RE: CQyARD __ (,earl^_ in_b r oad c a^t_)_ Before I sign off tonight, and before Hugh comes on, we will hear a voice from across the ocean. It will be the voice of a well-known Britisher who has just produced a motion picture of the present war. that tells a powerful story of the Navy and the sea. Owing to the problem of switching, there is a chance that I may not have an opportunity to properly introduce him when he does come on. We may get some static and then you may suddenly hear him speaking. But I hope I will at least have an opportunity to say: And now, Noel Coward speaking from Aberdeen, Scotland. KUSSIA The Red Army today is back in the Ukraine, t^F© egk—of- Ria7^ that rich ■g^owxngr province whic] first tempted Hitler to his Russian adventure. -Maybe igtop 4 rc- an- 4 > e-v^rTb’OTiy^^tt^^'h^p crm © . Moscow was jubilant enough et> to claim that the Nazis are on the run and in such a hurry that the German generals ordered rm - 4 r©~ bomb their own retreating troops. The object of that, — of course, 10 stem the rout, to make the fleeing A soldiery more ai'raid of their own officers than of the enemy So far, the big winter offensive of the Soviets has carried thefcr^we* to a point not far from Kharkov. t The Red Army, says Moscow, has on the important railroad between Rostov and Moscow. There are two powerful Red armies in this offensive. One driving west to Kharkov r* BUSSIA - 2 The otherj-^moving souths has reached a sector a hundred ------— r and twenty miles north of Rostov, the gateway to the Caucasus. According to front dispatches from the Russian Army, the Germans are becoming disorganized and discouraged by having to go through another e-irege—e the-f eroc4cy-w Russian winter. \ Russ ian correspondents report that columns of German prisoners have nothing but thin overcoats, their boots wrapped in rags, while rave their heads are swaed in cloth. The Russians also report success further north in the Velikie Luki zone and west of Rzhev. But it must not be forgotten that the Russians have not yet captured either of those two places, either Velikie Luki or Rzhev. The Germans do not corroborate this glowing Russian picture. The. Nazi agency admits there have been RUSSIA - 3 strong Soviet attacks on newly organized German positions in the middle Don sector but, say the Nazis, these attacks were repelled with heavy losses. However, this mention of new positions indirectly confirms the Russian announcement that the Nazis have been obliged to withdraw along the Don. ADILRUSSIA The latest from Moscow just in, brings word that the Red Army drove aheac1 eighteen miles in some places ^y-e&terdajr* It captured six big towns, and many smaller places. It also inflicted seventy-six thousand casualties on the Germans. There was a late special communique from Moscow which bore out reports that in some sectors the Germans are fleeing in utter panic. AFRICA The story of the fight for Tunisia was being written in the air today. a battle of supply 1 iines. The Americans and British?—fnr“uur^sidBSj are bringing up large reinforcements of meri, supplies and **-* 4 *>-i n —a-T— T4 i e y^ a i«—to -c o n n t ra t e-1 -^-arg^ T^luine'-fK>8»-ib ♦e—an all-out assault on Tunis and B i z e rt e . at B-utr-1 h a t—ie n -Mr—a41^af a^tr/gy^r Ms the r ■ force^ha^'lDeen kiaw= p away at the supply routes of the Axis i* the Mediterranean. Tbir A Allied naval and air forces have sunk at least six warships and transports^ of the Axis^. perhaps ten. At least one destroyer was among the vessels damaged and probably sunk. H^blew up a.^ ter a direct hit with bomb from a plane based an Malta. This wa« in an A attack on a convoy off the west coast of Sicily. /"f British submarines also torpedoed and sank three supply AFRICA - 2 ships in the Axis communication line between Sicily and Africa. Ml- -in- =-are bMng, exceed ing-ly—«ct ive—irrr^the attacks,-of th*e'flr"Suoces-#ful, ^.w-^azi and--Italaair ccnvoy The -frVfraek on Tuni-ein s wder -tbs eti-rect co»»aRcU-of British—i»4eutena»4r-General Kenn'e^^- AndeiM*e~n-*- caref^i ^Lii-ui ul p".iM|-nnT ~nrtT~ —1L res not-«H>%e that fcfee---Allied-— advance— mr-SunisHt-a-^eaafle^-eonside^ebly-flHsre c-»»i-iou* nd - slower^-^om the—aoiaent it-was was m co m»a«4-e^ ihe-niilied-^earheai- There is no news of ground battles in^thet-part-e- today. The latest communique from Allied headquarters merely me ntions vigorous patrol activity on both sides. It adds that Axis artillery showed somA opposition. <t-n. / In the north sect^cn, the French forces compelled AFRICA - 3 an enemy detachment to withdraw. The French captured some prisoners and equipment. The Italian high command claims that Axis 'troops ’gained ground in Tunisia. A Rome broadcast states that the Germans and Italians stormed mountain positions that were strongly defended. From our high command, nothing on this. ADD AFRICA One piece of good news reported from London tonight is that the Allies now command virtually all - ■ - ■ | imi —i«~i mu of the Mediterran^an^ Of course they still have to win the big battle for Tunisia. The Allies today are in a stronger position in the Mediterranean than they have been at any time since Italy entered the war in June, Nineteen Forty. If now they can just get those narrows between & Sicily and Tunisia! There’s the rub. Aside fromSicily and Tunisia the Mediterranean is won, according to the opinion of London. Evidently London doesn’t take the Nazi occupation of Crete as of crucial importance in the command of the eastern end of the Mediterranean. ► MONTGOMERY MONTGOMERY n • » • tv. British General Montgomery, o-l’-l- his g A «uccess--^w-ith:*TTrndern t«tr^ics, be a General^ of-the old school."— He takes h-fc#---er:ny i»4o-his eonfidenc©,,—telkyto his men—^-though«4iie new^#t ^ rt i (» r private were .a partner in the—ventiHf«^-tas-ists—upoa- / commanders—o-afririning a ptaft-ef bat44e-b«fore—it begins.— __ . f rjaalit • i'VLvvyvf®)' ‘vy ^upon Providence^, broadcast a message to his army today, saying: "Before the Battle of Egypt began, October Twenty-Third, I sent you a message saying, 'Letdi4 pray that the Lord Almighty in this battle will & give us victory.'" And Montgomery continued: "He has done so, and I know you will agree with me when I say we must not forget to thank him." General Montgomery added: "It is wonderful what has been achieved since October Twenty-Third. Aoparently the wonders have not ended, for we MONTGOMERY - 2 hear today that Montgomery^ advance fighters are ahead of Marshal Rommel!s rear guard. They have penetrated deep into tripolitania. The bulk of the Nazi Afrika Korps has already passed Misurata, which is only a hundred and fifteen miles east of the City of Tripoli. The report is that Misurata is defended by a strong Italian garrison. Which may mean that Rommel again intends to leave the Italians behind, to be captured by the British. Anyhow he seems to want the Duce's lads to protect the retreat of his rapidly fleeing Germc.ns. ihe British garrison at Malta has been reinforced again. The Admiralty at London today announced that not only fresh reserves of men but war materials and supplies in large quantities have be.gird*XQqi^xt-hy^Ji»- ? to the island fortress. These reinforcements were completed without major interference from the cuddjK enemy, s-sys the Admiralty. A /. This is particularly good news in connection with otft^operations in Libya and Tunisia. Never since the British first captured Malta, has the island been so important;for it lies right A communication lines of the Axis The G ermans clain to have destroyed a British commando jm-i^ somewhere in the south of France. The Nazi hiph command describes it as a British sabotage un it. ^Th e-wraans^reporTr—that landed on the French coast near Bordeaux,^December Seventeenth, and^w-GH^ ' intercepted ^and—destroyed before it—able to carry -ttsXn. ^ out $%«• assignment. London had nothing to say about this Report-: -fhe Germans themselves give no detailSp.-do iM»t—any­ how it i-U-was. ot - of-»Ot a t it was composed. They— merely—»«y--it was dest-»«yed-»- BURMA It looks as though it would not be long before the big battle is fought for ---- cj U v X-1, big battle is fought for Akyab ^in western Burma. Today we hear that the Royal Air Force is maintaining a pounding series of raids to soften up the Jap ground positions in Western Burma. The British not only bombed the Japs but ground strafed them with machine gun fire from low altitudes. Meanwhile, there on Calcutta, but the British authorities estimate them as no better than nuisance attacks. PACIFIC Military observers today were prophesying that the Allies are getting set for another major offensive. S^^TTis one w-Tdrl'^s against the Japanese, and-=ft=wi^- start from the west., ~Pt^kao'-TV9>t bef«r^y<*s ^a4 -ft--1 o under way. The most significant omen of this is considered the attack by British naval planes on the Japanese base of Sabang, ^hair»e—vpre4 off the northwestem tip of Sumatra. Another clue is found in the Christmas message of Lieutenant-General Stilwell to the United States forces in India, Burma and China. I mean the sentence in which he safedifcS "We have not had a lot to work with yet, but we will get it ultimately. In other words, the beginning of the offensive is . question of supply,' » P™”1" 0 f assembling enough land, air and naval forces to &-R first uf rcgaw^mg Burma. The prime purpose . PACIFIC - 2 of t: After that t^ttf" caux^^t - ^ope'' ^u*,? , /ill com e the job of recapturing Singapore. Qyv^. The plans for this offensive under the command of British General Sir Archibald Wave 11 and our own Lieutenant-General J-oa-ep-h-P-*Stilwell. tir-ier no secret that they ar^ determined^^ premature^0 ta^-no~ chanwa o5 ^ ^ 3 * u T-* —^° ■jalijEStca.1 _ajxd_maJQd—ef£fi£fc-^f jtn»^iiri£ In IlLLlg. It is believed they have been heavily reinforced in recent months. fl^Cthose reinforcements e-r* continuing to pour in. The people of Britain and of our own country are being warned not to expect anything to happen m a hurry. What the Japanese took with such ease Hum recuire years of pre^a+^n and filing- ’ r , / i n The J~what^G-^ex^^oi to regain. 11 I tu. linf-TT^- We-have-to re i h s & €Hi4rt s f o r—whic h-. PACIFIC tfhe Japanese—sure exce^d-iagly well It is believed that if we have luck, the road to China could be opened again within the next four months. The rainy season does not begin until drive through Burma got as far as Rangoon, the Allies would be able to dominate the easterfa. coast of Malaya both by air and by sea. Thus they would pave the way for the eventual all-out attack, the big push. And the big push is not likely to start before next September. CHENAULT There was a. simple but thrilling ceremony somewherein China today. officiating was Lieutenant- General Joseph Stilwell, Commander of all American forces in China, Burma and India. T-he hero of the J! occasion was Brigadier-General Claire Chenault, Commander of Uncle Sam's Air Forces in China, former 0 chief of the oldFlyingTigers. And lo and behold it was the first American decoration the magnificent hero of the Flying Tigers has received in this man's war, although he long has had the highest in the gift of the ♦ Chinese, Chenault is one of the old time army fliers, a man who achieved generalship by special knowledge and ability in the handling of men and planes - in combat. The citation read by General Stilwell tells tne stoiy. He said, addressing Chenault: "Although greatly out- j numbered in pers onne1,airplanes and other essential items, you succeeded in protecting a large section of CHENAULT - 2 unoccupied China from enemy air attack and caused severe losses to the enemy.” ^ St iIwell-^s^a id f urther : - ^^T^demonstrated keen knowledge of^Japanese technique and air tactics.And he added:- wYour appreciation and understanding of the/China theatre resulted not only^in highly successful air operations but also a high degree of good-will between the United States Air Forces and the people of ina On top of this- comes the news that King George the Sixth has made General Chenault a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. NEW GUINEA In New Guinea the Americans and Australians have forced m crossing^over an important stream at two 1 points. n—stream which flows into the sea between Buna Village, which the Allies have already captured, anr' the small position to which the Japs are still hanging on. was the first natural barrier which protected the Japs on that side. So the Americans and v^O Australians are much closer to their objective in sweeping the Japs at Buna into the sea. SE^ h^^but a small and slender beachhead to call own nowr*v\ STEEL During the coining year, the United States will produce ygtauch -gfnmitirtriyer thtt-t they~ wi 11 a t« almost twice the combined output of all the Axis A ---- nations, ^hat oe wtds-14'ke—a st agger in reads report made by War Production Chief Donald A -JczJ? Nelson today. Our expansion program will be completed A ’ by the middle of Nineteen Forty-Three. ^haV-»e-eHMh~-a- / capacity of oometjoing li'ipc ninety-seven million tons. The combined annual steel output of Germany, Italy and Japan arftogether^ will be no more than fifty to fifty-five million tons. Nelson admits that this has been no easy job. for when steel production is expanded, there must be new blast furnaces to make pig iron and new open hearth and electric furnaces to convert pig iron to steel. l=t=±aL^ltask involves not only larg« ■^u-antitdres—time XHixm but ai#-® materials, including, STEEL - 2 IffEidfritthft11 y> steel itself. It means the mining of more iron ore, the building of more ships to carry the increased— iron ore, the production of more coke and ly^estone^ Also scrap^VUore and more of it. HIGGINS Uncle Sam will soon have one thousand two hundred giant airplanes for carrying cargo. This has been in the wind for some time, and became official S today. The War Department announce^ the letting of contract to Andrew J. Higgins, the shipbuilder of Wc New Orleans, ■for-tb-te—j &bx —The “War’ Departaen4>—dec 1 ia-ed . uni lk» actual figures, but it is generally understood that there will be twelve hundred for a start. They will—he-tiuilt largely of non-strategic materials. BUTTER In case you think you are having your troubles with butter, consider the housev/ife in Detroit. Mrs. Detroit today found she could get all she wanted—at a dollar and a quarter a pound. Some of the customers groaned loudly and made hurried telephone calls to the authorities. But the Detroit Office of Price Administration said Yes, a dollar and a quarter a pound is legal for butter Ctn the outskirts of Detroit, the farmers were selling it direct at prices from seventy-five cents to a dollar. But in the city itself, a dollar and a quarter. /»///• INTRO^TO^NOEL^COWARD :«iany of our American foreign correspondents have been wounded in this war, some have been killed, others have been captured. A large number have been in concentration camps and prisons in Germany, Italy, and Japan. Active correspondents are taken care of by the newspapers and press associations for which they work. But, when a war reporter reaches old age, he generally has to look out for himself. And then there are some who are of the free lance variety. The Overseas Press Club of America, the only organization made up entirely of American newspaper people who have served abroad, is establishing a fund to take care of just such problems. And the fund is to get its real start tonight when United Artists will turn over the gross proceeds of the premiere of the inspiring new Noel Coward film nIn Which We Serve," at the Capitol Theatre about an hour from now. Noel Coward not only wrote it and produced it, but he also plays the leading part. Right now we are trying to get in touch with him acro^JJi^il^liiLdd / U ' r ■ INTR0_-_2_ Scotland, telling us his mind. _ and at any instant you may hear his voice, -- well, telling us whatever he has on Noel Coward, what does one have on one's mind at midnight, in Aberdeen, Scotland? C A B L E D_ L_ C 0 r A R D It’s a strange experience talking to New York from Aberdeen. Ifve just finished an evening show and am now thinking nostalgically of American friends. I Should love to be with you to see if you like the film as much as I hope you will. There has been much I publicity here, some good, some idiotic, but this won’t affect your view of the fi1m. All who worked on it did their vest to make it worthy of its subject, out unsucceeded. No film or book or play however brilliant, and sincere, could define the indefinable spirit of the Royal Navy. We in the Dominions taxe it for granted like the air we breathe. *Tis our heritage uniting the best traditions of the past with bravest hopeo of the future. If this picture expresses a fraction of the courage and comradeship of the Navy, we areproud and grateful to have had the opportunity.