Daily Post - 10.03.1943, Qupperneq 2

2
DAILY POST
Malta - Fonr Phases
Once Thought “Indefensible”
Air power has set Malta in a position to dominate the Central
Mediterranean where the sea narrows between Sicily and Tunis
to a mere 85 miles of water. From Malta’s airfields Sicily is but
60 miles away, Tripoli 200 miles, Tunis 250 miles. The island is
also an invaluable stepping stone on the air route from Gibraltar
to Alexandria. From Algiers to Malta is a 650-mile stage. Onward
to Benghazi is another 360 miles.
News From America
DAILY POST
is published by
Blaðahringurinn.
Editors: 'S. Benediktsson.
A. L. Merson.
Offiee: 12, Austurstræti. Tel.
3715. Reykjavík. Printed by
Alþýðuprentsmiðjan Ltd.
Wednesd., March lOth, 1943.
News From
Britain
The chief Medical Offices to
the Ministry of Health gave a
very frank broadcast talk re-
cently on the subject of V.D.
He told service girls not to
overdo the sex appeal.
“The men know what a good
job you are doing and they do
appreciate having you with
them,” he said. “Though some
of you do not realise it, your
comradeship can do a great deal
to lessen their loneliness and
remind them of home. Dont
spoil it by overdoing the sex ap-
peal and making things diffi-
cult. Try to be particularly care-
ful about this with our Domin-
ion and Allied visitors. They
can’t get home on leave and
things are difficult enough as it
is.” '
* ❖ # •
Out of/ the three million souls
who have been moved under
the protection of the British
Navy only 1,348 have been
killed or drowned, induding
missing. It is 2,200 to 1 against
being drowned if for travel
under the escort of the British
Navy. Mr. Churchill has re-
vealed these facts in the House
of Commons recently.
* * *
When war broke out there
were ntearly 11,500,000 deposi-
tors holding Post Office Savings
Bank accounts. They had
£550,000,000 to their credit.
Now there are 16,500,000 de- !
positors and they have a bal- j
ance of £1,000,000,000—the
largest balance ever held by a
Savings Bank. It means that one
of every 3 persons in Britain
has an account with the Post
Office.
Although Sir Stafford Cripps
was earning £20,000 a year be-
fore the war he is not a wealthy
man. It has been his principle
for his wife and he to budget
for their family needs and give
the rest away. They have
neither invested nor saved.
THE FOUR PHASES
There have been four phases
in Malta’s war since Italy de-
livered the first attack on June
11, 1940. Each of those phases
has been bound up with the
types of aircraft which could be
operated from the island. Up to
the end of 1942 Malta’s de-
fences shot down more than a
thousand enemy aircraft—equal
to nearly a quarter of the first
line strength of the German
Luftwaffe today. That in itself
is a tremendous contribution.
“IN PACKING CASES”
Curioúsly enough, in the light
of what has happened since,
Malta had been considered in-
defensible because of its near-
ness to Italy. There were no air-
craft on the island in flying con-
dition when Italy declared war,
but Air Vice-Marshal Maynard
and the few R.A.F. officers
found four Gloster Sea Gladia-
tor biplane fighters in packing
cases. Watching the Italian
bombers overhead could not be
endured—the Sea Gladitors
were assembled and down came
an Italian bomber in flames.
THE GERMANS ARRIVE
The second stage opened
early in 1941 when the Germans
arrived in Scily. A few Hawker-
Eturricane fighters flew daunt-
lessly against incredible odds—
often ten to one—and exacted
Britain still gets its morning
bacon rashers because of the
housewife’s saving of kitchen
waste. During the third year of
war enough kitchen waste was
collected from housewifes to
provide 1,500,000 bacon rations
every week.
It is estimated that each IV2
lb. of kitchen waste—potato
peelings, vegetable refuse and
so on—is roughly equivalent to
one rasher of bacon.
5(í v i'í
The war is costing Britain as
much as £20 millions a day.
a steady toll from the raiders
who kept up a ceaseless attack
in an endeavour to neutralise
the island.
In May came Spitfires on a
useful scale. By the end of its
second year of war, June 11,
1942, Malta had destroyed 590
enemy aircraft, probably de-
stroyed 231 more and damaged
another 546. 997 civilians had
been killed in raids on the is-
land.
SPIRIT OF REVENGE
The enemy came back with
renewed fury as the Mediter-
ranean war swelled in impor-
tance. The final stage of these
attacks came in October, when
for eight days the enemy pitted
his air strength against the is-
land’s defences—and lost nearly
140 aircraft in doing so, without
inflicting any important mili-
tary damage.
THE ATTACK
Then Malta turned to the at-
tack. Day and night now the
fighters and bombers go out.
Spitfires slaughter enemy trans-
port aircraft flying in droves
across the sea, Hurricanes bomb
airfields, shoot up troops, shat-
ter trains, .Beauforts and Beau-
fighters assault shipping with
cannon, bombs and torpedoes,
Wellingtons fly bv night to
pound Tunis, Tripoli, Sicily and
the Italian mainland. The lines
of supply to the Axis forces in
Africa are under constant fire.
Malta is not neutralised. All
that the enemy’s bombing has
done has been to imbue her
with the spirit of revenge.
BRIDGES FREE AGAIN
San Francisco. — Waterfront
labor union leader Harry
Bridges is at liberty again pend-
ing appeal from denial of a
haBeas corpus writ. The Cali-
fornia cio director signed a
three thousand dollar bond
Wednesday in the U.S. com-
missioner’s office. Bridges
chalked off the bond move as
another in the involved legal
machinery designed by defense
attorneys to free him from de-
portation orders to his native
Australia.
* * *
Guadalcanal.
American mechanical ingen-
uity reveals itself quickly when
abandoned Japanese equipment
falls into the hands of our
soldiers. American soldiers are
now rattling around in Japan-
ese trucks, tractors and operat-
ing many Japanese outboard
motorboats on conquered Guad
alcanal. Along the roads you
see men tinkering with truck
engines which Japanese hurri-
edly tried to wreck. They em-
erge from under the hoods cov-
ered with grease and jump be-
hind the steering wheel and
drive off. Dozen of large out-
board motors have been found,
and repaired, then used to pro-
pel sqores of Japanese land-
ing boáts that have been cap-
tured. Some of these Japanese
boats were ingeniously con-
structed collapsible craft separ-
ated in the center and could be
used as two boats. Scores of
these could be piled flat on a
ships deck. Officers said that an
enormous amount of Japanese
stores were captured increasing
the food stock.
The Icelandic choir “Harpa”
and the Reykjavík Orchestra
are to perform Haydn’s oratorio
“The Seasons” next week-end,
in the Gamla Bíó.
Medleal Ald to Russia
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