The White Falcon - 10.07.1943, Blaðsíða 2

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Jonah’s whale might have been larger, but it certainly didn’t
cause as much commotion as the one above did when it was
landed here recently. Army aid was necessary to beach the
mammal, and every civilian in the area was on hand to watch.
8-Ton Whale’s No Jonah
When Gl’s Go To Work!
Fish stories may come and fish stories may go, but
until a bigger one comes along we’ll string along with
the masterpiece which the members of a mainten-
ance outfit of this Command are telling. Why? Because
the subject of this fish story is an eight-toij whale
Fishermen captured the huge'
mammal on a recent excursion,
and when they towed their blub-
bery victim into port practically
the entire population turned out
to get a look at the prize. It was
only natural. As anyone will ad-
mit, an eight-ton whale is an
awful lot of fish.
However, complications set in.
The good people couldn’t get a
look at the prize because nobody
seemed to be able to figure out
how they were going to get old
“Moby Dick”, ashore. There were
no derricks available big enough
to even roll the old fellow over
on his back.
It was at this point that the
Army rolled in to pull off one
of the strangest “rescues” on rec-
ord.
Roaring in from a nearby camp
came Cpl. Walter Griebel with a
five-ton wrecker, and behind him
came two other Army vehicles.
The civilian population looked
dubious and wondered what was
up. Cpl. Griebel looked dubious.
So did his mates. In their days
as maintenance men Griebel and
his buddies had pulled many a
jeep out of the mud and towed
in many a wrecked vehicle. But
an eight-ton whale—this was
something else again!
But if they doubted their own
ability, Griebel and company
didn’t show it. Working with the
‘Hobo’s Are Working;’
Boss Davis Complains
It takes a war to make a hobo
work, Jeff Davis of Cincinnati,
president of Hoboes of Am-
erica, Inc., sadly moaned this
week. Davis said membership in
his organization is falling off,
with 60,000 members in the arm-
ed forces, 20,000 “actually work-
ing” in war plants and thousands
more helping on farms.
fishermen, they set out to attach
the tow chain. The audience—
swelling with each passing mo-
ment—was all attention. The
question in every heart (this is
getting dramatic) was, “Can they
do it?”
They could—and did!
Slowly but surely the wreck-
er, with the help of the two
other trucks, pulled the giant of
the deep from its watery resting
pl^ce, and a great roar went up
from the crowd.
Wounded Can Thank
Air Arm For Lives
Eighteen thousand sick and wounded men were eva-
cuated from the Africa war theater by USAAF planes,
it was disclosed this week by Brig. Gen. David N. W.
Grant, air surgeon of the USAAF. The 18,000 included
American, British and French soldiers.
“On some days we moved as
many as 600 patients. That is
three times as many patients as
can be carried by hospital trains
in any one trip,” Gen. Grant said.
Out of a total of 91,000 U.S.
Air Cover
Foils Subs
In Atlantic
The U-hoat menace to Allied
shipping in the Atlantic,'already
suffering from increased naval
vigilance, was further jolted this
week when Allied leaders in Lon-
don disclosed convoys now are
protected by air support during
their entire trip.
Land-based bombers of- the
Royal Canadian Air Force watch
over convoys on the first lap;
in mid-ocean, carrier-based plan-
es of the British Fleet-Air Arm
take over, and big bombers of the
RAF Coastal Command shield
vessels from Nazi subs in the
home-stretch.
The relay system of air sup-
port proved so successful in its
first attempt that a large convoy
reached its destination without
any enemy interference.One Ger-
man sub was sunk by carrier
planes, another was listed as
probably destroyed by carrier
planes, while two others were
damaged.
Army and Navy casualties, the
dead totalled about 15,000 dur-
ing the African campaign, Gen.
Grant revealed. The low death
rate, he said, was due to four
chief factors: blood plasma,
quick evacuation to medical
treatment, the use of sulfa drugs
and surgery.
“Air evacuation serves to
maintain a high level of morale
among our fighting men,” Gen.
Grant said. “For a wounded man
to know he is soon to be in
a safe, friendly area, clean and
comfortable, with all the skill
and equipment of modern med-
icine at his side, his will to re-
cover is much greater.”
The USAAF flew a complete
250-bed hospital from one Afric-
an battlefield to another when
the shifting of hospital facilities
was necessary, the general ex-
plained. “This illustrates how, in
this war of movement,” he add-
ed, “the field of medicine must
be ready to move—lock, stock
and barrel—with the troops.
Offered Two Sentences,
Takes Longer Jail Term
Dr. Ferdinand Kertess, con-
victed of violating the Export
Control Act, was given his choice
of four years in prison and a
$20,000 fine or six years in pris-
on and a $16,000 fine. He chose
the longer sentence and cheaper
assessment.
Home-Front Feels The Pinch Of War,
Publisher Howard Informs U.S. Forces
A reassuring report on home-
front conditions and post-war
job possibilities was given a
Stars and Stripes reporter this
week by American newspaper
publisher Roy Howard in London.
“The folks back home are
getting plenty to eat, but they’re
—Quartets
(Continued from Page 1)
as “Grandfather’s Clock,” “Bi-
cycle Built For Two,” etc.;
light classical numbers such
as “One Alone” and “Desert
Song”, and modern tunes which
may include anything from
Rhumboogie” to “Gertie From
Bizerte.”
The contest will be judged on
blend, technique and showman-
ship, and appropriate prizes will
be awarded by THE WHITE
FALCON. For safety’s sake, it is
suggested that the various quart-
ets “tune up” in the shower rooms
in preference to the living quart-
ers where there are so many
loose objects lying about, Let's
hear from you, men!
feeling the pinch on meat,” said
Howard. ‘“One of the nicest pre-
sents my wife and I received on
our wedding anniversary' was a
three-and-a-half-pound steak.
The guest who brought it gave a
month’s meat rations for it.”
The food supply is more than
sufficient, according to Howard,
but the machinery to control it
is what is causing the headaches.
Except for shoes—which are
limited to three pairs a year per
person— clothes rationing is not
in sight. Candy is still plentiful,
and the guy with a thirst can
slake it with all the beer he
wants to drink at ten cents a
glass. Liquor prices have gone
up, but there is plenty of it still
flowing.
“And speaking of liquor,” Ho-
Queen Wilhelmina
Arrives Iri England
Queen Wilhelmina of the Neth-
erlands returned to England this
week from Canada. She made the
trip by air and was accompanied
by Netherlands Minister of For=
eign Affairs Yap Kleffens.
ward said,. “the boys may like
to know that the dries are de-
finitely not making any headway
with any new prohibition move-
ment. They won’t be able to pul
anything like that across while
the boys are overseas this time.”
Howard painted a bright pic-
ture of post-war conditions to
which American servicemen will
return. Already', he said, business
and industrial leaders, as well
as the government, are laying
broad plans for the transition
of industry from wartime to
peacetime production.
“Under the comprehensive pro-
grams being prepared,” Howard
stated, “there seems little likeli-
hood that any soldier will be
jobless when this business ends.
Most important of all, accord-
ing to the head of the Scripps—
Howard newspaper chain, in
spite of the squabbles in Wash-
ington, r strikes, zoot-suif riots
and a handful of other troubles
that make headlines, the Nation
is 100 per cent' agreed on one
thing—-that winning the war
comes before anything else.
Stephan
Saved By
Roosevelt
Only six hours away from the
gallows, Max Stephan, Detroit
restaurant owner convicted of
aiding a German pilot to escape
from a Canadian prison camp,
was spared when President
Roosevelt issued an executive
Max Stephan.
order reducing his sentence toi
life imprisonment.
The President declared Steph-
an’s treason “was not part of a
pre-conceived plan, and not sev-
ere enough to deserve death.”
Previously, the ,U.S. Supreme
Court had turned down three
clemency pleas on Stephan’s be-
half.
—Russia
(Continued from Page 1)
no doubt that the heavy attack,
on the Russians north and south
of Kursk is the opening of the
summer offensive, comparable
to those of two previous years..
The attacks, he said, are pre-
sumably to cut off the Russians,
south of Orel, and it is by no>
means certain the Germans will
succeed. In the south they have
been firmly held, and in the
north, though they have had
local successes, the fighting has
been costly for them, especially
in tanks.
The commentator added, “Even
should they succeed in this of-
fensive they' will be a long way
from striking a really dangerous
or decisive blow.”
The Russians admitted that the
Luftwaffe’s strength is' impres-
sive. On the other hand, they
said, the Soviet defenses have
been considerably' strengthened
during the 100-day lull and their
armament is generally more
powerful than last year.