■—--- --—
Who’s News
This Week
*r
Deloo Wheeler Lovelace
CwoHsUfd rwtmM.-WKP RUmn.
^JEW YORK. — In army circles
they rate Maj. Gen. Harold L.
George as one of the best impromptu
speakers te the service. He likes
owe m • mm __ tO talk* hlS
Him Aar Transport colleagues
Command la Gan. willtellyou,
GmmgmTm PH Topic
well. He's the chief of the air trans
port command of the army air
corps, and has been ever since its
formation last July.
Out hi Australia the other day
ha likened the feats of his fliers
to the tales of Jules Verne, and
It wasn't so long ago that ho
was picturing with delight how
his men had flown the equipment
for a 24-bed hospital to Nome,
Alaska, after a Are had de
stroyed its lone hospital. Just
a year ago when he was made
head of the ferry command of
the army air corps, his major
task was getting new planes
from the factories to wherever
they were needed. Now he has
that problem and a whole lot of
others, such as flying troops and
essential supplies overseas.
He first learned about flying u
World War I. A native of Soner
ville, Mass., he was a student ii
the law school at National university
on April 6, 1917. A month later he
was a second lieutenant of cavalry
Fall found him training to be a
flier, however. He won his wings in
March, 1918, and the following Sep
tember he was in France as a bomb
ing instructor at Clermont. Before
the Armistice, he had been assigned
to the 163id aero squadron. After
the war, he resumed his studies and
won his LL B in 1920. His heart was
In the army, however, and in 1921,
he went back, this time to stay.
Since his return he has been
stationed at a lot of places,
Kelly Field, Texas, the Aberdeen
Proving Grounds, out in Hawaii,
and down at Maxwell Field, Ala
bama. They made him a cap
tain in *32 and a major in *39.
Meanwhile he had done plenty
of Hying.
Fit and bronzed and with keen
blue eyes, he looks every inch- as
flier. He’ll be 50 this summer, but
he seems a lot younger despite gray
ing hair. «*- ^
T'HE man who has been swinging
Bolivia into war against Hitler
& Co. is a fighter and a believer in
orderly government. Enrique Pena
Bolivuta President hjfd«ayW<to
Can Soring Mailed the top as a
Fist When Needed military
leader m
the Chaco war against Paraguay.
Today he is equally famous as an
able president.
When General Penaranda was
elected chief executive in March,
1919, he depended on the ballots
of his countrymen, not the mus
kets of his troops. For some
years before that the stylish way
to land in the presidential palace
was by coup d’etat. His political
opponents, on hearing the re
turns from the polls, decided old
methods were best. The gen
eral promptly showed them he
was still a warrior, and inaugu
ration day found him taking of
fice as scheduled and express
ing his faith in democracy.
Born in the La Paz district 50
years ago, he entered his country’s
West Point in 1907 and graduated a
second lieutenant three years later.
He became a captain in ’17, a major
in ’21, and a colonel in ’32. The
start of the war with Paraguay shot
him swiftly to the top and three
months after hostilities began he
was made commander-in-chief. ’
FREE FRENCH circles offer a
double barreled explanation for
the failure of the United States to
clear up the* muddle of Martinique
Martinique?* ‘Four Admiral
Familiet? Control George
All but MU Pole J^ert.
They say
the vice admiral is pro-Robert, but
enti-everything else save the Four
Families. These, they explain, boast
of being the only truly white families
on the island.
The four families are in complete
control, it is claimed, of 247,000 na
tives and Martinique’s economic ex
istence. - *
The vice admiral could, if he
would, make any deal without
consulting Vichy to which he
still vows loyalty. Vichy gave
him full power in the French
Antilles and authority to con
clude any arrangement with the
United States. He entered the
French navy 90 years ago.
The admiral, after an old French
custom, has an assortment of names
—George Achilla Marie-Joseph. He
is 68 years old now, with a white,
out-jutting dpade beard, and a tem
per some describe as not unlike a
hornet’s.
Whether Martinique’s Social Reg
ister is limited to a mere quartette
of families is, probably, debatable,
but independent reports of Vice Ad
miral Robert's speech made last
year at Fort-de-France certainly
made it and him anti-American. He
gave the "greed of Americans" a
fine going over.
As Yanks Ripped Rommel’s Lines in Tunisian Hills
In picture at upper left an American sapper (kneeling at right) holds an Axis mine which he has just dug
from the sand near-Gafsa, Tunisia. Upper right: On the hunt for snipers, a U. S. security unit searches the
ruins of an old fortress in Gafsa. Below, left: Through rubble-filled streets and past the bomb-blasted build
ings of Gafsa march U. S. troops, meeting no resistance. When the call comes to go aloft, U. S. pilots are
rushed out to their airplanes in jeeps. In picture at lower right one of the airmen is running from the jeep
to his sky fighter.
. - ■ . ■ -* 1 -- -- - ^
U-Boat Meets British Destroyer—Goes Down to Stay
The Italian submarine Asteria had the misfortune el meeting a British destroyed in the Mediterranean.
In photo at upper left the snb is brought to the surface for the last time by a depth charge attack. Her crew
await being picked up. Lower left: The Asteria is on her way to a permanent rendezvous with Davy Jones,
as members of her erew, most of whom were saved, swim to the destroyer. Bight: Italian U-boat prisoners
leave the destroyer at an undisclosed port._
One Phase of Tough Job for Army Engineers
In transporting pipe and other supplies for a pipeline connecting the
Norman oil fields of Canada 'with White Horse, on the Alaskan highway,
to make fijel easily available for defense stations, V. S. army engineers
overcame great obstacles. Here a convoy of supply barges and towing
craft nears the end of a rough 16-mile cross-country voyage.
Farm Migration to More Fertile Areas
As partial solution of the farm manpower problem, farm families are
being transported from so-called “submarginal” low-production farms to
areas where production is high. Picture shows men, women and children
arriving in New York en route to the truck farming region around Staf
ford Springs, Conn. Camp Connors, former CCC camp, will house them.
‘Ike’ Meets ‘Monty’
Gen. Dwight (“Ike”) Eisenhower
(overseas cap) shakes hands with
British General Bernard Montgom
ery, commander of the Eighth army
which chased Rommel from Egypt
halfway up Tunisia. General Eisen
hower flew to General Montgom
ery’s headquarters to congratulate
him and his men for cracking Nad
resistance.
- \
Queen of Roses
Be-ruffled, bat unruffled, smiling;
Kathleen Turner poses royally with
an “Editor McFarland” rose, after
she had been selected Florida’s
rose queen at Cypress Gardens, FIs
Ml—j by Wuttra M—r Uni—.
THE Hollywood telephone
repairman was phoning
his report. “Yeah, I fixed it;
cord was chewed.” Pause.
“Yeah, chewed. No, not a
dog—a lion/* Pause. “Sure I
said lion.” Pause. “Look, I
I haven’t had a drink all day,
! and I said a lion chewed it.
! I’m at Jinx Falkenburg’s house.”
He grinned. "Yeah, I knew you’d
understand.” The cub, a present to
Jinx from her brother, Bob, has
since then taken to sharpening his.
teeth on the piano legs. The Co
lumbia star of “She Has What It
Takes” says that’s perfectly all
right, if he sticks to piano legs.
—*—
Pola Negri, who years afco was
one of the head glamour girls of the
silent movies, is returning to the
screen in the United Artists film,
“Hi Diddle Diddle”; she’ll play an
operatic star, the wife of Adolphe
POLA NEGRI
Menjou, a role from which Menjou’t
real wife, Veree Teasdale, retired
because of illness. Martha Scott
has the leading role. Animated se
quences by Leon Schlesinger, the
film cartoon creator, will begin and
end the picture.
—*—
Kjie-year-old John Donat, son of
Robert Donat, makes his film debut
in "This Land Is Mine," starring
Charles Laughton and Maureen
O’Hara. John breezed through his
lines, andvbe tween takes sat high on
a stepladder, reading a comic strip
magazine—stayed there until Direc
tor Jean Renoir called him down
from his perch to go to work again.
—*—
David Niven returns to the screen
after a two-year absence in "Spit
fire," the British-made Goldwyn pro
duction which will be released by
RKO Radio. A major in Rip British
army, he was given leave to co-star
with Leslie Howard in this picture.
—*—
After testing Hollywood stars by
the dozen King Vidor has selected
an unknown for the important role
of Brian Donlevy’s wife in Metro’s
"America.” She’s Ann Richards,
who arrived here from Australia on
the last boat to leave after the bomb
ing of Pearl Harbor.
—*—
Little Margaret O’Brien, who stole
the honors in , “Journey for Mar
garet" and did the same thing when
the "Screen Guild Players" did a
dramatized version of it on the air,
won Jack Benny’s heart when, ask
ing him for an autograph, she said
she’d seen him fall into a lake in a
picture. "That was with Bob Hope,”
said he. And Margaret replied "Bob
Hope? Is he a comedian, too?"
—*—
Red Skelton's been having a swell
time, working at Ebbets Field in
Brooklyn on "Whistling in Brook
lyn” ; every member of the famous
Dodgers, including Manager Duro
cher, appears in the picture. Five
hundred rabid Dodger fans sat in
the bleachers for some sequences—
and what’s more, got paid for it!
—*—
The quickest way to become a
star on your own program is to do
a guest shot on Rudy Vallee’s Thurs
day show. During the past year
he’s presented Groucho Marx, Billie
Burke and Ransom Sherman, among
others. Now Marx stars on his own
Saturday night program, Sherman
recently launched a new series, and
Billie Burke will have two air shows
going during the summer.
-m
That new “Salute to Youth” pro
gram has just about everything ra
dio fans can want. There’s William
L. White, war correspondent; Ray
mond Paige and an all-youth orches
tra; Nadine Conner, Metropolitan
Opera star; Berry Kroeger as nar
rator, and a guest war worker. With
most of the cast in their ’teens or
early twenties, the program—on
NBC Tuesdays—is a salute to youth,
by youth.
—*—
ODDS AND ENDS—Lesley Woods,
",Bright Horizon” actress, has said good
by to her dog. Bouncer; he’s joined the
army as a buck private . . . Fred AUen
will return to motion pictures this sum
mer . . . They've found another road for
Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, "Road to
Utopia,” to be made this summer, but
probably without Dorothy Lamour . . .
After five years, Phil Baker will return
to the movies in 20th Century-Fox’s “The
Girls He Left BehintT . . . Ginny Simms,
star of "Johnny Presents,” has begun a
tour of desert army camps within a day's
distance of Hollywood; she offers a one
woman show apd the entire expenses of
the trip, including those of the orchestra.
Flying Fortress
- Dishes It Out
By CapU Clyde B. Welker
(WNU r»»tur»—Through imcial anangamant
with Tha Amariean Magaaiaa.)
We were carrying some mighty
heavy stuff tor Jerry in our big
Flying Fortress.
Leaving our home field in Eng
land at six o’clock in the morning,
our objective was the submarine
pens at Loriert, France.
As we approached, somebody
yelled “Flak!” and the anti-aircraft
shells broke around us. At the
same time the ball turret guimer
shouted “Wolves coming up!” He had
sighted a dozen German fighters,
Focke-Wulf 190s, climbing fast from /
downstairs. )
I held the ship steady on her
coarse. A few seconds later
Bombardier Bentinck pressed
his bomb triggers. The giant
bombs hit exactly where he had
aimed them, in the middle of a
platform between two subma
rine pens.
“Bull’s-eye!” he whooped over
the intercom. I never heard any
one sound so jubilant. Those were
the last words Bentinck ever spoke.
The next second, everything hit its
at once. Things started happening
much faster than I can tell them.
FW’s Take Us On.
We were raked from end to end
with flak. At the same time a
swarm of FW’s dived out of the
sun. They came in like hornets,
with 20-millimeter cannon and ma
chine guns wide open.
One burst of flak ripped into the
nose. It killed Bentinck instantly.
The same burst wounded Navigator
Smith and knocked him uncon
scious.
A second burst ripped away the
doors of the bomb bay. Another
burst sprayed around Co-pilot Bill
Heed and myself.
That wasn’t half of it. Krucher,
in the tail, had been hit. A cannon
shell had torn a big hole in the ball
turret. Radio Operator Frishhplz
had a flak hole in the back of his
head, and the radio room was on
fire.
No. 1 Engine Is Out.
The first broadside of flak smashed
the drive shaft of No. 1 engine. The
No. 2 had been hit on top and was f*
throwing oil. It might catch fire
any second. Flak had knocked a
big dent in the propeller of No. 3,
and No. 4 had a big hole in its base.
I carried on with 3 and 4. The
ship staggered and started falling
behind the rest of the squadron.
I put the nose down and dived steep
ly for the cover of some clouds
far below us.
FW’s Close In For Kill.
Seeing we were badly hurt, the
FW’s closed jn for the kill. Then
the boat really lived up to her name
of Flying Fortress. We took plenty
during the next 60 seconds, but not
half as much as we dished out.
My waist gunner, Bill Stroud, took
care of the first one. It was so
close that he could see the back of
the pilot’s head. Stroud poured a
stream of bullets into him. The f'W
went into a spin, and Stroud fol
lowed him with burst after burst.
A moment later another Jer
ry came under his sights. He
poured steel into him, saw him
break up.
Bight waist gunner Berring
was pumping 50-caliber slugs at
range. He, too, got a “proba
ble,” a red-nosed FW which spun
down and out of sight.
Meanwhile the wounded tail gun- A
ner got a chance. While he was .ly
ing back there losing,blood, an FW
roared in to finish him off. Krucher
took steady aim and rapped out one
long burst. It literally sawed the
German’s wing off. He went down
in flames.
With the wind shrieking through
the flak holes, we raced down, down,
for that beautiful layer of clouds.
We made it. The remaining FWs
didn’t attempt to follow us into the
clouds.
Somehow or other, we limped
home on our two engines and landed
at an English airport near the coast.
Our wounded went to the hospital,
and have now recovered.
Bentinck—as great a bombardier
as ever served in any man’s army—
was gone, but the other nine of us.
will soon be flying again.
Our trip back was as big an pd
venture an our fight with the FW’s.
Coming out of the cloud cover, we
were down to 600 feet when we saw
the ocean again, then a large town,
which I recognized as Brest, one at
the most strongly fortified places in
France.
I pointed the ship straight over
Brest. We were so low that we
could see people staring up at us,
but there were no fireworks. w
Crossing the harbor, we passed
right between two German destroy
ers at anchor. They could have
blasted us to blazes.