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Show AMERICAN FORK CITIZEN U. 5. First to ExperimenL With Use of Air Troops Demonstration Arranged by General 'Billy' Mitchell at Kelly Field in 1928; - Officers 'Not Impressed.' By BAUKIIAGE News Analyst jmd Commentator. WNU Service, Union Trust Building Washington, D. C. When the story of the present war Is written, the outstanding logistical novelty the feature which differs most from the methods employed In the movement of fighting units in previous wars will be the use of airborne troops. Already the airborne unlU have been revealed as vital factors in the invasion landings, where they have been used on a scale which dwarfs anything heretofore from the first widely publicized Russian experiments ex-periments in 1930 to the German air Invasion of Crete or the remarkable achievements of smaller units in Burma. Since It it taken for granted that the Unlted"6tates is going to carry the major burden in the later phases of the Invasion, it is a matter of satisfaction to know that the idea of transporting troops by plane was first developed by the United States army. No one will be surprised that It was that stormy petrel of aviation. Gen. "Billy" Mitchell, whose wings beat so futllely against the hidebound hide-bound brasshata of his day, who is credited with arranging the first demonstration of troop transportation transporta-tion by air. The report of hit first fruitless demonstration is burled so deep in the war department flies that I can only quote from lay sources concerning con-cerning it But it seems that in 1928 ten soldiers parachuted from a Martin Mar-tin bomber onto Kelly field in Texas. With them went machine gun equipment equip-ment All landed safely and In three minutes after they hit the ground the machine gun was assembled. Officers who observed the "stunt" (which is what it was then considered) con-sidered) were not impressed. That is, the American officers. Some Russians Rus-sians were present They made notes, and some two years later their paratroopers were descending to earth to the "ohs" and "ahs" of American movie audiences. Germany observed but went to work in silence, with the results with which we were made painfully familiar from the days of the invasion in-vasion of Poland on. But "Billy" Mitchell's idea slumbered In the files and he did not live to see its renascence here four years ago. Nazi Refinements ' These facts have been forgotten by most people who probably think that the Rusian experiments were the first The Germans picked up and Improved the Russians' technique, tech-nique, working out their paratroop plans as a part of the developments of. their then peerless Luftwaffe, whose threatening shadow moulded European diplomacy before the outbreak out-break of the war. 1 The German paratroopers demonstrated demon-strated their real value in the blitz . na in.t tk Iam n . . 1 It was not until April of 1940 that the United States troop carrier command. com-mand. Which carries troops in transports trans-ports and gliders, was organized. Now it is larger than the whole of our air force of three years ago. The airborne force, created a few weeks earlier, is now numbered in entire - divisions, as we know from German reports, and includes tens of thousands of fighting men and technical personnel The British paratroopers were used effectively as far back as 1942 and they made the first contact with German troops in North Africa In November of the same year. The U. S. airborne forces are made up of both paratroop and Slider forces. They are separate from the troop carrier command which transports them, just as the foot soldier is distinct from the seaman sea-man who carries him from shore to shore. The paratroopers (a part of the airborne forces) alone serve frequently fre-quently as aerial commandos, seizing seiz-ing enemy airports of suitable terrain ter-rain where the troop transports or glider planes cannot yet land. The Paratroopers When operations require large numbers of men and more complicated compli-cated equipment uch as those performed per-formed back of the shore defenses and even much farther inland in France, paratroopers are supplemented supple-mented by the troops landed from transports and glider. This frequently fre-quently means that the paratrooper B R I E F S . . "More than 2,000,000 dozen essen- -uai-TOms ot uuamr and children's wearing apparel will be produced during June, July and August, according ac-cording to the WPB. Release of an additional 12.000,000 pounds of dried prunes from the 1943 production to civilians has been authorized by WFA.' . I 4 must capture or prepare air strips for this purpose. Allied airborne troops were used effectively at the landing in Sicily, where General Montgomery said they shortened the campaign by at least a week. They also proved of great value In New Guinea. The full extent of their per-formance per-formance in the invasion of Europe has yet to be revealed but we have General Eisenhower's own word as to their value and his praise has Deen unstinted. The chief function of the soldier Of tha Air until rrnt1v host Kami - j canons ana installations such as ammunition and supply .dumps, dynamiting bridges and wrecking railway Junctions behind the lines. Now they are prepared to engage we enemy In large-scale operations which reached major proportions for the first time in France. Pre-l . , .. of their Jobs was to nrevent de struction of certain points like bridges and other installations which the troops advancing from the beachhead wanted to make use of later. In this case, they had to take the bridges from the enemy defenders defend-ers and then hold them against counter attacks of the local reserves, re-serves, armed with tanks and field artillery, until their own advancing ground troops or air reinforcements arrived. Such action is possible because Jeeps, one-ton trailers, howitzers, heavy and light calibre machine guns, mortars, mines, and other equipment including food, medical supplies, water, and of course am munition, can be transported by the troop carrier command. The trooos have food and ammunition suffi cient for about three davs suste nance without replenishment The pilots of the troop carriers are trained under most difficult conditions and must have an extra " . wt vvuxac aim luvcUJgence. They fly slowly and about their only escape from the speedy fighters Is m -1.1 A1 Lllli . . w uiui uie uuiiops, aoage tne nay- stacks, keep as low as possible in; valleys or between obstacles like trees and buildings which serve as protection. Glider Pilot's Job Although th ,iir niin ,.. engine to worry about he must know meteorology, navigation, aerial reconnaissance, photography, maintenance and radio communka-; uon. ne must learn to land quickly and near trees or other obstacles where the troops can takecoVer; one means of making a quick landing land-ing is purposely to snag a wing on a tree trunk or the bottom of the plane on rocks. The men inside are protected by a steel framework. And then when the pilot lands, all he has to do is fight his way back to his own lines with the rest of his one-time passengers. Like them, he has to know all the commando knows. Some of the tales which have already al-ready gone into the growing saga of the airborne forces are marvelous. One is told of an adventure which took place early in the - invasion- of France. A glider, its towline cut was suddenly sud-denly left in the dark of the moon. Some light is"' necessary for a landing, land-ing, of course. In the period when the moon was clouded, there was nothing for the pilot to do but to keep on descending. He did and landed unexpectedly but on very smooth terrain. The troopers quickly quick-ly debouched and sought cover as they are trained to do. But there was no cover. They found they were on the wide, flat roof of a building. iney iouna an entrance through the roof and cautiously crept down the stairs. To their surprise, they discovered they were in a building full of German soldiers and which housed the German headquarters for that area. But the Americans were armed, and needless to say the Germans were somewhat surprised. sur-prised. They surrendered without much trouble. However, it Is not always as easjt as that, and since it is an axiom of military history that for every new arm of offense, an arm of defense is developed, we may expect fresh obstacles to be created which these youngest sons of Mars will have to meet as they grow older. . by Baukhage . . ,.?wplM HtboriUes.aie, .havting so much difficulty equipping their army that all men called Into service are instructed to bring along two changes of underwear. The number of persons working on farms. In the United States on April 1 was about S per cent lower than In the same period last year -WEEKLY NEWS Pacific Front Flares Into Action as Good News From European SectorT Continues (EDITOR'S NOTE I Waa plains llfwri la IktM iilnu, Uy tBM tl Vnliri Nwaar U aaaljato tfl Mi aril? ( lata Mfimit.) mrnm. Li Franffa, Tku i.lMLau If f t i.u. a. i rmtmm vi bvidi uua wmv txcouff mt urtlllery HM IB nortMMT. EUROPE: Big Prize Their beachhead firmly established estab-lished and their forces mounting heavy attacks inland, the Allies grasped at their first great prize "V " "T ui in rrencn campaign, Oourg Cut off from the main bodv of their troops by the lightning advance of U. S. foreea which dashed across the skinny Cotentin peninsula to cut In two, a desperate German garrison garri-son remained under fire of U. S. artillery, naval guns and aerial bombardment in a sacrificial delay-in, delay-in, action, and meanwhile steadily demolished the modern harbor fa cilities which the Allies could put to good use in landing supplies and reinforcements. While the U. S. stalwarts ringed Cherbourg. British and Canadian units In the Caen area to the east hammered at Marshal Erwin Rommel's Rom-mel's armored divisions, which continued con-tinued their counterattacks in bloody fighting designed to check any Allied breakthrough from the expanding beachhead perimeter. Italy Drtrtrir over tntuM-r terrain. Al lied troops continued to chase the wwuy wuuiiuw v vuw Germans back to their main deiense U ta northern Italy, with fighting !.. I. 1 1 1 I.J ..LL-m, vueuj minco oj unci, ituuuviu stands by Nazi rearguards, In falling back to the north after the Allied armiea had amaahed their Iiw. kIow Rome, the Nazis were (withdrawing toward the waist of the Italian peninsula, where landings icould not be m,de to thelr rear' Anchored in the center at the base of the Apennlne mountains, the new German defense line, was set up to gura we leruie larm-iana ana w dustrial regions of northern Italy, prizes of the wracked country. Finland With the formidable Russian army steam-rollering over the wild Karelian Kare-lian isthmus in southern Finland and training its sights on the little coun try s capital oi Helsinki, were was talk of the possibility of a peace with 'Moscow. " The once strong Karelian defenses which had held the Reds back for days during the war of 1939, cracked and crumbled under the weight ox the Russian attack, supported by heavy artillery and aerial bombard ment " ' As tha-Seda nounded un the Kare lian isthmus in the face of neellffible opposition, the bulk of the German troops in r iniana stooa guara over the vital nictue mines in the north. CHINA: Japs Press Drive . Spurred by the bombinc of Its big steel center of Yawata, Japan continued to Dress its maior offen sive In China, designed to secure the eastern coastal sector of the country coun-try against future Allied operations there. At the same time, the Japs struck back at Chinese troops in northern Burma, fighting to open a back door to their country through which reinforcements re-inforcements and supplies could be transported from India. No less than three Jap columns were operating in eastern China, with two acting as protecting screens for the 'main body which plunged southward toward the big seaport at Canton. Capture of Can ton would extend Jap control over the whole eastern coastal sector, in which the enemy already has estab lished many heavy industries in ex ploiting the natural, and human resources re-sources of China.' MORE TA1VKS The army has ordered a reduction in the quantity of .50-caliber ma chine guns for airplanes that are being be-ing made , on -contract - One wm' pany's schedule haa been cut down ! by 40 per cent and six other manu- iaciurers xace smaller cutbacks. On the other hand, construction of tanks is going to be Increased considerably. con-siderably. Losses of these vehicles on the Normandy front have exceeded exceed-ed expectations. The production schedule of tanks of all classes was curtailed several months ago. ANALYSIS Mssseafcfaaasi c i. 1 i i i t t ..' - PACIFIC: Lure Jap Fleet , Its Inner defense line Imperilled by U. S. operations In the Marianas, strong units of Japan's imperial fleet dosed' for a major battle with the U. S. navy, which had long dared the enemy to come out and fight First indication of the presence of strong Jap naval forces in the Marl-anas Marl-anas area was in the engagement of urge squadrons of carrier-based enemy en-emy planes In battle with U. S. task forces supporting ground operations on Saipan, where marines and doughboys occupied the whole southern tip of the island and pressed on against the big settle ment of Garapan. Announcing that the enemy had lost ooo planes in the opening phases of the Marianas campaign, U. S. Admiral Chester W. Nlmltz reported that strong Jap naval formations undoubtedly un-doubtedly ventured to sea to afford cover for the carrier-force, relying upon long range land-based aerial reconnaissance to size up the U. S. position and their own chances of success. While the two great fleets maneuvered for battle. U. S. trooos secured airfields in the Dutch New Guinea area, placing - U. S. air forces within 880 miles of the Jan- held Philippines, which the enemy has converted Into a strong defen sive pivot Secret Weapons Loaded with explosives propelled by a mixture of air and gasaea, Germany's pilotlesa rocket plane launched from the French coast loomed as the Nazis' boasted secret weapon. Following reports of the first appearance of the rockets travelling at low level at about 250 miles per hour and tapering off at a 30 degree angle to explode ex-plode with the force of a I,M0-pound I,M0-pound bomb, another, more terrifying, ter-rifying, rocket streaked across the British sky, whirring at COO miles per hour and leaving pursuing; pur-suing; Spitfires far to its rear. As the Nasis - directed the rockets at London and . British channel porta, the Allied air command sought to check the surprise attack by bombarding the French coast from which the Infernal machines were being , launched and Intensifying anti- , aircraft fire over the threatened areas. PRICE CONTROL: Postwar Curb If an inflationary cyclone similar to the one following World War I is to be headed off, the U. S. may be compelled to maintain price control for some time after the conclusion of the present conflict until production produc-tion begins to balance demand. OPA price director Jean Carroll declared. de-clared. "If the automobile industry, and the same applies to producers of washing machines, refrigerators, electric Irons and the like, can fill all its orders in the first year after the war. there obviously will not be much need for the OPA." Carroll said. "But . . . it may take these industries two or three years- to satisfy consumer demands. If this happens, a lot of people will not get cars and other things they want and this will produce a definite inflationary in-flationary prospect ..." To prevent sky-rocketing of prices in certain lines, It may be necessary neces-sary to continue general control over all items until goods become available In quantity, Carroll declared. de-clared. - ' DAIRT' 'PRODUCTS f." ' More "but-" ter and cheese will be available for civilians this July than last year, for the government has reserved a smaller proportion of these dairy foods tor military and lend-lease needs. The July butter "set-aside" has been reduced -from 80 per, cent of the available supply tqJSper cent and for Cheddar cheese the reduction reduc-tion has been from 70 to 80 per cent MISCELLANY INDUSTRY: War First Although the War Productioii board is moving slowly toward the development of plana for the reconversion recon-version of industry from war (o a peacetime basis, future manufacture manufac-ture of civilian goods will remain dependent upon military require ments, wpb czar uonaia neison in Bchln4-tho-Soenes Stuff t Ncws-dlcated. Ncws-dlcated. papennen'g shop-talk includes the Appearing before a senate com- Ileged mooi for . unpopularity mlttee to explain the WPB s (j.u, certain high political nanooing or surplus ajuminum avau aoie wr ciwu.n proauewn, nciaou aeciarea mat auu.uuu woraers wouw nave to be shirtea into war industry before any such production could be permitted. neveaung mat we ww ers mamiy are neeaea in lounanes, dett dah fa, da. dahlng). forges, synthetic rubber plants, west got m Berveg jtd big-coast big-coast shipyards and tank factories, gotM. It is said Mr. Wlllkie will Nelson said that the War Manpower cartii7 to Ult ltenv . . , d, commission's new plan for the con- n.i u called "the bride" when trol of the employment of all male Roosevelt discusses him with help starting July 1 may solve the Churchill via trans-Atlantie phone labor problem. . , . Qnce FDR asked the Prime Min- "HoW" the bride?" ... "All Reconversion Mr. C U said to have While Indicating that civilian pro-' answered, "but I am having trouble ductlon would have to wait on the with the grooml" . . . Meaning Glr-output Glr-output of war goods. Nelson also re- aud. . . . Americans and others vealed that the WPB's plans for an should not forget Do Gaulle was the orderly reconversion included per-'first to yell: "Wt WOl Fightl" mission for manufacturers to buy. machinery, tools and dies for con- Tfce Squelch Proper: Radio Har-sumer Har-sumer items starting July L Iris relays the on about the feud Under WPB plans, manufacturers between Jane Cowl and Phflip Ueri-also Ueri-also win be allowed to apply for vale when they appeared fas The materials for the production of a Road to Rome" hit Their quarrel-working quarrel-working model of any product de- 'tng finally aroused director Lester signed for postwar marketing so as Lonergan, who succinctly said: 1 to enable them to solve mechanical Just want to remind you. Miss problems now and bo in readiness CowL that the billing on this play is for immediate large-scale output Long opposed by older, estab lished companies still tied up In war work, newer concerns will be allowed al-lowed to manufacture civilian goods whenever they may be free to do so, Nelson said. Familiar Scene To doughboys of World War L thu World Wot 11 scene in typical Frmck village occupied by Allied $oldien TuTi?f hTk "fTi.' i?- e the thorulived gayety back of the linet before resumption of the push to ihe front, NAVAL OIL: Under Control Stirred by the navy's agreement with Standard Oil company of Cali fornia for the operation of its rich Elk Hills. Calif., field a year ago,! congress established a new prece - dent by passing legislation under which it will directly control ex - ploitation of naval reserves. Approved by President Roosevelt1 wweiassaejPis mw'.m mmmmfm'fffm, w wnswrntf II Jll,ll y f ' f ' I '1 L L it4' '..TO 'ja a fciB'1- Millliri'l(lTai!lWMl(,J Jilt T II tMl ii despite his objection that it would Publisher reports thst Lowell Mel-endow Mel-endow congress with executive pow- lett (who recently quit his post as ers. the legislation stipulates that ass't to the President to do a syndi-congress syndi-congress shall specify the amount ca ted column) has Just been granted of oil which can be removed from a 15 ralsa h th st Twi. Elk Hills, and the navy secretary may noi conaemn tanas or enter imo any coniraci or teases wirnouv prior consultation with congres- stomal naval committees. t Division of authority as Dre-' the legislation would only lead to inefficient and uneconomic cal administration, the President said. CHEAP CLOTHING: Spur Production priced clothing were announced by "crcue ir": Jnn Erskine re-ihe re-ihe Office of Price Administration as CaU iw wbo " to part of a special production program COTT1J ' 1 m,n mth-to mth-to stimulate manufacturing of these mttiC tf to Items i roorn you could, ha wouldn't Cotton house dresses will sell for $1.49 or less, women's cotton slips for 65 cents, men's shirts for $1.31 and shorts for 39 cents. Extra size dresses will retail at $1.69 and over size slips at 75 cents. The WPB has allocated 17 million yards of cotton fabrics for the program pro-gram which is limited to July, August and September. The sched ule calls for 2.142.852 shirts, 8.000.004 pairs of shorts, 1,596,000 house dresses, and about 1.021,272 cotton slips. To guard against shoddiness. the type and minimum amount of material mate-rial to be used in each garment have been specified, and standards of workmanship and construction have been established. JUD..RUS&' - Two million tons of war materials nave Deen imp pea to KUSSla 00 S lend-lease basis during the first four months of the year, Leo Crowley, foreign economic administrator, an nounced. This Included 40.000 trucks, .aw jeeps, ana o.oou other motor vehicles. In Msrch and April alone, more than 1.200 planes and 400 tonka and tank destroyers were delivered. deliv-ered. Sine October, 1941. a total of 10.- 400.000 tons ot supplies have been sent to the soviet union. , U I ' "NUI t - , One statesman said: "Ho is arrogant h. to get ,long gtufly... . . . Another revealed that GluI1, lllke to mk tranco" (especially in swanky hotel j dining rooms; when a trumpeter - too-tootles bis approach with some ! Jane Cowl and Philip Merlvala, not Jan Cowl vs. Philip Merivale." Oops Recently a Natl prisoner of war escaped from the stockade at Camp Crowd er. Ho learned the location of the camp's supply warehouse ware-house and got there without being detected. He broke in. shed his PW uniform, put on an American uniform uni-form that draped him perfectly. But then he made the botfer resulting in his capture. Hunting through a stack of hats ha put one on that fit him. Then he teppea out across the camp grounds and was seized almost at once. He had on the hat of a WAC. Ouch: It happened before Supreme Su-preme Court Justice Aaron J. Levy. The man before him said: "I would like to change my name. Ifs been source of great embarrassment to me." "What is your name?" asked Hiz-aoherl Hiz-aoherl "Levy," said the fellow. "Rarely in the life of any Jurist," was the caustic retort, "comes , there a motion which he can grant ' with such pleasure." Rhawtahawt- R-tnm-i KmK. Pilots have a favorite story not l7ZnmM ... ' 77 . a " with the U. S. bomber crew fl new deals flying over Switzerland, which was hailed via radio by the ground crew of a Swiss anti-aircraft battery. "This Is neutral territory. Get away or we'll open fire." "Yes, we know," replied the Tanks, to which the guns ack-acked. "Hey," radioed the Americans, j tout shells are exploding 1,000 yards below us." j "Yes," was the reply, "we know." Newspaperman Staff: Editor and Dispatch a raise he requested 40 years ago. - . At that time, Mellett asked his managing editor for the pay-hike and when taried down h. tW. P.D imnm th. ,. k..- vi. "ww wawMSB W . WW Uti IUW colyum. It pays him the wage he got when a reporter. As a matter of principle. Mel lett asked the present editor to pay 15 extra. He got this reply: "Okay. Sorry you had to wait so long for -"Mcwng, Hehehebs The editor of This Week convulsed the column with the one about the sentry who heard a noise and called out: "Who roea ther,T' Ic tnm the darkness answered: through." ueut. J ones. ut me "I can't let you proceed, sir, with- fn" the sentry. "Oh, fergoodnesssakes." aald the officer, "you know me well enough. Let me through." "No can do," was the retort, "gotta hsve the password, sir." Just then a bored-with-it-all soldier sol-dier in the nearby guardhouse yelled: "Oh, don't stand there arguing argu-ing all night-shoot hint" , Qae ta ilea .MarkaanansUpr Ted Robinson: A pessimist feels bad when he feels good for fear he'll feel worse when ha feels bettor. " Dorothy- FrOrmhtr "HbW'laiiaV times art are guilty of HatriotismT . . . Mary Inhls: The frozen milk bottles wort crooked white top-hats. . . . M. Cousins: The lonely night ounds of the prairie clawed at the windows. . . . Irving Hoffman: "Geo. tleman": What women can any man thsrv don't know welL . . . J. Drink-water: Drink-water: Poets make everlasting monuments of moments. 3 lfM .1 husybodies of fc you deed . Each -kitchen curtaint, fai ureauastclctlLi o Inches and is font , and outline. Te obtain tranaferuiJ kittens, sketches t 2 Chart tor worktaf fl 73 tern No. 6162) not a -J Bimt. aHHmm . .. SEWING CltCU) tain? M9 New 1 If! Inclose 13 call , vw.w VUll SI BUBti Mo Name A4dress Mild Mtttt Before the war dlgaf ported almost exclutri tral Europe. Wheak were cut off, dofflat-pended dofflat-pended on wild dittos? been harvested tor si years on the Pacific af t Aussie him More than U0C are trade unionists. &f thousand population of the 81 per thousand la' are members of ATI unionism has not bn growth. f Not (or fa was Men's garment! i tioned for women. over a woman's bustaf -are therefore lest mc durable and leu Us. those especially W women. Bathtsk Mr The trend in postwr sign Is toward t equipped with a seat will be easier and and to get out rfe roomier Inside and Pesnst Bar A peanut butter IdaC is to top the toast C with peanut - butter uij malade. For lunch era butter and bacon a wiches. ' L Pastor I Give pasture plartJ tunity to develop a fooi and get well eiUbi. ' beginning grazwj -i WHY U IIARSHJ Simple Fresn i Makes Purgatw essary for JW; Here's a way tj tipation withootfc Drink Juice of 18a glass of wstsrfl arising. , Most people H need stimulates" tkn day after WJ Lemon and wJ you. Lemons ar est sources of w, combats f atigTievW, and infections. able amounts of w eUteUnixevi W and water has clean the mouth,', starts yon going- J Try this 19 mornings- Sea B wottl Vse cie,n Writiforn&W, a Si" IH hr. ttu THISTUXMAN Ivm. B . Auaoa. J IESE |
