Daily Post - 31.12.1941, Síða 3

DAILY POST
3
low Australian Officer
Won the V. C. in Sjrria
UP THE GARDEN
PATH
By George
George has jiuist reoeived a
pancel of oomforts from the home
church. But iwúll the person who
sent him a wleek’s free pass on
the trams please change his sense
of humiouir.
* * *
O please don’t turn our empire
dofwtn,
Adolf iwlili have to dlear ouit;
Rommel’s away aoross the (wide
sea
And Goebbels has uothing to
spout;
He'rmann is pinimg iwóth nothing
to eat,
Streicher is losáng his Jewis,
So please don’t turni our empire
doiwin,
There’ll be nothing tso put in the
news.
* * *
'A certain tecmcai brainch has
perfected a newi, souindndetet/tor
deviice that is so delilcate it can
piak tup a wiilliing blonide’s foot-
steps thres streetis away. Volun-
teers are being rearuited foT
speclal patrol wiork.
* * *
Hitler is cheering up the Ger-
mian a'rmy by staiting thait, al-
though it musit retreat from Mos-
coiw! 'like Napoieon’s men in 1812,
it has far Less distanbe to fravel
before getting ho-me.
❖ ❖ *
Sefgeants iin the /Ediuicaition Go-rp s
are agitating for a higher stand-
ard of living. They/want an apple
a class. i
* ❖ ❖
Histories of the Units:
5lst Cooss BOws.
First raised on mi'Ik. Stormed
its wiay through to the Leeds
Hippodnome and skirmished in
the Tottenham OouW Road sector,
making many lcaptures. Took part
in the defeníoe of extra rum is-
sues. Has campa-igned in Pol-
perro, Portadowin, Poplar and
Pudsey. Nowi manæuvring in the
Batt’e for Icier Iaeland.
TO OUR READERS
We regret that, owing
íio the th eat lof a. sfrike af-
fecting the p-'nting tnade,
we canrjot guaí'.antee pu-
blicaít’on of the Daily Post
in ths first days of the
New Year.
The KING has been graciously
pleased to approve the award of
the VICTORIA CROSS to Lieu-
tenant Arthur Roden CUTLER
(NX 12378), Australian Military
Forces for most conspicuous and
sustained gallantry during the
Syrian Campaign and for out-
standing bravery during the bit-
ter fighting at Merdjayoun when
this artillery officer become a by-
word amongst the forward troops
with whom he worked.
At Merdjayoun on the 19th
June, 1941 our infantry attack
was checked after suffering heavy
casualties from an enemy count-
er attack with tanks. Enemy
machine gun fire swept the
ground but Lieutenant Cutler,
with another artillery officer and
a small party, pushed on ahead
of the infantry and established
an outpost in a house. The tele-
phone line was cut and he went
out and mended this line under
machine gun fire and returned
to the house, from which enemy
posts and a battery were success-
fully engaged.
The enemy then attacked this
outpost with infantry and tanks,
killing the Bren gunner and mor-
tally wounding the other officer.
Lieutenant Cutler and another
manned the anti-tank rifle and
Bren gun and fought back driv-
ing the enemy infantry away. —
The tanks continued the attack,
but under constant fire from the
anti-tank rifle and Bren gun even-
tually withdrew.
EVACUATING WOUNDED
Lieutenant Cutler then perso-
nally supervised the evacuation
of the wounded members of his
party. Undaunted he pressed for
a further advance. He had been
ordered to establish an outpost
from which he could register the
: only rioad by wthiah the enemy
| transport could enter the town.
! With a small party of volunteers
he pressed on until finally with
, one other he succeeded in esta-
blishing an outpost right in the
town, which was occupied by the
Foreign Legion, despite enemy
machine gun fire with prevented
our infantry from advancing.
At this time Lieutenant Cutler
knew the enemy were massing on
his left for a counter attack and
that he was in danger of being
cut off. Nevertheless he carried
out his task of registering the bat-
tery on the road and engaging
enemy posts. The enemy counter
attacked with infantry and tanks
and he was cut off. He was forced
to go to ground, but after dark
succeeded in making his way
back through the enemy lines.
His work in registering the only
road by wbich enemy transport
could enter the town was of vital
importance and a big factor in
the enemy’s subsequent retreat.
25-POUNDER
On the night of the 23rd/24th
June he was in charge of a 25-
pounder sent forward into our
forward defended localities to si-
lence an enemy anti-tank gun
and post which had held up our
attack. This he did and next
morning the recapture of Merd-
jayoun was completed.
Later at Damour on the 6th
July when our forward infantry
were pinned to the ground by
heavy hostile machine gun fire
Lieutenant Cutler, regardless of
all danger, went to bring a line
to his outpost when he was seri-
ously wounded. Twenty-six hours
elapsed before it was possible to
rescue this officer, whose wound
by this time had become septic
necessitating the amputation of
his leg.
Throughout the Campaign this
officer’s courage was unparal-
leled and his work was a big fac-
tor in the recapture of Merd-
jayoun.
'Shcherbakov
Declares: —
“Hitler acts like a political
trickster and crook. Since he
ccnceals from Germany and the
world the losses sustained by
the German Army since the be-
ginning of the war, the Soviet
Information Bureau states:
During this period the German
troops lost on the eastern front
more than 3,000,000 killed,
wcunded and prisoners, i-e., ap-
proximately as many Germans
as were lcst in the last world
war on all fronts in two years
of military operations.”—M.
Alexander Shcherbakov, Di-
rector of the Soviet Information
Bureau, broadcasting from
Moscow.
The Water
Carrier
Corporal’s Thrilling
Escape
A corporal in the R.A.F. who
comes from Bradford, Yorkshire,
shot a German officer with his
revolver and escaped from eight
Germans who were within fif-
teen yards of him. He has just
returned to his squadron bringing
back a bullet-riddled lorry, an in-
jured driver, and two hundred
gallons of precious water.
The corporal, with a driver,
had been sent to a source twenty
miles away to fetch the water.
He left the advance landingr
ground from which his squadroni
was operating, at eleven o’clock
in the morning. He returned with
his load nearly five hours later.
During his absence a quickly
moving tank battle approached
his area, and his squadron
changed its quarters.
In one of four open cars on a
high ridge someone was standing
up and beckoning.
With no thought of danger he
turned his truck in that direction
and had approached to within
fifteen yards before he realised
the cars belonged to the enemy.
They were small armoured
trucks with two men in each. A
German officer stood in the néa-
rest vehicle and the corporal weis
so near that he could see details
of uniform, black leather revolver
holster, cap with prominent but-
tons, badge of the Afrika Corps.
An order was shouted in Ger-
man, and the officer turned to a
soldier by his side and reached
for a Tommy gun. But the cor-
poral saw the move, drew his
revolver and fired twice in the
officers face.
Before the startled Huns rea-
lised what had happened the R.
A. F. 'Lorry had swiung raunid,
and rattled away in a cloud of
dust. Fire from tommy guns
cracked into the side of the
vehicle during a three mile pur-
suit.
The corporal got back with
lots of bullets in his truck but the
water was saved.
A HAPPY NEW
YEAR TO A LL
OUR READERS