Show Food Holds Big Place With Newsmen in War I Editor Not Note two Iwo jean Url a at a. a aar aar atar tar ar ar correspondent In Jn 1 for ide World orld orid and the Associated d Wei We Gallagher has haa returned to the United state Maten Here l I la hi his hla lor story of ot what hat hat reporter re porter endures and and ti the Importance of food In the tie thoughts of those thole ll living ln In 10 the occupied countries By WES GALLAGHER NEW YORK YORI Wide World World World- An army may march on Its stomach A war correspondent writes on his More worrying Is done about conjuring a lamb chop than on whether the next bomb or bullet bullet bullet bul bul- let is going to carve a piece out out of your anatomy When correspondents gather whether it is in Greece Britain Egypt or the far east the culinary culinary culi cull nary trend of the conversations sounds like the chat of housewives housewives housewives house house- wives at the corner grocery During the past two years I 1 have been shot at with everything everything everything every every- thing from rifle bullets to mm cannon shells and from time to time I have been under undera a decidedly uncomfortable variety variety vari- vari van vari ety of bombs But no memory is so painful as a four months' months diet confined to bread cheese olives and beans in Albania Olives are all right for hors d'oeuvres but d'oeuvres-but but for breakfast Golden were th the days of pre- pre invasion Denmark Steaks smothered In chops ham smothered in eggs and pastry smothered In cream All faithfully recorded in detailed detailed detailed de de- de- de tailed letters to torture less fortunate fortunate for for- newspaper brethren in Berlin until one day a handful of Berlin newspapermen would suddenly arrive on a special story which always seemed to tobe tobe tobe be found in the best restaurant in Copenhagen Then the arrived The golden days ended So it went through the once plentiful Balkans country by country until canned peaches cost 2 a can If they could be found Eggs were 1 1 apiece Sometimes is wasn't what ilat you didn't have to eat but what you you ou had to eat In the interest of hospitality that caused the trouble Standing out in my mind is a boiled Albanian goats goat's head eyes and all pressed upon me by a kind hearted Greek colonel Other correspondents have had to devour similar delicacies delicacies delicacies delica cies in unfamiliar lands Second among personal concerns concerns concerns con con- cerns was a place to sleep particularly particularly particularly par par- on active fronts where the land had been devastated by war Air Force Torce ArrIved Early In one Greek village a place on the dirt floor of a room air conditioned by bombs had to be abandoned at dawn each mornIng morning morning morn morn- ing before the Italian air force came to see If there were a a. couple of stones left un unturned turned In a hut for horses battalions battalions' of bugs attacking In formation made correspondents e ear early a r I 1 y risers 4 Other mental snapshots of two years at war Falling into a shell hole full of Ice water on the edge of no- no mans man's one night with a splash that could have awakened the dead Even amid the roar of machine gun and hand grenade grenade grenade gren gren- ade fire that followed could be heard the florid opinion of an irate major on footed club-footed cor cor- respondents Little boys in a half dozen countries mocking nazi soldiers who pretended they didn't see them Newsboys In German-filled German Athens shouting in Greek Read all about it British sink German battleship The nazi-controlled nazi papers they offered for sale sale did did not contain contain con con- tam tain a word about the sinking of the German navys navy's Bismarck The boys had heard the news from the British broadcasting system and had seized upon the device to to spread It right before their German conquerors who did not understand Greek Trenches filled with Italian dead and a a. Greek private poet-private wandering among them exclaiming exclaiming exclaiming exclaim exclaim- ing Beautiful beautiful |