YOU
MIGHT LOSE `EM 'KEEP
'EM IN YOUIR HAND 1
Assets
anything. And I don't want. to,
Pm a seaman I ate, not bloom-
ing hero."
None of them think they are
heroes, these men who take the
ships to sea, There's not one of
them who does not light the grim
:job ahead with quiet laughter
from the experiences which have
passed.
There's the favorite tale, for in-
stance, of one of the captains
whose steward, a calm imperturb-
able Englishman, had been in "Vie
habit of discussing with him the
chances of being torpedoed,
"Stop talking about it," the
captain ordered one day, "just be
like me. I say 'if the torpedo has
my number on it, I'll get it. If it
hasn't, why worry.' "
The captain chuckled.'
"It wasn't long after that when
we got hit," he continued. "My
steward cane to the cabin just as
I was leaping out of my bunk.
"'Excuse me, sir,' he reported,
with a face as solemn as an owl's,
'but the torpedo with your number
on it appears to have arrived.' "
In the resultant laughter the
conclave broke up. The men who
were going into the danger areas
where torpedoes mio'hth
t bear eir
numbers were on their way bads
to their ships.
The next day they sailed.
This Duck Was
A Friendly Bird
The return of a friendly greater
seaup duck to her usual feeding
grounds near Victoria, B.C,, fot
the fifth consecutive year, is re.
ported.
Identification of this bird i
made possible by an officio
numbered. band placed on her foot
in 1937 by a• fisherman. The
fisherman makes a practice ,
feeding' diving ducks in a certain
area, and after a few weeks the
.birds come in answer to h:s whiee
tied call.
This duck became so tame that
she did not resent handling. Upo
her return each year the duck ,a
first shows the customary wari-
ness of the species, but in a rhos'
time gradually becomes confident
and reaches the point of fearless-
ness where her friend and proteeo
tor can pick her up and read the
band number.
THE WAR - WEEK -- Commentary
on-.Curre
nt Events
acidic
United Nations In South P
Make Last Ditch Stand In Java
For 7,500 miles from Pearl
Harbor through the Islands of
Oceania to Singapore and Ran-
goon lie the outposts and bastions
of the United Nations. In three
months of Japanese advance, the
outposts have fallen — Guam,
Wake, Hong Kong, Manila, Mal-
aya, the outer possessions of the
Netherlands Indies.
The mightiest bastion, Singa-
pore, guardian of the sea -gate
from the Pacific to the Indian
Ocean, is now a great strategical
base for the enemy. The two
remaining bastions, Java and
Burma, are being pounded by con-
centrated Japanese forces.
The Japanese offensive and the
Allied defence have both been a
race against time. The Mikado's
legions have struck swiftly to gain
territory and establish footholds
from which to step to the next
point of attack. They must strike
unceasingly to hold these gains
before the United Nations can as-
semble overwhelming power in
men and instruments of war. The
United Nations must follow a pol-
icy of delay and attrition until
they are strong enough to launch
a counter offensive.
General MacArthur's men, iso-
lated in the Philippines, hold-
ing out beond all expectations,
launched an amazing offensive
raid. The Chinese in the Asian
hinterland and the Australians
among the islands north of Port
Darwin are also doing their share
in a wearing down effort against
the Japanese.
Java Encircled
A vast pincers movement has
been executed against Java. Large
invasion forces were landed in
Sumatra to the west of Java; air
bases established in Borneo to the
north and the main airport seized
in the island of Bali to the south.
The encirclement of Java appear-
ed to be complete.
In the meantime, the United
Nations made plans to hold Java
whatever the costs migfit be.
They marshalled the full might of
their sea and air power in readi-
ness for ars assault. About two
weeks ago a large Japanese ar-
mada was seen by Allied scout
planes approaching the northern
Java shore. With powerful air
support the Allied fleet steamed
out to the attack. In the en-
suing battle, both sides suffered
heavy losses but the Japanese
ships were forced to withdraw
and the victory was with the
Allies. Java had hit back.
Since this great naval battle,
however, the Japanese have suc-
ceeded in landing an estimated
army of 85,00'0 men in Java.
Against these, the United Nations
depend on the Indies army, nrun-
bering about 200,000, plus Ameri-
can and Australian soldiers. It
is claimed that Allied plans have
been ma.cle to fall• back if neces-
sary to the interior highlands,
there to make a stand where the
mountains rise 10,000 feet.
Jap Gains In Burma
Japanese gales in Burma have
resulted in the virtual closing of
the Burma Road. Thousands of
Chinese laborers are rushing con-
struction in a new life -line fore
supplies .from- India to China, and
it is hoped in. Allied quarter
that Chinese isolation will b,e of
short duration.
The security,.• not only of China,
.but of India Was endangered by
the advance of the Japanese tit
Burma. With Rangoon in thele
possession, the Japanese would
have a base for sea and air at-
tacks on the great peninsura of
India with its 350,000,000 people,
Change In Command
General Sir Archibald Wavell,
Supreme Commander of the Un-
ited forces in the Southwest Pap
cific, has been ordered to resume
his former post as Commander -
in -Chief of India and Burma,,;
leaving the Netherlands in comp
mand of the final battle for the
East Indies. Gen. Wavell's obli-
gations will be the co-ordination
of the defence in India and Burma
witli the military operations in
China. India must play an in-
creeeingly important part in the
developing strategy of the war in
the Far East, As the war pro-
ceeded, it was chosen as the cent-
ral point to which most of the war
munitions of the United States
would be sent and from which they
would be distributed to the thea-
tres of war. Recognizing this,
the Japanese have already pushed
their ships into the Indian Ocean
in an attempt to interrupt the
flow of supplies to the ports of
Bombay and Calcutta. An in-
vasion of India by the Japanese
appears to be the next major
step in their plan of pushing
westward to meet the forces of.
their German and Italian allies
somewhere in the Middle East.
Nazi propaganda is now, direct-
ed against the people of India to
rise in revolt and overthrow Brit-
ish rule. The Nazis are pledging
India all the support in their
power. Japan is conducting to
similar campaign, tronising to
include India in her "new order
of Asia".
Keen expectation has been
aroused in India by the British
government's promise as to India's
future status. India emphatically
is on the side of the Allies in the
war, especially on China's. The
Hindu Congrss party insists, how-
ever, that if this is a war for
demo .•acy, it must end British
imperialism and recognize India's
independence. Non-party groups
would be satisfied with a national
government consisting of officials
responsible to the crown with full
dominion status after the war.
The Moslems want no major
changes that will jeopardize their
rights and their proposals for the
creatior't, of a separate Moslem
state in India. So, a deadlock
arises. However, a hope of ulti-
mate settlement could come from
a declaration by the United King-
dom government of what powers
it would relinquish to allow the
formation of an interim national
government representative of all
parties.
By GENE BYRNES
YOU'LL; NAFTA TAKE THE
CGOAT ON ACCOUMTA NE ET OUR
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