THE NOME NUGGET
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THE WORLD TODAY
By DeWITT MacKENZIE (Wide World AP Analyst)
Herr Hitler’s spring “offensive” is strongly reminis
cent, of the old Chinese proverb that he who rides a
tiger finds it difficult to dismount.
Der Fuehrer is compelled to get ahead with his in
creasingly difficult business of trying to break through
into the Caucasus, but thus far he is continuing to en
counter what to him is the phenomenon of an enemy
which, taking the picture as a whole, retains the init
ativo While his operation on the Kerch peninsula
has met. with considerable success, yet in the far more
important Kharkov sector to the north, where he really
ought to be attacking with his 2,000.000 men. he him
self is being flung back by a fierce Red drive.
The important fact is that the Nazi chief is finding
the Russian tiger plenty tough to ride. However, hav
ing stated this we should pause and not rush headlong
into any conclusion about the immediate future of the
titanic Russo-German struggle. Hitler is tough him
self. and is going to cause a lot of trouble. The position
at the moment is this:
Hitler’s offensive against the Kerch peninsula, which
is the Crimean panhandle, is forcing the fiercely resist
ing Bolshevists slowly back toward the Kerch strait.
The battle is continuing and nothing decisive had hap
pened at the time of this writing. The purpose of this
Nazi atttack was two-fold:
2. Before the Fuehrer could undertake his major
offensive against the vital sector between Kharkov and
the Sea of Azov (please use your maps), which is the
logical route to the Caucasus he had to smash the
strong Red forces in the Crimea, since these would be
a perpetual threat against his right flank.
2. If the Nazi chief could clear the Reds off the Pen
insula. anci if he could get across the Strait of Kerch,
and if he also could annihilate Russian opposition on
ihe >Tn r side <*f thi Strait, then he would have opened
up a short cut into the Caucasus. However, Leander
. s <me th ng and Hitler
putting an army across Kerch Strait in the face of
hcav\ i nem\ opp.w.Uon is an them Hurdling these big
• U os s me of the most difficult of military opera
's vwav. we u >n’t need to cross this Strait until
we e mo to it.
’hr,'. Tuscovite answer to Hitler’s Crimean drive is
a fine t-.ece of strategy. 'The Reds in the r attack along
a 2>.>m le front in the Kharkov sector are (1) compell
ing Hide not only to hold troops and equipment there,
thus [■ venting h‘m from using them in developing
’ s C” mean show but are forcing him to rush rein
forcements < nd (2) arc threatening his key position
and communications which he needs for any attack ag
; mst TP" Caucasus gateway lying between Kharkov
and Rostov.
Oi •:curse, should the Bolshevist offensive achieve a
■' • ep » lei ration i the X. /» line about Kharkov it
ou u develop n due course into a turning movement
^ h eh 'mule: :h:eaten the German right flank on the
So,, e \z v. However, such an advance would be so
£!"<■ *t u we arc not justified in going far with spec
ai a n about it until the Russian offensive has pro
ve .eh further. London reports that Hitler is using
2 000 warplanes in h.s drive along the Kerch penin
">• : 0 I hat the batt e is likely to hinge on air power.
That probaby is an accurate appraisal, since control of
at' air will be essential if the Germans succeed in reach
mg the Strait and try to cross it. By the same token,
if the Reds have adequate air strength on the Strait,
they can prevent a crossing.
j ' "l
Air Forces Air Ferryin" Command
Operates World-Oirdling Network
_
Credit due Kri«j. Gen. Harold L. George,
Gliief of thr Gerrvinjjf Gonimand and to
all men who are delivering LT. S. planes
across the seven seas.
WASHINGTON — What the Air Corps chief refers
to is not only the efficient manner in which United Stat
es airplanes are being rushed to the far-flung fighting
I fronts, but to the pioneering possibilities for future
peace. For out of the tragic destruction of war, out of
the tons of steel sent daily to the ocean’s bottom, out
of the cities wrecked and lives lost, will come a great
forward thrust lor aviation—a network of airlines span
ning the world like a spiderweb. For today the Air
Forces Air Ferrying Command (AFAFC) is conduct
ing operation on a larger scale than all the civilian air
lines of the United States put together. And in a few
months, when present plans are completed, its opera
tions will be ten times larger than all the civil airlines
of the world before the war began. Headquarters of
this giant network is a*temporary wooden structure
near the Lincon Memorial with maps as big as a barn,
housing the offices of the commander of the Ferrying
Command.
“We are not only the arsenal.” the Commander will
tell you on the rare occasion when you can get. him
alone for a moment; “we are transport agent for the
world. We are picking up planes in California and put
ting them down a few days later in Libya, Persia, India,
Australia, Alaska, Russia, Great Britain —any place
you want to name. Our operations offices are scattered
from here to the ends of the earth. No airline was ever
conceived on such scale. And after the war — well!
that’s something to think about.”
3300 Planes A Month
The principal job of the Ferrying Command is to
pick up airplanes at the factories and fly them to tac
tical units in the United States, to U. S. combat forces
abroad, or to allied countries under Lease-Lend. Ac
cording to figures disclosed by Speaker of the House
Sam Rayburn. U. S. factories are producing 3300 planes
a month. Except for the small Navy quota and train
ers, the AFAFC handles them all.
U. S. Ready
A lesser job, but more publicized, is the job of flying
“big shots" around the world. When Ambassador Wi
nant and Admiral Stark went to London last month,
the Ferying Command took them across. When Bill
Bullitt went to Cairo and Syria last fall, the AFAFC
sent Lieut, Ben Funk and crew in a big bomber which
incidentally, travelled 88.000 miles, or 31 j times
around the world, before it got back to the United
States. It delivered Bullitt, then proceeded to the war
areas, where Funk carried Wavell from Java to Ran
goon and back, flew Brett from Java to Australia and!
back, then flew into the Philippines at night to pick up
some airplane technicians (more than a proper plane
ful of them) and flew them out to Java.
Losses are not published, but not for the reason
that they are high. On the most important route—the
route across the South Atlantic and across Africa—only
three planes have been lost since we got into the war;
(or since the operation began), and the crews of two
were saved. Incidentally, this is the route which sup
plies planes to four foreign fields of combat. A bunch
of pilots at the Florida airfield some fine morning will
start asking each other about assignments.
"I’m going to Brerton. Where are you going?”
i "Cairo. You. Jack?”
"Iraq.”
And a fourth declares his destination as China. The
first man means he will take his bomber to Maj. Gen.
Le\ vis H. Brerton in India, the second to the' British
, forces in the Middle East, and the third to the head of
the Persian Gulf, where the Rusians will take the plane
north to the fighting front.
You don’t have to be an airline president (like C. R.
Smith. ex-American Airlines, now helping the Govern
ment to run the show) to know it takes more than a
dashing young pilot to deliver those planes. There
must be landing fields—some of the new fields have run j
: ways a mile or more in length. There must be dispers- !
! al areas, to allow planes to scatter when enemy planes!
! appear. There must be fuel supplies and fuel facilities;'
living quarters for tired transient crews; hospital fac-l
ilities for the man who has caught a tropical fever:
weather stations scattered across the world, and most!
important of all, protective forces, such as ground
troops and fighter planes, which might make it hot for
j the enemy in case of attack. As a high air corps official
! puts it:
I “It takes some planning to think of all these things
I—including having an American hot dog and an Am-!
erican can of beer ready for the pilot when he drops!
down out of the skies in the hot jungle of the Anglo-1
Egyptian Sudan.”
' The men who fly these ships are the pick of Am-1
; erica. They are not all boys. The age range is 21 to 45. j
j All have had from 2 to 6 months special training in j
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handling the Army’s ships, plus a minimum entrance
requirement of 300 hours in the air.
They have, in the course of every day operations, ex
periences to write boks about. One crew, flying over
Africa, attempted to contact a certain station in ad
vance of landing, to get radio bearings. This was in 9
October, and the native radio operators were enjoy
ing theii festive month—feasting all night and sleep
ing all day.
Champagne, Caviar
It was the Ah Ah C which carried the Harriman mis
sion to Moscow. Upon arrival, crew members were
ushered into the officer’s mess and given a breakfast of
champagne, Crimean wine, caviar, fish, bread, butter, *
tomato and onion salad, more caviar—and then were
asked if they would like a beef steak!
I bus far the big job has been delivering planes—and
engines and propellor and quinine and vitamins—to
distant parts. But the routes thus explored and the
facilities laid down soon will become the means for
moving combat forces into the theatres of war. Thus
if it should ever become necessary to make a combat
operation against Dakar, U. S. bombing planes could
move into action along the well-established route from
Florida to Brazil to Africa.
On the domestic side, ferrying sometimes involves
an assembling job. A pilot and crew will pick up a B-24
Liberator at the West Coast plant, fly it to Detroit to
pick up a British type radio, and equipment for over
seas flying, such as a liferaft, then fly on to Montreal,
where the RAF or the RCAF takes over.
But this summer, the AFAFC will start a North At
lantic ferry service of its own, independent of the
British.
Most of the Ferrying Command’s operations are
strictly secret. You can’t even get into its building in
Washington without filling out a special form and hav
ing a guard as escort. But it’s obvious from what can
be told that the Command is making it possible for
U. S. forces to stand astride the world in this global
war, and in so doing is making preparation for a world
at peace —-Washington Merry-Go-Round by Drew Pear
son and Robert S. Allen.