CBI Roundup - January 27, 1944 - China-Burma-India Theater of World War II

VOL. II NO. 20 REG NO. L5015 DELHI, THURSDAY JANUARY 27, 1944.

MISSING - CAMPAIGN HAT

This precedent-shattering photograph of Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell was sent to Roundup by Bob Bryant, International News Photo cameraman. The general has discarded his famous campaign hat - temporarily only, will wager - for a helmet.

LOVELY LADY

The caption material which accompanied today's cheesecake declared that Janet Blair has chosen this dress for her personal wardrobe. Mmmm... it must be warm in California this winter.

TWO COMPOSITE WINGS
FORMED BY 14TH A. F.
    CHINA - Activation of two new composite wings - each composed of medium and light bombers and fighters, operating its own reconnaissance service - was announced this week by the 14th Air Force.
  One wing will be commanded by Col. Clinton (Casey) Vincent, and will be assigned to Central, Eastern and South China. The other will be commanded by Col. John Kennedy, and will operate in Western China, French Indo-China, Thailand and parts of Burma.
  Early in the week, Mitchells were active in French Indo-China, bombing the railroad and dock area at Campha Port. Two buildings were destroyed and heavy black smoke indicated that one was used for oil. The day after this attack, Mitchells, with fighter escort, attacked the Japanese barracks at Moncay, all bombs falling in the target area. Smoke was visible for 10 miles.
  Liberators sank a 1,700-ton passenger freighter and a 1,500-ton tanker on a sea sweep off the Southeast China Coast the next day. All aircraft returned safely.

PRIVATE MOVIE FOR G.I. CONFINED TO HOSPITAL

ADVANCED ASSAM BASE - Up here in Assam is one of the world's most exclusive movie audiences. It is composed of a single man - S/Sgt. Frank Kulikowski, an aviation mechanic who has been confined to a hospital bed since a plane crash in October. Every Sunday night, Special Service Officer Lt. Owen Peterson and Sgt. William Poole see to it that "the kid," as they call him, sees a first-rate movie, projected on the ceiling over his bed.
Recently, "the kid" was sole audience for the Academy Award picture, The Watch on the Rhine, which since has been dropped by plane to Ledo Road outposts and will shortly make its flight over the Hump to bomber and fighter groups in China.

Father Time
STILWELL QUIPS

  BURMA - Crossing a river in the C.B.I. Theater several weeks ago, Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell squatted on the bottom of a fragile boat constructed by Chinese Engineers by stretching canvas over a frame of green limbs.
  When the boat put into shore, a Chinese soldier remarked, "Look at that old man. He must be over 60." The boatman shook his head and replied, "What do you think of that?"
  Stilwell translated the conversation for his companions.
  He smiled wryly. "You've got to take a lot of insults when you get to be may age."

CHINESE OCCUPY MINGRU GA
TAIPHA GA NEXT OBJECTIVE IN CAMPAIGN

BURMA - Driving toward Taipha Ga to clear the path for the Ledo Road, Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell's American-trained Chinese forces captured Mingru Ga in the Hukawng Valley on the right flank of their line of advance. Meanwhile, another strong enemy position near the ferry station of Taro was occupied, following a forced march through the jungle. Taipha Ga is now reported only 500 yards away from the pressing Chinese.
American and British planes were active over the whole area, attacking bridges, river boats and buildings.

'QUEEN OF JUNGLE JUNCTION'
Stockton, Calif., Girl Wins Beauty Contest

    10TH A.F. HEAVY BOMBARDMENT GROUP - "Queen of Jungle Junction" and monarchess of all she surveys from the walls of the enlisted men's club is lovely Lucille Crowell, of Stockton, Calif.
  Miss Crowell, blonde and 19, was the winner of a Sweetheart Contest held by the men of this bomb group who took photographs of enough beautiful young things in Uncle Sugar off barracks walls and tables to stock an Earl Carroll chorus line.
  Under the supervision of the Red Cross, a judges' committee of enlisted men and officers "sweated out" the winner and then took off for the jungle to avoid casualties, the contest was that close.
  Miss Crowell is the sweetheart of Sgt. Vic Miramontes, who stoutly claims she has "everything." The judges were inclined to agree. (P.S. So do we - Ed.)
  An oil painting of Miss Crowell is being done for the club by S/Sgt. Joe Heinrich, so that for the duration this young lady will rule in absentia over one bright spot in an otherwise desolate and lonesome plain in northeast India.

Boyington Won Spurs With AVG

    It came to light this week in a 14th Air Force release to the Roundup that Maj. Gregory Boyington, who knocked 26 Nips out of the sky and was then reported "missing in action" while seeking his 27th decision, started his record-equaling box score as a member of the AVG in China.
  Boyington, it was disclosed, bagged six Japs as an AVGer, then, since last August, in a five-month, one-man aerial blitzkrieg, added 20 more to his total as a Marine Corps flier in the Southwest Pacific. His mark of 26 brought him up to even terms with Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker and Maj. Joe Foss. After shooting down his 25th victim, he vowed to make daily missions until he surpassed the record shared by Rickenbacker and Foss.
  In a single day's fighting over Vella Lavella in the Solomons, Boyington shot down five enemy planes; and Dec. 4, he downed four more over Rabaul.
  Col. David L. (Tex) Hill, of the 14th Air Force, who has shot down 18 Nip aircraft, was an AVG team mate of Boyington, of whom he said: "Greg always had a lot of guts."
  The title of leading American Ace in the Southwest Pacific area is now shared by Capt. Richard Bong and Col. Neel Kerby, each with 21 Jap planes.
  meanwhile, the Army News Service reported the death of another American who was closely pressing Boyington, Foss and Rickenbacker. He was an RAF squadron commander, Lance C. Wade, of Tucson, Ariz. After bagging his 25th Axis plane, he was killed this week in a behind-the-lines air accident in Italy.

TEA, TEA EVERYWHERE, NOT A DROP TO DRINK

  By S/Sgt. KARL PETERSON

    ASSAM - Although not listed among British Reverse Lend-Lease aids, which have enabled American troops in Assam to get set up and operating these past 18 months, the splendid cooperation and assistance of Mr. Frank S. Gregory, jovial, bustling little tea planter in this area, have proven invaluable in coping with local customs and system. But recently "Sahib" Gregory, good friend of many a general and colonel whose vital job he has made easier, found himself on an embarrassing spot.

DISCOVERY CAME
  Now it can be told how, some time back, China's Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, with the equally famous Madame Chiang, stopped briefly one night in Assam on his way to the now-historic Cairo conferences with Roosevelt and Churchill.
  The distinguished visitors were taken to Gregory's bungalow for a midnight snack, where the host and several high-ranking American officers fluttered about nervously supervising the making of sandwiches, etc. Then came the discovery: Gregory, whose acres of growing tea cover the Assam valley, had not one leaf of the stuff in the old canister. The last had been used that day and prospects of getting any more at that hour seemed dim.

TO THE RESCUE
  After a hectic few minutes, however, one of the Indian cooks came to the rescue by digging up a pound or two from an undisclosed source, and a tough situation was saved. But the planter will not soon forget the night he found himself with "tea, tea everywhere, but not a drop to drink."

CORPORAL GEE EYE

MOUNTAINS OF MAIL

When the Roundup told you around Christmas time that the CBI APO was literally handling mountains of mail, we weren't kidding, as this picture shows. Here you see what Santa Claus deposited at one time on a West India dock. The full-sized G.I. in the foreground gives a basis for comparison.

EAC KNOCKS DOWN EIGHT JAP PLANES
Joint Assault By U.S., RAF Upon Bangkok

    The Tactical and Strategic Air Forces of the Eastern Air Command swept the length of Burma this week, hitting the Japanese wherever they found them and meeting increased resistance in the air. In two savage skirmishes, eight Jap planes were shot down, 11 probably destroyed, and many damaged.
  The first battle took place over the Fort Hertz Valley, Jan. 18, when six Jap bombers, escorted by more than 18 fighters, were intercepted by U.S. fighters. The bombers were dispersed before they could reach any objective. In scattered dog-fights, two enemy fighters were destroyed, two probably and several damaged.
  During the morning of the 20th, RAF fighters of the Tactical Air Force were intercepted by a large enemy formation over the Mayu peninsula. The formation was broken up and six enemy aircraft downed, one by anti-aircraft fire. In addition, there were nine probables and a number were damaged.

BANGKOK RAIDED
  On the night of Jan. 19-20, heavy bombers of the Strategic Air Force again raided Bangkok. The American planes concentrated their attack on the railway station and the Don Muang airfield, while the RAF smashed at armament factories. Large fires were left burning in all target areas.
  U.S. heavies, on Jan. 23, made a more-than-2,000-mile round trip to bomb shipping at Mergui, in extreme southern Burma. Two small coasters and a 300-foot merchant vessel were set afire and probably sunk.
  A railway bridge south of Prome was destroyed by U.S. mediums on Jan. 21. On the same day, RAF dive-bombers and fighters bombed and machine-gunned an enemy encampment and damaged railway bridges and locomotives near Mogaung. The railway bypass bridge at Loilaw was attacked on the 21st and 23rd by U.S. fighter-bombers. Hits were scored on both ends of the structure. On the 22nd, another formation destroyed the Namkwin rail bypass bridge.

PROME RAID
  Also on the 22nd, U.S. heavies and mediums, covered by fighters, raided Prome in strength. The mediums concentrated on the rail yards, while the heavies attacked a hutted camp, smothering the target and starting numerous fires.
  Throughout the Theater, Japanese supply depots, dump areas and troop concentrations were repeatedly harried by Allied planes. The RAF hit river traffic on the Irrawaddy, the Chindwin and the Mayu waterways, while U.S. planes attacked airfields and bivouac areas in Northern Burma.

SMALL WORLD FOR 16 CBI-LANDERS

It's news when 16 men reach a small service post in eastern India and discover they are from the same town, Flint, Mich. back row, left to right: Sgt. Leonard Meyers, Pvt. Angus Henderson, Pfc. Harold Bennett, S/Sgt. Harold W. Parker, Cpl. Orlo M. Muser, Sgt. Isaac L. Rankin, Sgt. Franklin B. Lane, Sgt. John W. Shanahan, Pfc. Hugh E. Onan and S/Sgt. Fred B. Workman; front row: Sgt. Bob Krieger, T/Sgt. John M. Byrne, S/Sgt. Jack R. Burke and Cpl. Arthur D. Grondin. Cpls. William Gaines and Kenneth Snyder were on emergency missions when the picture was being taken.

FLINT, MICHIGAN HAS 16 G.I.'S AT ASC POST

    AIR SERVICE COMMAND BASE - "Yes, sir; it's a small world" chimed 14 G.I.'s as they lined up for the cameraman at this comparatively small service post.
  They and two others are all from Flint, one of Michigan's thriving industrial cities, and, as they exchanged notes, they discovered that some of them even worked in the same plants - Buick Motor Car Co., AC Spark Plug, Fisher Body, Chevrolet Motors. Some were there when the plants were converted to war production, too.
  Flint has a population just above 200,000.

ROUNDUP SALAAMS
TO APO 446 PAPER

    It's getting so that every other week the Roundup, as a matter of professional courtesy, if no more, has to salaam to a new Theater publication. What's the CBI Theater getting to be, anyway - Fleet Street?
  Anyway, it's a pleasure this week to toss a bouquet to the 52nd Service Sentinel, the pride of A.P.O. 446, the first printed issue of which has just reached our desk. Until recently, the sheet was mimeographed, but now the boys have gone big city with a bang.
  Cpl. Herman Popkin edits the rag, assisted by Pfc. Gerald Marans, advisory editor; Pfc. Milton Levenson, sports editor; and S/Sgt. James Henderson, Sgt. Lloyd Farris, Cpls. Lamar McLeod, Frank Risko, Jack Fleischman, and Pfcs. Jean Joyeaux and George W. Jenkins doubling in brass as feature writers and reporters. Pvt. Vincent Gauld is circulation manager and Lt. John J. Dibals is officer-in-charge.
  The paper is hand-set and uses three colors, no less, in its attractive masthead. The first printed issue gives good coverage of local doings in sprightly style and contains a number of interesting columns and features.

SO WHOM DO THEY CALL FOR?

VETERAN

Not only has 48-year-old T/Sgt. Harold (Old Luke) Lucas been on overseas duty more than two years, but he is also a medal-bedecked veteran of five major engagements in World War I, including the Meuse-Argonne, Marine and Defensive Sector. On the day Pearl Harbor was being attacked, Lucas was already on his way overseas with a bomb group which later transferred from Australia to India.

EAST INDIA BASE - So it isn't enough to build everything from a mouse-trap to a hangar. So a major sprains his ankle. So the medics have no cast. So whom do they call for?
That's right - the engineering section of the China-Burma-India Air Service Command. At left you see ingenious T/Sgt. Lewis C. Newell (kneeling) of Savannah, Ga., welding an improvised cast on the injured gam of Maj. Hugh A. (Ole Gramps) Tate, Mt. Clemens, Mich., while S/Sgt. Clyde A. Wilson, of Buffalo, N.Y., assists.

And What If Chaplain Needs To See Chaplain?
    APO 487 (Dinjan, India) - The question is what to do when the Chaplain himself needs to go see the Chaplain?
  This is the sad plight of Chaplain Melville Sands of A.P.O. 629 (Chabua, India), who recently received his first package from Shangri La since arriving in romantic India. Snipping through ribbons and gay wrapping paper, he reflected fondly on the fact that his wife had written of mysterious presents which were en route to him for Christmas, and his mind roamed over a number of exciting possibilities.
  The box opened to reveal - an exquisite black suede woman's purse with gold trimmings.
  Retrieving the wrapping paper, Sands was able to reconstruct the crime. The bag had been sent to his wife in Sands' care at his last post before coming overseas. The A.P.O. at the post diligently forwarded it to Sands' new address in the CBI Theater, blithely unconcerned over the fact that suede evening bags are not being carried by Army personnel over here this season.

POOR MAN'S 'STATE OF THE NATION'
CBI Traveler's Impressions On Shangri La

    Here's a little cold turkey, gentle readers, on Stateside matters from one who has just returned. This might be called a poor man's report on the State of the Nation.
  Things in America are good, bad and indifferent. Let's divide this into sections and examine the body politic, piece by piece.

  WAR DEPARTMENT. After three weeks in the Pentagon Building, you can stop using a ball of string to keep from being lost. You can then use paper-chase technique and drop little slips of paper along your trail and then follow them back.
  Things that can be handled in an hour in CBI will take you a week in the War Department. To a former civilian, it seems incredible that anything like that organization could work at all, but yet it does. It seems to work pretty well, in fact. You can find anything you want there. You can find smugness, democracy, efficiency, inefficiency, tolerance and intolerance. It's quite a squirrel cage.

  POLITICS. Politics are triumphant at the moment. The Democratic Party is split wide open, with southern Senators and Congressmen attacking their own President and party leader on the floors of their respective debating societies. This is fast becoming the rule. The Republican machine is moving heaven and earth to eliminate Willke and the best judgment seems to be that the machine will win this time.
  One of Washington's best political analysts stated that Roosevelt would probably be forced by the Democrats to run for a fourth term "because he is the only man they can elect." He thinks the Republicans will nominate Dewey and that Roosevelt will win by a very narrow margin. He also thinks that Roosevelt will have a Republican House and possibly a Republican Senate during the next term if any. There is no doubt that the country is reverting to Republicanism. This is partly due to some excellent Republican governors and general dissatisfaction with the administration of purely intra-American policies.

  INTERNATIONAL. The people are intensely interested in the post-war world. They want to know what it is going to be like and there is a definite majority in favor of the United States assuming her proper degree of leadership in the community of nations and also accepting corresponding responsibility. Any book material which can tie itself up with the postwar picture is almost sure fire. The people have a terrific admiration for the Russians and the Chinese and still admire the British. The latter, however, appears to be cooling somewhat due to publicity on charges made by the five Senators who recently completed a world tour. These charges largely concern Lend-Lease and Reverse Lend-Lease and the alleged hoarding of British oil resources at the expense of our own.

  PERSONALITIES. The greatest personality in America today is Gen. George C. Marshall. There is no doubt that he has assumed not only the position of a great military strategist, but a military statesman. Time picked him as man of the year, while a Gallup Poll ran him well ahead of Roosevelt in a questionnaire on leadership. He is admired by all parties and all occupational groups. He is still retiring from a publicity standpoint and his integrity is a by-word. He is undoubtedly a great man and a great leader.
  Lt. Gen. George S. Patton had become somewhat of a legend at home until he got his fights muddled by batting a couple of soldiers around. There was hell to pay about that, and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was doubtless hurt in that fracas as well.
  Governor Thomas E. Dewey is playing a cagey game. He states publicly he is not a candidate for the Presidency, but everybody knows better. Governor Earl Warren, of California, is prominently mentioned as Dewey's running mate. Hoover and Landon stagger about the boards. Willke is beating the bushes, but recent Gallup Polls show him behind Dewey in popularity with the rank and file of the Republican Party.
  Cordell Hull is still highly popular and respected by most, except the deepest partisans. Harold Ickes is as curmudgeonous as ever. Henry Morgenthau is having a hell of a feud with Congress about his tax program. Madame Perkins hangs on. Mrs. Roosevelt is even more a subject of violent controversy than ever. The wildest stories circulate about her and you either love her or detest her. There appears to be no middle ground.

  PRODUCTION. Industry has done a magnificent job on the production lines. Already some of industry is being converted back to civilian production. The country is covered with factories where none existed before.

  LABOR. Thanks to John Lewis, labor's prestige with the public has reached a new low. Contrary to popular belief, however, there have been relatively few strikes, and labor as a whole is doing a good job. There isn't much Red baiting with labor anymore and labor seems to have largely forgotten to paint employees as a universal group of blood suckers for the time being.

  AGRICULTURE. The farmer is mad. He's so mad that he's voting the Republican ticket again. He is urged to produce more and more, while having a terrible time getting farm hands and implements. Nevertheless, he is producing more and more and rising at 3 a.m. instead of 4 to do the job. He's also making a little money for a change.

  TRIVIA. All the clip joints are still running in competition with a lot of new ones. We sat in a Miami bar and heard a waitress ask the bartender the price of a fancy drink. He said 60 cents and the girl at the cash register rang up $1.40 on the bill. There is plenty of that.
  The Office of Price Administration put ceilings on liquor prices, so the distiller, lovely people, immediately started printing new labels for new brands. If you can get any bottled whiskey now, you pay $6-$7 a pint for inferior whiskey. There is plenty of whiskey in bars, but hard to buy for less than 50 cents a drink.
  There are too many soldiers and sailors everywhere. This has made a bad morale problem. The boys want to go somewhere and get to fighting and get it over.
  You never saw so many abandoned women sitting around. Illustrating the hopelessness of the romantic situation is a current popular tune, They're Either Too Young or Too Old. Another tune, Pistol Packin' Mama, is absolutely out of this world.
  The most hated people in America are those unfortunates working for OPA. This is a popular yarn at home: A primary schoolteacher told her pupils to write an essay on what their fathers did for a living. One imaginative urchin wrote his daddy played a piano in a house of ill fame. The teacher told his mother and his parent hit the roof. "Well, " this bright young man said in his own defense, "you didn't expect me to admit Daddy works for the OPA, did you?"
  The gasoline (pardon - petrol) situation at home is tough. Most people get "A" ration books which permit 12 gallons per month. Trying to get a ride on a train is like trying to find warmth in your mother-in-law's kiss. Only priority passengers may fly in airplanes. There are no priorities on trains, so servicemen on orders compete with all the vacationers, of which there are more than somewhat.
  It is difficult to get beef for some strange reason. Even if you can get it, however, it requires so many ration points that you have to go on a bread and water diet after a couple of steaks. Restaurants are given a certain number of points and places specializing in steaks, for instance, often close their doors about the middle of the month and everybody goes fishing until the new point quota is in.
  Sports are still popular, and the Rose Bowl game was almost a sellout, despite gas rationing and New Years being no holiday in the defense industries. A bunch of trainer planes that buzzed the field during the first half, thereby driving all concerned slowly mad, were chased off by P-38's. This was followed by an announcement from the headquarters in charge that the obstreperous trainees would be disciplined.
  Amos Alonzo Stagg, the "Grand Ole Man of Football" is at 81 the most famous man of the year in sports. He got a terrific hand when introduced as the Grand Marshall of the Rose Bowl game.
  America is still a pretty good place, despite a lot of stresses and strains.

Roosevelt Asks Staggering Sum To Conduct War

    WASHINGTON - The staggering cost of America's war effort was presented in cold facts and figures this week, when President Roosevelt asked Congress for $100,000,000,000 (one hundred billion dollars) in new appropriations for the fiscal year beginning July 1.
  This will bring to $379,000,000,000 the total cost of the war since June, 1940, and mean a steady drain of more than $5,000,000,000 in annual interest for years to come. The President, however, told Congress that interest payments and gradual payments on principal should not be an unduly oppressive burden on the American economy if the national income can be maintained at $125,000,000,000 yearly. This is $10,000,000,000 lower than the estimated 1943 income of $135,000,000,000.

FDR'S MESSAGE
  The President included in his message an appeal to Congress for several legislative acts which he regards as of vital importance. He asked again for a "realistic" tax bill, instead of the $2,000,000,000 bill which the Senate is now considering, urged that attempts to amend the present war contract renegotiation legislation "in such a way as to destroy the effectiveness of the present measure" be defeated, and asked that old age survivor benefit taxes should be doubled on Jan. 1 as previously scheduled.
  Roosevelt's message immediately drew fire from the economy bloc in Congress led by Senator John Taber, New York Republican, who said that the President's estimate on non-war expenditures "have a lot of water in them which must be squeezed out." Another matter over which controversy raged is an amendment to the tax legislation designed to prevent wealthy men from pouring money into losing ventures and personal hobbies in order to reduce their income taxes.

MUST PLAN NOW
  Referring to manpower demobilization and employment, Roosevelt asserted: "To master this great task of reemployment we must maintain and strengthen during the demobilization period a unified national employment service. Special measures are needed to increase the opportunities of former servicemen, particularly those disabled in war service."
  Demobilization, declared the President, will begin long before hostilities end "if they end on one major front before they end on other fronts."

UNFAMILIAR BEAUTY HERE IN INDIA

Perhaps few G.I.'s in CBI have seen the Kashmir mountains covered with snow, but these pictures taken there show it to be quite a scenic spot. Two Americans on leave, won second place in the All-India Ski Tournaments there this month. In these photos, Capt. Julius A. Sobin sails past the cameraman on his way to a close second in one event on the program.

Americans Win Second In All-India Ski Meet

    Two Americans, spending their annual leave in the hills of Kashmir, recently entered one of India's biggest sports events - "just for the fun of it" - and slid away with second place in the Annual Ski Club of India championships, competing for the Lady Willingdon trophy.
  Capt. Julian A. Sobin, 23, of Boston, Mass., who had been a member of the ski club at Harvard a few years ago, and Capt. E. W. Lowns, 25, of Presque Isle, Me., who is currently a CNAC pilot but was an original member of the AVGs, were resting at Gulmarg, Kashmir, when they heard of the ski tourney, conducted 50 miles from the third highest peak in the world.
  Competitors included many former Olympic stars, now competing under service battalions colors. The trophy was won by the Gurkha Rifles team, the basis of scoring being a compilation of the lowest combined times of four races by both members of each team. Sobin and Lowns each bettered the 20 minute mark.
Sobin's results were: Alpha downhill - 12th in a field of 35, Alpha slalom - 13th in a field of 23, Beta downhill - 3rd in a field of 42, Beta slalom - 2nd by 2.5 seconds in a field of 25.
Lown's results were: Alpha downhill - 10th, Alpha slalom - 15th, Beta downhill - 5th, Beta slalom - 4th.
  Dr. Frank Fetter, famed economist of America and now on a tour of duty in India for the U.S. Foreign Economic Administration, took sixth in both divisions of the Beta events. Two other CNAC pilots also competed.
  It was natural for the pilots to spend a well-deserved vacation "up in the air" for the hotel where they stayed is accessible only to pony and the ski trails are more than 10,000 feet high.

No Formality WHEN ALERT BLOWS

    APO 487 (Dinjan, India) - The siren announcing a recent air alert had not yet stopped shrieking when a G.I. truck driver, caught off base, spied a slit trench.
  Rushing toward it, he was about to jump in when a lieutenant, who appeared on the scene, stopped him short.
  "Sorry, soldier," the young officer said. "this trench is assigned."
  "This ain't no time for technicalities, boss," the enlisted man replied, dropping into the safety of the trench.
- By Cpl. WALTER J. BEHR.

WE SHALL HAVE MUSIC WHEREVER WE GO
By T/Sgt. ROBERT E. BADGER

    CHINA AIR BASE - We Shall Have Music Wherever We Go. That's the theme song these days of the headquarters officers of this heavy bombardment group. And thanks to the ingenuity of Capt. Garland C. Steen, group communications officer, his colleagues need never be without a tune.
  Disregarding the handicaps wrought by lack of materials, Steen has manufactured a portable amplifier from a cigar box, several bits of wire and other salvaged material he has picked up here and there.
  In several strategic spots in the barracks and in the barracks area he has placed outlets, so that

MUSIC A LA G.I.

Musically-inclined CBIers with a thirst for sweet swing, American style, will soon get an opportunity to hear the Swing Patrol, a G.I. band which recently started a tour of the Theater. Many of the musicians previously performed on Stateside "name" organizations.

all a music-minded officer has to do is plug in the amplifier and he hears the music that is being played on the phonograph or radio in the day room of the officers' barracks.
  Thus, it is not uncommon to have an officer arise from his chair in the day room. politely excuse himself, pick up the cigar box and depart for a small, white building located a few steps from the barracks. There is an outlet there so that he may enjoy Over The Waves, Home On The Range, Pistol Packin' Mama, or whatever tune is being played in the barracks.
  It is said that this gadget was developed by Steen especially for those of his fellow officers who suffer from that inconvenient malady resulting from too high a bacteria count in the food or water.
  It's sort of a case of where the melody lingers on as long as the malady does.
  It is said that Steen is looking forward to the day when Capt. J. J. Morrone is in the possession of the amplifier and the phonograph blares forth with The Star Spangled Banner.

RUBBER STRIPES RARE PHENOMENON STRETCH OUT TO CBI

APO 487 (Dinjan, India) - First word of the new rubber stripes now worn by non-commissioned officers back home was received here by T/5 Walter J. Behr. Actually, Behr's informant did not mention what material his stripes are fashioned from, but Behr figures any soldier who can pull his rank half-way around the earth must be wearing elastic chevrons.
Here's the V-Mail order the sergeant gave the corporal:

"Cpl. Behr - This is to inform you that I do not wish to have you send any more of your letters or photographs to my wife, the former Miss Law. If you do, I shall take official steps to stop it. - Sgt. J. Christy, Station Complement, Fort Hamilton, N.Y."

This was the corporal's very first notice that the blonde he met in a New York canteen had married. Like a good corporal, he obeyed the sergeant and ceased writing - but the sergeant didn't. This week Behr received the following masterpiece:

"G.F.U. Keep your oil to yourself! - and the damned ivory elephant you promised my wife. Wife love, Sgt. Christy."

  Enclosed with this polished piece of prose was Behr's last letter to Miss Law torn in a hundred little bits.
  At the suggestion of Lt. F. C. Robins, Behr's C.O., the unit informed Sgt. Christy that his wife has been unanimously elected its Pin-Up Girl and requested of the sergeant an appropriate photograph.
  Behr took the whole thing without wincing, for just a few weeks ago his "real" girl in Cincinnati announced her marriage to Behr's long-time rival, discharged from the Army for flunking his overseas physical.

ROUNDUP PIN-UP FANS HIT JACKPOT

You'll recall that Gale Robbins graced page one of the Dec. 3 Roundup. We received no complaints at the time, so here's an encore for those who missed the issue.

What was good enough for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was good enough for this fishwrapper on Dec. 16. This distinguished group decided that this picture of sultry Ramsey Ames was the classiest submitted in its cheesecake contest.

A suggestion for streamlining WAC uniforms was made Jan. 3 and one good example was presented by this camera study of Ava Gardner.

AND YOU THINK YOU HAVE TROUBLES
OUR MISFORTUNE PROVES TO BE YOUR GAIN
It's axiomatic that someone's misfortune generally proves to be someone else's gain. That's perzactly what happened today. You're getting two solid pages of cheesecake, because just when the Roundup was within a half step of going to press a hot wire came into the office ordering Ye Ed to "kill" the layout originally intended to decorate pages 6 and 7. The air was sulphuric for a time. He was on the verge of accepting the suggestion of two pages of virgin whiteness save for a 72-point "STOP PRESS" banner as adopted by Indian fishwrappers when confronted by such an emergency. But wiser heads prevailed, and one minor genius on the staff arrived at the happy thought that cheesecake used previously be dug out of the file. And you think you have troubles!!!

In the Nov. 5 issue, we bemoaned the fact that luscious Juanita Stark was forced to loll all by her lonesome on some California beach and be annoyed by 4-F's. It was our promise that the CBI would take her to its collective heart if she could tear herself away from the United States. So far, we have not heard from the young lady.

DONNA DRAKE

LA SHERIDAN (As if you didn't know.)
GIVE THESE FIVE LITTLE GIRLS A HAND
ALL COMPLAINTS TO BE VIEWED CAUSTICALLY BY FISHWRAPPER

We'll wager a month's pay against an anna that an inspection of bashas throughout CBI-land would disclose that the five cheesecake pictures on this page are well represented on the walls of the more discerning Roundup clientele. Miss Drake was voted Dec. 10, The Girl With Whom We'd Like To Get Lost on a Yacht. Our decision remains as firm as the Rock of Gibraltar. Eulogizing La Sheridan (Sept. 9) would, of course, be gilding the lily. Miss Constant's picture appeared Nov. 19 for a better reason than the accompanying caption that explained "the trend is toward tall, willowy girls." We loved her, one and all, for her own sweet self. As for Miss Porter, Dec. 16, she was chosen Sweetheart of Uncle Sam's Mosquito Boat Fleet, proving to our complete satisfaction that sailors are on the beam when it comes to cheesecake, too. When we published Miss Lord's picture Oct. 8, we lambasted the caption jockey who wrote that she was appearing with Charles Boyer in For All We Know. We pointed out that Boyer, as far as we were concerned, was strictly secondary to Miss Lord.
And there you have it, chums, two picture pages thrown into the maw of the printing presses at the eleventh hour. If you have any complaints, direct them to the Roundup. We'll supply, free of charge, a handsomely-embossed T/S Slip.

MARJORIE LORD

JEAN PORTER

AINA CONSTANT

Local Talent
TO BE ROUNDED UP TO ENTERTAIN TROOPS

    Over a period of months, the Theater has been the recipient of various and sundry promises that USO shows would tour this haven known as "the end of the line." Al Jolson started out, but went back with some dread disease that probably necessitated the use of a wheelchair upon his arrival in Miami. Joel McCrae got as far as the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and turned back because he suspected CBI audience reaction would not be suitable to his 14 karat talents.
  That caricaturist, Don Barclay, who was touring with McCrae, decided he didn't expect quite so much from his audience, so he continued. Joe E. Brown managed to drag his "fiftyish" carcass this far and put on a series of swell shows that wowed the lads in the weeds. A USO group of kerosene circuit performers, traveling under the direction of one Wesley Pierce, got off in India by mistake and finally made the grand gesture by putting on a show in Karachi. Afterwards, Pierce, as reported in a previous issue of this journal of enlightenment, raised hell because he was furnished American coffee and doughnuts and not Scotch and soda.
  It seems that most of these touring prima donnas either become critically ill or lose their ardor "to do something for the boys" while en route. This situation has caused various "brains" in the Special Service Division to do a little thinking. (We don't mean to infer that they have never thought before). This first product of this thinking was mined by the late Maj. Clark Robinson, who dreamed up the ATC show, Assam Dragon, which was a pip.
  This show covered India and is now making some on-night-stands in the Middle East. Upon return, Maj. John Nixon, Theater Special Service Officer, feels it should be offered to China. This show was such a success and the Hurry Up and Wait show, now touring the Ledo Road, was so good that Special Service said to hell with outside shows, and decided to dig up its own talent.
  Joe E. Brown and his crony, Harry Barris, were so impressed with a G.I. orchestra in Karachi that it was decided to take the band on tour. Called Swing Patrol, this organization is now in New Delhi rehearsing for a forthcoming tour. Capt. Melvyn Douglas will conduct this trip as an excuse to get out into the Theater and dig up more talent for more of the same. Should any of you feel you have any talents, be sure and give for the captain if and when he hits your area.
  The Theater Commander is sincerely interested in these shows and they are being organized as fast as his little body of hand-picked men in Special Service can do it. Lt. Leonard Bailey, assistant SSO for the 14th Air Force, is working on things from that end. The business will never be a complete success, however, if you G.I.'s hide your light behind a mango tree. If you don't bump into Douglas, write him a letter addressed to Special Service Division, Rear Echelon Hq., APO 885 (Delhi).
  There is plenty of latent talent in this Theater. Don't be shy. If you are a pretty hot sketch on a harp, write in. If you can blow Pistol Packin' Momma out of a cuder jug or play a musical saw or recite Shakespeare or do any other damn thing, write Douglas a letter. His mail has been pretty light since he left home.

The C.B.I. Roundup is a weekly newspaper published by and for the men of the United States Army Forces in China, Burma, and India, from news and pictures supplied by staff members, soldier correspondents, the United Press, and the War Department. The Roundup is published Thursday of each week and is printed by The Statesman in New Delhi, India. Editorial matter should be sent directly to Lt. Floyd Walter, Rear Echelon Hq., U.S.A.F., C.B.I., New Delhi, and should arrive not later than Monday in order to make that week's issue. Pictures must arrive by Sunday and must be negatives or enlargements. Stories should contain full name and organization of sender.

JANUARY 27, 1944

Original issue of C.B.I. Roundup shared by Ruth Canney, widow of CBI veteran John Canney.

Copyright © 2007 Carl Warren Weidenburner

TOP OF PAGE     PRINT THIS PAGE     ABOUT THIS PAGE

SEND COMMENTS     ROUNDUP HOME PAGE