PACIFIC '^JULtr V ;v^V I \yv^sL^ Today there was one vast flare of war in area A of the western Pacific. The Battle of the Solomon Islands is accompanied by thundering repercussions that extend; all the way into China, violent clashes all connected with one main theme - the Solomons. United Nations armed forces, Americans mostly, ere striking at the Japs far ani wide - to aid the marines on the beaches of Tulagi. J This bit of land, Tulagi, is one of the smaller islands of the Solomon - but of key importance, because (Ft- it has one of the best harbors, a commodious basin in which great fleets might lie. You can picture Tulagi with all you remember of South Sea romance - jungxe, a coast fringed with pajLins, corr-l rec4. env' 1 oo \i ^ ab^etiV^oraTustralia v.-hich uses the words, "still inconclusive." That was preceded by other Australian news dispatches using similar PACIFIC _ 2 phraseology -- "molding our own.” Calling tne news -- ”noi unfavorable;" ^ The general impression is that the i Marines are fighting as marines can fight, hanging on to their beach positions and even making some gams ANdesperate fight. In fact it has been a desperate conflict from the beginning when five days ago our forces struck,a surprise blow and forced landings at Tulagi. The Japs are bringing tobear everythin they can to beat off this first United nations offensive. \ On the island the garrison is resisting with all its power. And the T okyo High Command is striving to bring all possible reinforcements. The Solomon Islands mark the farthest extention of the Jap advance to the south and east, and the route for reinforcements is along the immense line of Japanese conQuest — a line that extends all the Vi ay from China. V. e are trying to check the flow of enemy war PACIFIC _ 3 power toward the beaches of Tulagi. Hence!/toaay General viacArthur's air squadrons were flying against the Japanese bases northeast of the bolomons. They bombed the Japs in the Bismarck Archipelago,on New Guinea, ana on the Island of Timor Australian ground forces assaulted the Japs at their forward New Guinea positions, Lhe Kokoda sector and drove them back. Australian bombers at Timor skimmed over Jao ships at an altitude of fifty feet, PACIFIC - 4 The theatre of MacArthur's bombing operationf alone was on a front of twenty-seven hundred miles. then a few thousand miles farther on to the north and west, American bombers in China roared into battle today. United States army air force headquarters at Flengyang give us a bulletin stating that its warplanes are conducting an all-out assault to support the United Nations offensive in the Solomons. The marines on Tulagi Beach are a long way from Hengyang - but they are be inf supported even at that distance nT" The purpose of today's American air activity in China is to hold the Jap air forces at their Chinese bases, keep them I fighting off attacks in China - and thereby prevent them from swinging away to the Solomon Island area. So our heavy bombers xxxx b la's ted Canton - Number One Jap base on the South China coast. They docks and warehouses along the Pearl/River, and smashed up the PACIFIC - 5 Canton airdrome. It is estimated that fifteen big's/(Z|} I bombers were destroyed in the attack, they were lined up on the ground* and bombs exploded among them. Nanchanp was hit, and there the damage was done by an American bombinp unit called - "The Flying Dragons". y» ^ " x' V'-6 <J-ervj2>-Ar , Yochov/ was dduged explosively v^ith five tons of bombs. i And Hankow was blazing today with two large fires set by low level bombing attacks. These assaults are (described as being - a diversion - to keep the Japs from irrir* air reinforcements to the south, t Long range help for the arines Tulagi. xA Those marines are well able to take care of themselves. A late story from Washington tells how they were put through special training for battle in the coconut and banana groves of the south sees. Their training grounds were jungle areas, ’..here they '.ere taught all sorts of tricks, fighting Japs in just such country as the Solomon Islonds. .. ■ - mi i mt ———■I ----------------------------- — - ■ -■ INDIA Today’s ne%s in India may be summarized in a paradoxical statement that Gandhi’s campaign of non-violence grew more violent today than ever. The latest from the strike-torn land of Hindustan tells that twenty-eight people have been killed in the Bombay area alone, with many other casualties far and wide as violence and rioting continue to spread across --- —ul Repeatedly 7R the police have had to fire on the crowds. Yesterday was bad, but today was worse -- with mobs on the rampage, workers going out on strikes, shops closing, many of t'hem forced to close. Mobs were storming through the streets, compelling storekeepers to close their doors -- although the British authorities forbade them to do this under pain of severe penalties. The center of disturbances continues! to be Bombay -- with the capital city of Delhi a close second.f^Most ominous is the fact that strikes and disorders are spreading to Calcutta -- INDIA - 2 the vital center of the war industries of British India. There was a particularly wild outbreak today in one of the world’s romantic thoroughfares, the Street of Silver in Delhi. Thishas long been famous for the fabulous jewels and gold and silver ^ worki^ of India. Today there was such a storm of violence on Silver Street the police had to open fire on a mob -- one killed. And finally British — &IhdL(bjr-i --- troops occupied the old Delhi Fort -- at one end A of the Street of Silver. Railroads were under attack, trains At assaulted.xfc , one point a mob smashed a signal station, and at another place followers of Gandhi piled huge masses of boulders across the track, halting traffic. In Bombay, it was almost impossible to get through the streets of the northern part of the city -- for the mob uprooted iron fences, pavements and INDIA - 3 trees and piled them across the road. In DelM a milit^art^ truck was b/aTned. The truck was trying/to drive through a rioting St one sXl'lew and the soldier driver was t,he s<o . He Lest control of-the steering whee^L, the ^ <0* a A trucker a shed into.-^ tree. The swarmed set A re to it. We are told that the insurrectional movement is being directed by what are called "shadow committees." These took charge when Gandhi and the other leaders of the‘Indian Nationalist Congress were arrested. It would appear that Gandhi and his crowd were all set for arrest, and had arranged for a hidden leadership to take their places -- shadow committees, working underground. Meanwhile, Gandhi is- in jail, or rather he1 s being detained in the Aga Khan Palace at Poona ,Y ; ,5»X ^ r rT . V ■ f T _ is described as having ra^her^pl^asant time in his imprisonment, taking it easy^ They say he’s catering up with his sleep ano working at his INDIA.. 4 spinning wheel -- that spinning wheel which the Hindu mystic regards as a symbol of the traditional industry of India. fsnd Gandhi devotes much time to his religious exercises. He recites prayers and hymns -- and reads the Koran. Gandhi, of course, ! is no Mohammedan. His religion is Brahminical Hinduism -- to which the Moslems are so hostile. So why the Koran? The word from Gandhi*s prison A in the Aga Khan Palace^, is that he wants to understand more about the philosophy of Islam -- so he reads in the words of the prophet Mohammed.t Well, Gpndhi jrcsii may well want to lea^a more about Islam, because news from India constantly reflects the fear that fighting may break out between the Hindus and the Moslems, ^the kind of riot that has long been a terror li in India. Thus far, with all the. turmoil and violence. no clashes between the Mohammedans and Hindus have been reported. But they expected. A Meanwhile, herefs a bit of news significantly INDIA - 5 sinister. The Chinese report that heavy Japanese forces are moving westward across Burma toward the border of India. New divisions of Jap troops are being brought to sectors from which a drive will be launched -- presumably when the monsoon season is over -- in September. Thus the cobra, the Jap^ is poising to strike -- while India is in an upheaval. EUSSIA A dis^iaf.ch from Moscow states that in the Caucasus the Germans have been beaten back at at least three points. Y-e are told that the Fed forces consisted of marines supported by naval units, and that the three points were along the coast. This may be tied in with the fact that the Nazi war machine is threatening three important Soviet ports in the Caucasus, - ports used by the Russian Black Sea fleet. Berlin has been claiming that Soviet land forces have been trying to escape that way - evacuation by spr . And today the Vichy radio, which talks for the Nazis mostly, reported that a German spearhead had driven to within thirty-two miles of the biggest of the three ports - the Soviet naval base at Novorossisk. This is one angle of ominous news from the Caucasus the Nazis are continuing their sweep. They claim the Maikop oil fields, and there are insistent indications that the Soviets have blown up their oil field RUSSIA^- 2 structures, applying the scorched earth policy. One dispatch tells of the Soviet defenders being backed up against the towering snow clad peaks of the Caucasus Mounta ins. Moscow gives out bad nev/s about rl' a L t f n 1~ h ^ p n - Stalingrad. There, the Nazis are attacking at two critical points - north and south, threatening to / close a pincer around gtalingrad, >Moscow states today that the north pincer arm at Kletskaya has penetrated Soviet positions, and the southern Nazi drive is being pressed with heavy attacks by massed tan-.s. i FIFTH COLUMN Today in Washington an element of doubt was cast on the sensational story about fifth columnists laying out guide signs for enemy warplanes. This startling disclosure was a headline yesterday. It emanated from the army air base at Mitchel Field, Long Island, and presented graphic evidence - pictures, it air views showing markings on the ground. There was a field plowed iRts in the shape of an yrow pointing 4 in the direction of strategic airfield#. And rustic A paths were apparently laid out as pointers. A lot of /V enr'ty grain sacks on the ground were arranged in the form of the figure nine. This, placed in such fashion as to show the direction toward an important military objective that hostile bombers might attack. The story indicated the most sinister kind of activity by fifth columnists, preparing the way for bomb 0 raids a:ainst us. FIFTH COLU iN -2 These Fifth Columnists must have been larmers -- since all the pointers had to do with fields and rural areas. It was shocking indeed to think of farmers on American fileds being in league with the enemy -- collaborating with the possible air raids. One wondered -- could the marking on the ground have been accidental? The land, when seen from the sky, can reveal curious shapes and figures. However, the skilled aerial observers of the Army would be the ones to decide. Today*s expression of doubt is contained in a statement issued from Washington. It reads as follows: "Reports reaching the V»ar Department indicate that a story relative to signs pointing to important defense installations -- maybe untrue." One curious remark on this subject comes from L.J. McNamara, a superintendent of the New Jersey Fish and Game Commission who says that some while ago, Army Intelligence Oflicers asked him aoout what is called, M a bird i e e d pate;:." This section 1 o i earth a ad been laid out by the Game Commission for the ieeding ol birds and was shaped like an arrow -- accidentally. Later, the bird feed patch was enlarged to destroy the arrow effect when seen from the sK.y. The New Jersey Fish and Game officii thinks it may be the same as the arrow pointer shown in one of the pictures just released. Still later comes word about the figure nine formed of empty sacks. This was seen from the air at. the Virginia farm of an agriculturist named C. Bussell Bull. His wife today stated that it was the Bull family custom to scatter empty fertilizer bags from a moving truck and it was just a coincidence that the sacks fell in tne form of the figure nine. She added that some while ago Army officers called at her farm to ask about it. An explanation was given and the empty bags were rearranged -- so as not to point at anything. NUFSFS Over in England, a bevy of American nurses arrived with a convoy, and were promptly given a warning. They must be careful about divulging military secrets. Officers told them sternly that they must not reveal anything that might be of military value. Shortly afterward, the nurses were visited by Queen Elizabeth, who chatted with them in her affable way. Later the officers were embarrassed to learn that one of the nurses had refused to tell the °ueen how long she had been in England. You can imagine Her Majesty saying to the American nurse with her customary graciousness:- "So nice of you to come over - and how long have you been here?" And the nurse reply "Sorry Queen, but I canft tell }ou. TALL_STOBY I hpve received some information indicating that the war may do something to revive our old tall story club - this by way of the letters that soldiers write to the folks at home. Daniel L. Dwyer of Dayton, Ohio, tells me about a younp army flier who informed his family in Dayton of a strange disaster that our Air Corps had suffered - the way an Army bombers was L > . A lost. Verne Malloy is station at some fighting outpost A of ours. The exact place is a military secret - and it is not in New Jersey, although you might think so from the story of what happened. "The other night," Lieutenant Malloy writes to tne folks, "we found that one of our large bombers was missinf. We looked toward the edge of the woods and saw three mosquitos dragging the bpmber into the bush. As we approached," he goes on,We heard one skeeter say: ^<Fe Hows, we better stop and eat this bomber ? TALL S TORY - right here.^ And then the sl^eter went on to indicate the reason - if they^carried tlie\ack into the woods, the big mosquitos there would take it away from them. s I wonder how many other families are getting tall story accounts of the war from their boys in the fighting areas. S' - L - U. - 1'- vm . . LTP.1942.08.11i.pdf LTP.1942.08.11ii.pdf