The White Falcon - 19.12.1942, Blaðsíða 1

Vol. III. Saturday, December 19, 19k2.
Mail? Post Office
With ‘Lost’ Items
No, this isn’t another shipment of mail just having arrived.
It’s a portion of the insufficiently addressed pile which grew
rapidly in size during the Christmas rush. Corp. Max Boren-
stein of the Base Post Office stands near hill of bags and pon-
ders over the number of fellows who will be disappointed un-
less they locate their parcels and letters.
Gl’s Still Wary of V-Mail
Despite Economy Virtues
Marines
Mop Up
In Buna
With the main line of Japan-
ese resistance broken after
the capture of Buna, heavy rain
has prevented the Allied ground
forces from wiping out pockets
of isolated Jap troops complete-
ly. Meanwhile, the American Air
Force continues to hammer back
all Japanese attempts to land re-
inforcements, with staggering
losses to the enemy.
Despite the delaying of the
initial death blow, due to trop-
ical rains which turned the New
Guinea coastal jungle into a sur-
face of sticky mud and matted
underbrush, an attempt to break
out by a strong, isolated Nip-
ponese stronghold was crushed.
Trying to crash the Allied
ring that surrounded them, the
enemy lost most of its mach-
ine-gun nests in the outer circle,
and drew the Allied noose
tighter.
On the northern end of New
Guinea, American and Australi-
an heavy field batteries and
mortars are pouring shells into
Japanese lines in Buna Mission
to soften the enemy’s remain-
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Russians Plunge
Farther Ahead
On AH Fronts
Having repulsed bitter attempts
by the Nazis to regain the initia-
tive, the Russians continue to in-
flict severe damages to German
manpower and machinery from
one end of the 2,000-mile battle-
front to the other.
The battered Nazis are employ-
ing every possible means to re-
inforce their lines with fresh
troops and vital supplies, even
resorting to the use of huge sky-
borne transports. But few of the
planes have reached' their ob-
jective, more than 50 percent
having been shot out of the skies
by alert Russian ground batte-
ries and fighter planes.
While pressure still is appa-
rent in the Don-Volga basin,
where the trapped German ar-
mies are fighting to avoid anni-
hilation, elsewhere in Russia
Nazi resistance has stalled. On
the Central front and in the
Caucasus, Moscow reports only
slight local skirmishes during
(Caatinned on Page 2)
Missing Any
Is Swamped
Santa’s li’l helpers—the bleary-
eyed clerks of the Base Post Of-
fice—are in danger of being
crushed under the huge pile of
mail sacks containing Christmas
packages, but lacking adequate
identification. The assorted col-
lection of bundles grows larger
every day, and if it continues at
the present pace, the postal staff
will have to find quarters else-
where.
Santa Claus’ chief aide, Capt.
Benjamin F. Hartl, has his men
working frantically to find the
rightful owners before Christ-
mas. But it’s doubtful if they can
accomplish the goal in time. So
he’s appealing to men of the Com-
mand who haven’t received their
packages to drop in and see if
they can find their missing par-
cels.
Many of the parcels will be
easy to identify. For example, if
you have an “Aunt Gee,” or
“Mother Powell,” then you’ve a
couple of books awaiting your
visit to the Post Office. Someone’s
“Grace” sends her love with an
attractive photo, while a doggie
named “Woodrow” can claim a
picture of his friend, “Neil.” And
if the gal or wife is “Lenore” and
she promised to sent! you some-
thing warm and comfortable,
they have it on hand.
These are just a few of the items;
there are countless others await-
ing arrival of the owners.
Lieut. Joseph Pelech, Capt. Hartl’s
assistant, points out that unless
the packages are claimed, they
will be sent to the “dead letter”
office in Washington, D.C.
Holiday Editions
THE WHITE FALCON’S
Christmas edition will be dist-
ributed Thursday, Dec. 24, and
the 12-page New Year’s paper
will reach the Command
Thursday, Dec. 31. These holi-
day editions supersede the
usual Saturday deliveries.
Masons Meet
Masons of this Command met
last evening at a local Army
hospital theatre to elect officers
and discuss plans for the coming
year. A Christmas program and
refreshments followed a talk by
Lt. Col. A. G. Heilman.
“Push the middle valve down
and the V-mail comes out here,”
is what happens when the V-mail
machines go into operation.
Within 24 hours after a letter
has been deposited at the Army
Post Office here., it has been
photographed on 16mm. film and
is winging its way to anxious
hands across the sea.
Inaugurated last March by the
War Department, V-mail reports
show that the New York branch
is now handling 50,000 letters a
day. But this represents only five
percent of all mail to and from
men overseas.
Facilities have been made avail-
able to men here and at other
overseas posts. The 700 words,
which the forms can hold, cancel
previous excuses for not writing.
Besides this, every Serviceman
and his family will help Uncle
Sam win the war by using the
space-saving qualities of V-mail.
Film containing 150,000 V-mail
letters requires only one bag and
weighs 25 pounds, in comparison
to a similar amount of regular
mail weighing 2,575 pounds and
filling 37 bags. Shipping space,
then, may be used for implements
of war and vital supplies.
Arts ’n’ Crafts
Exhibit Opens
The Arts ’n’ Crafts exhibit—a
colorful display of all entries in
the Command-wide contest—
will swing open its doors to-
morrow evening at White Rose
hall, three blocks from the Red
Cross Information Booth. The
exhibition will be available for
public scrutiny every day
through Christmas Day.
The board of judges will gather
Tuesday evening to hand-pick
the winning contributions, and
a full list of winners will ap-
pear in the Christmas edition of
THE WHITE FALCON. Since
prizes, which were ordered from
the States, haven’t arrived as yet,
it is doubtful if they’ll be avail-
able in time for Christmas pre-
sentation, as was originally plan-
ned.
However, when the handsome
awards arrive, winners in each
division of the contest will be
invited to a “Prize Awards
Night” at the Rec Center.
No. 13.
Rommel
Retreats
Again
Over-crowded routes of escape
and tenacious blows by Gen.
Montgomery’s sturdy Eighth
Army have banded together to
slice Rommel’s Afrika Korps into
two weary segments of stragg-
lers, 65 miles west of El Agheila
in Libya.
The Axis retreat from El Ag-
heila was launched without dis-
order, and Rommel’s vast horde
of bruised Axis troops was well
on its way to join units at Tri-
poli. But Mongomery’s forces
charged forward in a surprise
attack which caught the enemy
off guard and resulted in a de-
finite break through the center
of the main party.
The Axis’ failure to elude
Montgomery’s pursuers is at-
tributed to well-executed bomb-
ing and strafing sorties by Al-
lied, aircraft, who blew up roads
and bridges before the Afrika
Korps could reach safety. Rom-
mel’s thoroughfares became so
crowded with tanks and trucks,
there was little chance for
the enemy to organize for any
defense when the Eighth Army
moved into action.
Axis aircraft failed to appear
in quantity, and the few fight-
ers who did approach the scene
were either driven off or dest-
royed by elements of the RAF
and U.S. Air Force. Yesterday’s
minor air activity proved costly
for the Germans as 12 fighters
were shot down.
Bad weather, meanwhile, has
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B. & C. Pupils
Win Diplomas
Proving that it is possible, the
most recent Bakers and Cooks
School class served a tasty din-
ner composed entirely of dehyd-
rated foods at its commence-
ment exercises this week. The
menu was cream of pea soup,
croutons, scrambled eggs, shoe-
string potatoes, vegetable salad
with French dressing, finger
rolls, Vienna bread, lemon cream
pie, marble cake, milk, butter
and coffee.
Major General Charles H. Bone-
steel; Rear Admiral D. B. Beary,
USN; Honorable Leland Morris,
and Brigadier Generals G. J. For-
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