The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, May 20, 1941, Page 1

Tw THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE VOL. LVIL, NO. 8729. “ALL THE NEWS ALL THE TIME” JUNEAU, ALASKA, TUESDAY, MAY 20, 194 3 ~ MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS “PRICE TEN CENTS NAZIS INVADE BRITISH OCCUPIED ISLE ¢ 4 (4 Disguised Germans Land By War Parley—in East Africa AGENCIES CREATED President, by Execulivei Order, Designates Two | General Divisions T \ WASHINGTON, May 20—Presi- | dent Roosevelt today established by Executive Order the Office of Civil- jan Defense headed by New York’s | Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The President separated the new( civilian defense agency into two general divisions, one of which is | the Board of Civilian Protection | headed by LaGuardia as chairman. | On it also are representatives of the War, Navy and Justice Departments, the Federal Security Administra- tion, the Council for State Govern- ments, the American Municipal As- | sociation and the United States Council of Mayors. | 1t is to advise and assist in the formulating of civilian defense measures in an attempt to provide “adequate protection of life and property” in every emergency. | The second division is made up of a “volunteer participation com- | mittee” which the President said would be composed of no more than | DEFENSE 20 members and representatives | of various regions and interests in | the nation. ————— BLOOD FROM SKY ! GENEVA — A Geneva inventorf has rigged up a parachute to drop| glass containers of blood for trans-| fusions in isolated mountain gar- risons and remote farm valleys. | e e———— T Cthe L) a Drew Pearsos e« Robert S.Alles WASHINGTON' — The French capitulation to Hitler was no news to U. S. Ambassador Admiral Leahy. He had warned what was coming for some time. France’s capitula- tion was news, however, to some of the kid-glove diplomats of the State Department who kept on sending food ships with the idea France could be bought off. To understand fully the hopeless- ness of the French situation, it is necessary to remember that Marshal Petain belongs to the old school which favored the French royalty and disliked everything connected with the French Revolution. Petain never liked England, because Eng- land was always setting an example to the French people of how a par- liamentary system really could be made to work, Petain and his school—which in- cluded Weygand = were dead set against the parliamentary system for any country, and felf that if the British system collapsed, then they would have no trouble ditching the democratic form of government in France. ' In addition, Petain was a pessi- mist. He did not think France could win last June; just as he did not think France could win in March of 1918. His order issued on March 24, 1918, has now been published; and if it had been carried out it would have meant French surrender to Germany. Fortunately for the out- come of the last war, Marshal Foch stepped in at this moment and stop- ped the German army at the gates of Amiens. S A DON'T UNDERSTAND U. 8. There is still another reason why Petain and those around him are not anxious to see the British win. British victory means an investiga- tion of the French General Staff during the past decade, and the rea- sons for Prench defeat at a time when France was supposed to have the finest army in the world. (Continued op Page Pour) < 8 s 'Lieut. Gen. Allan Cunningham and General Jan Smuts ' L4 (4 | In East Africa, Lieut. Gen. Allan Cunningham, left, governor of Kenya Colony, discusses defense of British colonial possessions with General Jan Christian Smuts, picturesque prime minister of South Africa. 'The two are shown at Nairobi, Kenya Colony. ! SHIPPING POOL PLAN OF ROOSEVELT HELPS FD R. Invited Them Higinio Morinigo and mother On the invitation of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the little son of the president of Paraguay, Higinio Morinigo, Jr., 7, accom- panied by his mother, has come to the United States to take treat- ment for infantile paralysis at ‘Warm Springs, Ga. Senora Mori- nigo and a friend, Maria Carmen Pena, 4, are shown with the bow BRITISH BOMBER IS SHOT DOWN BY- | FRENCH CHASERS NEW YORK, May 20.—A German radio broadcast heard here by the| CBS said French chaser planes shot down thejy first, British bomber over | . BELEAGURED ISLANDS By MORGAN M. BEATTY AP Feature Service Writer WASHINGTON, May 20 — Many maritime observers here are con- vinced that the British merchant fleet may be reaching the mini-} mum efficiency required to supply food and freight of war to the be- leaguered islands. Thus they ex- plain the President's efforts to scrape together a 2,000,000-ton shipping pool to aid the democra- cles. Some rough surveys even reach the conclusion that the British merchant fleet today is equivnlent‘ to little more than half the pre-| war fleet. This is seen although the British have more tonnage in service now than they did on Sep- tember 1, 1939. 4 ;Egyptlan passenger liner Zam Zam, British (4 L4 4 & Nazis Admit Sinking of Ship Zamzam Egyptian Vessel s Sent fo! Botfom by Raider - All | Passengers, Crew Safe | BERLIN, May 20—The 8,200-ton| has been sunk by the German Navy, | presumably by a surface ralder,; and the 322 members of the crew| and passenger rosters, including 188: Americans, are safe in German-| occupied territory. | Authorized German sources re=| ported the sinking which seeming-| ly occurred many days ago, but| the Nazis did not say when nor| where. The Zam Zam, on a trip| in the South Atlantic sea lane,| was followed by a German rnider‘r and sunk near the nearest Ger- man-held territory. Passengers were transferred to a German craft. The Zam Zam left Recife, Bra- zil, for Capetown on April 9, ex- pecting a 14-day crossing. France, it appears, is the likeli- est territory for landing the pas-| sengers and crew, and it is pre- sumed that the passengers and crew were taken there by a vic- torious raider or auxiliary. A Nazi spokesman said: “The| vessel was destroyed with the most Lorraine Gettman, Marguerite LGSR TDAINEES HAVE GOOD™ -~ CHANCES OF BECOMING OFFICERS, U. 5. ARMY AIR RAIDED German naval units observed every| regulation in meeting the situation, | and the action might be called a perfect example of war at sea on| commerce and was carried out ac-| cording to regulations.” ! Among the American passengers were 24 ambulance drivers, Pro- testant and Catholic missionaries| enroute for their posts in South| Africa. | By JACK STINNETT | WASHINGTON, May 20 — An- | swering the mail queries: | Mrs. W. M. N., Flint, Mich.—The |chances of a trainee with ability and ambition becoming an officer |are excellent. For example, at ten |camps in July, officer training |schools will be started, with an | initial quota of 2300 men, and |those who survive will be commis- n ra q;sinnem second lieutenants about three months later. Every one of these will be selected from the LOXDOI.. MAY. An suthori-| ;5 dsmen, and trainees by their g L4 (4 4 (4 Gobs of Beauty—as Picked by Gobs of the Navy Chapman, Kay Aldridge, Georgia Carroll, Peggy Diggins, Alexis Smith From photographs of hundreds of Hollywood beauties, sailors of the U. 8. navy picked this group of beauties as including the six girls they would like to see in a new picture, “Navy Blues,” in which they will be featured. Left to right, the screen starlets are Lorraine Gettman, Kay Aldridge. Georgia Carroll, Peggy Diggins and Alexis Smith, Marguerite Chapman, ~~AIRDROMES IN GREECE o, s o e st to uove,2 RAF Pulls Off Attack on [ of the term “GL” (The Major ex-| (German chpled Bases in Three Sections plains: “GI mean officially ‘gov-| ernment issue’ Ofttimes, soldiecs| buy civilian shirts, shoes, ties, etc.,| and at a Saturday morning or | other inspection the captain will| (By ASSOCIATED FEESS) often ask if such and such an ar-| Roval Air Force bombers have | ticle of apparel worn by a soldier ¢ | ¢arried out d“"“;;m: dm 01“ erman occupi alr In b The expeasitin Wy 1) many | eece from where the Nazi planes leave for attacks on Crete. Continued raids are also being made by the RAF German aircraft ways and where a dance is spon- | sored by a soldiers’ club or camp concentrations in Syria and Libya. | hostess and is for soldiers and their | |ladies only, it is referred to as a | GI dance, A show troupe may put ion a show in a camp or post for Gliders, Chutes 4 14 4 CRETENOW ENTERED BY ~ AIRROUTE Fifteen Hundred Warriors Land by Three Differ- ent Methods CAME DOWN DRESSED AS NEW ZEALANDERS British Oufck_w Take Ac- tion-Situation Report- | ed Well in Hand | LONDON, May 20.—British Prime |Minister Winston Churchill an- nounced today in the House of Com- mons that 1,500 German troops dis- guised in the battle dress of New Zealanders, have landed by gliders, parachutes and aircraft troop car- riers on the Island of Crete but the { military situation was well in hand. | The statement followed one which stunned the House and told of the German parachute invasion of the British-held island garrison. In a later review of the situation, {he said the military hospital be- A strong attacking group on the Canea-Dilemi road is not yet mop- ped up, Churchill said, but other | parties have been accounted for. The Germans flew approximately 100 miles from the Greek mainland in great strength to invade the big island of Crete, the last Greek ter- ritory held by Anglo-Greek Allies and one which Churchill has declar- ed will be defended to the death. Crete is held by New Zealand, British and Greek troops under the command of the New Zealander, Major General Freyburg. The Ger- mans preceded the invasion by an intense aerial bombardment of Sudabay, Crete naval base, and var- ious airdromes on the island. The island is the seat of King George's Greek government. Rehearsal for England The British evaluated the sudden invasion not only as an Axis at- tempt to gain a stepping stone to the passage near the East mainland, but also as a possible dress rehearsal of the air-borne invasion of the Here’s how the shipping men fig- ure it out: The empire started the war with something like 15,500,000 fons of cargo ships of all kinds. The Navy requisitioned 2,000,000 tons right off the bat, leaving 13,500,000. The British then picked up around 7,- 000,000 tons of Norwegian, Dutch, Greek, and other shipping, and up to now have built about 1,000,000 tons of new ships. That brings the grand total to 21,500,000 tons. But wait. The latest British an- nouncement of losses indicates — but does not say outright — that the Germans have destroyed 6,000,- 000 tons. 4 American shipping experts fig- ure that the remaining 15,500,000 tons is reduced in efficiency at least 60 percent. They mean this: British ships bearing precious rubber, tin, apd other raw materials from the Near and Far East must go around Afri- ca instead of short-cutting through the Mediterranean. Ships have to wait for convoy on entering the danger zone in the Atlantic. Then, when they get in convoy they can travel no faster than the slowest ship which may be six to eight knots. Finally, dam- age to British ports 'complicates loading and unloading. All these delays add up to one huge delay, a great reduction in ranks of Regulars, National tative source reports the British| troops in Iraq have advanced 15 miles toward Baghdad from the Habbaniyah air base, crossing the Euphrates River and easily taking the village of .Fallujah, about 40 miles from Baghdad. Whethér the British are continu- ing the push- on is net known in London. Defense of Syria Now Is Planned VICHY, May 20 — French Air, Minister Gen. Bergeret landed st unit commanders. The only requi- site other than ability is that they must have had six months in train- ing and be éble to serve at least three after their commission. T. D., Fairfield, 1l.—Roughly, de-| fense hiring in Washington is going| at the rate of 1,000 a week. Most| g, yay: Joaquin M. Elizade, the officials here think that it will be midsummer = before there will bef any slackening off, but that will| depend entirely on world develop- ments. Washington is supposed * have increased its population 10 percent in the last year and now| said to be the tenth city in the| country, with well over 725,0000. | L. R, Fort Wayne, Ind. — The, reason the House of Representa- tives doesn't argue as long over; bills as the Senate is that debate| in the House is, by rule, limited to, one hour. In the Senate, debate is| limited only by the agreement of| : resident commissioners. soldiers only and that is a GI show.”) L. P, Miami, Fla.—The repre- sentatives of the territories in Washington are Anthony J. Di- mond, Alaska; Samuel W. King, Philippines; and, Bplivar Pagan, Puerto Rico. . King and Dimond are delegates; Elizalde and Pagan, The best (Continued on Page Five) Hess Case Statement British Isles. The successful invasion of Crete IH A N KSG WI“G might have been followed by a sim- ilar attack on British Cyprus which DA'E 'S Go'"G lies off the Syrian coast. Thus the | Germans might have cleared the | B A(K “EX"‘ YE AR Mediterranean Sea lane to Syria and completed the encirclement of Tur- key which is already hemmed in on the West by the Axis occupied islands in the Aegean Sea. ITALIANS, BRITISH, INBATTLE PresidenTS;ys Moving| - Day Up One Week Has | | Not Worked Out WASHINGTON, May 20.—Presi- | | dent Roosevelt today declared that | the experiment of moving up the date of Thanksgiving one week to improve retail business has not worked out and next year, 1942, Thanksgiving Day will fall on the | | customary last Thursday of Novem- | ber. Beirut last night to organize the| majority and minority leaders and defense of Prench mandated Syria| the disposition is to give both sides against British aerial bombard-| all the time they want. Nof Ready ,will fall on the next to the last | Thursday, November 20, by a pro- This year, however, Thanksgiving |- ROME, May 20— Italian troops |have dislodged the British in posi- tions in the Gondar sector in north- efficiency. Nobody knows exactly what that reduction is. Most Amer- ican shipping men figure it's at AContinued on page. Six) ments, This is the announcement made here today. Maj. ABP. (Retired), Camp Haan, Cal—I stand corrected and Good-Will Party from : (alifornia Is Coming To Alas_ka Next Month LOS ANGELES, Cal, May 20— Two hundred southern California business men and their families will start a good-will tour to Alaska on June 11, President J. T. Hartley, of | the Los Angeles Chamber of Cam-l merce, announced today. | ‘The party will visit nine cities in Alaska and inspect the National Defense localities. The party will return around June 30. C. P. Boyer, veteran Field Secre- tary of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commeree; -will be head of the group, ; British Prim—e—Minister Not in Position fo Give Information LONDON, May 20—Prime Minis- |ter Churchill told the House of | Commons today he is not in a po- isition to make any statement in (the Hess case and he further said: !“I am not sure when I will be.” The statement thus left the pub- lic guessing as to the reasons for |the May 10 flight ‘to Scotland of | Rudolf Hess, Number 3 Nazi chief. —————— The nickel is the only modern ‘American coin not carrying the words “In God“We ‘Trust,” ; |clamation of the President issued | western Ethiopia with considerable | last year. losses on both sides. This is accord- ing to an official communique. - ee—— Airporis In Syria _B_ombed DAMASCUS, May 20—The Brit- DOW, JONES AVERAGES ish have settled down to' almost a The following are today’s Dow,!daily hombardment of Syrian air- Jones averages: industrials 117.65, ports and athey military fargets jrails 28.25, utilities 1731, of this French mandated land. e STOCK QUOTATIONS NEW YORK, May 20 — Closing quotation of Alaska Juneau mine stock today is 4, American Can| 9%, Anaconda 26%, Bethlehem' Steel 71, Commonwealth and South- ern 5/16, Curtiss Wright 8%, Gen-| eral Motors 38%, International Harvester 47%, Kennecott 37, New York Central 12%, Northern Pacif-| iic 6 3/4, United States Steel 54,‘ | Pound $4.03%.