The White Falcon - 24.02.1945, Síða 1

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OUR FORCES —
ALWAYS ALERT
Vol. VII.
ICELAND, Saturday, February 2k, 19k5.
No. 23.
German Seamen Questioned Here
Said Gestapo Kept Them In Fight,
Expressed Fear Of American
Planes From Iceland
The following story of
German prisoners-of-war
captured in Greenland is an
official IBC release to The
White Falcon.
The war ought to end in
May with an Allied vic-
tory. That was one of the
predictions made last Nov-
ember by a German prison-
er-of-war, interrogated here
in Iceland, as one of more
than 70 of his countrymen
interviewed during the past
two years by the IBC Count-
er Intelligence Corps’ Pris-
oner-of-War Interrogation
Section.
Seci-et documents hold the
record of information glean-
ed from talks with all these
wearers of the swastika.
Among the Germans ques-
tioned there was decided
variance as to willingness
to talk. “Why should I talk?”
asked a German enlisted
man, when questioned here,
adding, “Your fliers never
give us any information.”
Greenland Posts Lonely.
As to life in Greenland,
of those who had spent time
there before the bases were
liquidated, there was little
comment. The remote posts
were lonely ones. None of
them were held for long.
There were some German
magazines of recent date to
help pass the time away.
There was card playing,
chess —- and conversation.
Two of Germany’s best
qualified weather experts
were brought here in 1943,
after the Sabine Island bases
ip Greenland had been wip-
ed out by bombing raids car-
ried out by Iceland-based
planes. Later on, there was
a release in the U.S. on some
of the information gotten
from these men. It formed
the basis of an article ap-
pearing in Collier’s Maga-
zine in three installments in
February -and March, 1944,
under the title, “War Below
Zero.” Germans brought
here after the elimination
of their Greenland bases
from July to October, 1944
had — almost without ex-
ception — seen copies of the
ent that they had profited
by the information thus re-
leased, and that the article
had made them more wary
in talking.
Feared U.S. Planes From
Iceland.
Preparations for the
(Continued on Page 3)
from the viewpoint of some Collier’s article. It was evid-
NEW ENSA SHOW HERE PLAYED TO
ALLIED ARMIES ON WESTERN FRONT
After giving battlefront
performances before Allied
troops in France, Belgium
and Holland, the members
of the cast of “Odd Spots”
(this m on til’s ENSA show)
found the Tripoli Theater
a welcome change last Tues-
day night when they appear-
ed before GIs here.
Hitting the beaches of Nor-
mandy before the fall of
Caen, the troupe followed
the Allied armies into Fran-
ce, Belgium and Holland —
seeing and playing before
men at such battlegrounds
OXFORDS, SILVER IDENTIFICATION BRACELET—
PRIZES IN CONTEST TO NAME PX RESTAURANT
A, pair of oxfords and a silver indenlification bracelet
have been announced as first and second prizes, re-
spectively, in a Command-wide contest opened this
week by Base Special Service. Object of the contest is
to find a name for the PX Bestaurant adjacent to Club
14 in Reykjavik.
Explaining that some confusion has resulted because
of a widespread, although erroneous, tendency to identify
the restaurant with Club 44, Maj. Harold M. Shaw, Base
PX officer, pointed out that a name is needed which
will clearly distinguish the restaurant as an entirely
separate facility.
Rules of the contest are as follows:
(1) Names submitted should be cone - . easy to say,
and should clearly identify the restaurant as a distinct
facility unassociated with the Red Cross or any other
non-military activity.
(2) All enlisted men of the Command arc eligible to
participate, with the exception of personnel of Base
Special Service and the PX Restaurant. Each contestant
may submit as many entries as he likes.
(3) Entries should he addressed to: EDITOR, THE
WHITE FALCON, BASE SPECIAL SERVICE. All entries
must have been received at The White Falcon office not
later than Monday noon, March 12, 1945.
Contest judges w’ill be Maj. Harold M. Shaw and Sgt.
John -Moran, White Falcon editor.
Forty Percent Of
Men In 28 Age Group
Are Declared Unfit
An announcement from
Selective Service Headquart-
ers states that more than 40
percent of the men called up
in the 28-year-old age group
are being rejected as unfit
for military duty.
The rejection rale goes
over the 50 percent mark at
age 34 and climbs to 59 per-
cent for men of 38, the offi-
cials reveal.
On an occupational basis,
the highest rejection rate
has been among men em-
ployed in domestic service,
with almost 60 percent of
the men in this group turn-
ed down. Mental ailments
and deficiencies lead the list
of causes for rejection.
IcelandicJDaily Prints
Views Of Readers On
What Is Democracy?
The Visir, daily afternoon paper of Reykjavik, last week'
published reader response to the question: *‘What is
democracy?”
“As could be expected,” explained the editor, “the an-
swers vary greatly. Some have replied in complete serious-
ness, others jokingly and many with heavy irony. All this
depends upon how ‘democracy’ appears to the individual,
how he finds it in action, and how he feels it should he.
But whether or not people are satisfied with democracy,
as it is in action, or have become disappointed, certain it is
that the only way for the nation to live in happiness is to
learn the faults involved in democracy and to correct them
as well as possible.”
Appearing below are
some of the letters which
were received and printed
by the Visir:
“Democracy is a group of
people who live independent
of the power of men or a
man and where every indi-
vidual acts in accordance
with his conscience, without
fear of punishment.”
“Democracy in its pres-
ent form is final control by
the least able voters over
legislation and mode of gov-
ernment.”
“Democracy is this, that
the whole nation elect re-
presentatives to handle its
affairs, to act on behalf of
the nation and that it be pos-
(Continued on Page 3)
as Nijmegen, Arnhem and
Eindhoven. MC Tom West-
wood reports that they have
appeared before units in
fields, barns, chateaus, mon-
asteries and shell-torn theat-
ers in small towns. “It was
quite an experience to talk
to men who saw1 us perform
within ten minutes after
coming' out of battle,” he
says.
Westwood reports that
one afternoon they appear-
(Continued on Page 2)
Men and women shown in the above photo are mem-
bers of the latest ENSA show to play Iceland: “Odd
Spots.” In the rear, 1 to r, are comedian Jack Dagmau*
dancer Rene Iviel and novelty man Edward Bowers. Seat-
ed in front (I to r) are singer Betty Arrel and pianist
Joan Pounds. Standing in right foreground is MC Tom
Westwood. <Sig. Corps photo). j