Show i iI a 1 u e WEEKLY NElS NEWS MEWS ANALYSIS ANALYSIS M By By Edward Edwar Edward I 1 VI Wa Wayne e I Merchant Vessel Losses in Atlantic Cause Shortage of Shipping h Crews India Dissatisfied With Cripps Plan 4 i Observers Ponder New Jap lap Strategy I EDITOR S a I la these hUe columns iba NOTE WileD NOTE NOTE ar r i an ar bo these tk of f r the K we w a sad 4 nos 1 n r lI sf of flu Ihl o I F Released by Western New Union I Y t w 3 s tt ttA A Pictured somewhere In 10 Australia Pacific naval chief chiefs of t the la united nations discuss l cui mutual war problems Left LeU to right Vice Admiral Herbert F Leary In command c of f allied naval forces Corces f In the area Vice Admiral Sir Guy Royle chief of I the naval staff and Commodore Parry chief of the Nc New Zealand naval stall staff talf BATAAN Defense Vigorous Most serious attack against Gen Genera Gei Genera era eral Wainwright s a Batann Bataan detent defense I 1 had been launched in the form of a aland i land attack ordered by General Generi whose men had re- re remained ri quiescent altogether too long longto Ion to satisfy Tokyo who soon might ha hay hac hae c e ordered another hara hera kiri kirl to 1 be i carried out But the Japs found that the tb me men who had served MacArthur so we well were the same ones one working under undo General Wainwright who proceeded i to make a quirk quick shift In his iron ironto to get reinforcements to the th be bi beleaguered spot pot and to meet the JaI Japs JapsI I with the bayonet I So vigorous was wa the hand hand to-hand han to-han i fighting that Japanese dead had lit littered U littered the battlefront but the Amer Amei Amerlean scan lean line had held firm and was we not reported pierced at any point Wainwright had admitted to the th loss of a few advance positions the that was all WAR AT SEA i Whittling Away The German U boats perhaps with some Italians working with wit them were the only sea cea force of the th Axis which was causing any lasting concern to the Allies Albes as ac the Jac Jap- Jap Japanese Japanese anese fleet was rapidly and constantly con constantly i be e ng rig whittled down to Amer Amerie Amerlean American lean ie n size s size while white our fleet was grow grow- growIng grow growing Ing larger by about two warships warship 4 daily dally Best news was the navy s announcement that a a total of 28 Axis Axe submarines have been sunk by U S military and naval forces up to ti April 1 1 The Japanese air fleets were sus suf feeling losses of five to one Pear Pearl Harbor Ha was as already twice tw ce l In ship and plane losses and the the general outlook of the battle against the ese was more favorable looking as time went on despite the the map showing of conquered terri tern tor tortes II's The U boats were continuing them their f ratio of along the Atlantic coast for a a wide area but some son hopes had been expressed that the thi loss of the port of Saint Nazaire might be a costly blow to the Nazis and that the arrest of a spy ring it In Brazil might make it more difficult for the U boat skippers kippers to find tar targets targets targets gets The by U boats still was wai wais not exceeding our commissioning of new merchant vessels vessel but it wa wai was making It constantly more difficult to get skippers and crews Congress Con Congress Congre gress had before it s a bill bilI to award sailors hero medals for tor bravery at at sea in of the same type as those awarded to navy heroes While many seamen were brave bra ve enough In newspaper interviews Interview ii it r was wai getting Increasingly hard to toman toman toman man ships chips with survivors survivor of torpe doings and the shortage created by those who had died at sea had to tobe tobe tobe be filled by new trainees for the most part It was one of the worst war bottle bottle- bottlenecks bottleneck necks neck and the army and navy were combining in a coastal patrol to which small mall boats were to be added add added ed in an effort to sweep the subs out of America s 8 shore chore lanes lane One plan brought forward was waa to haul oil and sugar up the East coast by the Inland waterway In boats of 80 60 0 to Soo tons and In io draft shallow shallow barges This traffic could be carried out safely and profitably surveys survey bad r showed LABOR LABOR- Both the American Federation of Labor and the C I 0 0 had bad sent messages mes messages messages sages to General MacArthur in corn com corni plate support of hi his command there and this was held in most circles circle to mean general support for tor the war effort In the meantime the senate bad backed up the administration s antagonism an to tampering with the 40 hour 40 hour week law and it seemed that this effort to take a away from labor its chief gain galo since inee the last war wu was doomed to defeat d leaL JAPANESE JAPANESE- Plans Obscure The certa certainty felt by German Germany that the Japs Taps were going to move into India with their major offensive Instead of Australia gave rise more mot mor 1 and more to a a feeling that perhaps the landing of substantial reinforce reinforcements meets ments In the down under cont continent conti nent may have given the Japi Japs pause paus at that It was certain that the Japs were wen wee having more success In Burma than tha they wire were w re around Australia and the th view was held that perhaps the Jai Jap anese anes might keep a token force lorce north of ot Australia and a considerable considerable consider able naval power there to l ize the Americans and At the same time these observers observer had held held the Japs might turn their that attention to India and profiting by bythe b bj the difficult efforts Britain had ha hato had nac to line up the Hindus on their aid side aidin In the th forthcoming battle sweep I 10 ir with their military and win their thet way to the Persian gulf Chief drawback to this view Wall wai wa the fact that the Japs were said to t tc have only half a million soldiers Ii In Inthe IT the entire Southwest So Pacific perhaps per perhaps haps enough to attempt an invasion of population scarce Australia but bu surely not enough to spread out ou through a country populated with witt COO people Unless the Hindus were more than that passively opposed to the British unless unless un less they were willing to welcome the Jap Invaders with open arms It t would be a hopeless task to attempt occupation of the whole subcontinent subcontinent subcontinent nent any more than the Japs hac had been able to do anything in Chins China with far more troops Therefore many took still a third view that neither Australia nor In India India dJa dia was the prime objective of the thi Japs but Sibe Gibe la to open a new front against In t the Russians in the first place and simply to hold and at at- attempt attempt attempt tempt to develop the East Indian resources of oil and rubber while doing their real fighting back of of Manchuk lo If It either of these objectives however how however however ever were carried out out instead of of the occupation of Australia it was wai pointed out that it would play the hands of Australians and Amer cans whose ultimate objective was we an offensive against the not Taps Japs merely holding their own INDIA Dissatisfaction Whether India was finally to BC ac accede accede cede to Britain s a wishes or not It still had been evident that the rank and file of the Indian people had been vastly disappointed with the mission of Sir Stafford Cripps and the message he brought them Virtu Virtually lIy they pointed out it was the same as 81 th that thit t offered them back at the th beginning of the war with the sole tole difference tt t that at t Britain was committing herself to the giving of India of some form of dominion status while heretofore Britain had merely said she would talk it over after the war war war-It It warn t apparently so 10 much that the Hindus wanted their freedom now but it was that they didn t want to to be put Into the position of having to to fight for fer their freedom under the direction of the British an ant as a vassal state slate The Indian leaders wanted Britain to o give them the right to organize finance and carry out their own defense with the aid of ot Britain and the he other Allied nations To this Sir Stafford Cripps Crippa had indicated he had no power to accede Gandhi and Nehru both being quoted as saying they hoped for tor a t and other leaders join join- joining joining ing eg them in this thia hope Back of it all was the Hindu dire de- de de d- desire sire lre ire to carry out a passive resist resistance ance ince to the Japs Jap figuring on their own enormous numbers and their lark dark and devious way ways of f doing things kings to beat the Ja Japs rather Wan than Wanto thane to e attempt the seemingly hopeless taB ask of organizing the th country mill mili militarily sally for tor a battle with planes attlia and guns sun wy rt o OFFENSIVE YE Expect Drive 0 In Two D Directions re London's t listening posts post on th t EurO ean t continent apparently ly bad h B been beoo able to confirm that German Germ spring offensive was fl as had be been bethought hought to b be directed against RU Rt tia sia with new divisions many of w Them front from conquered or at uan- uan a tn- tn countries At the seine same am time Urn the clamor hi had b kd been Teen renewed In England for lor a spring offensive on the part ot of that would include a a mai major or land and offensive as an well weB as the air a Tits which already ready bad had got and er way pay payA A new front trout in Europe Europe Europa hack hac had be Rn n urged right along in many quarter quarte rs and tad now Lord Beaverbrook sif had iad broken with Churchill 4 at leat lea leao t to o that extent and from Miami Fla tad ad joined the ranks of those who wi the tha time Um bad had Come coma for f Britain s a large land army to break breakout bret 1 out ut of the islands and go across 10 to some ome occupied country and start tor ft or Berlin lerlin Victory In 1042 1942 was the slogan of those hose who believed the th time was ripe nil nilo to 10 o strike ashore as 89 well as in ti the theair ie air dr and they hey pointed out that Ru Rula Rus sla la had 7 fighting men on U the ie eastern astern front ag against Hitler a s 4 4 DOl 00 even with the new divisions division s nd that a new front on the we west t would spell ruin to Adolf Even the traditional tradition al blood loot relatives and friends ot of ft the tl ie Russians had been forced to co cot can tribute men to the new naw Ger German Ge Geman r man ian armies the reports had it Italy in InStead tead of sending a ml mil million 1 lion on men man as had been demanded by h herlin y Berlin erlin had sent half halt this number numbe r and nd had tried to get out of that It 11 had ad been reported The Italian Italia ln losses on the east front last white r had ad been frightful The direction of ot the probable of offensive o c f was seen fen as twofold two told fold 01 on one te major series of drives to be heade headed head d toward sward the Crimea and the terri tern territory 1 tory ry south of the Donets basin The Tha other major objective was t te to tobe to be e the far north the port of Mu Mw MOl r mansk through which most of the th r American merican and British lease lend ai aid aidi a A i had ad been going BURMA Air far Power Gone Cone Once again the British according to their own reports had them found found selves elves on a 8 fairly major with th no air support at all aU The Japs the British wired to t tew 0 New ew Delhi Deihl have complete contra control v in the air The Chinese under General Still Stilwell l well ell an American and the British e y Jf J ea ear r i rY STILLWELL Fighting J II a rent front and d Indian forces had divided the Burmese front between them and were ire fighting a brave though ap ap- ap apparently losing battle against corn com ned J Japs aps and Burmese the lat latter latr ter r having gone over to the NIp NIp- NIppon pon nose se soon after the invasion sta started The British themselves unable to tom tarm arm m the Indians to defend their homeland meland had found the Japs Japa in iii no such ch difficulty when it came to giving givIng ing 1 arms to natives willing to join their r fighting forces Thus the defenders were finding themselves battling as they did in 10 Mala ilaya a with a a force well equipped with th native gu go des and native fight fighters ers in the position of offending defending fending Burma from the Burmese as well as the Japs |