HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1943-02-04, Page 3CLEAN . NG UP IN TUNISIA
Handy horse trough 'somewhere in Tunisia makes a wash basin
for British paratrooper cleaning some of that embattled country's
mud off his boots.
GIVES UP PRECIt`',° US D I S H E S, -
PANS TO CAMOUFLAGE MINES
S
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 Russian sergeant was ex-
,glaining to the woman by the
roadside that his 20 men — who
Thad comp in three trucks—were
up to.
"We are mining the road," he
raid. "A whole regiment of Ger-
man tanks has broken out of
Stalingrad. They may conte' this
.road. We have been sent to delay
them."
"Why are. you swearing?" the
woman asked.
"Because what can I do with
18 mines?" cried the sergeant bit
terry. "When they hit the first
one, they will all stop while the
pioneers get out and search and
find the other 17 . -
"They can't \leave the road,"
said the woman cheerfully. "If
they get out in these drifts, the
swamps will swallow their tanks
like frogs."
"I know, I. know," said the ser-
geant.
"Then don't hide the mines,"
ani t the wozrtan "Just ,pretend to
ii'ido "ijiem: 'bl''htiftt idni bies;:'abn"'
put three mines at random in
three of the holes. The rest are
dummies. But it will take them
just as long to test the dummies."
"You're a smart woman," said
the sergeant. "What can we put
on top of the dummy holes?"
"Piates, tin pots, anything,"
aatd 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 Ocean
;.i
lm 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 cross it
—ninety-eight days under sail,
from. the Straits of Magellan in
South. America to Guam, W. B.
''ourtney writes in Collier's. He
called it "Pacific"—calm and
peaceful. In this respect, ;lfagel-
?ata was lucky ---as many a Yank
righting man could testify, ort of
'Ms green -faced misery. In its
rtorma, as in all ether think the
Pacific drives the In 01,0; eonserv-
el,ive to superlatives; it is biggest,
widest, deepest, bluest, quietest,
grandest and wildest.
*
HS area is ;;,eater than i11e en-
tire land surf eee of the gena. you
.'could drop the whole United
States in any one of 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 island.:; as the
Milky Way is with stars: although
®:ren here goat may cruise among
them for clays. as "our transport
did, and not sight land ---so far are
they apart.
came back with a sack full of her
precious dillies and pans.
At half -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's
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 that Rus-
siaai woman living in a shanty.
What's your gift to the cause?
Address it to the Canadian Aid to
Russia Fund, 80 King Street West,
Toronto.
* *
The Pacific is nearly twice as
large as the North and South At-
lantic
tlantic combined, and it has more
titan double their total amount
of water. it contains more than
half of all the water on r al•th, in-
cluding oceans, seas, rivers and
lakes. It is more than 9.000 miles
long from Behring Strait to the
Antarctic Circle; and it Is' 10,000
miles wide at the equator. It takes
the .sun ten hours to cross it, or
nearly one -halt of its day's jour-
ney. It has the greatest known
deeps ---the Philippine, east at the
islands, and the Nero, off Guam,
for instance, both going down six
miles or more. Its average depth
Is over two and a half miles. By
contrast, even the latest Heilman
11l -boats cannot submerge with
safety more than 600'feet,
ICEA
OF i 1•i E
PRESS
ARMY P.O. EFFICIENT
Oran Sound Vilot Officer has
just reentry revolved a letter
with a record.iaiiecl to hills in
England in October, 1941,
it,ifol-
lcwed him to Melba, Egypt,
and back to Egypt to West Af-
rica,
3-ric a, hack to England and then 10-
CaCadeda where it caught up. 13ut
it c ..ght up. The Army Post Of-
fice. knows its business — Owen
•
Sound Sun -Times,
GOOD ANSWER
An old lady in Holland gave a
clever answer 'ellen charged with
listening to BBC broadcasts. "The
Fuehrer," she said in ber own.
defence, "announced he would be
in. London in Tune, 1940. Since
then I've listened to London every
day to snake sure I wouldn't miss
what he said when he got there."
—Toronto Star,
ALL IN ONE JUWIl'
.A. 16 -year-old Toronto boy,
missing since October 1, has
hs been
ls
found in Georgia, where
training with the First Canadian.
Parachute Battalion. His is a
Modern success 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 • .
for nutter rationing we have only
ourselves to blame.—Ottawa
Citizen.
THOUGHT FOR STRIKER
When his son asks him, ten
years hence. "What did you do
in the war, Daddy?" surely no
father will relish having to an-
swer: "I went on strike in a war
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-off place 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 cut of rubber as we are
snaking rubber out of gasoline.
New York Sun.
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 C•oebels.—h•itchener Record.
An instrument has been devel-
oped that enables blind persons
to make precision inspection of
eertain machine products in war
industries. •
J e, ,:•Skeeters Bite
To Aid Science
Six men sititng for hours every
day in. a sealed tent in Northern
Australia encourage a cloud of
mosquitoes to bite thein, 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. -
carrying 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 the troops in
the New Guinea jungles and over-
come the .ever-present danger of
malaria outbreak on the Aus-
tralian mainland. Malaria can put
out of action large numbers of
troops for a prolonged period.
Guerilla Warfare
Within France
Air Base Built
In Three Days
Engineers U s e Air -borne
Roadhbuiiding Equipment
Hance from North Africa, Brig. -
Caen. • Stuart C. Godfrey disclosed
ow weapon of his aviation en -
dee; air -borne road -building
equipment which makes it possible
to conetriirt advanced air bases
almost overnight.
When it became nr eeeeary to
establish advanced airdromes to
support the action in Tunisia, Gen-
eral Godfrey saki, a call was put
in for the air -borne engineers. With
their equipment, they were flown
in cargo planes to points as close
as possible to the selected sites,
Within three days, Flying Fort-
resses were taking off from the
first base, and a second base was
completed the next day.
"Our Allies couldn't believe their
eyes when they saw equipment be-
ing unloaded from airplanes and
going right to work," he reported.
Portable Hangars
This kind of forehandedness, he
said, is going a long way toward
solving the difficult supply prob-
lem in North Africa, where for
1,000 miles there are only a single
railroad and a narrow highway
system along the coast.
Among the equipment, specially
designed for transportation in
planes or gliders, are lightweight,
portable hangars, a gasoline -oper-
ated lighting unit for night con-
struction work and lighting the
•ileld for night flying, a roa.d.scraper
which can be hauled by a jeep, ane
rollers to he 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
ngland and ready for the North Afri-
can campaign, where most of their
work has been pioneering.
Tough Training
"The idea behind them," he ex-
plained, "is that they can get into
fields captured by paratroops or
on invaded islands right with the
attack ;mits to make ready for air
operations with a minimum of
delay.
"The saving of a few hours or
days in the constructiou of such
airdromes may have a great bear-
ing on the outcome of a whole
campaign.
The air -borne aviation .ngineers
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
THE JA - ` EE-- Coinmentary on current I �venly
Churchill, Roosevelt Meet In Africa
Leaders Agree On 1943tr e y
Prime .Minister Churchill and
President Roosevelt, together with
illicit tibias of staff. and other
military and civil offic.'iale, have
concluded a ten-day' couference at
Casablanca, Morocco, in which a
general prog:itanrne of military
strategy for 1948 was worked •out.
It liae lleme disclosed tbat the
'United dations would be -satisfied
with nothing short of the enemy's
unconditional surrender, excluding
the possibility of anegotiated
peace. This was qualified by Mr.
itaaseveit s statement that the da
structiuil of populations was not
intended, but rather the destruc-
tion of a lihilasoplly based on con-
quest and terror..
General Giratel, High Commis -
goner for French North Africa
and General de Gaulle, leader of
Fighting France, were also pre-
sent at the conference.
For obvious reasons, no details
of the decisions reached at this �
historic Casablanca conference
have 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 Frencta ' problem was upper-
most in the minds of both Mr.
Churchill- and Mr. Roosevelt. Nei -
tiler felt it sale to temporize long-
er with a. situation which found
French factions in an open quar-
rel' and British ..and AmeriCau op-
inion drifting dangerously apart.
Forimiate]y Mr. Roosevelt and
Me. Churchill have more in com-
mon than bare most of their
critics, on both sides of the At-
lantic, when any question regard-
ing France becomes the issue,
says the New York Times. Both
Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill
know France intimately, under-
stand France, and cherish a long
friendship with the French. people.
Both are men of action, impatient
with cords, and the disagree-
ments growing out of words,
when there is fighting to be done.
Both passionately desire the re-
birth of the French Republic.
French Leaders Meet
Sharing this faith, and meeting
en French, soil, they could not
'
fail to end the schism which has
divided Frenchmen bearing arms
against a common foe. The joint
statement made by General de
Gaulle and General Giraud•has in
it all the essential elements of e.n
understanding that will suffice un-
til
ntil the war is won. The two lead-
ers have met. They have talked.
They are 'in entire agreement on
snee -,. •,_t e..,�,:chievean •which , is
the liberty -or •tile •encl3 pet: 1e
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 In . side with their allies."
This is as much as we need ask.
Nor have we the right to ask more.
We cannot expect Fenchmen, in
France itee•lf or in any. part of the
'l•,pti�rrxtC'ttfays^!+wtn+.�•..�«n ^ ^:.• L�m.cL:
equipment, special engineering
Bourses, advanced training with
such weapons as submachine guns,
earbines and, rifles, and a. course
in Commando exercises.
SIDE GLANCES
By George Clark '
Watch for reports of organized
guerilla warfare within France
not unlike that in Yugoslavia,
though on n smaller scalesays
Newsweek. Information leaking
out of the ceuntry indicates that
pIanncd resie•t:nic•e is already
under way. DNebauded French
soldiers have been turning up at
prearrentee,l meeting places in re-
mote sections, notably in auve
erten, 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
in1tanee of a German infantry
patrol's exchanging fire with
night raiders and suffering casu-
alties.
Bluey and
"1
don't Ishak \'on"re even trying to teen+ ire to
"Careless Curley
C 'ley of the, Anzacs
.....Ahlp (WPaT COVE CL LEY GEIS
Snt PAIR OG SOCKS SENT HIM PROM
OM
1-10ME, , HE -14Ad PLENTY OFSOCKS
altS.
60 NE, 6F -S HE A
R TWa SOS //
seed" eiks
10 `- S .'1'e;3.lrllyi' :al, r«
•
cit convietione ebote 111i) poi, is i1
needs of post-war Fronee>. We all•
not expect the political di: e {'te-
meuts which so deeply divided ed
Pre-war France, and so 1henv:the
]y
sapped the strength of
Third Republic, to vanhh miiaen-
loa ly overnight, merely bee .ns$e
we would like to see well .French-
men
Freuu t -men united In every slope and
every purpose. W'Itat we can ask,
and what we can new expect, is
that Frenchmen of every party
and of every radion will subord-
inate politic l disagreements 30
the immediate and ee eniial task
of driving from the soil of Frames
the arch -fiend, Hitler, who pois-
ons and corrupts end to aur• nes
the French people.
A Fair Bargain
We are entitled to believe that
the agreement reached between
General de Gaulle and General Gi-
raud at Casablanca under the aus-
pices of the chiefs of state of the
two great English-speaking democ-
racies carries this implication and
this promise.
Certainly it carries, on our Bide,
a commitment from which we can-
not escape with honor: a commits
meet to use all our intelligence
and all our power to make certalin
that no post-war government is
set up in France except in accnrd-
ance with the freely expressed
wishes of the French. people.
This is the fair bargain signed
at Casablanca.- •
Complete Agreemgent
Concerning the military' dle''is's
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 exeire
field of the war was surveyed,
"and all resources were marshaled
for more intensive prosecution ai
the war by land, sea and air."
There was "complete agreement
* 1' * 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 194:." t
The Americans and British were si
at all times in .close touch 3vitb.
Stalin and with Chiang Kal-sieek-
Attending the conference •dere_
field officers from the African
campaign, fresh from experiences
with the newest weapons and the
latest tactics. The whole discus-
sion took place in the reality of a
present battlefield from which at-
tacks may be launched in a half
a kidese
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 /943, have now cepaat-
ed in order to put them into ao'ive
and concerted execution," *.
THE UNCONQU
They Still Retaixt Their Sense of Humor
Norwegians may at times think
of Hitler when they sing ah. rt
the "dreaded prince."
Meanwhile in the NetherL.lias
the able subjects of Quern W:.l" 1 -
mina continue to find ways of
drowning Wit Unwelcome .:zi
speakers. When a crones does !lot
peal its bicycle bens for this net,
pos. it clay resort. to sae's clean --
fug and applause= tlatt the spes: • r
gives tip in disgust.
Bilt ;1 1.1,:"w t a P:vras•1.
to halt a It.O1,..11
e1 in
n ,.,
1 \.
Intimater i:tintinues to be a po-
sent see'ret weapon of Europe's
conquered peoples, and the grim
Nazis have yet to find armor thick
enough to ward off the thrusts of
sar•'asnl and satire directed
ia.galest them.
In lda: w,ly :'eeenty the Quisling -
!eta had 10 forbid all newspaper
mention of ter;?o's rat -extermination
,'.ampai:ll. i'i:e leading journal lent
enthusitietie support of the drive
two yeare sge. with a• strong edi-
etr'ialt 1: "t)nt V'+'rl1 the
sealers W 3' o s :bsti-
• n• se '� ,:
1,1 of
t'a e
;11,er
3 • •. 1 '. i.- tails P:I•.
''.1
of
f:11/11` -,r.. '.1
l i Saar COI," hi
' al
.‘."•,•,1•:"'10.4 u, •'f the
a n e: v,:
.,u•1111x0 .til :i: -,•1 e
1''rl , ,.:llllu is,: e•.
1:. ,•.o,;,, N...:is flee. that the
Ely Gurney (Australia)
....WADI PUTS T4'1E SOCKS Off' , �' 1
Sl_OVr.D IF I Qt'ShI''i- FIND i4 `ism
sola NOTE STUCK DOV4M i61 TH.
TOE •..., LOVE, FROM 1'165 &STEP.:
T -C NA , NA : !4Aj/
"GOU'Lt. COLIGH THAT F1,A:.
alllt�.-•.You cow.... IF IVE
GOT To CHP1 E U'
Fa pt A MO UTHYO.1/r
0