Evening Star Newspaper, February 8, 1942, Page 4

Early Decision Due On Trial of Short And Kimmel Retirement Requests . Studied by Officials; Acceptance Expected Requests from Maj. Gen. Walter C. Short and Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel yesterday for retirement to civil life raised the probability of an immediate decision on whether they should stand trial as a result of the Pearl Harbor disaster. The two commanders in Hawail were charged by the Roberts Com- mission with “dereliction of duty” in not taking adequate precaitions against a surprise Japanese attack. It was believed a decision on the question of trials would be left to President Roosevelt. Secretary of War Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Knox said merely that the applications for re- tirement had been taken under ad- visement and gave no hint whether they would be accepted. Acceptance Likely. Tnformed circles considered it likely that beth applications would be accepted as a solution of dis- § ciplinary problems. . Permitting retirement would not preclude subsequent court-martial trials, but in some quarters it was felt that if the Army or Navy planned to take action it_would be initiated while the two Were still on active duty. In retirement both officers would retain the privilege of demanding trial to clear their records. Rear Admiral Kimmel, at the time of Pear]l Harbor, a full admiral in charge of the United States Fleet | as well as the Pacific Fleet, and Maj. Gen. Short, then lieutenant general, in charge of the Hawaiian Depart- ment of the Army, were relieved of their commands on December 17, soon after the preliminary report filed on Pearl Harbor by Secretary of the Navy Knox. If retired, Admiral Kimmel will receive $6,000 a year pensiom, or 75 | per cent of the salary he received | as a rear admiral in the upper half | of the grade. The same salary scale | for retirement would apply to Maj. Gen, Short. Requests End Silence. ‘The requests for retirement ended gilence that had been observed by both officers since their relief of duty. Both returned to the main- | land, but each maintained a silence that for a time caused certain offi- cials to believe they might be wait- | ing a propitious time to tell their sides of the story of Pearl Harbor. The commission headed by Su- preme Court Justice Owen Roberts filed a report criticizing the two commanding officers for refusing to take seriously warnings from Wash- ington of the imminence of an at- | tack, and also disclosed an almost complete lack of co-operatiom be- tween the Naval and Army forces™ on the Island. The report said “it here. high-_sp_eed}hlp. 57 THE SUNDAY STAR, was a dereliction of duty on the part of each of them not to consult and confer with the other respecting when he was. nthde & second lieu- from » year to seven and a half | tenant of infantry in March, 1902. It included active service against the Philippine Moros, the 1916 Mexican expedition, and service in | France during the World War. He the meaning and intent of the warn- ings and the appropriate measures of defense required by the immin- ence of hostilities.” In the conclusions of the Roberts report were these words: “The Japanese attack was a com- plete surprise to the commanders, and they failed to make suitahie dis- positions to meet such an utack.‘ Each failed properly to evaluate the serjousness of the situation. These errors of judgment were the effec- tive causes for the success of the attack.” Following the publication of the Roberts report, there were many calls from Capitol Hill for court- martial trials for the two command- ing officers. ' Nimitz Succeeded Kimmel. When Admiral Kimmel was re- Mmoved, he was succeeded as com- mander of the Pacific Fleet by Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz. Com- | tmmd of the United States Fleet | vent to Admiral Ernest S. King, who was given new and expanded duties, some of which were formerly under direction of the Chief of Naval| Operations. Secretary Knox made it plain ‘that Admiral King was to :u'ect actual fleet operations in the | var. Gen. Short was succeeded by Lt Gen. Delos C. Emmons of the air combat forces in Hawaii. Another Army officer, Maj. Gen. Frederick L. | Martin, was removed at the time | and was succeeded by Brig. Gen. C. | L. Tinker. Gen. Martin has since been reassigned as commander of &n air combat command on the | West, Coast. | The two officers who sought re- iirgmenb yesterday had long and brilliant careers that brought them to high command. i Admiral Kimmel, who is 60, was ade commander of the Pacific| leet, with additional duties as ommander in chief of the United tates Fleet, on February 1, 1941, ust a year and seven days before | e asked to be retired. He served n part of the World War as execu- | became Hawaiian Department com- mander a year ago today. 2 1% AiwsForse (Qontp\ued Prom Fist Pge,) | planes will be distributed through | lease-lend channels | function in the common war cause. To make up this huge air force, the Army will draw chiefly from | volunteers and selectees, although tion is ‘expected to furnish thou- sands of pilots through its training courses. About 75,000 civilian pilots |who went through the C. A. A. schools are pledged to make them- | selves available to the Army and Navy when needed. Gen. Marshall disclosed yesterday | the United States Military Academy will be called on to train pilots for the first time. He was at West Point yesterday when announce- ment was made of the training pro- gram. A recent $12,500,000,000 appropria- tion for the Army air forces, which the President has signed, gives an immediate start towards the pro- curement of 23,000 combat planes and 10,000 training planes. The great expansion of the air force has upset all earlier calcula~ tions for the formation of separate combat groups. Rapid Expansion Cited. The combat group first began with a goal of 24 units. By last fall the objective was 54 groups. Later it was increased to 84 groups, and Lt. | Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief of the | air forces, Appropriations recently told a House is not known now. Thousands of | but all will| | the civil Aeronautics Administra- | Subcommittee the | months. The training program also calls for 100,000 technicians a year by | | June 30 and the schooling of bom- bardiers and navigators to reach a rate of 10,000 a year. All these plans must be revised and training intensified to an un- precedented rate. By June it is expected to have 80 training schools in operation. Details of further ex- | pansion required for .the training | schools were not disclosed. At West Point Lt. Col. J. M. | Weikert has been designated acad- emy air officer. Under his super- | vision the plans for cadet participa- | tion in the training program will be carried out. The course will be | elective, | The first group to start tralning | will be members of the class to-be | graduated this year. Cadets who elect the course will complete the elementary flying instruction before June 10. On July 5, after gradua- tion, they will begin basic training |and by November 10 will receive | their wings. Reserves to Be Mobilized.” Heretofore West Point graduates spent a year training for the Air Corps after their graduation. Mem- bers of the other classes will join the .flying training classes at civil fields nearest their homes and will complete their elementary training on August 5. The remainder of their pilot training will be com- pleted before they graduate. Details of plans for early mobili- zation of the Nation's Reservists were announced by Secretary Stim- son immediately after the Presi- dent's order yesterday. Corps area commanders already have been directed to recall about 200,000 enlisted reservists who had been released from active duty last fall. These were men of 28 years and over. Three weeks ago, Mr. Stimson an- nounced the Army would add 32 in- fantry divisions and more than BUFFALO, N. Y.—TROOP TRANSPORT PLANE TAKES SHAPE—The new Curtiss C-46, which is scheduled to carry troops and cargo for the Army, takes shape in the huge Curtiss-Wright plant Inspectors check the snterior of the upper section of the torpedo-shaped fuselage of the new —A. P. Photos. double the size of the present ar- mored force. The 27 new infantry divisions to be organized constitute the bulk of the increase in the infantry in- volved in reaching a goal of 3,600,- 000 men for the ground forces be- fore the end of this year. The new divislons will be stream- lined into hard-hitting triangular divisions and the majority will be motorized. 2 ~ Three of the new divisions are | in process of organization and are expected to go on active duty status next month. Each of the 27 divisions will have approximately 15,000 men. President’s Order Explained. President Roosevelt's = executive order calls the non-active Reserv- | ists into service for the duration of the war and for six months after its termination, subject to earlier relief or discharge. The enlisted Reserve personnel is| compartively small, -but the num- | ber of officers runs into many thou- | | sands—the exact number not being | divulged. All qualified Reserve offi- cers not now on active duty will be included in the officer person- | nel to fill the new divisions. t Other officer personnel will bei | obtained from the National Guard, | graduates of the officer candidate schools and officers appointed di- rectly by the President. Each division in its time will be |set up as a skeleton force with | trained cadres of officers and en- | listed men. From the lists of | selective service men will come the | bulk of the enlisted personnel to bring the divisions to war strength. The new divisions will be iden- | tical tn the existing triangular di- visions of the Army. That is, they | will have the same number of in- fantry regiments, artillery, signal | corps units and medical units. The | latter units will be formed in large part from the hospital groups that have been organized in many cities. ive officer of the battleship U. S. s.!nmb’rflm already has been expanded rkansas, which was operating with | beyond that goal. The production, he British Grand Fleet. He was a | Pilot training, ground forces and Jong-time friend of President Roose- pelt, and served as his aide when he Chief Executive, then Assistant ecretary of the Navy, visited the est Coast in 1915. He was 2 native ¢f Henderson, Ky., and maintained & home there. l i Gen. Short was born in Fillmore, 11, 61 years ago. He had a military eareer of four decades which started Making Homes B hill evenings! Store Hours 8:30 AM. to 6 PM. . Everything For Your Fireplace Early American wood holder finished . in black with brass trim. D.L.Bromyell airports are all being co-ordinated so that they will synchronize under the new program. The greatest difficulty confront- ing the air force is the training| program. The earller announced program for 30,000 Army pilots a year will not be reached next spring or by June, despite the fact that the training period has been reduced ighter Since 1873 Cool mornings! An open fire feels mighty good right NOW! .. . And at Bromwell's you will find everything you need for your fireplace, from the simplest es- sentials to the borate tradi- . in solid . of design . . black. black and brass and rass. 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Y, Feb. 7.—An “ex- press train of the air” is taking form at the Curtiss-Wright Corp. airplane division as the company moves into production of high-speed Army cargo.‘planes, Called by Curtiss-Wright the largest twim-engined transport in the United Btates, the plane—the C-46—is capable of carrying about 50 fully @srmed infantrymen, or pieces of _p'. fleld artillery and Army re?mu cars to any place on & far-flung battlefield. Designed originally as a high- altitude or_ sub-stratosphere air- liner to o 36 passengers, the C-46, strippéd of its seats and in- terior appointments, will approach the speed. of two-motor bombers, the company said, adding that it soon “will roll from the assembly line in impressive numbers.” New R. A. F. Dart Game Is ‘Hitting Berlin’ By the Associated Press. LONDON.—"Hitting Berlin” is a new dart game devised by officers on a northern R. A. F. bomber sta- tion. A map of Berlin is placed on a table and players, paying a penny each for darts, stand on a chair five feet away. Points are scored accord- ing to the importance of targets hit within the city. Proceeds go to the station com- mander’s benevolent fund. Fake Sergeant Recruits Men for Army After All| By the Associated Press. DES MOINES, Iowa.—“Sergt. O'Leary” was a pretty good picker | after all. The sergeant a year ago picked 34 boys at the Eldora State Training| School and “enlisted” them in the | Army. He brought them to Des Moines, then disappeared. The boys went back disappointed When officers caught up with the | sergeant, they learned he wasn't a | sergeant and his name wasn't| O'Leary and he went to a Federal | But the Jowa Board of Control disclosed today 27 of O'Leary’s boys | are now In military service—and doing very well. | Jemez Indians | Goon Warpath || . Against Japs * By the Associated Press. ALBUQUERQUE, N. Mex., Feb. 7—The Jemez Indians have gope on the warpath against the Jap- anese because a paleface friend of the tribe was killed in the attack on | Pearl Harbor. | Elk Mounain today brought word ! of the war council’s decisfon to the | Army air base. The death of Lt. William Schick, who became a friend of the North- | ern New Mexico Pueblo Indians | while stationed at the local base. | explained Elk Mountain, left the Jemez no alternative. | After the visit, Elk Mountain went back to his tribe with word it must raise more sheep and cattle to help avenge Lt. Schick’s death, — | UNITED STATES SAVINGS ENT A PIAN ON OUR NEW Emicnnsn-nnum PLAN Yitted both called for ranks superior WASHINGTON, D C, FEBRUARY 8, 1942. Fairbanks Is Given ‘Thank You’ for His Suggestions on Rank . . By HELEN LOMBARD. Lt. Douglas Fairbanks, jr., U. 8. N. R, found himself the other day playjng & part in a badly done wl::lm-from the hero’s point of i . The scene took place at the Bureau of Navigation. Standing snappily at attention in a beauti- fully fitting uniform, Lt. Pairbanks vouchsafed to his senior the in- formation that two assignments for which he felt he was particularly to the one he enjoyed at the moment. For one of the jcos the rank of lieutenant der was necessary and for the other full commandership was required. It was at this point that the scenario began to deviate seriously from the best Hollywood traditions. Up until now all had been well. The heavily braided admiral sitting be- hind the desk; the handsome young Heutenant expounding his theories of how to improve the service; the crusty old admiral listening with a slightly grumpy expression. On,due reflection the broadstriper should have patted the hero on the back and said, “God bless you, my boy, you shall have the rank neces- sary to do the job for us.” “Thank You, Lieutenant.” But here the admiral showed a complete lack of histrionic under- standing. He went on looking grumpy and dismissed the junior officer with a curt: “Thank you, lieutenant,” and without a pat on the back. Many of Hollywood's famous faces have given up glamor, box- office receipts and fan mail in order to don the uniform. Hard-boiled admirals, however, look on them as just so many more two-stripers ex- actly like all the others. Nationally known faces, whose features should be passport enough, are compelled to sport identity badges just like anybody else who enters a Government department. LT. DOUGLAS FAIRBANKS, Jr. —Wide World Photo. When Lt. Robert Montgomery, U. 8. N. R, appeared at the door of the Navy Department, where he is now _employed, without the re- quired badge, the guard refused to accept his well-known face as suffi- clent guarantee of his identity. He had to send for his senior officer to pass him through. ‘Wore Hitler Badge. ‘Though the guards never allow a badgeless visitor to enter the de- partment, they sometime glance at the identity disks in a perfunctory manner. ‘A waggish naval officer noticing this, pasted a picture of Adolf Hitler over his own likeness and casually pointed to the Fuehrer's face each time he entered the department. ‘Two weeks went by during which Adolf’s likeness served as a pass- port. The commander was eventu- ally stopped, however, by a guard who planted himself squarely in front of him and demanded in a horrified tone: “Commander, do I see what I think I see on your lapel?” (Released by the Bell Syndicate, Inc.) Singapore lContinuegrh'omi !‘[rit Page.) dispatch from Tokio that the British had poured thousands of gallons of oil into Johore Strait with the idea of setting it afire if the Japanese tried to cross the mile-wide water bar- rier with landing barges.) timepiece which said 3:55 pm. “They’ll be over at 4 o'clock.” Promptly five minutes later Jap- | anese shells whined overhead and burst among the rubber trees. Across the straits, the capital | city of Johore Bahru lay lifeless | and deserted as far as one could see with binoculars. Sultan’s Flag Still Flying. Sultan Sir Ibrahim's flag—a Used Sampans Themselves. The British themselves used sam- pans and small fishing craft in the successful evacuation only a few days ago of more than 1,000 im- perial troops which had been cut off | along the west coast of Malaya. The soldiers hid by day and were taken off, group after group, by the small boats which met them ‘at coastal rendezvous after dark and white crescent on a blue fleld— still fluttered on its staff over the | entrance of Johore's handsome and newly completed statehouse, but the southern face of the five-story tower was pock-marked by British | have been knocked off. | The flagstaff from which the emblem of the Rising Sun had flown was broken off by a sharpshooting field piece earlier this week. Apparently untouched were the brought them to Singapore to fight on. (Dispatches from Sydney said Australian Imperial Force casu- minarets of the Naryb Mosque—the | most. venerated of Malaya's moslem | houses of prayer. | The green glazed Istana Serena, | alties in Malaya had been placed | officially at 1187—160 killed, 23 who died later of their wounds, 645 missing, and 359 wounded. (Australia'’s army . minister, Francis Forde, said the losses were lighter than had -been ex- pected and said most of the A. I. F. now stood by the guns at Singapore, still in the fight. (No total casualties for the Ma- newest and most elaborate of Sul- | | tan Ibrahim's palaces, also was un- | scathed. Because of his whims, the sultan had never occupied this | palace, | | Goose Has Golden Stomach | RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 7 (®.—| | This goose didn't lay any golden eggs, but John Studer isn't com- plaining. Mr. Studer, a cook, dis- layan campaign have been an- | covered gold flakes weighing an | nounced.) | eighth of an ounce in the goose's ! Japanese shells which fell in the stomach. He sold the flakes for $5. suburbs apparently were hurled from 12 miles away. Outlying Sector Bombed. Most of today was quiet except | in the early afternoon when Japan- ese planes bombed an outlying sec- | tor. | Soldiers deployed about Singa- | pore Island took the shelling phil- osophically. One bearded soldier sitting under a rubber tree conceded that the “Japs are doing a spot of shelling.” “You can set your watch by their guns,” he drawled, pointing to his WANTED 1940 PONTIAC WILL PAY HIGH PRICE FLOOD PONTIAC 4221 Conn. Ave. ~ WOodley 8400 Oidest Pontiac Dealer tn D. C. OFFICIAL PIANO METROPOL Trial of Laura Ingalls May Begin This Week 'In District Court Case Against Aviatrix Due to Get Precedence Over Ewing Hearings The trial of Aviatrix Laura In- | galls is expected to begin here this week. : ‘The cases against the flyer, who is charged with being 4 secret Nazi agent, and Orman W. Ewing, ac- |cused of criminally assaulting a 19-year-old Government clerk, are both set for trial before District | Court Justice James W. Morris to- morrow, which means one will have | to be postponed. | The Ingalls case is expected to be | given precedence since it was first on the assignment list. The trial | may take several days. Presum- | ably, the Ewing trial will follow | immediately. Miss Ingalis is charged with fail- ing to register with the State De- ;pnrtmem as a German propaganda |agent. The indictment against her charges she received “compensation from and was under the direction of the government of the German Reich.” She is free under $7,500 bond. Mr. Ewing, former Democratie national committeeman from Utah, is charged with committing the assault October 26 in a room in the 1100 block of Sixteenth street N.W. In another foreign agent case, four defendants are scheduled for arraignment in District Court to- morrow. They are Ralph Townsend of Lake Geneva, Wis,, former news- paper editor and contributor to Scribner’s Commentator; David | Warren Ryder and Frederick Vin- | cent Williams, San Prancisco pub- licity men, and Tsutomu Obana, former secretary of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in San Fran- cisco, who has been in a detention camp. The four are charged with con- spiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The in- dictment accuses them of distribu- ting propaganda in this country on | behalf of Japan. Dr. Lo?k J.A MeTcier | To Be Forum Speaker Dr. Louis J. A. Mercier, pro- | fessor of education at Harvard Uui- | versity, will address the Charles | Carroll Forum of Washington, Inc., | at 3:30 o'clock this afternoon at the Willard Hotel. Speaking on “American Thought and Reconstruction,” he will dis- cuss the post-war peace. Dr. Mer- cier will be introduced by the Rev. | Dr. James A. Magner, procurator of Catholic University, who will preside. shell fire. Corners of the building | ‘ » FOR BETTER HEARING Before you select o hearing aid, see Sono- tone. Over 50% of all purchesers choose Sonotone because Sonotone gives them better hearing and because Sonotone methods, policies and personnel have earned their CONFIDENCE. 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