Daily Post - 10.07.1943, Blaðsíða 2

DAILY P O S T
Nortb Afriea^One Oreat
Allied Airfield
♦
The tide of Allied air power has begun to surge over Ger-
many from the west. Now in the south as well the Axis partners
are facing a great air force. From the ruins of Carthage comes
a new and mightier threat to Rome than any it has faced before.
before. Vast engines of destruction now bear down from Africa’s
shores, heedless alike of the sea, land, mountains or valleys
which stand between them and their objectives.
4
DAILY POST is published by Blaðahringurinn. Edltors: S. Benediktsson. Offlce: 12, Austursteæti. Tel. 3715. Reykjavík. Printed by Alþýðuprentsmiðjan Ltd. Saturday, July 10, 1943

Reykjavik Letter
,Sent to Icelandic newspapers
today was a 16-page booklet,
,,Leiðbeiningar um hirðingu
búfjár,“ which was prepared
by veterinarians of the Ame-
rican army in Iceland. Co-
operating with the army veter-
inarians in the preparation of
the booklet were the state ve-
terinarian, Búnaðarfélag ís-
lands, Mjólkursamsaln and
Rannsóknardeild háskólans. . It
contains some twenty illustra-
tions prepared by the U. S. Ar
my Signal Corps. The booklet
is being sent to Icelandic far-
mers, to agricultural experi-
mental and to others interest-
ed in the country’s agricul-
ture.
* * *
Baldur Möller, a Reykjavík
resident, recently won the
chess championship of Iceland
for the third successive year.
* * *
“During the immediate post-
war period pockets of unemp-
loyment are bound to arise as
a result of maladjustments and
bottle necks, but if we plan our
economic life with vision and
practical good sense, there is
no reason why mass unemploy
ment should ever recur.”—Sir
Stafford Cripps, Minister of
Aircraft Production.
* * *
A book on hygiene for the
general public will be publish-
ed in Iceland next fall. The
book will contain about 800
pages with many illustations
and will be made up by
Reykjavík doctors on the same
order'as the “Modern Medical
Adviser,” published in the Uni-
ted States.
In fact the Tactical Air Force
of the Mediterranean Air Com.
mand has finished its job on
the mainland of Africa. Now
it reforms and refits for new
operations while the Strategic
Air Force takes up the task of
preparing the way at long ran-
ge for the new operations to
come.
The war from Africa must be
judged as part of the war as
a whole. Very strong British
and American Air Forces are
grouped from Oran westwards
to Egypt. To meet this threat
the enemy is having to dispose
every aircraft he can spare—
some 1,500 operational aircraft
of the Italian Regia Aeronaut-
ica, together with just on 1,000
German machines, of which a-
bout 350 are fighters.
Germany is desperately short
of fighters on the Russian
front. They are badly needed in
an attempt tö counter the gen-
eral numerical superiority in
the air which the Red Air Fleet
has built up during the winter.
The demands for reinforce-
ments in the Mediterranean are
even more pressing to the Axis
than those form the Axis armi-
es in Russia. Yet any further
transfers from the Luftwaffe
in the East will present the
Red Air Fleet with undisputed
command of the air. And we
know what that implies to-day.
The Allies have superiority
on all the fronts. It extends in
a horsehoe from the British Is-
les, through North Africa and
up through Syria to Moscow.
Allied air strength is at present
concentrated along the main
sectors of this horsehoe in Great
Britain, in Tunisia and on the
Central Front in Russia. Even
so, all is not easy, for concen-
trations can be kept effective
only by constant supply.
Every gallon of fuel and oil
has to be brought by sea both
the British Isles and to North
Africa. Just what this means
can be seen when one consid-
ers the amounts consumed in
single operations. In one day
towards the end of the North
African campaign more than
'2,500 sorties were flown by the
Tactical Air Force alone. In ad
dition, the Strategic Air Force
dition the Strategic Air Force
was making more than 400
bomber sorties daily.
If we assume that two-thirds
of the sorties of the Tactical Air
Force were by single-engine
aircraft and 'the rest by two-
motor types, and that each sor-
tie lasted one hour, then we
find that approximately 130,-
000 gallons of fuel would in
one day. And if half the air-
craft of the Strategic Air Force
were four-motor bombers and
the rest two-motor and each
Strategic sortie averages four
hours, then about 190,000 gall-
ons would have been needed
for one day’s Strategic opera-
tions—a total of 320,000 gall-
ons for the operational aircraft
alone—not including . , trans-
ports or any of the thousands
of motor vehicles used in the
campaigns.
Aviation fuel is heavy, bulky
and dangerous stuff to trans-
port—320,000 gallons weigh ex
actly 1,000 tons. That the air-
crft have hardly ever had to go
short and the weight of attack
has steadily increased and will
go on increasing is a tremend-
ous tribute to supply organisa-
tion.
Now we may assume that
the African Air Forces are gath
ering themselves for the next
stage. Five main targets come
into view. They are:—(i)
Shipping, (ii) Air Bases (iii)
Land Communications, (iv)
Ports, (v) Industry.
The Mediterranean passage
can be made secure, enemy
air bases kept smothered, land
communications harassed ports
blocked and industry pulveris-
ed. ,The air preparation gathers
force for the next stage.
A Matter Of
7 Cents
NEW GUINEA,
“You won’t believe it,” said
Corp. George Scandiff. “But if
it hadn’t been for a small matt-
er of seven cents I wouldn’t
be sitting in this slit trench
now, with my rifle aimed across
the river into Japland.”
Scandiff is now facing the-
Japs in the wet green jungl-
es on this front at the end of
the world. I came across him.
eating bully beef out of a mess
kit and complaining to high
heaven about the monotony o£
the rations
“The guys all call me the
Ghoul,” he laughed. “I was an-
embalmer and undertaker back
home—so I get in the Army
and they make me a cook. L
take a lot of ribbing.”
But to get back to the seven
cents, George explained:
“Two years ago I was up be-
fore the Army board for my
final physical exam, see? Well,.
the night before I had dropped
a bowling ball on my fool------
you know how it is—and my
big toe was pretty well bashed-
in. In fact I lost the toenail.
“So this medical lieutenant:
takes a look at my foot and says.
‘Son I guess you’re 4-F—I’m.
afraid you’ll have to have that:
big toe amputated.’
“ ‘Okay,’ ” says I, getting up^
to leave.
“Wait a minutfe,’ ” says th&'
lieutenant. “ ‘We’ll give you
carfare home.’
“This lieutenant makes me
sit down and says it’s rules and
regulations—‘The Army says
we’ve got to give you seven
cents carfare and so we’ve got
to give you seven cents carfare.
There’s no arguing * about it. .
You wait right there.”
“Well, while the lieutenant
is outside all wrapped up iu
red tape like a mummy trying
to get my seven cents. in comes
a captain, who sees me sitting
there. He takes a look at my
toe and sees it’s only the toe-
nail that’s missing, and hq
says: ‘That’s áll right, son the
Army can fix that up 11 right/
“Well, a, captain ranks a lieu
tenant every time, so the next
thing I know I’m on my way
to Camp Grant in a house slip-
per—and all because of seven
miserable cents.”