| Show Merry Merry- Round Merry Round o-Round By DREW PEARSON and ROBERT S S. S ALLEN WASHINGTON WASHINGTON There There was a good reason why Lord Beaver Beaverbrook rook dynamic minister of supply listed tanks as the No 1 objective of his visit to the U. U S. S He flew over largely to try to persuade our army chiefs to lend lease him the major share of our growing output There Is sharp division in the army over this Armored unit commanders have been champing at the bit for the tanks now beginning begin ning to roll off assembly lines They need the equipment not only to train their men and officers of but to keep up morale which morale which sags when modern war machines are missing or sim sim- Buck privates to generals have griped over being forced to pl ply play y at t soldiering This was I Ione one of the main causes for the strong sentiment senti ment among citizen soldiers against extension of their years year's service They could raise no enthusiasm for continuing to train without equipment On the other hand the general staff believes that it Is far more vital to the immediate security security security se se- se- se of the U. U S. S to let our tanks and other armament help hold off the the- nazis miles from our shores The strategists contend that a U. U S. S tank Is performing infinitely more valuable service knocking out nazis on the torrid deserts of North Africa o or the bloody steppes of Russia than using up oil in a training camp in Texas They favor sending most of our new tanks to Britain for the present and nd Beaverbrook's mission is to clinch that argument British Need For Tanks Tanks' The British need for tanks particularly for the latest type type ton medium tanks is extremely extremely extremely ex ex- urgent It It was lack of these that caused the rout In Greece and prevents the British from taking the offensive In Libya and on the continent Also without medium tanks the British would be in desperate straits should Hitler make his feared overland verland move into Spain and Portugal Portugal gal across the Strait of Gibraltar and down the Atlantic coast of French West Africa to Dakar Thanks to the U. U S. S the British are aie well supplied with light ton 12 12 ton tanks So far they have received about tog together ther with spare parts Only loss was was' one shipload of parts torpedoed last month in the South Atlantic These light tanks have given a good account of themselves They are superior to similar German and Italian types But mounting only caliber 50 guns and lightly armored they are areno areno areno no match as Greece and Libya have proved t for r- r medium axis tanks The British have hav in operation only of ot their own new type mediums and these are being kept ept in England to to- resist invasion New tank output by Britain's strained industry will continue to be small England must depend on us s to equip its rapidly expanding armored forces mats That's why Beaverbrook is so hungrily eyeIng eye eye- Ing our mounting production of medium tanks last fast fast heavily armored mounting 75 cannon cannon can can- non and the most powerful of their kind kinds By next month the new Chrysler plant In Detroit alone will be turning out a month Other firms will get into production in the fall and winter and by next spring tanks will be rolling of off assembly lines fast enough t to equip two divisions a month But in the meantime the big question Is how to divide those no now being produced between U. U S. S and British r Beaverbrook hopes to return with the answer in favor of Britain Secretary Knox's CenSorShip Censorship Secretary Frank Knox Knox has been leen crabbing about newspaper publication of navy news and issuing denials about the l Ie use of American planes and vessels in patrolling with or accompanying accompanying ac ac- ac- ac companying B British ships Last week however a a large advertisement appeared in metropolitan n newspapers stating that the secretary of the navy would tell in Colliers Collier's Weekly about how an officer rode in the U. U S. built navy patrol bomber which first sighted the Bismarck and contributed to her sinking And in Colliers Collier's sure enough Secretary Knox neatly spills which news American newspapers news news- papers prior to the Knox regime had consid considered consid consid- ered public information but which he had asked them to suppress Lessons From Crete There is an power air-power vs sea power lesson Jesson for lor the United States in hitherto secret details of the battle of Crete which have now le leaked ked out British warships warships' damaged by the nazi airplane barrage over Crete are still being repaired repaired re reo re- re paired in shipyards in Singapore and elsewhere in the Pacific The a ton British battleship battleship battleship battle battle- ship was struck by a torpedo in th the bow causing caus caus- causing ing the gasoline stored there to catch fire Result Re Re- e suIt sult was that the entire front of the vessel was melted incited or blown away Thanks to Its sealed watertight compartments the big battlewagon battlewagon battlewagon battle- battle wagon stayed afloat And with engines running runnIng run run- ning in n reverse she managed to back to Alexandria Alex Alex- andria Egypt miles mUes away Then the stern of a merchant ship was riveted rivet rivet- ed on the bow of the and it limped through the Suez canal to Singapore Singapore Singa Singa- pore however was so busy repairing other British ships damaged at Crete that the War War- spite went elsewhere Distributed by United Feature Syndicate |
