Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS by edward chayne CW ayne mechanized troops fight on in libya As nazis show new power in russia arming of american merchant ships indicates change in co n vor a plans NOTE whon at are eor essed in theme his brumns they are those tho ot of the th news new analyst and an nt not nt earll of 0 I 1 newspaper by western newspaper union i J p N 1 va L q X q t i A N A above photo shows the first united states merchant ship as it was being armed under tinder permission granted by terms of the recent congressional revision of 0 the neutrality armed merchants are now permitted to pass through war zone to belligerent sports i orts this picture was taken at a yard near new york city as the gun was being lifted to the ship shown in the background JAPAN formula As a tokyo war cabinet framed framed its reply to secretary of state cordell hulls peace formula reports began coming in from shanghai telling of a southward movement of japanese troops and war materials in a thrust at thailand following a wh white I 1 ite house visit by sabu saburo ro kurusu special nippon envoy the state department part ment announced that there were no further conversations scheduled with japanese diplomats seeking afi an answer to eastern situation BRITISH libyan push those who had expected a swift and continuous british victory in libya similar to the great push by general Wavel wavelle ls army which swept the italians back into milt tripoli were doomed to disappoint disappointment it wa was s evi evident d ent thai that t there ere was plenty of fight in ah the I 1 G f 1 anizel forces even wh when f apparently y hopelessly trapped yet berlin had not b een cheering over the situation the british sweep at least temporarily had knocked the Geft german nan I italian tallan formations back on their heels and there was little evidence but that the rommel army would be extremely fortunate to extricate itself from the trap even with heavy heava losses but there also was evidence that the british tanks many mandof of them of american manufacture were un able to copo on better than even terms ernis with the lerman german machines the battle once the I 1 two armies lad had made actual contact conti ct was con using fusing in the extreme ancl and it showed J in n sharply etched lines just how pos I 1 1 I sible it asfor very sri small groups of mechanized forces to throw much larger arger bodies of fail men en into complete I 1 confusion A rather large south African contingent was so knocked out by a af german mechanized attack even within the so called frohring iron fron ring of the british that it was practically disbanded though some parts of itt were able later to attach themselves i to the new mew zealand forces yet this very nazi group which had accomplished the maneuver later was shot retreat anaf practical dismemberment by a ai 1 smaller group of british tanks seemed that the element of surprises surprise and speed counted for far more in modern warfare than did a numbers e r S of men or machines chief favorable report from libya on the british part was that all re sought to be brought up by the germans had failed except those furnished by air there was considerable hope im among ong the british that this factor might decide the battle perhaps very swiftly some nazi tanks were found immobilized because ot of lack of fuel and there were reports that the germans were forced to fly supplies to their men by transport planes towing gliders but the british losses admittedly had been heavy and only a complete victory would be regarded as reward for the expenditures of men and material in the sudden and dramatic drive STRIKES the s udden sudden end of the CO coal 11 strike had been ioli followed owed swiftly by the announcement no that the threatened strike of the long distance telephone operators also had been removed from the picture by a reported pay increase that there was to be a new trend in the picture was seen when dent roosevelt called together rna nia bority and minority leaders in congress and gave them the green light as far as antistrike anti strike legisla tion was concerned CONVOY changes I 1 As reports began to come in of ahe he arming of american merchant anen en and the belief grew that they would be sent direct into british ports it was said that the whole relationship lation ship of the united stites states and the british on the convoy question in the atlantic was to undergo a change there were no definite details as to what this change would involve other than it would be a more considerable si sid erable tiling taking over by this coun try of the whole problem of supply of lease lend materials considerable interest was evoked by the harriman speech in london in which the american envoy said that the U S navy was shooting german planes though there had been no detail detailed cd reports of such engagements the general fer fealing ling was that before 1 fa k ch christmas as american ships aou would id be going all the way to brit j writ ain armed merchantmen merchantman merchant men protected by the american navy to a point close to the british isles and from there in convoyed by british naval vessels and british planes teeven EVEN oin join nazis seven smaller european nations ost of them those regarded generally ily as mora or less favorable to axis domination of europe formally ily joined the new Axis anti comit tern pact atit at a conference in berlin I 1 which was sp spotlighted by von rib ben iben claim that the russian war already had been won the remainder of the struggle von said was tas solely between tween theadis the Axis powe powers is and britain her transatlantic help I 1 rs ile said afat uld some day come to w r fon the one side between the 1 cited V states s of america and eua eu ro e I 1 and I 1 asia lia on the other side I 1 stat i 11 1 once ind and for all th that atthe the re S P 1 1 I 1 ability lies with president R oos ether the united states comes ingot i d war or not it cannot alter the 1 si s victory tory D 1 11 11 A j J t j it vay the R asians ans were being forced back 1 on heir ir heels in the moscow bicow terr 1 tari y the german system of shifting t t beir ir chief attack forces from 1 one ont to adoth another ei 7 vastly complication the reds defense problems I 1 after a ng ing attack which had cone been concentrated nitrated on the southern front nd d during which the soviet defense defens of moscow had been carried on th such success that the germans yvere ere reported on the retreat in many sectors the der germans then suddenly smashed back at moscow an an id broke through the lines in several important districts the russians were frankly worried again by th situation and said that the heathen we athen which had been a strong ally duri during g the past weeks had again turne dimore amore favorable to the attackers who were taking the advantage to shove home bitter assaults all around Moscow at one point ahey they had been reported within 30 miles iles of 0 the city and from at least four differ different eni sectors come came dispatches telling of breakthroughs break breah by bi the nazis the reds southern armies taking advantage of the forces thus shifted to the north were on the counteroffensive and were driving westward at a good clip having made in ih one line a distance of about miles but experience had shown that such advances by either side could be quickly lost again should the pressure change once more COMMANDOS make sortie the british commandos tipped in these columns as about to become active again worked a sortie on the normandy coast and returned with only one man wounded british sources felt that the official recognition by the germans of the attack made by the group was the best proof that at least some of its objectives had been accomplished shed what made the landing on the french coast particularly notable however was the issuance of a statement of sharpest criticism against the british high command by a retired naval officer and hero of the last war admiral keyes founder and trainer of the commandos he accused the staff ing the use of this body of men for several months when their use properly might have changed the character of the entire war also included was a brief ton tion of the commando which made the normandy attack men wearing black uniforms their faces blacked with burnt cork cho choosing a moonless night armed with tommy guns gun s bren guns knives and clubs and sworn to achieve their objective no matter what the outcome they returned with only one man wounded slightly through th the earm arm by a machine gun bullet the germans salo said they ha had ift been repulsed with hea heaby y losses EXPLOIT by nazis two nazi airmen will go down in history as two of the most daring and imaginative of prisoners of war escaping from a british prison camp they got british flying coats copied the buttons by carving them from wood and covering them with tinfoil and had them sewed onto their under uniforms they then N walked brazenly into a british airdrome announced they had be been i en as assigned sigried to bomb dutch airports got into a bomber and took off knowing they needed more fuel to get to their destination they landed again miles away and asked f for r gasoline suspicious airport attendants suggested they have a bath and a luncheon lunche 0 n before taking off the nazis were reluctant to take off their clothing while they were in the bath their garments were examined and the false buttons discovered they were arrested and sent back to the prison camp BULLITT A new job william C bullitt former ambassador to prance had been given a new and important assignment enrby by the president that of special envoy 40 to the libyan area especially to study lease lend needs i the former ambassadors mission was to cover the entire near east including the nile r river ivor area the ahe red sea and possibly the persian s gulf the campaign in north af africa r ica president roosevelt felt is an important and severe testing ground fo american madd arms and the ultimate success of the effort there may depend on the rate at which replacements of damaged machines can be made the president was asked by the newsmen where mr mi bullitts headquarters would be and where he could be reached the Pies president ident chuckled and said in a plane bullitt was to fly there and fly back and make his personal report on his observations to the president dint as soon as possible BRIEFS n american troops occupying dutch guiana in behalf of the government in exile received a hearty and simple welcome french press reports pointed to the incident as a forerunner of american attempts to occupy Dakar the troops in dutch guiana were sent there to protect bauxite mines chicago twenty five hundred A F ot of Lf L freight handlers ended their strike here under terms bf an agree ment which gave them a mi 12 cent an hour pay increase |