Lli-_§U110C0_-_]i;3NDAYj._i^ARCH_2^_134£ A 300D EVENING, EV-ilRYBODY : - ’Abates the news from Java?” -- that’s the question everybody asks today. And||^ere has been a lot of news fron Java. But none of it too good. Ifte have stirring accounts bx of the actions of the Allied defenders, and stories of slashing Allied offensives. But the Japanese troops are pushing on and on -- toward Batavia, the capital; toward Bandoeng, the mountain headquarters of the United Nations; and toward Soerabaja, the great naval base the last important Allied naval base in that part of the world. The correspondent of the Evening STAR of London cabled a glowing story that the armies of the j United Nations were more than holding their own and ! i y that a vigorous counter-offensive was in full swing LEAD - 2 against the Japanese. The Dutch General, Ter Poorten, has begun his wildcat tactics against the Japanese, and those Java wildcats have been inflicting a terrific toll on the invader But, as one wounded Dutchman complained: "the Japanese are like ants, the more of them you kill, the more they come." It is apparent tliat the nese are employing in Java much the same tactics thatthe Nazis did in France. They’re xxii^ using motorcycle^, dashing way ahead of the main army and penetrating through the lines of the defenders to set up attacking nests in the rear. J From all xx the accounts, the defenders are not yet outnumbered. It is estimated that the Japanese have landed a hundred thousand men, dix distributed from three different beachheads. While the United Nations’ forces in Java are said to exceed two hundred thousand. The Dutch, we are told, are bearing the brunt of the attack, backed up by British, Australians and few thousands of our own doughboys, none of whom ha had any experience in combatting these infiltration tactics. The ,^story is that the Dutch troops have not given ground at any point. But, the Japanese have been getting behind them, by avoidir^ the main highways. r The United Nations* commanders do not admit that Batavia is threatened yet; nevertheless, i.he Dutch have begun destroying installations in their c an ita 1. The population of the city of Batavia is reported fleeing. The Allied Air Force landed direct hits on seventeen enemy warships and transports, and damaged ten others with bombs exploded alongside their objectives. An American aviator, aboard one of .J LEAp_-_4 rO Uncle Sam’s flying fortresses declared that "V/e let our bombs go and those Japanese transports simply came apart. They disintegrated!” Nevertheless, the enemy continued to land reinforcements on another shore of Java. And the Japs seem to have a kMgk huge fleet protecting the landings. The soldiers of Nippon are in Java not only v;ith motorcycles, but also with armored cars and bicycles. The Dutch also are xx using tanks and armored cars. But the Japanese blitz troops are working their v/ay in through the plantations and jungles. As for the sea losses so far, it is admitted that the Allies have suffered" heavily. The Berlin radio claims that the Japanese have sunk three Allied cruisers and six destroyers, as well as damaging four other cruisers. Which claim is probably aImost as exaggerated as the Tokyo radio report that the ixxsHxkxxs Japs have destroyed six hundred Allied plane s. ^____ /_T L _ I MacARTHUR FOLLOW LF/.D Here’s another echo of the clamor for the arDointmeni of General MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific. It. comes from Australia. An influential newspaper in Sidney declares that the headquarters of Sir Archibald V/avell had been moved too far west to be of any use and a new commander it needed for the Pacific. And says that Australian paper: "MacArthur has all the qualities needed to make a ma: acceptable to the Australians. He is dynamic, courageous and aggressive and, unlike most generals on the British side, successful^ -r .^JLcn. L PHILIPPINES General MacArthur reports that the Japanese facing him now appear to be using planes made in Germany. Twin-engined bombers, painted black, with white crosses on the wings, Nazi planes are marked with black crosses outlined in white. It is known that the Japanes had in reserve a number of planes made in Germany. If so, they may not be planes of recent vintage. CALEDONIA The Free French have gramumr.tii^ island of New Caledonia in the . Pacif ic, to prevent the A h A Japs from getting: it.jThe news came first from the Berlin radio, which declared that ^e^ had done it^and th complained bitterly that it was against international lawl The island had been occupied, said Berlin, by American troops. Later came a statement from V.^ashington that the Government of the United States was cooperating with the Free French forces to defend strategic French possessions in the Pacific including the island of New Caledonia. It*s quite an island;-two hundred and K twenty-five miles long and thirty miles wide, but it iL. isn’t size that’s important, it’s the position. It lies off the coast of Queensland, right bang in the air and sea lanes to Australia and New Zealand. Both the Australian and New Zealand governments have been CALEDONIA - 2 worried about New Caledonia. Furtheraore, there is nickel on the island -- also other valuable materials, and some refineries. There was no violence in the prodedure. The High Commissioner of New Caledonia is a partisan of 7 the Free French.) He made public a statement sent him by Washington, which set forth the position of the United States. "Our policy is based upon the maintenance of the integrity of France and of the French Empire and of the eventual restoration of the complete independence of all French territory." All this is in sharp contrast to the action of the State Department over San Pierre and Miquelon. When the Free French seized those islands, it annoyed Washington and we even protested. Also we continue to recognize the Vichy government in llartinique, which lies in the heart of the Caribbean a grave danger point to us -- to the Panama Canal. I b BURMA I Rangoon must be still in communication with London because the British capital had a message from there today. didn’t say much,* just that Imperial patrols had raided a couple of Japanese positions with success, taking prisoners and killing ■r f ^ I ^ w a number of soldiers of the Miarao. But most of the rrgxar-r-amCT by way of India, and there’s no satisfaction A A w: in it either. London conceded on Saturday that the railroad from Rangoon to Mandalay had probably been cut. Today it’s official, from xNew Delhi, capital of India. ^^^hat announcemeht declares that the Japanese forces had cut the road temporarily at a point north ofOft. That word ’’temporarily” has an optimistic ft sound to it. ‘'One spokesman in London declares that the British line is intact west of the Sittang River. i 1. I BURMA - 2 The interpretation is that the Japanese Array were handled roughly both on land and in the air, and were obliged to rest up before advancing any further But^London has about given up hope of Britain holding onto Rangoon. - r // RUSSIA In Russia, the Soviet high command gave out the impression last week that the RedArmy had all but recaptured the key town of Staraya Russa, south of Lake Ilmen. And tonight, we hear again of how the Reds have surrounded that Nazi army at Staraya Russa, and of its desperate plight. All of which means that the Russians have not yet recaptured Staraya Russa, key railroad center. From the other side we get the story of a big Russian attack on another part of the front. Radip Rome reports that the Soviet armies on the Donets have launched one of the most violent offensive yet. At an herly hour this afternoon, the Russiars had said nothing of that. J ^ Z' L I SUBMARINE Two more merchant ships torpedoed in the Atlantic. One was an ore carrier, an eipht thousand ton vessel, the MARORE. Three entsmy U-boats came upon her at midnight somewhere off the east coast on February Twenty-Sixth. But all thirty-nine of her crew were saved although they were drifting about for twelve or fifteen hours. That makes a total of sixty-five ships attacked, fifty-four sunk, since A A January Fourteenth. Fourteen s uij'vivors from a British freighter sunk off the Canadian coast were landed at a point in Canada. S' - t I KING There has been a lot of grousing that the Navy has not been telling us what it is doing. So, here’s a statement from the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Ernest J. King. Says he:- ”1 have noted the widespread interest in the press about what the United States fleets are doing. Did this interest not exist I should be deeply concerned.” And he continued:- ”As to the activities of our fleets, the public can count with certainty upon being furnished all information which does not give aid and comfort to the enemy. The traditional title of the Navy as ’the fixx silent service’ is, however, based upon experience and necessity. It will have to be maintained. "On the other hand, I can say, that while no miracles are to be expected, an all-put effort is being made in the unspectacular but vitally essential i...k ^ •I KING - ? task of establishing^ our sea and air communications.” Admiral King also said:- ”Appropriate measures are being taken to strengthen the key points of these communications, with a view to 'developing an offensive, which slowly but surely, will gain scope and power as we gain strength, through the production of aircraft, ships and guns. Currently, therefore, fleets are carrying on with the basic idea to Ki *do more than your best with what you* *ve got.* This ' means to take and make every opportunity to harass and damage the enemy, while building soundly for his ultimate defeat.” T J. rt ^ t ^ j rv iiARSHALL A lot of people have been clamoring that we ought to quit standing everlastingly on the defensive, ought to carry the war to the enemy. heg • beeft eoef—at booauoe—it— eeae— fPOg — l®3p rpj m'gfr from a professional soldier^^ in fact from the Number 0ne soldier of Uncle Sarahs Army, General George Marshall, Chief of Staff. And he uses precisely these words:- "The time has now come that we must proceed with the business of carrying the war to the enemy and not permitting the greater portion of our armed forces and our valuable material to be immobilized within the continental United States." These from the Chief of Staff became public through a letter which hm wrote to \ Senator Austin of Vermont,*assistant leader of the ——% Republicans. Justin read it to the Senate. Marshall ma^e it clear that a principal thorn r ^JAFSHALL - 2 \ in the side of the hif:h command is a delude of pleas from lawmakers all over the country to send troops here, there and everywhere for the purpose of protecting this, that and the other, frequently at points way inland. For instance, one legislator demanded that the general sLaff send troops to guard the bridges over the Mississippi River and the Keokuk Dam. ->^2 s 2^A On that subject Marshall saysj- "During the '< .et first weeks of the war we^xSi practically all such appeals because we did have the troops available and we thought it wise to reassure the public even though it meant the disruption of divisions and an interruption of combat training. "This," continued Marshall, "is a question of the courage of our people and I am hopeful that you gentlemen of the Congress will take the lead in / T J f / i h I MARSHALL - 3 offsetting the present unfortunate reactions.*’ In other words, the Chief of Staff suggests that we should not fly into a panic and think that (rw\ Army exists for the purpose of protecting every A man’s own particular back yard. We must expect isolated air raids, warned General Marshall, carried out for no other purpose than to create a public reaction to affect adversely the sound military purpose of the high command. The way to defend America, he points out, is to engage and defeat the enemy in areas distant from our shores. J n i ARMY FOLLOW MARSHALL In view of this, here*s a timely announcement from the V/hitc House. President Roosevelt has cr\Aj^ reorganized the high command of 8ncSa-a!■ a. Army. ~r^ ^ land establishment is now split up into three a 5: ^ groups:- the ground force, the air force, and^service / of supply* VwiflMTI Tn Mlwlill.) iVtft iP. streamlined army to meet conditions of modern warfare. In command of all the ground forces is Lieutenant Lesley J. McNair, who up to now has been /V Chie-^ of Staff at General Headquarters. That mustn’t be confused with General Marshall’s job, as Chief of Staff of the whole works. The command of the army air forces is given to Lieutenant-General Henry H. Arnold, popularly known among airmen as Uo to nov/ he has been Deputy A ^ * Chief of Staff for Air on the General Staff. The new p boss of S.O.S. is Major-General f & ARMY FOLLOW MARSHALL - 2 Somervell, who has been Assistant Chielf of Staff in charge of supply. COMET These are ecstatic moments for astonomers because the heavens are putting on a double event. The moon, ?'hich rose at six forty-one P.M. around New York, six forty-five P.M. near Philadelphia, is in the shadow of the earth and an eclipse is under way. If you will look out of your window to the east. you will see our satelite bathed in a p dull red light. And that isn*t all. The eclipse will help the moon to get a good look at the new comet discovered as recently as January by Professor Fred Whipple of Harvard. He won*t see it himself because he*s at a scientific conference in Mexico. The V/hipple comet may even be seen with the naked eye. At any rate, it will be clearly visible through even a small telescope. And it will never be seen so clearly again because most of the time the reflected light of the cr-^cry moon gets in the way. S