Pegler: West Point
By Westbrook Pegler
…
Enemy broadcast –
U.S. air raid on Wake reported by Tokyo
Dispatches from enemy countries are based on broadcasts over controlled radio stations and frequently contain false information for propaganda purposes.
Tokyo, Japan (UP) – (Japanese broadcast recorded in London)
An Imperial Headquarters communiqué said yesterday that more than 10 U.S. bombers of the Flying Fortress type raided Wake Island Wednesday night, flying in from the direction of Midway.
Four raiders were shot down and six more were damaged, the communiqué said. Jap losses were described as one person killed, four wounded, and four small fires caused.
Washington –
The Navy Department remained silent today on Axis radio reports that U.S. planes have attacked Wake Island, the tiny mid-Pacific outpost which fell to Japan after an epic 14-day defense by the small defending garrison of 385 U.S. Marines.
The Axis broadcast was picked up one years and a day from the time that a Navy communiqué told the nation that the gallant Marines had at last been overcome.
The Pittsburgh Press (December 27, 1942)
Communiqué No. 231
South Pacific.
On December 25, Douglas “Dauntless” dive bombers from Guadalcanal attacked a small group of enemy ships south of Vangunu Island in the New Georgia group of the Solomons. An enemy ship of 3,000 tons was sunk near Wickham Island during the attack.
The Pittsburgh Press (December 27, 1942)
Don’t tell it!
Office of Censorship asks you not to give names of ships on which sailors serve or units to which soldiers are attached
Washington (UP) –
On battlefronts every day, men risk their lives to discover the location and strength of the military units of the enemy.
Yet at home, too many of us are presenting the enemy with information of the same military value, according to the Office of Censorship.
This is the information which newspapers and individuals are asked not to tell the enemy:
Do not tell the names of ships upon which sailors serve.
Do not tell the troop units in which soldiers serve overseas.
There is no objection to revealing that Pvt. John Jones is in Australia or that Seaman Tom Brown saw action in the Atlantic, but there is military information which endangers the lives of American fighting men in stating that Pvt. John Jones, “Company C, 600th Infantry,” is in Australia, or Seaman Tom Brown, aboard the USS Wisconsin,” is in the Atlantic.
The Office of Censorship says:
We ask editors not to publish these troop identifications, and we ask parents and relatives not to reveal them. Don’t give the enemy anything that may lengthen the war!
The Pittsburgh Press has carefully refrained from printing such information, but has seen frequent violations, mostly in various small publicatio0ns or community and plant leaflets, which were obviously not familiar with the censorship regulations.
GIRAUD SUCCEEDS DARLAN, ASKS UNITY
Military idol of two wars rules Africa
Fighting French expected to back him – assassin put to death
By C. R. Cunningham, United Press staff writer
Algiers, Algeria –
Gen. Henri Honoré Giraud, French military idol, was unanimously chosen French High Commissioner to succeed the assassinated Adm. Jean François Darlan, it was disclosed today, and immediately issued a proclamation calling for unity among Frenchmen in the war against Germany.
Selection of Gen. Giraud was accomplished in a one-hour meeting of the French Imperial Council in a scantly-furnished room at the summer palace. Barely 100 yards away, the body of Darlan lay in state. His assassin was executed yesterday.
The council, whose vote was unanimous, consisted of Gen. Giraud, Yves Chatel, Jean-Marie Bergeret, Gen. Auguste Noguès, and Pierre Boisson (Governor-General of French West Africa).
Appeals for unity
Immediately after his selection, Gen. Giraud issued an order of the day appealing to Frenchmen to unite behind him.
His proclamation said:
In assuming the functions of High Commissioners of French Africa after the tragedy which cost Adm. Darlan’s life, I ask all to stand united behind me to assure, with the support of our allies, the success of our armies.
Only one thing counts: France and her empire; there is but one aim: Victory.
[Signed] General of the Army, High Commissioner of French Africa, Commander-in-Chief of the land, sea and air forces.
Adm. Darlan’s assassin, a youth of 22 who was said to be a French citizen with an Italian mother living in Italy, was executed by a firing squad which carried out its task during an air raid. The sky full of tracer bullets and bursting anti-aircraft shells drowned the rattle of the execution squad’s rifles.
May unite all factions
The sentence was carried out only a few hours after an elaborate state funeral for Darlan, attended by French, British and U.S. officials.
Selection of Giraud, it was believed, would be an important unifying force among Frenchmen and would eliminate political difficulties which arose from the “Darlan deal” by which Allied forces were able to consolidate their North African military coup. Since Giraud has eschewed politics and has consistently opposed the Nazis, it was believed that Gen. Charles de Gaulle and his Fighting French might accept his leadership.
U.S. official at conference
For a time, it was feared that Giraud’s distaste for political activity and a belief that he could serve France best as a military personality might prevent his acceptance of the post.
The French council met for two hours, then adjourned without announcement. Among those at the conference was Robert Murphy, U.S. diplomatic official.
Word of Darlan’s death reached Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower at the front, where he was conferring with U.S. combat leaders. He broke off the Christmas Eve conference, hastily left dinner, and dashed to Algiers by auto. He and his aide drove all night, taking turns at the wheel.
Christmas Day, Gen. Eisenhower parked his car at the roadside for a dinner of British rations, including plum pudding, then rushed on and arrived at Algiers Christmas night.
He received details of the assassination, which could not previously have been told him by telephone. He spent another night of little sleep and rose early for the funeral.
As French High Commissioner in North Africa, Giraud will have a double prestige, both political and military. He is expected to win to his side anti-Nazi Frenchmen who could not accept the “Darlan deal” and his military knowledge of the North African terrain is born of experience.
Upon graduation for the French Military Academy at Saint-Cyr, Giraud entered the 4th Regiment of Zouaves in Tunisia. He was with that regiment during part of World War I and afterward in 1922, took part in the operations in southern Morocco.
During the Rif revolt in 1925, he was the hero of numerous exploits.
He was for two years an instructor at the École supérieure de guerre, then went to Africa as commander over the Algerian-Moroccan borders, becoming the brigadier general.
In 1934, he was named commander of the Oran Division and in 1936 was made military governor of Metz and commander of the 6th Army Corps. He entered the Superior Council of War on June 3, 1939.
Best known to Americans for his daring escapes from the Germans during the two World Wars, Giraud is a hero to millions of Frenchmen.
When the North African invasion was planned, Giraud was quick to seize the opportunity to fight once more against the Germans and escaped from France to North Africa, making the trip in a British submarine.
Questionnaire flood to drop only slightly
Simplification and shortening about only relief public may get
By Fred W. Perkins, Press Washington correspondent
…
Nazis yield summit –
British forces gain in Tunisia
Attack despite weather; Axis ships sunk
By Edward W. Beattie, United Press staff writer
…
Buna vise tightens –
Allies blast 11 Jap Zeros
Planes range over wide area in Pacific
By Brydon C. Taves, United Press staff writer
…
Roosevelt honors four enlisted men
Washington (UP) – (Dec. 26)
The Navy reported today that four enlisted men have been decorated by President Roosevelt for gallantry displayed when Jap aircraft attacked and sank the tanker Neosho in the Battle of the Coral Sea last spring.
Those decorated were MM Harold Bratt, 36, of San Diego; PM William John Ward, 37, of Dallas; MM Wayne Simons, 23, of Wellington, Utah, and Seaman William A. Smith, 24, of Jerome, Idaho.
Private wins $1,000 for design of medal
Washington (UP) – (Dec. 26)
Next payday for Pvt. Walker Hancock, of St. Louis, “will be nothing short of magnificent,” the War Department revealed today, because the government will shower upon him a total of $1,550.
The odd $50 is his regular pay. The rest he will receive for his winning design for he new Air Medal.
When President Roosevelt authorized the Air Medal for meritorious achievement, Pvt. Hancock, then a civilian, entered the competition for the design. He worked on his entry in his studio at Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Before he was notified, he had won the competition, however, he was drafted. He was told of his success, the War Department announcement said, while:
…spending a day on kitchen police imparting a patina to numerous pots and pans.
2 women in Air Forces in last war serve again
Fort Worth, Texas (UP) –
The only two women in the U.S. Air Forces during World War I are back at work in Fort Worth.
One of them, Mrs. Juanita Capers, is doing the same work in this war she did in the first. She is personnel clerk in the Air Forces at Consolidated.
The other, Mrs. R. D. Moore, is in work closely akin to her duties in the other war. She is in the military personnel department at the Quartermaster Corps.
During World War I, Mrs. Capers and Mrs. Moore were in charge of cadet personnel and part of their duties was to administer the oath to the cadets when they became officers.
While the Royal Flying Corps was in Fort Worth, the two women were secretaries to Col. David L. Roscoe, who was commanding officer of all three of the flying fields, known then as Taliaferro Fields Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Envoy reaches U.S.
New York –
Władysław Neumann, former Polish Ambassador to Norway, arrived at LaGuardia Field today en route to Mexico where he will serve as Minister of the Polish government-in-exile. Neumann, in the United States for the first time, will visit briefly in New York and Washington. He was accompanied by his wife and stepdaughter.