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Show Allied Show of Power Affects Enemy Morale jkfr Robot Plane Attacks Used to Bolster Home- 7jc if Front Spirits Following First fl5Vt Invasion Landings. -fy v;,r ' . V1'"' By BAUKHAGE News Analyst and Commentator. WNU Services, Union Trust Building Washington, D. C. In the last days of June when the papers were full of stories of Germany's Ger-many's "secret weapon," the robot plane, a scene which I witnessed some three decades ago returned to-haunt to-haunt me. I stood In a large tent with a crowd of people, oh-ing and ah-ing at a mechanical miracle we were witnessing. It was in Germany. Before us stood a pompous gentleman gentle-man in evening clothes with ferocious fero-cious mustachios. He had a wand in his hand and with It directed the movement of a beautiful little dirigible dirigi-ble about three feet long, a perfect replica of the zeppelins which were Just beginning to be talked about It did look rather startling. The Impressario moved his wand to the right and the miniature dirigible started off around the top of the tent, its tiny propellers whirring. He dipped his wand and the little ship nosed down and began to descend. He traced a graceful circle upward and the ship ascended and reproduced re-produced his movement in the air. Finally, after performing all sorts of such feats It gracefully descended de-scended and landed on a table. It was an impressive sight but afterwards an American engineer who had witnessed the display explained ex-plained to me that it was all "perfectly "per-fectly simple." He said the wand was merely a signal to a man concealed con-cealed from the audience who sat before an electric switchboard and controlled the ship by radio. Since then many experiments have been carried on by this type of remote control but so far as I know it has not been used in any engines of war. Naturally, when I first read the news of the robots, the picture of the little zeppelin floated into my mind. Experts admit that the German Ger-man pilotless planes are nothing but rockets and they can be sent in only the general direction of their targets. But the same experts freely admit that there could be radio-controlled pilotless planes. I mention the rocket attacks not so much to emphasize the last hysterical gesture of the writhing Teuton, but because they mark an important milestone in the psychological psycho-logical battle whose frenzy has mounted in these weeks since the invasion. The robot attack was not nearly as much of an offensive as a defensive stroke. Reports reaching reach-ing Washington in the last days indicate indi-cate that there is a defeatist psychosis mounting in Germany. That this bit of Buck Rogers fantasy was to be an antidote, is clear from the tremendous play it received in German propaganda. The tension in enemy countries is understandable to any of us in Washington Wash-ington who have gone through the strain of that morning when the first hint came over the air that D-day was dawning. Like many other newsmen, writers and broadcasters, broad-casters, I was routed out of my bed shortly after midnight after being be-ing on the alert for weeks, and from then on for many hours that bed was a stranger to me. How Did the Enemy Feel? Temperatures rose and fell for many days thereafter but the peaks and valleys of emotion in this country coun-try could have been nothing compared com-pared with those of our enemies. As yet we cannot know exactly what the German pulse beat was when our forces reached their shores after all the boasting about Hitler's "West Wall"; or how kimonos fluttered when the Japanese homeland was ruthlessly hammered by an engine of war more terrible than any they expected existed or when American Ameri-can naval guns roared in the KurUes and the-Bonins, almost in Hirohito's back yard. It takes some time to assay the morale in enemy lands, but thanks to certain reports which have already al-ready reached the Allied capitals we can gauge the mental state of the population in Germany. Some of the information comes from secret sources which may not be disclosed lest they give a hint to the gestapo as to whom or where the sources are. One such report speaks of that spectre "the third man" who is haunting the Nazi minions everywhere they go. Perhaps Per-haps he is a bent old derelict sweeping sweep-ing the street crossing. Perhaps he is a garrulous workman drinking his thin beer with a group of friends; perhaps he is even the quiet-faced fellow wearing the swastika, heillng Hitler with the rest. Anyhow, he is described in the document I quote as the "third man" who, like a dark shadow, "overhears all conversations." "He learns," says a nervous Nazi warning, which I cannot identify further, translation of which I am quoting literally, "that the enemy took a village a week ago, that there is only one German soldier to every 500 meters along the eastern front (I have been told by a Colonel) that the Americans will attack with a hundred thousand thou-sand aircraft steered by remote control methods (yes, certainly, our charwoman's nephew who works In the secret department in the Reich air ministry says so). . . ." and so the translation trans-lation runs, revealing the state of Nazi nerves. No wonder that when the German Ger-man "secret weapons," the pilotless bombers, were sent over London the German propaganda propa-ganda fairly shrieked its triumph tri-umph from every housetop in an effort to off-set the grim news of the invasion. Unfortunately for Herr Gocbbcls, at almost that very moment the most powerful air weapon ever created, the B-29, was making the longest flight 'on record to strike at the heart of Japan's chief war industry. That, un-' un-' doubtcdly, had its repercussions In Germany. What is the state of nerves in Berlin, Ber-lin, where, . according to a correspondent corre-spondent of the Swiss Journal de Geneve, "everywhere one travels there are ruins, piles of rubble , . . . paper has taken the place of windows win-dows and there are makeshift roofs with no tops on them .... in many quarters .... the majority of the inhabitants are buried beneath the ruins. . . ." No Complaints, Please You can judge what the government govern-ment is thinking about the attitude which Berliners are taking by an article printed in the Lokal An-zeiger: An-zeiger: "For the sake of your lives be carefull" it says and then begs that no complaint about their work or revelation of what they are doing be made "which might reveal something some-thing to the enemy. "Talk about how well we are fed," the writer begs, "say that the German Ger-man people get more bread, butter and milk than ever before, that everybody still gets fresh white bread and even occasionally eggs and some lovely apples." Obviously this is directed to a people utterly discouraged by minds equally desperate. From another source, which I cannot identify, is revealed a message said to come directly from the High Command itself, it-self, calling for "strong hearts'" to meet the news of the retreats on the Russian front, which it freely admits has become a "psychological "psychologi-cal burden." A Remarkable Map The many members of the National Na-tional Geographic society have received re-ceived the remarkable new map of Japan and adjacent regions put out recently by that organization. This is the first time that a detailed de-tailed map has been computed with the geographic heart of Tokio as its center. The National Geographic Bulletin states that the exact spot is Tokio's central railway station about which cluster the imperial palace, pal-ace, the central post office and the Marunouchi building, one of the city's largest official structures. The map has been compiled of entirely new base material and is being used by the general staff and other government departments which opened their files to the National Na-tional Geographic researchers for its preparation. Just because we have our eyes on western Europe at the moment is no reason why we should forget what is going on in the Pacific. Fortunately, our forces have been built up there to the point where we can carry on simultaneous action with the movements move-ments of the armies in Europe. |