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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS By Edward C. Wayne U. S. Forces Will Go to British Isles; Unified High Command in Pacific, Headed by British Veteran, Wavell, Plans Strategy of War Against Axis (KDITOR'S NOTE When opinions are expressed In these columns, they re those of the news analyst and not necessarily of this newspaper.) - (Released by Western Newspaper Union.) . Here is a group of Jap fishing boats seized by the United States in Honolulu after the outbreak ot the war. These fishing boats may be converted con-verted for use by the V. S. navy as many of them are large Diesel boats veil equipped. Diamond Head shows in the picture's background. BATTLE STATIONS: In Britain As the new session of congress opened President Roosevelt in delivering deliv-ering his message on the state of the nation outlined extensive plans for the prosecution of the war and declared that U. S. "land, air and sea" forces would take up battle stations sta-tions in the British Isles. In addition, said the President, "Powerful and offensive actions must and will be taken at many points in the Far East ... on all the oceans." In the coming fiscal year the war against Hitlerism would cost the United States $56,000,000,000, according accord-ing to the President. UNIFIED: High Command Of primary importance, far out-shadowing out-shadowing the loss of Manila or the Philippines, was the fact (1) that Churchill and Roosevelt had pledged a first-class effort in the southwest Pacific area, and (2) the formation of a group of 26 nations to prosecute prose-cute the war to a successful conclusion conclu-sion and (3) the selection of a high command comprising British, Americans, Amer-icans, Dutch and Chinese to carry on the southwest Pacific war against the Japs. Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell was put in supreme command of the armies, navies and air forces. Admiral Ad-miral Thomas C. Hart was subcom-mander subcom-mander of the navies; Gen. George H. Brett of the air forces, and Gen. Sir Henry Pownall of the land armies. ar-mies. This was the high command. Gen. Chiang Kai-shek's ability was recognized rec-ognized and part of the strategy revealed re-vealed when he was asked to command com-mand an army that might at some time be placed in the field at the rear of the Japanese in Burma, Siam or Indo-China. A glance at the map of the area showed one "life-line" well open to the Allied forces, and this included a line from Darwin in North Australia, Austra-lia, along the coast of Sumatra and Java to the Strait of Malacca and thence to Singapore. This left a fleet action the wide South Pacific on one flank, and not the island-dotted and treacherous waters of the China sea to navigate. PHILIPPINES: Battle General MacArthur's army of close to 100,000, mostly Filipinos and ill-equipped with air protection or striking force, finally had been forced back along prearranged lines to make their last stand in the hills and to fall back slowly on their best defensive fortresses to the north of Manila bay. Few believed that it would produce pro-duce anything but a delaying action, but many hoped that the final and apparently inevitable surrender might be delayed until the complexion complex-ion of the war in the Far East might take a more favorable turn for the Allies. Tt U7sc cnnfoiloH htr rvinct atitVim!- SINGAPORE: Delaying Action The British forces in Malaya, though hurled back a long distance from the opening of the Japanese onslaught, were slowing down the enemy advance, and were fighting a delaying action of growing severity. sever-ity. Though the general movement was southward toward Singapore, though Penang had been lost and Kuantan was tottering, there were certain hopeful indications that the tide might shortly be turned. One of these was the increasing severity of Royal Air force attacks on the Japanese lines, especially on several southerly landing attempts that had been made. Another was the fact that the British artillery, as their positions began to draw closer to Singapore, began to find something to shoot at. Weird descriptive stories had been told of Japanese swinging from tree to tree like undersized apes, getting behind the British lines and causing the fighting to become confused at times. There was less of this as the battle lines became better marked. Late reports had told of one Japanese Jap-anese landing effort being balked by artillery fire alone, with one transport trans-port and four barges sunk and the others withdrawing. Many felt that the arrival of a sizeable Allied fleet, and perhaps 100,000 first-class troops, together with a few hundred planes could easily turn the tide of battle in Malaya. Ma-laya. RUSSIANS: New Objective The Russians, perhaps flushed with repeated victories after long defeats, perhaps in the calm realization reali-zation that they had the Germans on the run, were setting a new and seemingly grandiloquent objective for the rest of the winter. They would not be satisfied, they said, until the fighting was taking place on German soil before spring. They had a long way to go, but even with Hitler reported in personal per-sonal command at Smolensk, only 90 miles from the nearest Russian troops, there were many evidences that large portions of the German Ger-man army were in extremely precarious pre-carious positions. The recapture of Maloyaroslavets, a key point, the loss of which had been keenly felt by the Russians in the first place, was reported by them to have trapped in giant pincers 150,000 of the first-class Nazi fighters. fight-ers. "Surrender or die" was the grim command of the Russians. So much of an impression were the Russians making on England that many sources in London expressed ex-pressed the sober belief that a "third front" would be created on the continent con-tinent in the spring if the Germans attempted a new offensive againt Russia. London had been studying the Russian technique of using to the fullest . extent the disgruntled peo- HOME FRONT: All-Out Effort From the announcement by OPM that there was not a single work stoppage in any war factory to the report that all new-car production and sale had been halted, it was evident evi-dent that we were really at war. The ban on tire sales and the subsequent rationing had been simply sim-ply ascribed to the closing of Pacific Pa-cific raw rubber supplies, and people peo-ple shrugged their shoulders. But the halting of new car production, produc-tion, and the announcement by the United States that the entire output of 650,000 units would not be enough for essential needs such as cars for physicians, fire departments, ambulances, ambu-lances, etc., and that it would all be needed for such persons began to show the population what war really meant. Car owners began driving less and less, to preserve their cars for longer long-er periods, not knowing when they would be able to buy another. Factories Fac-tories and assembly lines were being be-ing revamped for tank and armored truck- production. The "recapping" of a tire, which had been a mystery to most auto owners now became a necessity and places equipped to do this work were doing a landofnce business. Followed the announcement by a senate group considering price controls con-trols that wages also would be controlled. con-trolled. The wage control proposal, however, was not to be thrown into the hands of the same agency which would have charge of price maintenance. mainte-nance. Taxes up to half of the national income were expected for next year, and the $72,000,000 Vanderbilt estate, which passed to the heirs, was "touched" for $42,000,000. Sundays (said the OPM) were to be the same as weekdays in all war-essential war-essential industry. CIVILIAN: Defense Plans A recent blackout in San Francisco, Fran-cisco, when unidentified planes were heard approximately 80 miles west of the Golden Gate, and a 44-minute alert was sounded, served to stress the strides civilian defense was making. The city had been well blacked out in fifteen minutes, fire engines moved to fires without headlights burning, there was no panic, little disorder. At the same time it was announced an-nounced that a civil air patrol would be formed from among the 90,000 qualified air pilots in the nation, of whom about 7,000 were women. These would be given priorities on planes and parts, and the patrol would be made an adjunct to the army air force. The patrol, by watching for enemy raiders, would free many American Ameri-can army planes and pilots for actual ac-tual combat in the war areas, it was pointed out. MISCELLANY: Vichy: The Paris-press, controlled by the Nazis, had sailed into Vichy for failure to live up to collaboration promises, and blamed the presence in the government of American Ambassador Am-bassador Leahy. Hollywood: Shots rang out on the estate of Irene Dunne, awakening the actress. She investigated. One of her armed guards had an argument argu-ment with another, shot him through the arm. Fort Slocum, N. Y.: The commanding com-manding officer got a letter from a private at a southern camp saying: "Sir, I wish to volunteer in a suicide squad. I am now in a laundry unit ties, including the British, the Dutch, and observers in Washington, "armchair" "arm-chair" generals for the most part, that there was scarcely a hope of the American - Filipino army triumphing. tri-umphing. But if the Japanese should find a heavy naval engagement on their hands, or if the battle in Malaya should turn against them, or if they found their supply-lines cut by an attack on their rear in Thailand or Indo-China, it was at least conceivable conceiv-able that the Philippine battle would turn the other way. Sen. Connally of Texas had said, when Manila fell, "this is what military mili-tary men have been telling us for 15 years would happen if we went to war with Japan. We don't like it, but it was bound to happen." If there was any expedition for the relief or reinforcement of the Philippines, it was a closely guarded guard-ed secret. That there was activity was certain. cer-tain. That the navy was busy and hard at work also was certain. But by the rules of wartime necessity ne-cessity the nature of that activity had not been revealed. CHINA: The Japanese, engaged in their third effort of the four-year war to capture important silk center Changsha, capital of Hunan province, prov-ince, apparently were in another losing los-ing battle in which the casualties were running into high figures. The Chinese high command claimed that 22,000 Japs had been killed in two days of fighting outside out-side of Changsha, following an all-out all-out effort by the invaders, heavily supported by aircraft, to take the city. through which the Germans had been passing in their far flung drive toward Moscow and through the Crimea: Back of the Germans were millions mil-lions of murderously angry Russians, Rus-sians, Poles, Czechs, Greeks. Every one of them, half-starved, beaten down, were only too ready to conduct con-duct guerrilla tactics against communication com-munication lines. The British now pointed out that this same formula existed in much of western Europe. And they were planning to use it soon. LIBYA: Although delayed from time to time by bad weather, the British forces in Libya, under command of General Auchinleck, were keeping well abreast of the enemy, constantly constant-ly in contact with him. (Prisoners piled up after the final completion of the conquest of Bar-dia, Bar-dia, coastal town close to the Egyptian Egyp-tian border, which had promised to become a "pocket of resistance" of as much trouble to the British as their Tobruk garrison had been to the German-Italian forces. Combined air, naval and land pressure was leveled against the town's defenders, numbering 5,000 men, 1,000 split-off members of General Gen-eral Rommel's army under Major General Schmidt, one of his top-ranking top-ranking aides, and the remainder of them Italians. The South Africans finally won the day after making a feint at the Germans' right flank, and, when some forces from a more central point were moved over to meet this threat in force, six , tanks shot through a narrow alley and then fanned out behind the German lines. which is non-combat. Just a chance is all I ask." Washington: Newsreel cameramen camera-men had 20 minutes in which to photograph Winston Churchill. They had planned to ask him to feed the White House squirrels. Instead he put on and took off his "sirensuit," a coverall with zippered shoes which he can don in two minutes. They asked for no more. Washington: The government announced an-nounced that quantity production was to start on P-47, a new army single-engined airplane, fastest in the world. It is heavily armed with large and small-caliber guns. It is powered by the long-awaited 2,000 horsepower motor which turns a 12-foot 12-foot four-bladed propeller, and has dived at 680 miles an hour. Atlanta: Former Governor Rivers and 19 others were indicted on felony fel-ony charges growing out of a prolonged pro-longed probe into his four-year administration. ad-ministration. They were charged with defrauding the state of $200,000. |
