The White Falcon - 23.09.1944, Blaðsíða 5

5
Size of the crowd which packed Andrews Fieldhouse for Sunday night’s performance of
the Marlene Dietrich show can be judged from photo below taken from the improvised stage.
Miss Dietrich is seen before the microphone. Right, Miss Dietrich looks up from her plate
of GI rations as she dines in an enlisted men’s messhall at a QM outfit here. In left fore-
ground is Jerry Cummins, accordianist with the troupe.
— Marlene Wows ’Em
U. S. Relaxes
Rationing Of
Food Items
To avoid a Waste of perishable
foods — of which the Govern-
ment is now reported to have vast
stores on hand — many items
were this week removed from the
ration list by U.S. War Mobiliz-
ation Director James F. Byrnes.
Food items which thus became
nation-free were all varieties of
jam, jelly, asparagus, and the fol-
lowing canned goods: peas, bak-
ed beans, fresh lima beans, tom-
ato paste, pumkin, squash and
..baby food.
Principal foods which still re-
quire" points are creamy butter,
margarine, cheese, canned fruit,
canned tomatoes, canned milk,
ketchup, hams, pork, loin and
better grades of steaks.
Veteran of Cassino
Wins Home Front
Battle In Chicago
A battle on the home front was
won by a wounded veteran of
Cassino last week when he per-
suaded 600 workers in Chicago
to return to the manufacture of
engines for B29 Super-Fortress-
es. The veteran — Pvt. Melvin
Biegel — told striking empoyees
of the Chrysler Corporation’s
huge plant that American air
power was the'principal factor
in the defeat of the Germans at
Cassino.
Doing A Great Job
U.S. planes of the ATC are
crossing the Atlantic at the rale
of one every 22 minutes.
After a four-year lapse, the Naz- ]
is' vaunted Siegfried Line is back
in the news. Is it as tough as
Germans claim — or is its re-
puted impregnability just Nazi
propaganda?
The answer is not simple, but
the Siegfried Line is no mere
invention of Dr. Goebbels’ pro-
paganda factory. Whether or not
it will prove a serious obstacle
is expected to depend, in the
final test, on what German man-
power can put into it.
Here are some observations
on the Siegfried works given
to an Army News Service corre-
spondent by a senior officer at
Supreme Headquarters, AEF:
Partly dismantled.
Most of the Line was con-
structed during the “golden age”
of Nazism when the Huns had
plenty of manpower, plenty of
material — and plenty of time. \
Construction was started in
1936. But after the fall of France ’
in 1940, not only was work on
the Siegfried Line stopped, but
the network of bastions was in
a measure dismantled. Its mine-
fields were lifted and its barbed
wire stripped away and —- at
considerable expense — portions
of the Line were turned back
into farmland. The concrete in- {
stallations, of course, underwent
some degree of deterioration.
On the subject of the con-
crete employed in construction
of the Line, however, there is
this to be noted: There was less
need for economy wrhen it was
poured and a sturdier mixture
was used by the builders of the
Siegfried than was used when
later fortifications — such as
the Atlantic Wall — were er-
How Tough Is The Siegfried Line?
ected.
Another advantage that the
Siegfried derives from its age
is natural camouflage. Grass and
undergrowth have sprung up
around and over its concrete
emplacements and the conceal-
ment is good.
Out-dated.
On the other side of the ledger
is the fact that the Line’s age
keeps its installations from be-
ing up to modern standards.
Wall thicknesses are less than
in subsequent works and gun
emplacements are not roofed.
Neither the power of 1944 artil-
lery nor the full potentialities
of air strength were foreseen
when the Siegfried Line was
built.
The strength of the Line var-
ies in different sectors. For ex-
ample, where the Rhine forms
on the frontier, the fortifications
are relatively thin, but along the
stretch where the Siegfried con-
fronts the old Maginot Line it
is stoutly put together. It is at
this point where the so-called
Metz Gateway and the Moselle
Valley offer a natural avenue
for attacks from the west. The
Line thins out again where it
faces the Ardennes Forest and
becomes stronger farther north
where it meets flat terrain.
Designed for counterattack.
Unlike the Maginot Line which
was designed for a static de-
fense, the Siegfried is designed
for the German formula of
strong counterattack. It was
contemplated that the enemy
might make headway into the
Siegfried’s defenses but that he
would promptly be hurled out
again by counterattacking Ger-
man reserves.
In fact, the ability of the Sieg-
fried Line to turn back an ass-
ault depends greatly on strong
reserves. How many are needed
to man it is a debatable question.
Even in its strongest stretches
the Siegfried is believed to be in
only moderate depth. Its1 first
obstructions are minefields and
barbed wire. Behind these arc
pillboxes for machine guns and
antitank guns. Next are concrete
shelters for the off-dufy men and
local reserves, while farther to
the rear are artillery positions
and flak gun sites.
All pillboxes are built to pro-
vide enfilade fire covering one
or more neighoring pillboxes.
Many of these minor fortresses
cannot fire directly ahead.
Conceived in 1917.
The Siegfiied Line was con-
ceived by Col. Fritz von Loss-
berg 27 yeas ago during the battl-
es of Arras in France. Appointed !
chief of staff of the German
Sixth Army on Apr. 10, 1917, the1
day after it had been truck a
terrific blow by the British, he \
improvised a system of mobile,!
elastic, zonal defense in depth, j
the general theory (copied in the
present day line) being delaying-
action by the outposts, ever
stronger resistance on successive
lines of defense — between which
the ground is checkered with
forts, machine gun nests and!
other strongpoints — and finally
heavy counterattacks by mobile
divisions.
Like battle fleet.
A Belgian journalist in 1939
called the line ,a fleet moored
along the frontier. The fleet had
, flotilla craft to scout for it —
i blockhouses garrisoned by 20 or
30 men assigned to hold up the
advance so that the German
command might gauge the main
point of attack. As cruisers, it
had a line of artillery in evolving
! gun-turret1' and capital ships
were underground fortresses.
He described the big forts as
buried barracks with miles of
passages lit by electricity. Whole
hills were hollowed out and con-
creted, and the approaches blank-
eted with minefields and covered
by fire.
JUNK HEAP —
This road through the Belgian village of Gognes Chauvec looks
like a junk heap after American planes trapped a German con-
voy retreating before the advance of Allied soldiers.