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Zurich Herald, 1943-04-15, Page 6r SCOUTING. • • When Troop 42 Boy Scouts of rendletan, Oregon, learned that the Boy, Scouts of Canada had a fund to : aid British Scouts who had lost homes and equipment in the blitz, they dipped into their Troop Funds and sent along $55,00 to help out the cause. They des- cribed their gesture as `ga friend- ly handclasp stretching to the north." r?early $35,000 has now been forwarded by Canadian Scouts to their brothers in Great Britain. * * Boy Scouts of 1Zidgetown, Ont., recently staged a one week cam- paign to raise funds to ship seeds to Great Britain. At the end of the week they had $101.38 with which they bought garden seeds to be used by British .Boy Scouts in their "Dig for Victory" gar- dens. Boy Scouts of Halifax, N.S., op- erate the Tweedsmuir Room, a rest and recreation centre for former Scouts now in the armed services. to the first two years they entertained more than 1,200. While the majority of the visitors came from Canada, the log book reveals visits from Scouts of Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, the West Indies, India, Newfound- land, British Guiana, Brazil, Hol- land, Argentina, Belgium, France, Latvia, U.S.A. and Norway. * * A Rover Scout Crew in Gibral- tar meets each week in a packing case. However it isn't as cramped as it sounds. The packing case is an airplane case and is really quite roomy. The boys have add- ed a verandah and an awning. All members of the Crew are in the armed forces stationed at the fortress. * a * Because of their special train- ing in observation, Boy Scouts of Nova Scotia are likely to be taken into the Aircraft Detection Corps as plane spotters. In this work they will be emulating the ,ex- ample set by Boy Scouts of Eng- land, who 10,000 strong acted as coast watchers during the first Great War, and who in larger numbers are doing the same job again in this war. VOICE OF THE PRESS DUMB CLUCK A. White Leghorn pullet named itaminniie Visas -enteretrine a e Jersey, by her North ranch owner. She laid an egg a day for 140 days and ran up a State record. From latest reports she had of- fered no comment about time and sa half for production over that made in a forty hour week. —New York Sun —a— LITTLE SERVICES By carrying her shopping home, the British housewife has helped tO save 10,000,000 gallons of gasoline a year, as well as a good deal of manpower. In fact, this war will be won by the accumula- tion of "little services" which are contributed by all the people who make up the nation. —Chatham News ---0— HARD TO ANSWER Why is it that women who in civil life can't run a furnace or operate a lawn -mower have no difficulty in servicing aircraft or running complicated machinery when they become war workers? —Brockville Recorder and Times --o— COMPLICATED OUTLOOK We have always wondered what would happen if a war went on so long that there were more prison- ers on each side than there were people to guard then and do the fighting. —Toronto Saturday Night ESSENTIALS You are not ?telly into a total war until you forget all about prices and worry only over whe- t'.ner, there is enough to eat and t place to sleep --alive. —London Free Press .-..-o— SPRING FEVER "Absenteeism" is just a fancy word which covers such things as plain laziness, indifference to the war, and a profound distaste for a regular job. ---Renfrew Mercury THE TIME COMES War or no war, the income t a x e s notwithstanding, there conies a time in a man's life when s woman has to have another hat, —Stratford Beacon -Herald —a -- HOW TO REDUCE. A noted physician sage the beet reducing system iii deseribed iet four words; "No friers, thank -Galt Reporter MORE ERSATZ Dog hair is being used for knit- ting In Germany, Making "flew lined" garments? -'-'Peterborough Flemming* J. S. BOMBS OVER GERMANY Two c'drops" in the rain of bombs that the U. S. Army's 8th Air Force poured on Germany recently are seen plunging toward Ger- man U-boat yards at Vegesack, on the Aller River, northwest of Bremen. Eighteen plant shops and the power house were severely damaged by the Yanks' precision bombing in the daylight raid. THE WAR - WEEK -- Commentary on Current Events Rommel's Retreating Armies Travel Northward Over Historic Roads Field Marshal Erwin Rommel re- treated north last week through Tunisia, says the New York Times. Between Gabes and Bizerte the gnarled trunks and dome-shaped foliage of 16,000,000 olive trees dominate the land over which his forces moved. From the south the British Eighth. Army, with its deadly train at 3,000 guns, pressed closer. In the hills to the west American and French'��,a.ttroops works 'ad t4.e i v..:--•�1]T',mn1... to ttreaten his ^flank. Hu northern stronghold was under at- tack by the British First Army. Overhead Amerioan aircraft in i00 -plane flights hammered the highways along which his desert - dusty tanks and trucks pounded, ewept out to blast his base at Cag- liari and Messina across the Medi- terranean in Sardinia and Sicily. The objective of the Allied armies was crystal clear. They proposed to destroy his army and drive him across the sea, back into Adolf Hitler's Fortress Eur- ope. To do that would be to win two of the greatest goals in the global strategy of the United Na- tions. It would permit launching drives into Southern Europe, through France, or Italy, or the Balkans, without fear that a Ger- man force might menace the African bases of the attacking armies. And it would open the Mediterranean to Allied shipping, which now must travel the long, 14,000 -mile route around Africa to reach the Middle East and India. The Marshal's -Task The marshal's job was to stop the Allies short of these aims. It was a galling, thankless task, far different from the glorious des- tiny that seemed reserved for him nice months ago when his Afrika• Korps thrust to the gates of Blgy+pt and the laurels of Alexan- der the Great were almost with- in his grasp. He worked hard at his undertaking, exhausted every stratagem at his command in or- der to carry it out. He tried first to build a stronghold stretching the length of Tunisia's east coast, licking a tough center of resist- ance in the Tunis -Bizerte region of the north to another based on the Mareth fortifications in the south, with a battle line strung 400 miles through the hills west of the coastal plains. That failed when his old foe, the British General Sir Bernard. L. Montgomery, turned his south- ern defenses and forced him to withdraw northward to escape en- trapment. British troops, drawn from all parts of the Empire, first stormed the Mareth Line. Despite heavy rains that hampered .the forward movement of their arta lery, 'they made steady progress. The cost iu'lives and smashed ma. Around The Flank Then General Montgomery, as full of tricks as his German op- ponent, gambled to save lives. Ile ordered heavy reinforcement of a column of troops he had sent through the salt deserts around the German flank. This column, under the colorful New Zealander, General Sir Bernard C Freyberg, veteran of Mexican revolutions and hero of the first World War, met the Panzer units sent to in•ter- oept it near the oasis o1 El Ham - ma,. The battle took place at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. The Bri- tish, their backs to a low, blazing sun, throwing a heavy smoke screen before them, charged. The German troopers, staring into the sun and smoke, often did not see their op,ponenta until it was too late to fire. Overhead a screen of aircraft, specially armed to fight tanks, swooped to the attack. In this fighting American planes played a part, making as many as 1,399 sorties in one day. American ground attacks farther north help- ed draw off some of Marshal Rom- mel's strength and this contributed to the British victory. Over Historic Roads Under this combined attack the Germans broke and ran. Front that moment it became necessary for the Nazi marshal to retreat. The roads his columns took northviard were historic. They had known the tread of flannibal's elephants, the soft shuffling of St. .e.pgustine's sandals and the hoofbeats of Roger the Norman's armored horse. They led through a countryside low and flat, a corridor varying in width from twenty-five to fifty miles between the hills in the west and the sea in the east. Along it were the towns of Gabes, Sfax, Sousse, that had been the strength of Carthage, colonial eA g of the'1toman and Turkish ''giros. One of there, Sfax, had trembled:under the fire of modern warships when the French Fleet brought French colonial rule and nineteenth century civilization to. 'l unisia. ' 1lrirere along that corridor Mar- sbal Rommel would stand and fight was thechief pr gji"leiu -' for • the Allied comanders. •Norlih of Gabes 'his.rearguard showed signs of holding once, then proved far- ther back where again it appeared ready for battle, Many observers thought the marshal would move all the way, as slowly as possible, to his northern defense center in the Tunis -Bizerte region where he would try to hold. The Allies would give him no respite there. Last week the posi- tion was under heavy attack by the British First Army which reached Mateur, but eighteen. miles from Bizerte. But the land remained in the German favor, much as the land favored the Am- erican an&. Filipino forces on Ba- taan. Their flanks were guarded by the Mediterranean Sea, just as General Douglas MacArthur's flanks were protected by the South China Sea and . the Bay of Manila. A low, rough, broken line of hills threw a protecting arm across much of the Nazi northern stronghold, but the hills fail to reach the northern coast, leaving a narrow doorway which must be closely guarded. Tunisia's Chief Cities Within this Axis stronghold were Tunisia's two chief cities. Bizerte's lake, connected with the sea by a channel running through the city, contains a naval base second only to Toulon among F'rance's Mediterranean bases. Tunis, near the site of ancient Carthage, 'is Tunisia's capital. Un- der its walls, St. Louis of France • died attempting to storm the city. Beyond this position there is no retreat this side of Europe for Marshal Rommel. And there were no signs last week that lie intend- ed to leave Africa. Strong forces, • estimated at 200,000 men and 1,- 300 airplanes are at his command. From Italy he was ' presumably receiving reinforcements estimated at from 500 to 1,000 men a day and from 75 to 125 tanks a month. `They crossed the Sicilian Straits, favoritethunting ground for Allied submarines and aircraft, in giant IVlesserschmitt 32es, six -engined planes believed capable of carry- ing 250 soldiers, and Siebel fer- ries, shallow -draft pontoon boats difficult to torpedo. In the back- ground was the oft -beaten Italian • Fleet, now perhaps under the com- mand of German officers It might emerge from its Adriatic bases to fight. Marshal Rommel, it seemed evi- Fent; errauiied 'a sun—battle 'besore relinquishing the Axis Tunisian bridgehead. Allied commanders saw a possibly long siege before them as they contemplated his northern defense positions. That siege might be costly in lives, they warned. But on both the Allied and German sides there were evi- dences of belief that the end was not too far off. The Germans were ruthlessly pressing the labor of their captive countries to the task of building fortifications along the shores of 'Southern Europe. In Northern Europe they were clear- ing civilians out of areas that might become battle zones in the event of an Allied invasion. In United Nations countries there was a heightened air of expect- ancy. The Spriug was growing older. Good fighting weather was near. Rommel's Rear Guard For five months the Germans have been planting laud urines along every approach to the Tun- isian coast. They cannot be dug up in five hours or five days. This mechanical rear guard which Rom- mel left behind him has served him as well as Axis tanks and guns to delay our attacking col- umns. No defensive weapon of the war has proved more useful on a re- stricted front than the land mine. Ou a vast front such as that of the Russian Winter offensive it is not so effective, simply because there is too much ground to cover. The whole world could not produce enough mines to neutralize 1S7,- 000 square miles of territory. But in Africa the land mind has help- ed Rommel to escape his pursuers again and again. The route of his retreat from Egypt had great length but very little width; he could mine the shore road almost anywhere. In Tunisia every moun- tain pass was a potential mine REG'L.A . FELLERS—Poppa's a Wise Guy (On) MAY, AS 1, WI St1-Co ItAtti tlovl rr SI441LP Ax. DONT. Donor To "Number 10" Let's jlhave less nonsense from the friends of. Joe, We la d, we love him; but the nonsense — no. In 1940, when we bore the' brunt We could have done,, boys, with a Second Front, A Continent went down a cataract, But Russia did not think it right. to .act. Not ready? No, And who shall call her wrong? Far getter not to strike till you are strong. Better perhaps, but this was not our tate, To make new treaties with the man you hate. Alas, these sly manoeuvres had to end, When Hitler leapt upon his largest friend. (And if he had not, I wonder, by the way, If Russia would be•in the war to -day?) But who rushed out to aid the giant then, A giant rich in corn, and oil, and men Long, long prepared, and having, so they say, The most enlightened ruler of the day, This tiny island, antiquated, tired, Effete, capitalist, and uninspired; This tiny island, wounded in the war Through taking tyrants on tao years before; This tiny Isle of muddles and mistakes, Having a front on every wave that breaks; We might have said: "Our shipping's on the stretch, You shall have all the tanks that you can fetch." But this is not the way we fight this war; We give the tanks—and take them to the door. Honor the Kremlin, boys, but, now and then, Admit some signs of grace at No. 10. —A. P. Herbert, in Punch. fieldwhich the Germans had plenty of time to load with explosives. From now on Rommel must do hie mining hastily, though he is re- ported to be manufacturing var- ious types in considerable quan- tity from materials shipped across the Strait of Sicily. One thing, however, seems certain. When he is driven back to the beaches it will do hirer no good to mine the sea. As early as 1939, during their drive into Poland, the Germans used land mines to hold the French on the Belfort triangle. Yet no fully successful counter to this weapon has thus far been de- veloped. Clearing mine fields is still a slow and costlyprocess. U. K. Lend -Lease To United States The first hospital train built in Britain for the United States Army Medical Department was formally handed over recently to Brig. -Gen. Paul R. Hawley. The train of six ward cars and a ear for sitting -up patients can carry nearly 300 wounded, It also includes a pharmacy car and operating theatre, two kit- chen cars and other cars for stores, offices, medical officers, • nurses and attendants. Brig. -Gen. Ilawley said this "is an example of the close co-oper- ation we have received through- out. I wish the people in the United States could see for them- selves this example of reverse lend-lease." The train is built to run on any gauge railroad—iu Britain, North Africa, or on the continent. Al- though the cars were produced in Britain, the train is powered by an American locomotive. Lend Garden Tools To Your Neighbor When your _neighbor asks to borrow your lawn mower, you say you are using it and ho replies, "well, you won't be needing your hoe, then," please be patient. The Prices Board, among others, has cast a mantle of respectabil- ity over the man who owns noth- ing but a chunk of land in his back yard. "If you have not gardened be- fore, and have neither the tools nor the experience, offer your ser- vices as a `digger' to your nearest neighbor or community centre where there is already a vegetable garden established or projected," board officials said. "Every tool and every seed has got to show results' this year, and the experi- ments of the amateur are apt CO be wasteful." Besides community effort there will also be door-to•door co-oper- ation in garden production, and this, of necessity, will require tol- era,nce in the loaning at garden tools to those who lack them. Be- cause of war requirements, gar- dening tools are in limited sup- ply. Tons Of Material Flow Into India Tons of vital war material are flowing into Eastern India and Ohina daily from this huge Amer- ican supply maintenance depot, less than a year old. It will be some time before quantities of supplies large enough for an all-out offensive against the Japanese flow forward, but that time is coming as surely as the monsoons. LIFE'S LIKE THAT By Fred Neher "I feel guilty layin' from house to here when I think of my of man out trurtgin" house tryirt' to aell brushes for a litrin'1" AS"{oJ tenteeJ,teo5i 11114 ot. A Joe Um -nets PAINT 'Th .MStLveS Nth Cog1e.0.! bur Nor PoPP - u s.'s'Too SMART -To dET 4g161AT IN 'CHF PiNVATI 13y GENE ,BYRNES 111 1 Fliiseett, Pop? e,OOPS% _ 1!'t SORRY!