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Show WEEKLY NEWS ANALYSIS Allied Command Moves to Clear Africa And Secure Control of Mediterranean; Hitler Decrees Added Nazi Sacrifices In Effort to Bolster Failing Manpower (FDITOR'S NOTE: When opinions are expressed In these columns, they are those of Western Newspaper Union's news analysts and not necessarily of this newspaper.) I Released by Western Newspaper TTninn SOUTH PACIFIC: Jap Casualties Heavy From New Guinea came Gen. Douglas MacArthur's consoling announcement an-nouncement that American casualties casual-ties in the victorious Papuan campaign cam-paign were less than half the Japanese Japa-nese losses. Previous statements had said that a Japanese Papuan army of 15,000 had been wiped out. This indicated American casualties might have totaled 7,000, including those incapacitated in-capacitated by sickness. As General MacArthur consolidated consolidat-ed his forces for the drive to clear the enemy out of the rest of New Guinea, military activity was limited limit-ed to continuous bombing of enemy bases. The raids included a heavy concentration on Lae, which is expected ex-pected to be the next target of Mac-Arthur's Mac-Arthur's offensive operations. The navy department disclosed that a new Jap air base established within easy raiding distance of Guadalcanal in the Solomons had been strongly attacked by American bombers. The new Jap airfield is on Ballale island, about 300 miles northwest north-west of Henderson airfield on Guadalcanal. Guad-alcanal. The navy likewise announced that In air action over Wake island, a number of Jap Zero planes had been shot down, while all United States aircraft had returned safely to their fields. CORN GROWERS: Reap Big Benefits t Corn belt farmers and western wheat growers will get the lion's share of the $595,500,000 in benefit payments to be distributed among growers for complying with last year's federal crop control programs, pro-grams, it was indicated in a preliminary prelim-inary report of the department of agriculture on 1942 farm subsidies. Southern cotton farmers will get the smallest amount since 1936, largely because of the improved price position of this crop. The department's figures disclosed that payments to wheat farmers will total $133,477,000, compared with $107,353 for the 1941 crop. Corn payments will amount to $188,219,-000, $188,219,-000, which is the record for that crop. Payments on the 1941 crop totaled $130,186,000. Cotton payments for 1942 will amount to about $78,833,000, compared com-pared with $184,957,000 in 1941 and a peak of $265,595,000 for the 1938 crop. Until the 1942 crop year, cotton payments pay-ments exceeded those for any other commodity. YANKEE FOOD: Aids Russ Offensive That American lend-lease food shipments have helped the Russian armies deal their deadly blows to Hitler's Nazi legions was revealed by Claude R. Wickard, secretary of agriculture. Food shipments to Russia which rose sharply as the winter offensive progressed went directly to the Red How the U. S. task forces apply what the high command describes as "Swift Massive Strokes" against the enemy is illustrated by the above photo showing troops going aboard an air transport in New Guinea, equipped for marching or fighting or both when the plane reaches a destination in front of the Japs, TUNISIA: Activity Stepped Up Indications that the long awaited offensive to drive the Axis out of North Africa might be near, were seen in reports of the recapture of several central Tunisian positions with which the enemy had sought to form a line of protection for the flanks of Marshal Rommel's army retreating into Tunisia from Libya. Conferences of top American and British military chiefs in Casablanca even after the departure of President Presi-dent Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill had emphasized the importance impor-tance of the next Allied moves. Lieut. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's American forces had driven the Germans Ger-mans back from six to nine miles in the Ousseltia Valley and had pressed steadily toward a pass through which Rommel's troops must pass in their effort to join German Ger-man Gen. Von Arnim's army. Rommel's widely strung out rear guard had been constantly under attack at-tack by General Montgomery's British Brit-ish Eighth army. One of the heartening features of the American activity was that this drive had recaptured several positions posi-tions of tactical importance previously previ-ously lost by the French when German Ger-man armored units had smashed through their lines. AIR BLOWS: By 'All-American' Team Ominously prophetic of more and deadlier blows at the heart of German Ger-man industries and naval bases were the first "All-American" daylight day-light bombing attacks in which swarms of unescorted Flying Fortresses For-tresses and Liberators smashed at the naval base of Wilhelmshaven and industrial installations at Em-den. Em-den. While three of the unescorted American bombers were lost on the Wilhelmshaven-Emden raids, United States headquarters said that a "number" of enemy planes were destroyed. de-stroyed. Hitler's northern flank was given a pounding when the shipyards in Copenhagen, Denmark, hitherto unscathed, un-scathed, were bombed by the RAF. The principal targets of this raid were U-boat engine factories which are working for Germany. RUSSIA: Cause for Rejoicing With President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill's joint note in his hands promising decisive blows in the West, "Uncle Joe" Stalin could look with considerable satisfaction on affairs in the East. How well the Russian offensives were going was indicated by a steady parade of Soviet communiques communi-ques reporting successes all along the line. The Red army had driven forward to within 60 miles of Rostov, with the recapture of the railroad towns of Ataman and Yegorlyk. To the north, the Ukrainian offensive westward from captured Voronezh had pressed on to within 80 miles of the big Nazi base of Kursk, with the reoccupation of Gorsehechnoye. The Russian Stalingrad trap had closed its jaws on all but a few scattered remnants of the 200 Axis divisions of 200,000 men who had besieged that industrial stronghold. HITLER: Produce or Die Significant of even sterner measures meas-ures ahead on the Nazi home front was Adolf Hitler's decree imposing compulsory labor service on all German Ger-man men from 16 to 65 and all women from 17 to 45 and hinting the death penalty awaited slackers. Observers who had been puzzled for weeks over Nazi radio propaganda propa-ganda stressing the seriousness of the military situation in Russia now readily saw that this device had been employed to prepare the Ger-iman Ger-iman people for new sacrifices of a most bitter and stringent nature. Clearly Hitler was trying desperately desper-ately to solve his manpower problem. prob-lem. Allied military experts estimated esti-mated Germany must recruit at least 1,000,000 new men to fill the gaps in her army. DRAFT CALL: Faces Fathers in '43 Evidence mounted that the drafting draft-ing of married men with children would be under way before the end of 1943, following the U. S. high command's announcement that the nation's armed forces would total 10,420,000 this year. Observers recalled a statement some time ago by Maj. Gen. Lewis B. Hershey, selective service chief, indicating that the supply of childless child-less married men would last only about 10 months. The statement inferred in-ferred that drafting of men with children would begin around next October if 10,000,000 or more were to be called without drafting 18 and 19 year olds. Since General Hershey spoke, the minimum draft age has been lowered low-ered to include those age brackets, but the gain thus made in the number num-ber of draft eligibles has been offset off-set by deferment of all men 38 years or older, apparently reinstating reinstat-ing his forecast. NAZI PEACE: Offensive Is Nipped As political observers viewed in perspective President Roosevelt's historic North Africa conference with Prime Minister Churchill, the conviction grew that one of the most significant but unheralded results of that meeting was the forestalling of a prospective new German peace offensive. of-fensive. For several months it had been evident in world chancellories I that Hitler would offer a compromise peace as part of his 1943 plans. Reports Re-ports had indicated that his proposals pro-posals would be made through nonbelligerent non-belligerent Spain and would include an offer to withdraw from Western Europe while still retaining territories territo-ries occupied in Poland, Russia and the Balkans. In the light of these disclosures the Casablanca declaration that the Allied nations would be satisfied with nothing short of the unconditional surrender of Germany, Italy and Japan, definitely destroyed this spurious spu-rious peace offensive. President Roosevelt's visit with President Vargas of Brazil at Natal, en route home, was significant of the solidity of South America's adhesion to the Allies. Observers believed Axis peace moves would make no dent in Latin America, even if made through still-neutral Argentine. i 1 , , 1 f . - 4 W-"X 1 -' , I - -5 I " ii FOOD ADMINISTRATOR WICKARD army, Wickard disclosed. "In December, De-cember, for the first time," he declared de-clared m a report to the war council of the National-American Wholesale Grocers association in Chicago, "shipments to Russia were larger than the combined shipments to the United Kingdom and other British destinations." Discussing the 1943 outlook, Mr. Wickard said that "our armed forces and those of our Allies will require almost a quarter of all the food we produce." RUBBER PROGRAM: Green Light on 55 While a house of representatives naval committee ordered an investigation investi-gation of charges made by Rubber Administrator William M. Jeffers that "army and navy loafers" were interfering with war production, WPB Chairman Donald M. Nelson disclosed that he had directed that 55 per cent of the synthetic rubber program for which Mr. Jeffers has been battling vigorously be carried through "as rapidly as possible." ' In testimony before the senate rubber investigating committee, Mr. Nelson defended his curtailment of the rubber administration's demands de-mands and declared he was aiding Jeffers as much as possible without serious interference with other urgent ur-gent war production. The 55 per cent rubber plant construction con-struction program means that 25 synthetic rubber plants will be completed com-pleted as early as possible, the WPB chairman indicated. Mr. Jeffers had been demanding right of way for 65 to 70 per cent of the original Baruch program. |
