The White Falcon - 13.03.1943, Blaðsíða 12

12
Sinking U.S. Ship Bags
Two Heavily-Armed Boats
Burning and in splinters, a
lone Yankee merchant marine
supply ship destroyed one Axis
raider and damaged another in
a fierce sea-battle.
The dramatic tale was relat-
ed by 15 surviving crew memb-
ers who spent 31 days in an
open life boat on the Atlantic
before they landed in a South
American port.
The American vessel was just
four days out of a South African
port, laden with supplies for Al-
lied South Pacific bases. Armed
only with machine-guns, the
American ship encountered two
Axis raiders, heavily armed
with machine guns and four-
inch cannon.
The first enemy salvo, a dir-,
ect hit, knocked off one of the
Yankee ship’s machine-guns and
wrecked another. The American
ship was splintered and flames
were licking out of one end, but
the brave crew fought on, as
the flames rapidly spread
through the crippled clipper.
Suddenly the merchant gun
crew pumped fifty shells from
a World War I. 37 mm. into the
engine room of the smaller Axis
raider, and she sank. However,
shells from the damaged raider
exploded the ship.
Just before the crew took to
the lifeboats, Midshipman Ed-
win J. O’Hara, of Lindsay, Calif.,
fired the last five shells into
the big raider, and left her list-
ing. O’Hara was killed shortly
after he fired the damaging shots.
—They Say....
(Continued from Page 4)
of a Russian convoy a major
naval operation with powerful
escorts of all types from battle-
ships downwards.
Very likely some of Doenitz’s
advisers are urging him that the
chief beneficiary of this policy
would actually be Japan. If there
were no German “fleet in being”
there would be nothing to de-
tain British and American bat-
tleships and heavy cruisers in
the Atlantic. All such ships might
then be sent to the Pacific with
disastrous results to Japan. But
there’s another point of view
to be considered. The advantage
of a German fleet in being is
not wholly Japan’s. The main
Allied concentration in British
waters necessarily includes con-
siderable numbers of destroyers
for protection. If the destroyers
could be released for convoy
duty, the U-boat campaign
would suffer defeat.
Likewise, the Germans must
consider what their position
might be if the Japanese were
knocked out of the war alto-
gether. The great value of Jap-
an to Germany is as a diversion
of Allied fighting power. But
Japan is losing superiority in
the air and if to this disadvan-
tage were added complete naval
inferiority, the result might be
the military collapse of Japan
at a much earlier date.
great success, considering the
number of new faces (feminine)
in the crowd. With Ace Buckley
of the Special Service department
doing his little bit for the mo-
rale of the men, it had to be a
success. There was plenty of ice-
cream, cookies and soft drinks
on hand for everyone, and to top
it off we had that ever-becoming
popular, dance orchestra of our
own. It looks as if the so-called
"Wolves” of the unit are living
up to their reputation.
T/Sgt. Charles E. Bradley.
Pfe. At Coupe T/5G. H. Mur-
ray and T/5G. Joe Verosto are
now proud and happy full-
blooded Americans.
T/4G. Alex Sekler was caught
handshaking when he received
I his prize for excellent wood-
| work. Former Bugle Boy Pfc.
I Melvin Wade, starting out on a
very wet detail, declared: “Hope
this isn’t any dry run!”
T/5G. Wm. R. Cremens.
T/5G. Samuel Durso (left) plunks the strings of his home-
made electric guitar while Pvt. Feddy LaPearl strums his guitar
during performance of “GI Varieties” on local stage.
The American Scene
Organization News
Members of the Snipes and
Sparrows, teams in the Air Force
Basketball League, during a re-
cent get-together decided to pur-
chase a “crying towel” for “Red”
Plante .... Due to his ferocious
and pugilistic attitude towards
the referees, the red-headed
player has been given an oppor-
tunity to see how the other half
lives .... He has been handed
the whistle! .... The outfit’s
George Bernard Shaw, sans the
beard, was heard to accuse the
medico of sabotaging his play
.... The erstwhile playwright
is said to be walking around
all taped-up .... We wonder if
it’s his mouth or chest .... We
advise him (G. B. Kronnenberg)
to play the part of the “Mummy”
in his show!
Sgt. Samuel Kopp.
George Reynolds hits the
headlines again as he goes barg-
ing through life .... This time
George got himself two haircuts
in one day! .... Yes, that’s right,
two .... You see, the second
pne was necessary to recon-
struct George’s human appear-
ance .... You guessed it, the
first barber was rather new at
the trade .... A horizontal-bar
has been constructed here
Come nightly and you will see
all types of suitable gymnastics
performed by occupants of the
place, including chinning, skin-
ning-the cat, back pulls-up,
snakc-ups and baby-drop.
Corp. Don Groth.
The low overcast last week
was not caused by the weather,
but was the result of cigars pass-
ed out by our new first lieuten-
ants.
Apparently the dance held by
the enlisted men recently was a
Sgt. “Big A” Aaron’s Saturday
night ice-cream festivals sure hit
the spot with each and every one
of us. We understand from good
authority that Pvt. Malack has
the jinx on Corp. Ambrosine
when it comes to playingYiheck-
ers. Ping-pong has once again
become our favorite indoor sport
—it has been noted that the “old
men” have the table cornered
most of the time. “Pappy” Chris-
topher, “Baldy” Bosk and “Chub-
by” Howe are the chief paddle
men.
Sgt. J. Weiss.
One of the really frightening
tilings about life in the rough
is Pvt. Jake Finley. The influ-
ence of Finley on a nice quiet
boy like Pvt. Cholock is stagger-
ing. Spike will now admit that
the last mail-call was of a “large
and copious alarificationary.”
Which is an easy way (if saying
that if only the beer was more
“abundilitorific,” we could real-
ly show something.
T/5G. J. K. Stark.
Two men entered a drug store.
They gave the clerk a prescrip-
tion for narcotics, but it was
forged. In their excitement upon
reaching the street, they didn’t
notice they had boarded a street-
car which ran as far as a police
station. When they arrived at the
end of the line, the sheriff was
waiting, and escorted them di-
rectly into the police station.
The alert clerk had called the
police as soon as they left the
store. ■ .! J >*. ‘jflff
•
Budget Director John Burton
of Albany, N.Y., had to learn the
hard way. For weeks Clifford G.
Westervelt of the State Building
Divisions was getting nowhere
asking Burton for additional re-
pair funds. Suddenly an old
waterpipe in Burton’s office
burst and sent Burton with a
shower of water right into Wes-
tervelt’s lap. Westervelt got the
money and repairs were started,
immediately.
© >
Sgt. Emmett Walker, 20, of
San Antonio, Texas, is one non-
com who can “pull his rank” not
only in the Army but also on his
own parents. Returning home
from Puerto Rico for a week,
he discovered both his father and
mother had joined the Services.
His father was a private in the
Army; his mother a private in
the WAAC’s.
•
Little Jackie Smith, 9, wanted
to go hunting with his father, but
his mother wouldn’t consent. Aft-
er his father left, Jackie went
hunting alone. That evening Mr.
Smith came home empty-handed.
Send THE WHITE FALCON Howe
ihlO Jt-ioji Avayi ‘aajsuuijsoj o/a
Jackie came home later — with
a fox in each hand!
•
The first woman mail carrier
in South Pasadena, Calif., is Mrs.
Emma Filins. She is the wife of
post office clerk Glen Filin's. Her
test was carrying 40 pounds of
mail for ten miles.
Bill Polek, of Manatowock, Wis.,
worked one day in the local ship-
building yards. This was too
much for Bill, so he decided a
vacation was what he needed.
So Bill went on a “bender.” Pay-
day dawned. The ship-building
company sent Bill a check. After
deducting Social Security, War
Bond fees, etc., the check read:
“Exactly no dollars and one
cent.”
•
Shakespeare’s Juliet contend-
ed, “What’s in a name?” But not
in the case of this romance be-
cause it almost sounds good
enough to eat. Miss Frances
Treat of Jackson Corners, N.Y.,
is now the bride of George
Snack of Bloomfield, N.J.
•
With true American qonfid-
ence, the U. of California js
publishing a .Tapanese-English
and English-Japanese dictionary
and five easy readers. The pur-
pose of the publications is to
help U.S. soldiers and sailors
“when” they arrive in Tokyo.
•
Names caused the separation
of Palma and Ignazio Odda. The
judge listened to the testimony
of both Mr. and Mrs. Odda. He
couldn’t decide who was guilty.
So he called in their daughter,
Doris. Doris’ story convinced
the judge that while Mrs. Odda
called Mr. Odda names, Mr. Odda
called Mrs. Odda more — so
Mrs. Odda got the divorce.
•
Tradition is more important
to Pert Director Joe Brenner,
than the vnetal shortage. In spite
of the present metal shortage,
Brennan presented a new bell
to a San Diego, Calif., skipper.
Brennan explained, “It was
neither dignified nor safe to
warn ships in the fog by hav-
ing tbe captain beat a dishpan,”