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Show II Wl I While Waller Winchell is away, his column will be conducted by guest columnists. Cabled From Somewhere In Dutch New Guinea By George Lait (InternMtlonal News Wmx Correspondent.) Col. David W. Hutchison, commander com-mander ol one of the wings of Lieut Gen. George Kenny's bomber force In the New Guinea interior, now en route to his home in Madison, Wis., on leave, told me of a new technique tech-nique evolved on the spur of the moment by one of his night fighter pilots. The technique, however, is not recommended too highly for repeat re-peat performances. This night fighter fight-er took off to attack Jap bombers which were raiding Wake Island. Anti-aircraft gunners and searchlight search-light crews could hear hia engine purring in the sky. Suddenly, over the radio they heard the pilot shout: "I am coming into searchlights! For Pete's sake shoot this so-and-so oil my tall." The fighter pilot roared Into the searchlights' beams with the Jap bomber close behind. The antiaircraft anti-aircraft crews shot off the Jap's tail. There's a big treasure hunt going on at Lae, British New Guinea. Not (or Guinea gold, but for 200 cases of prewar Scotch whiskey buried there by Manager Burns, of Philip Company, before the Jap invasion. Burns, who is now in England with the RAF, intends returning after the war to dig up his cache. The Yanks, with everything from entpGachicg . tools to bulldozers, meanwhile are ripping up the jungle, hoping to beat him to the swag. Some New Guinea points have a real Broadway flavor these days. In one day I bumped into Maj. Abe Schechter, former bigshot at NBC; Sgt. George McLemore, noted sports columnist, now a combat correspondent; cor-respondent; Lieut. Jack Miley, the sports writer, still of approximately the same tonnage as the heavy cruiser on which he is serving; Lieut. Larry Jones, whose father operates Gertner's restaurant, New York., and who is in charge of the largest GI messes in the southwest Pacific; Lew Parker and Jackie Heller, night club performers entertaining enter-taining troops; Jack Davis, New York representative of the Australian Aus-tralian Consolidated Press, who came over for a six-month gander at the war; Capt. Jack Cross, Westchester county journalist (husband of Powers Pow-ers model Betty Riddell) and Capt. Dick Krolick, also a journalist and habitue of East 45th street's famous Pen and Pencil bar; Eddie Dowl-Ing's Dowl-Ing's son, Jack, war correspondent for a Chicago newspaper; Douglas (Wrongwy) Corrigan, ferrying planes for the Fifth air force, and Col. Merian Cooper (he's gone home on leave to visit his wife, the former Dorothy Jordon of the movies) who produced "Chang," "Grass," and "Long Voyage Home"; Alfred Vanderbilt, who with his brother, George, is giving the Japs hell as commanders of PT boats. Phil La Follette, former Governor of Wisconsin, has just been promoted pro-moted to full colonel. He'll be going home soon on leave. . Emily Coote of Boston's Back Bay and widow of the first Baronet of Ireland, Is now In charge of one of the largest Red Cross outfits in Australia, Aus-tralia, caring for the wants of recently re-cently arrived WACs. . . . Everybody Every-body knows Corp. Lew Ayres now serving as a chaplain assistant at Hollandia, but few know that Tech. Sgt. Frankie Darro is a dispensing pharmacist at one of New Guinea's big hospitals. He is the former child star who specialized in tough kid roles, i Capt. Lanny Ross has been almost solely responsible for shepherding around the southwest Pacific all of the bigshot entertainers such as Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Carol Landis, Martha Tilton, Jerry Colonna, Larry Adler and Gary Cooper. . . . One of the biggest successes In New Guinea, who, wiseacres thought, would be a flop, was Judith Anderson, Ander-son, who presented Shakespeare to the GIs, and they loved it. . . . Lee Vanatte, INS daredevil flying correspondent corre-spondent with the Far East air force, tells the story of a combat sergeant who, physically unfit for further fighting, was transferred to army post office censorship to assume as-sume duties ordinarily assigned to women. The disgruntled, disgusted sergeant reported to his commanding command-ing officer, "Sir, I have come to replace re-place a WAC!" Jack Benny got plenty of belly-laughs belly-laughs from General MacArthur's GIs with his crack: "I am an old-timer old-timer in these Pacific Islands I used to spend weekends at Cata-lina." Cata-lina." . . . Lt Cmdr. George Halas, who used to coach the Chicago Bears professional football team, and is now serving as recreation and welfare officer for the 7th fleet, is accompanying Bob Hope's party on its tour of the southwestern Pacific area and sees that the navy boys get their share of the entertainment. |
