The White Falcon - 24.12.1943, Side 2

Yule Spirit Shines In Iceland
Against Windy Arctic Setting
A Christmas in Iceland will never, to a soldier’s way of thinking, be anything
like what a Christmas should be. Any Pfc in the IBC will tell the world that Christ-
mas at this outpost “just doesn’t seem like Christmas.”
And he would continue to sayi
so if the place was decorated
with all the red and green bulbs
in Jersey City and there was a
Santa Claus standing guard at
the gateway to very camp.
But that doesn’t mean that the
GI in Iceland won’t try to make
this Christmas as merry as poss-
ible, because he has been mak-
ing plans to that effect for weeks.
And although most of the fellows
won’t get a look at a Christmas
tree' and they won’t have the
customary drink of egg nogg on
Christmas Eve, or a lot of other
things connected with Christmas,
the spirit will be there. As much
as possible, soldiers here will
celebrate the great day by doing
the same things they used to do
at home.
The celebrating will start on
Christmas Eve, when ten groups
of soldiers will clear their throats,
pile into jeeps and make a tour
of as many camps as possible,
depositing at each camp selec-
tions of such old Yuletide favor-
ites as “Silent Night” and “Ad-
cste Fidelis.” Each group will be
Soldiers in Iceland who heeded the warning, “Do Not Open
Until Christmas,” gather ’round their glowing stove to see what
the folks at home sent this year.
morning until late at night, hold-
ing services at as many differ-
ent camps as it is possible to visit
accompanied by members of thelir, a single day.
Air Corps or Infantry bands
and, of course, the eternal music
of the Arctic wind.
A great percentage of the men
will attend church services. Cath-
olics will celebrate midnight
mass at five different camps, and
a Navy chaplain will, hold mid-
night services at the Catholic
Cathedral in Reykjavik. There
also will be Catholic services
Christmas morning and after-
noon.
Protestant chaplains will be on
the go from early Christmas
As for the customary gathering
around the tree Christmas morn,
that will be out. Trees are
scarcer than beefsteak on the
Russian front. But nobody will
complain too much about this,
because most of the men opened
their gift packages from the folks
at home some time ago.
So the -next subject is the
Christmas dinner, always some-
thing to look ahead to. in the
eyes of any American, whether
he is wearing khaki or a blue
serge suit. It is this dinner that
really gives the fellows some-
thing to yell about, for there will
be turkey and all the trimmings,
topped off by a variety of pies,
nuts and ice cream. Mess Serge-
ants are outdoing themselves in
an attempt to make this meal
“the best yet.”
In the line of entertainment,
there will be a number of shows
at the various camps and hospit-
als, and the average soldier will
see at least one movie before he
calls it a day.
It won’t be much like the
Christmases of old, but if it can
be made merry, GI Joe will make
it so.
Choral Groups
To Tour IBC
Camp Sites
The tuneful strains of Christ-
mas carols will reverberate
through every half-moon Nissen
hut on the island tonight when
several groups of GI singers climb
into jeeps and barnstorm from
camp to camp, operating on a
hectic schedule so that no unit
in the Command will be neg-
lected.
The carolers have been work-
ing hard all week under the dir-
ection of Special Service officers
to sweeten their harmony for to-
night’s pilgrimage. Each group,
comprised of 20 hand-picked
singers, has been assigned a sec-
tion of the Command, with the
itinerary of some including isol-
ated outposts.
To insure that the carolers
won’t stray off key even if Ice-
land’s fabulous wind begins to
howl, musicians from the Air
Corps and Infantry bands will
accompany the singers.
What’s Doing?
MAIN CLUB
Sunday—1930—A Cappella
Choir.
2030—Dance.
Tuesday—2030—Dance.
Wednesday—2030-Bridge Club
Thursday—2030—Dance.
Friday—2030—“It Ain’t G.I.!”
2200—Sing the Old Year
Out.
CLUB 21
Friday—1300—Basketball.
Saturday—2000—Christmas
Stage Show.
Monday—2030—Fencing Class.
Wednesday—2030—New Year’s
Dance.
Thursday—2130—Camp Smok-
er.
CLUB 23
Sunday—2000—Variety Pro-
gram.
Tuesday—2000—Band Concert.
Thursday—2000—Ping Pong
Tournament.
Friday—2000—Monte Carlo
Night.
Movies Feature
Yule Parties
Motion pictures, being the
major entertainment lure in Ice-
land, will play an important
part during the Christmas holi-
day season, Base SSO announced
this week.
Cecil B. DeMille’s spectacular
epic, “King of Kings,” will be
placed at the disposal of chap-
lains to distribute as they desire.
It is likely that the famous movie
of yesteryear will be screened in
the larger GI theaters so that
more soldiers may be accomod-
ated.
The Andrews Memorial field-
house will be the scene of a mid-
night show New Year’s Eve, the
feature being “Coney Island,” a
musical in technicolor co-starr-
ing Betty Grable and George
Montgomery. Tickets for this af-
fair will be apportioned to units
by Base SSO.
Even the luckless yardbirds
confined to the stockade will at-
tend a movie—the first time pri-
soners in Iceland have been per-
mitted entertainment of this type.
Everybody lends a hand to assist in decorating the Reykjavik
ARC Club for its Christmas party. Sis Domkowski is perched
on ladder; other Red Cross girl is Alyce Biddle.
Reykjavik ARC Club
Offers Gala Progam
Christmas will be welcomed
at the Reykjavik ARC Club with
gay programs and fun for all
Servicemen who venture from
their camps, Nelson R. Kraemer,
club director, announced.
Tonight’s Christmas Eve af-
fair has been changed slightly
because “It Ain’t GI,” an hilari-
ous one-act farce by Kurtz Gor-
don originally scheduled for to-
night, has been postponed until
New Year’s Eve. The eleventh-
hour decision was deemed nec-
essary to give the talented cast
sufficient time to rehearse.
But there’ll be plenty of other
entertainment tonight with a spe-
‘Gang’s Here’
Film Arrives
For Holidays
Hollywood’s Christmas present
to troops in Iceland—“The Gang’s
All Here,” a musical extravaganza
in technicolor released for the
Yuletide—arrived via plane this
week and will be shown locally
during the holidays.
A Twentieth-Century-Fox re-
lease, “The Gang’s All Here” feat-
ures Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda,
James Ellison, Benny Goodman
and his band, and a bevy of gor-
geous girls. There’s a plausible
romantic plot, but what will ap-
peal to the GI’s in Iceland are
the girls and music, and the mus-
ic and the girls.
Troops in the Keflavik district
will be invited to see “The Gang’s
All Here” tonight. A special show-
ing in the Andrews Memorial
fieldhouse tomorrow at 2000
hours will accomodate about
1,800 enlisted men and officers
around Reykjavik, with tickets
being distributed to units by
Base Special Service according
to comparative strength.
After the Reykjavk showing,
the movie will make the rounds
among outlying sectors before
being placed on the regular cir-
cuit.
cial Christmas flavor. In fact,
Kraemer hinted that he might
even be able to persuade a portly
GI to don a colorful Santa Claus
suit, and one of the few Christ-
mas trees in Iceland has been
begged, borrowed or stolen for
the occasion.
“Coney Island,” musical movie
in technicolor with Betty Grable
and George Montgomery, will be
the attraction at the Reykjavik
Club tonight.
A twin-organ concert of Christ-
mas favorites will be presented
by Reta Shaw and Kathryn Over-
street, popular Red Cross host-
esses, tomorrow from 1630 to
1700 hours. In the evening, there
will be a formal dance in the
ballroom, while non-dancers will
take over the rest of the club.
Other Red Cross personnel will
be equally as busy tomorrow,
distributing gift boxes to out-
lying units and hospital patients.
In addition, parties for shut-ins
are planned at each of the Army
hospitals.
British Team
Edges Yanks
In Radio Quiz
A team of four British “quiz
kids” scored an 8-7 victory over
an American squad Monday dur-
ing the British Hour’s “Question
Air” show on Radio Reykjavik.
The program was produced by
Douglas Price and Vernon Dav-
idson of the RAF.
American contestants who did-
n’t guess right often enough were
1/Lt. Brack Steele, T/Sgt. Irving
Zimbalist, T/3 Gene Graff and
Pvt. Dale Stevens. In the opposite
corner, the lineup was Sq. Ldr.
William Beringer, Sgt. James
|McCardl“, Cpl. Colin Briddock
and L/Cpl. William Houston. The
! interrogators were T/4 Ben H.
Cohen and Price.
Music for the program was
played by the U.S. Infantry dance
orchestra.