* Britain’s O’Connor
* Gentlest of Generals,
Is Tough Tank Expert
_ A - I.' ■ ■— — ■■ - — ■" i
By WILLIAM SMITH WHITE
AP News Features
WITH THE BRITISH ARMY
IN FRANCE—One of the most
brilliant and almost certainly
the gentlest of generals in the
whole British army—but never
theless one of the first field com
manders to win a full scale and
decisive land victory over the
Axis in this war—confronts the
k Germans with industructible calm 1
in the western front.
Lt. Gen. Sir R. N. O’Connor as
Wavell’s field officer beat Italy’s
Marshal Graziana (remember
him) far off in 194I and started
Britain’s long march back in
Africa and began to make good
Churchill’s then fresh and angry
promise to tear Mussolini’s Afri
can empire to “shreds and tat- j
► ters.”
Tactician In Tanks
Now Gen. O’Connor—he came
back from Italian captivity in the '
spring of 1941—is in the field
against other tank adversaries in
another and far greater theater.
His attitude toward subordi
nates and official visitors is half
shy and considerate to such a de
gree as to make one think how
improbable were the events in his
life that made him a military
^ man at all. He is slight—hardly
more than 5 feet 6—with heavy,
graying hair and a face that can
only be called ascetic—the pic
ture, say, of a professor in some
American college.
A Professional Soldier
But this is only the surface
picture and not the real one.
Born the son of a professional
army man, he is a soldier through
and through. Educated at Wei
GEN. R. N. O'CONNOR j
. . . Mr. Chips At War
lington College and Sandhurst
Royal Military College, he served
through World War I, was cited
nine times in dispatches, awarded
the Military Cross,- tne Distin
guished Service Order with a bar
and the Italian Medal for Valor.
Just before the outbreak of
World War II, he was was mil
itary governor of Jerusalem.
There is steel, very tough and
long tempered, and quick snap
judgment in this man—a general
who goes up into the line too far
and too often for the sunspoken
wishes of his associates. He trav
els by jeep, scout car, or even
tank as the circumstances indi
cate.
I first met Gen. O’Connor back
in England some months ago
while both he and his command
were “top secrets.” I shall never
forget the difference between his
I
manner in ordinary conversation
and in talking about what was
then still in the distance—inva
sion.
i
My- Dear, I Hope So
| His precise impersonal com
ments on what was coming were
as serenely offhand as a golfer’s
idle comment on his game.
On that day, the prime minis
ter was at O’Connor’s command,
inspecting troops. At one point
during the morning he turned to
the general and said something
to this effect.
“Do you know Montgomery
thinks very highly of you?”
O’Connor, fragile looking be
side Churchill’s bulk, turned to
his chief and said:
“Dear me, I hope he’s right.”
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AP Features
GINGER ROGERS, the "Lary
In The Dark," comes out into
the sunshine in this outfit in
"Tender Comrade."
LEGION OF
MERIT GIVEN
CORPORAL
HEADQUARTERS, ALASKAN
DEPARTMENT — Technician
Fifth, Grade Herbert E. Kurth, of
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., cited for
skill and leadership in the per
formance of outstanding service
as a tractor ' operator and me
chanic, has recently been award
ed the Legion of Merit. Member
of an engineer unit, Corporal
Kurth landed on an island for
merly occupied by the enemy and
was cited for the period of Aug
ust 15th tb September 29, 1943.
Corporal Kurth was a leading
figure in establishing supply
trails and moving supplies from
the beachhead to the infantry be
fore it was ascertained that the
enemy had evacuated the island,”
said the citation.
“By his energy and initiative
he personally cut out a pioneer
trail overland, a distance of 15
miles, through mud-soaked ter
rain and unbelievably steep and
rugged mountains, thus connect
ing two isolated bases with their
incidental supplies and person
nel.
“By his outstanding skill and
| leadership Corporal Kurth con
ducted the convoys over the trail
with unsual success as evidenced
by the fact that not a vehicle of
over half a hundred was lost or
destroyed. By his initiative and ,
high sense of responsibility he
organized a salvage group which
recovered and put into operation
critical and complicated vehicles
which had previously been aban
doned by others as out-of-action.
“Corporal Kurth, in making
an outstanding contribution to
the war effort, displayed techni
cal skill and qualities of initia
| tive, leadership and responsibility
i whch reflect great credit upon
| the United States Army forces in
, the North Pacific aea.”
Corporal Kurth, whose parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Kurth, re
side in Wisconsin Rapids, attend
ed school in Ganton, Wis., and
for two years prior to his army
induction was employed by a pa
per company in Nekoosa, Wis.
VITAMIN SHARKS
IN URUGUAY
MONTEVIDEO — (AP) —
Shark fishing is shortly expect
ed to develop into a major Uru
guayan industry aimed at the
supply of Vitamin A for the Unit
ed Nations.
The River Plate Trading Cor
poration, founded with Uruguay
an capital, stated that it has re
ceived assurances of high prior
ity for the machinery it is buying
in the United States, designed to
establish an up-to-date vitamin
processing plan at the summer
resort of La Paloma, on Uru
guay’s Atlantic coast. Officials
of the company said that sharks
whose liver is the best known
source of vitamin A, are teeming
off Uruguayan shores.
It is estimated that one out of
every five men and one out of
every 15 women in the United
States is or has been tattooed.
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