Show weekly news analysis corregidor other philippine forts fall after constant jap assaults EDITORS NOTE wien when opinions opinion are re expressed in these columns lumps co they ay are r e those of the sews news anal analyst and ns not act of this newspaper corregidor chapter ends even as the first british commandos were landing on one important island see story below Alada madagascar gascar A coup american troops were engaged in their last stand for the philippine island fortress corregidor in manila bay for almost a month since the fighting had ended on bataan american forces commanded by gen jonathan M wainwright had been holding this fortified rock against a terrific air and artillery pounding by the japs thoroughly entrenched on luzon across the bay the japs final assault ended after about two days of constant hammering from big guns and aerial bombs when the first jap landings on the island itself were reported military experts in washington could see that the end was near it was from gen douglas mac arthurs headquarters in melbourne australia that the blunt announcement finally came general wainwright has surrendered corregidor and other fortified islands in manila harbor the other island strongholds strong holds in addition to corregidor are fort mills fort hughes fort drum and fort frank then from washington the war department reported that it had received a message from corregidor that resistance of our troops has been overcome fighting has ceased and terms are being arranged covering the capitulation of the island forts in manila bay madagascar A 4 coup when british troops landed on the french island of madagascar to forestall an expected coup by the japanese the united states state department part ment was not long in announcing that this country was in sympathy with the move british sources explained that the move was made after the laval french government in vichy had played host to visiting japa japanese i nese officials en route to berlin and thus continued this story the vichy gova gov emment eminent was very unlikely to put up any opposition to a movement by the japs to seize the important is and band which is considered a vital base for guarding the sea lanes in the indian ocean off the east coast of africa retaliatory action by the french was to be considered as an act of aggression against the entire group of the united nations according to the U S state department and this country with britain pledged to return the strategic island to france after the war AUSTRALIA A jap headache for over a month the united nations had been letting the world know with japan included that their strength in australia was assuming increased proportions american troops in large numbers have been poured on to this continent to aid in its defense and to participate in the expected offensive action to recapture the east indies and the philippines evidence of this increased strength has been indicated by the news dispatches of hard fought air battles off the coasts of this important outpost in one weekend week end allied headquarters reported a toll of 20 jap planes destroyed and four jap ships blasted by planes in scattered battles to the north and northeast in one thrilling 35 minute fight a tour four motored jap flying boat was severely damaged this activity added impetus to the reasoning projected by military strategists to the effect that japan 0 11 ri to david fairfax oyster 18 of chevy chase md went the honor of being the first and youngest high school f cadet accepted in the navys aviation program he Is shown being sworn in by secretary of the navy frank knox the first cadet to enter navys class V 5 by which high school graduates may qualify for commissions in the air force was concentrating naval forces pre to a flank attack on U S communications in the south pacific japan must cut these vital lines if she would stall the threatened offensive against her with the U S occupation of the french island of new caledonia these communication lines imes of the united nations have been further secured alarmed by this news J japans adans opening moves were seen coming from the marshall islands either through the gilbert and euice Is islands or through the solomon islands and the new hebrides added to these developments was the earlier report that strong jap naval forces which had gathered in the bay of bengal as a threat to india had suddenly disappeared only the japs knew where they were headed but the united nations expected next to see them along the sea lanes between san francisco and sydney RUSSIAN FRONT A 4 pledge premier marshal josef stalin it if the russian soldier can fulfill his pledge to josef stalin 1942 will see the final defeat of adolf hillers Hit lers military might for from moscow came the report that russian soldiers all along the 2000 mile german front had taken an oath to make this the final year of the war meanwhile other russian dispatches told of a strong drive by marshal red army of the ukraine which cut deep into the nazi position in the donets industrial du basin this wedge would offer an effective obstacle to the german offensive aimed at the oil of the caucasus on the leningrad front heavy fighting continued without letup let up in this area moscow reported nazi casualties in the past month RESOURCES strong opposition to the war departments part ments plan to lower the draft age to 18 or 19 was seen in congress as louis B hershey national selective service director instructed state draft directors to include men of the 20 to 21 and 36 to 44 groups in the june calls at present the army and navy both are accepting voluntary enlistments of 18 and 19 year old youths lowering the minim minimum um draft age would make approximately young men eligible for conscription an alternate plan was suggested by sen claude pepper of florida this would call for the pre draft military training for those less than 20 years old success of either proposal depends largely upon the war departments ability to convince the house and senate military committees that they have exhausted military man power resources in the 2046 age brackets however paul V mcnutt chairman of the war manpower commission stated that no draft or regimentation of workers is contemplated harassing hitler out of istanbul turkey came a report that the nazis were being forced to send additional large numbers of troops into to quell the general attack by gen braja serbian army guerrilla warfare and sabotage have been sweeping the area in increasing degrees since the passing of winter and sending of nazi forces here on the eve of germanys germanas Germ anys spring offensive was good news to the russians confusion and disorder in belgrade and the surrounding territory has been caused by the nightly raids of the Chet much feared guerrilla fighters all this serbian resistance si and sabotage is reported growing in intensity despite the wholesale destruction and mass executions by the nazis another dispatch told of yugoslav Jug leaders and british military experts being dropped by parachute in the area to aid in harassing the nazis italians and croats choats trying to maintain or exceedingly difficult dis discipline alp in the balkans NAZI WARSHIPS three cripples last february when the three nazi warships the battleships gneisenau and scharnhorst and the cruiser prinz eugen made their startling escape from the nazi held port of brest through the english channel a naval offensive in northern waters to cut the united nations arctic supply line to russia was foreseen now the british admiralty has explained why such action has been i lacking an announcement from this source indicates that the three ships win will be out of action for some time they were severely damaged say the british by torpedo and bombing attacks in their channel night flight and by british mines and submarine action later there were strong indications that the british were sure of their information as to the extent of the dam age to this important unit of the nazi fleet before their announcement was made the report said that the ships had been subjected to heavy attack while in brest and sailed in an effort to join other german naval forces at trondheim Trond heim norway only the prinz eugen got that far and norwegian sources say this ton vessel has been grounded by the stem to keep her afloat the gneisenau severely damaged the whole length of her forecastle is located at gdynia former polish port and the scharnhorst is in dry dock at kiel nazi naval base which is still being pounded hard by the RAF thus instead of six powerful warships to smash at british and U S fleets the nazis have only three capable of immediate action these are reported in trondheim Trond heim norway with the crippled prinz eugen they are the battleship tons the pocket battleship admiral scheer tons and the sister ship of the prinz eugen the admiral hipper also tons nonviolence NON VIOLENCE Gand his defense mohandas K gandhi once more proved his power over indias andias masses when the all india congress bartys working committee decided to urge a policy of nonviolent non violent non operation cooperation co if their country is invaded by japan the congress thus returned to the ideas of gandhi in spite of the more belligerent attitude of nehru and other party leaders who have stated that india must fight peace loving gandhi has advanced his policy of nonviolence non violence to the point of opposing the scorched earth policy the british government again took the blame for indias andias stand the congress bartys resolution declared that such a policy was necessary that Gand his beliefs are not shared by united nations milita fists now in india was evidenced when maj gen lewis H brereton commander of the united states air force in india and gen sir arch archibald P wavell british commander there shared a recent broadcast we stand ready to defend the shores of india general brereton said you must realize that here there can be e no question of divided effort your united states air force in india has been in action against the enemy since the beginning of april meanwhile the onrushing japs had pushed north from mandalay toward china and west toward india in an encircling move against the outnumbered chinese and british defenders of burma following their capture of cashio southeastern terminus of the burma road the japs struck at Kwei chieh 58 miles above cashio the flying tigers of the american volunteer group struck back at cashio setting fire to airdrome barracks blowing up a fuel dump and bombing grounded planes low fly ing planes strafed airdrome personnel the chinese high command stated that when the japs pushed on to mandalay they found the city a smoking ruin ominous however was the jap boast that mandalay had become the advance base for an attack on india QUICKIES OUT the practice of granting army and navy quickie commissions to unqualified civilians was condemned by rep charles I 1 faddis of pennsylvania chairman of a house subcommittee on army matters at the request of faddis who declared that congress must stop such action the house military committee had written into the army pay bill an amendment requiring that future commissions be granted only to graduates of officers training schools national guard and ROTC officers or those who completed mil gitary courses at approved schools he stated that too many of these commissions are being issued it may be true that in certain cases a man from civilian life is needed for a commissioned post but there is no reason to commission a thousand of thorn them FOUR destroyers in 55 minutes A new worlds record was established at kearney N J when tour four destroyers st slid down the ways in a mass launching which gov charles edison of new jersey described the equivalent of a splendid na nabi rt victory sf the destroyers were the U S S fletcher the U S S radford the U S S quick and the U S S mervine the exceedingly brief time in which they were constructed plus their condition 90 per cent complete were the factors responsible tor for the worlds record an official of the company which built the ships explained that a launching does not necessarily signalize the completion or even the near completion of a ship A vessel may be sent down the ways at any of several stages of its construction st he said the sooner it is launched the more work has to be done while it is afloat before it can be completed for delivery a r guiding force behind the royal air forces devastating bombing raids on germany is air bl marshal arshal arthur travers harris continuous raids on strategic nazi industrial plants and bases have resulted in a reported german request for a bombing truce WAR LABOR SUPPLY reaches high peak chairman paul V mcnutt of the war manpower commission has estimated that the number of men employed in war work by the end of 1942 may reach compared with at the beginning of 1941 mcnutt said that although labor like materials must be redirected directed re tor for war production purposes no draft or regimentation of workers is contemplated miscellany chicago uncle sams wartime call tor for more food will be answered 4 by a acre increase in alya 1 area planted to 14 major farm cra crop this spring according to a state ment of the middle west soil improvement pro committee to make this additional acreage yield bigger crops said the statement farmers will have to rely on soil management including intelligent rotation application of the correct analysis of fertilizer for particular crops and soils and the growing of fertility building legumes vichy the execution of 55 french hostages in reprisal for the assassination of two nazi soldiers was announced together with the sabotage of two more german troop trains in the occupied zone salt lake city seventeen persons were killed when a united air lines mainliner plowed into a mountain peak while circling for a 2 landing during a wind and sl storm released by western newspaper union |