A * ITS A COME-DOWN FOR THE AXIS A * German and Italian airmen, guarded by Tommies, walk through axis-coveted Malta as prisoners after being shot down over heavily bombed Mediterranean island. INDIVIDUAL Itizeits ALAN MAURICE IFLWIN A Weekly Column About This and That in Our Canadian Army Tun.*- weeks ago I devoted this pace to the subject of drill. Here omes the same subject again be- cause we have been given an ob- ject lesson by our own aoldierg at Dieppe in its value. For the past two years instruc- tors have referred to an Incident t Dunkerque as an Illustration of the value of drill as a discipline builder. It was the evacuation of the beach by The Guards. Newspaper despatches said : The Guard*- brought tnelr rifles with them." that was all! But It was quite wioujrh. No one would have cri- ticized them If they had left their equipment behind on that ghell- wpt beach nearly everyone did leave his equipment behind and there were no recriminations. Bat, "the Guards brought their rifles with them". It has long keen fashionable for Line Regi- ment* to sneer gently at the- Bri- gade of Guards for their meticu- lous adherence to parade ground soldiering The sneers were good- aatured, of course, as all bicker- ing between regiments is, and no- one really believed what he said. Not after l.e Cateau in the lact war, or after Dunkerque in this! Now we have a new tradition, a new example- of how well-drilled oldiers act in a tight place the Canadians at Dieppe! Here is a quotation of one of the early cables from the Channel front written by Ross Mundo of the Canadian .'ress who went a- shore with the Canadians. "One group of the Westerners was In such good form that even after a five-hour battle they smart- ly sloped arms and marched aboard the boat that picked them up." The "Tankers'' have earned a place In military history, too! Of them another Canadian Press despatch said: "Crews of the Calgar; Tank Regiment, which led the way in- to Dieppe yesterday, drove the remnants ot their battle-smashed tank formation through this town tonight .. . ." Those two examples of the in- telligent discipline that grows out of drill will be quoted by many a drill-sergeant, by many an olticer lecturing to recruits in the next tow years and will, I hope, be borne- In inlml by those of us who are apt to criticize without think- ing. Some of you are bound to be Mkir.g. just about now. "what's he trying to get at? Surely he does not suggest that the raid ou Dieppe was put on just to demon- strate the value of parade ground drill!" No, 1 don't suggest that for one moment. In fact auy columnist who tries to say why the Dieppe raid was. made would be a fool! There are many reasons why a military high command decides to stage a raid especially with the war condi- tion* that confront us at present. And the high command cannot take even the public into its con- fidence. We'll have to be ke-pt guessing about it and so will the May. Perhaps its intention was to find oat the defense system employed by the enemy. Perhaps it was to draw atten- tion from some other move. Perhaps the Idea was to find out the morale of the enemy now In France. Perhaps it was designed to dis- rupt communications by causing a rush of reinforcement* to the place attacked. Pw-haps H was a realistic t;-:un- tag sc'liome in the co-one .-ation of Navy, Army and Air Force. Perhaps it was none of thosa reasons, but, whatever the rea- son was we members of the li- dividual Citizen's Ormy may be sure that "Andy" McNaughton who would rather expend machinery than lives, had the best of all poss- ible reasons and that the lessone learned and the knowledge gain- ed will be used to prosecute the war and hasten the Allied Victory. In the meantime new recruits who Join up here as volunteers for service anywhere will start out with squad drill without arms, the manual of arms, musketry and all the other "kindergarten" work that teaches them unity, cohesion and Intelligent discipline so that they too, when their opportunity come, will be ready to "slope arms and march aboard." The men who took the beaches at Dieppe and played their part in demolishing the town have found out after weary months and years of waiting what war is like. That is something we have still to find out. So far we have only bought a few bonds, licked a few war savings stamps, given to the KeJ Cross and the Bucksuee Fund that sort of thing! We haven't sacrificed anything. We don't sweat tor the war. Public men rap us on the knuc- kles if we say that Canada is not doing a full job of war work. They raise a smoke screen of empty eloquence to boast of what is be- ing done. They promise that some day the government will place the whole war effort on a wartime basis, but in the meantime too uauy of us carry on with mur bridge and our golf. We stick nobly to the rations of tea and coffee and sugar and gasoline and sneak out of all-out service by buying cakes and pastries with sugar in them, by drinking tea and coffee in restaurants and hotels, by using taxicabe to take us on our useless errands when our own tanks are empty. We are long on talk and elioi't on discipline. What we neeed is drill, and lots of it. thrown at us by tough sergeants with a rasp in their voices. Could we march abroad with our rifles at the slope? Fewer strikes, fewer attempts to evade the rationing decided up- on after careful study by Uie War time Prices and Trade Board, less indulgence in petty Utxuri?s that's the kind of drill we need to fit us to play a proper part when the going gets tough. VOICE OF THE PRESS British Warships British shipbuilders turned out more than 500 fighting ships in 30 months an average of about one fully equipped warship every two days the British radio re- ported last \vck. SHOULD BE SQUELCHED Some people seem to spend their time accoating friends and others with such a remark as "Did you know" or "Have you heard", and If the listener does not know or has not heard they proceed to unload the most non- sensical stories about the conduct of the war (usually stories of blu.. iv or mismanagement) and then declare that they secured this Information from most reli- able sources. People like this are a menace. Intentionally or oth- erwise, they do much to damage public morale, and they should be properly squelched. Brantford Expositor. WITHOUT THE CEILING The way to Judge the Canadian price ceiling is not by the present cost of living, but by the cost of living that would prevail If we had no ceiling. We can judge that by the experience of our American neighbors. In the Unit- ed States they have a ceiling also, hut many goods are exempt from 1t and wherever goods are ex- empt prices are steadily rising. Vancouver Sun. ATE HIS OWN POTATOES When a farmer in East Prussia was so hungry he ate some of the potatoes out of his own garden, he wae sent to prison. The pota- toes had been ordered kept for leed. Just a little item but one show- Ing how the Germans are being pressed for food. Windsor Star. NEW EXCUSE One of the latest excuses for not going to the dentist Is that the doctor has Joined the armed forc- es. Of course, a sincere sufferer could overcome this by enlisting and getting all his work done without cost to himself. Victoria Times. LONG LIFE A newspaper In China has been In uninterrupted publication for 1,000 years. Fancy having a sub- scriber write in: "This Is the posi- tion you took in 1066 and !! that!" Edmonton Journal. o BETTER BELIEVE IT You cannot believe all you hear, but when you arn approaching a railroad crossing and hear the whistle of an approaching loco- motive It is wise to believe that a train, is not far distant. Kitch- ener Record. HOG NOT HOGGISH Contrary to public opinion, a pig won't make a hog ot himself, and unlike humans, he will not overeat even when given an over- supply of food. - - St. Thomas Times-Journal. Reich Has Farm Labor Troubles * Shortage of Farm Worker* Not Confined To Canada If Ontario and Canada have trouble with the farm labor prob- lem, there U some consolation that Hitler and Mussolini probably have even greater troubles, says the Woodstock Sentinel-Review. A first class glimpse into the European situation is offered In the August issue of the Economic Annalist, published by the Domin- ion Department of Agriculture. Extraordinary effort was made In Germany to mobilize labor for farm work. All farmers are re- quired to work longer hours, in- cluding Sundays and holidays. In January, the number of boys and girls. 14 years old and older, who were made subject to compulsory farm labor, was raised to 200,000. Farmers in the army were given furloughs to May 1st to work on farm/?. Later, all qualified women and girls, including domestic ser- vants, in urban centree, were mob- ilized into farm labor battalions. Reports indicate that a large num- ber of foreign "volunteer" work- ers and prisoners were also sent to work on farms. Possibly these numbered upwards of 2,000,000. They were regarded as "ersatz," a poor substitute. Despite all this, the German shortage of farm help was in excess of 600,000. Labor Shortage Widespread An order requiring all adminis- trative officials and National So- cialist Party officials in Alsace- Lorraine, during the planting sea- son to spend three weeks on (arms In lieu of annual leave, indicates a farm labor shortage in that re- gion H..-< Reports from Norway Indicate that al employers had to surrend- er one-thtrd of their employes tar at least three weeks for agri- cutural service. Slovakia reports a labor shortage. France's farms Buffered much because some 700,- 000 French farmers are prisoners of war in Germany. In March, Italy began a general civilian mobilization of men be- tween 18 and 55 to work on farms. Farm labor conscription was sub- sequently extended to include men from 14 to TO and women from 14 to 60. In April, troops were de- tailed to farm work. In Hungary, Sunday work is required. Troops helped here atoo. Rumanian farm- ers were required to work "unus- ually long hours." Apparently they had the assistance of 12.000 pris- oners of war. The European farm situation Is summed up by the United State* Department of Agriculture as fol- lower "Farming operations in many Eurojiean countries have been seriously hampered this year by ghorugts cf labor, equipment and draft animals." India has the largest irrigation system .n the world, :?:,800,000 acre*. LIFE'S LIKE THAT Bv Fred Neher : -vij *,. t , < rtv~**c*' -r'-ffy .:*"";r"~ "*~~ i > ,":<;'.< ''' <i ' !'. .';'.';":" V ,;'',,V */;-... ... ''' -^ 1 THE WAR - WEEK Commentary on Current Events Germany Has Transport Problem; Air Strength Decisive Factor in East Since Germany has already cut the Russian rail line north from Stalingrad and hue reached the Volga, the current battle for the city Itself is regarded by some military authorities as somewhat of an anti-climax. However, con- tinued Russian resistance there significantly retards the timing of Nazi operations on other fronts. Thus, capture of Stalingrad would permit Hitler to concentrate his forces and make an all-out effort to capture Moscow before Winter, wherefore, the Russian defense is worthwhile. Control of the Caspian has become the key issue in the problem of supply an affecting problem of eupply as affecting passage of oil and Allied supplies. The importance of the Persian- Caspian route, however, can be easily exaggerated. That route can be developed only very slowly. A glimpse at the map shows plain- ly enouigh the vast distances in- volved in supplying Russia from the South. She must be reinforced from the North, a situation which the Germans have in no sense ne- glected and which explains their devotion to strengthening of their position In Norway. Longer nights favor the convoy routes in the Arctic. Have Transport Difficulties The brilliancy of the German engineers and transport service cannot conceal one outstanding fact, which is that the weak link In the German armor la transport. The Allied publics have been hear- ing so much about their own en- ormous shipping problem that they have probably not given en- ough attention to the German dilemma. Hitler entered the war with a bad rail system and it has deteriorated rather than improved. His traffic by air has been re- markably successful, but it is a limited traffic and is no solution of his problem, which it merely ameliorates. He seized the roll- Ing equipment of France and other occupied territory, but even this did not meet his require- ments. Results may not show im- mediately, but bombings do cripple rail movement and may cripple It disastrously. Note that Allied bombings a.> also directed against submarine construction. They thus hit at transport in " ways: la) by By reducing German ability to impeding German transport: (b) impede Allied transport The Libyan Position iSuutegi^ti? regard Rommel's re- buff, after h.iril fighting and sev- ere loeses. as a satisfactory open- ing phase oi the rcnewwl simple fur North Alrica. The Allies an- profiting from previous lessons. es;ii-i-ially in the use of artillery against tank.-:. Kommel may await further aerial reinforcements from tin Kus.-:a:] front In-fore again at- tempting to break through to Cairo. So far. Allied air strength has contributed chiefly to his un- doing. It should be appreciated. '. that the Allif* can also send reinforcements In the air and do not have to meet in that sphere the very burdensome prob- lem of transport by sea. It Is ona thing to pay tribute to the Ger- mans' genius for organization and the high quality of their staff work, but It Is quite another to take It for granted that German generals will always be more bril- liant than their opponents and that th Germane know better than any others how to plan a campaign. The talents of Rommel are not to be gainsaid, but he has uot yet proved himself a Mapo- leon. Also, the most strikiug Ger- man successes in this war have not been due so much to superior itrategy and tactics as to long and careful preparation. They had all the tools, but the Allies now also have some. Russian Bombings of Germany Russian bombing of East Prus- sia. although primarily intended to interrupt the eastward flow of German supplies, migiit be the opening gun in a two-front air offensive which, when fully de- veloped, could have far-reaching effects. It possibly stems from the Churchill-Stalin talks. Jap Government In Burma Burma is a case in point for those Indians who look to Japan for deliverance from the British Empire now. A joini Japanese and Burmese administration under Dr. Ba Maw, Burma's first prime min- ister under the 1937 constitution, has been set up. The government is purely an administrative body. Policy ifi determined solely by the Japanese military administration. Finance an Defense portfolios are held by the Japanese. The Burma Parliament, of course, stands dis- solved, and supreme power over the Government specifically is conferred on Japanese Command- er-in-Chief Jida The War Week Through American Eyes There Is now reliable inform- ation that Rt Hum made an all- out effort to break through in Egypt and that lit Buffered such losses as to raise doubt as to his capacity to renew the attack. In- deed. Washington authorities are lavishing praise on the British for the job they dio. Six-iy days ago, Washington wae extremely anx- ious as to Libyr.. the sea route to Australia, the ability of the Rus- sian armits to hold together and the possibility of a Hitler attack through Turkey All (Jier* -itu- ations have tui-iitd lor the better, although conditiort< rwnai:: crit- ical in the Caucasian area. China, too. is in much littler shape. Al- to.m t'ler. the S-i'ti-inl>er position is much more favorable !o the Ailii-x than was :.:i!.ciputed. It is a "no-quarter" wai m the Pacific. Jaj.s ha\t- pr'-ti-mim to suiT'-ndi'i- in order to trick nia:-ir.- into traps anil wounded Jap.- have turned on resi-uiny Americans with stabs in the burk It is kill or be killed and few ]> -on- - are -aken. Canada To Send Wheat To Russia "How can a bird tell Saturday from ftr.y o:her night?" A credit agreement under which Ku^ia may draw up to approxi- mately 9.000.000 bushels of hard spring wheat or flour has been signed at Canada House by repre- sentatives of the Canadian and Soviet governments. Detailed terms of the agree- ment were not announced but a statement to the press said the British Ministry of food ha;l un- dertaken to act as agent for the Dominion and that some deliver- ies had beoii made. The credit was understood to approximate $10.000.000 and was helievi-d to be in the nature of an interim loan which may be in- creased later if Russia is unable to feed its own people with its own supplies or with wheat de- livi-rc 1 under the country's lease- lend agreement with the United States. German troops, it was pointed out. have overrun some of the best Russian wheat ([rowing provinces and authorities believed it would take years for the Soviet to re- store them to full production in the post-win- period. Churchill Lauds Premier Stalin The main puri/CKi of his mis- sion to Moscow. Prime Minister Chui-chill told tin' House of Com- mons, was "to i >!..:. sh the same M-'.a;ions of easy confidence and perfect openn."--s I h;ve l)\:'.'. up with Mr. Roos- Of Stalin, he said "It is very fortunate for Kus. sia to have this jri-cat. ruprKO-.: war chief at her head. Ht is a man of inexhaustible . .-. < anii will power and he is even blunt in speech ... I believe I have made him feel that, we are goo I and faithful comrade!) n, this \\ ir. "But that, a 1'ti-.- all, is n mat- ter which deeds, m t words, will prove." Churchill said IR ami Russian leaders shared tuc conviction that in the British Kinp.iv. the United States and the Sox :ot Union Hitler has forged an alliance "strong enough to beat him to the ground and steadfast enciijrli to persovera not only until his wiekedness has i>ern punished but until soi.ie. at least, of the ruin lie has wrought has been repni/i-i; " REG'LAR FELLERS Almost a Hero By GENE BYRNES WAIT FOR MC.' I WO>fT BE OVEP. FIVE MINITS.' ife-a; DOCTOR, 1 WANT A TOOTH YANKED OUT.' BOTHER WITH GAS tAUSE I'M IN A / WELL, I MUST SAY XOU'RE A VERY BRAVE BOX/ WHICH TOOTH IS IT? SHOW IM WHICH TOOTH IT IS, i J PINHEAD '