India-Burma Theater Roundup - February 15, 1945

Identify Troops of Mars Force Under Willey

  FORWARD HQ., MARS TASK FORCE - The Mars Task Force swung into action again last week in a lightning pincer attack on Loi Kang and Kawnsang towns, where Japs had been holding out for two weeks.
    The Americans, aided by the Chinese 38th Division troops, achieved tactical and strategic surprise, stabbing at Japs in both towns, which are situated about 30 miles south of the Mong Yu junction of the Ledo and Burma Roads. Simultaneously they slashed at Japs on the hills overlooking The Road in fighting described by former Marauders now with the Marsmen as "the worst yet in Burma."
    By evening of Feb. 2, Brig. Gen. John P. Willey's troops had extended their perimeter nearly a mile south on Hosi Valley ridges overlooking The Road, gaining valuable positions to harass Jap remnants attempting to escape from the pocket.

ONE MILE LEFT
    Mars Artillery plastered The Road in a 24-hour barrage. To the north of the Mars perimeter, Chinese troops established a road block. Consolidation of American positions after two surprise attacks by Mars and Chinese elements left one mile remaining between them and Japs defending the village of Man Sak.
    The route taken by the Mars Force since they slipped into security silence following the Tonkwa engagement in mid-December can now be revealed. At the same time elements of the Mars Force including the 475th Infantry Regt., the 124th Cavalry, a Federalized national Guard Regt. now fighting as dismounted infantry, can be identified.
    The 475th is comprised of original Marauders, Marauder replacements from the North Burma campaign and new additions from the States. The 124th has personnel 25 percent Texan, the balance coming from every State in the Union.

INTO ACTION
    The 475th went into action first. Joined by Kachin Rangers near Bhamo, one unit hit for Shwegu, which it reached without opposition, while other troops established a tactical bivouac at Man Tha.
    An ambush between Man Haw and Mo-Hiang resulted in the first American casualties. Pvt Walter C. Mink was killed when he crawled out to aid a wounded buddy. Aided by Chinese troops, the Marsmen killed two Jap officers and 26 men, capturing two other.
    Japs were also encountered at Nga-O, on the Shweli River and one mile south of Kuga, where 30 enemy were killed at the cost of one American wounded. At Tonkwa, Mars Artillery, first complete American Artillery unit in Burma, went into action for the first time. At Mo-Hiang the Japs attacked again, our artillery bearing the brunt of the sortie. Here a battalion commander was wounded, with Maj. John Lattin of New orleans killing the Jap grenadier.

MARS IN HEROIC MOUNTAIN MARCHES

    By Christmas Day, advance elements had moved southeast between Tonkwa and Sakan. Relieved at Tonkwa by Chinese troops on New Year's Eve, the main body pushed out for Mong-Wi, about 45 miles away, leaving 190 Jap dead at the cost of 13 American lives. By New Year's Day the outfit was in bivouac in the Shweli River Valley. Another 10-mile mountain march brought them to Mong Hwak.
    On Jan. 3 air drops by C-47's of the 10th Air Force began, the last before Mong-Wi. By Jan. 4 the outfit was well up the 4,245-foot mountain. Next day they passed into Mong-Wi, in the northern Shan States, making another mountain crossing 4.596 feet high. Many men held on to the tails of the mules on the mountain sides.
    Jan. 6 the outfit was bivouaced outside a cemetery near Mong-Wi, partially destroyed by 10th AF bombings. Advance elements were over the mountain and only 20 miles from their objective - the Burma Road.

Capt. Shelly A. Swift of Salt Lake City, Utah, American medical officer with the Mars Task Force, applies the theory that a little iodine goes a long way in treating infection of a Shan child during a lull in Burma Road fighting.

TWO DAYS LATER
    Two days later the Artillery arrived from over the mountains, after plodding through torrential rain. Sixteen mules were lost enroute. Several days later the 124th Cavalry, which had followed the 475th south of Bhamo, then cut southeast to cross the Shweli River enroute to Kawn Song, had its own troubles with mules. On the 30th day of the march from Myitkyina, they lost 14 mules over mountains as high as 7,800 feet as the unit pushed on over a creek bed.
    On a narrow trail 180 feet above a small creek running through a ravine the trail gave way under the weight of a mule loaded with some 250 pounds of top load and saddle chests. The mule rolled 150 feet into the ravine. This mule, in company with two others who had suffered similar fates, was rescued unharmed the next day.
    The resuers were Sgt. Dave Moore, troop packmaster of Jacksboro, Tex., aided by S/Sgt. Amos martin, mess and supply sergeant and T/5 Polly Polling of bartlett, O. In combination with some Artillerymen they hacked a trail of steps one-half mile long up a gradual incline from the ravine to the trail. Another mule which had also fallen off the trail was left behind with a broken neck.

AT MONG WI
    Back at Mong-Wi other units were filtering in to comprise the force that would make the final push for the Burma Road. Lt. Richard Hawkins of Minneapolis, for Minnesota halfback arrived with a chicken perched on his pack, having fed it with cereal and oats until it fattened up for a machete operation. Another unit brought along a cow which meant fresh meat.
    Col. Wm. F. Osborne, Los Angeles, Cal., a veteran of fighting with Philippine scouts on Bataan early in the war, was named CO of the 124th, Col. Ernest F. easterbrook headed the 475th in a shift of commands. Other units were brought in for the mission to cut the Burma Road through a thrust at Hosi, thus helping secure the Ledo-Burma Road for convoy traffic, and at the same time cutting off the retreat of Japs who had fought at Mong Yu and were now retreating towards Lashio, 105 miles to the southwest. On Jan. 13, advance units pushed out in the final phase of the drive to the positions they now hold.
    The men were in good spirits, their morale high, despite the 22-hour forced march that lay ahead. They plodded for 11 hours over the mountains to HoPong, 13 miles away. Some marched by linking hands as they crossed treacherous bogs, swamps, creeks and precipices. By Jan. 17, the day they reached their positions, they had traversed 16 miles of mountain in 35 hours, with one two-hour rest period to break the march.

AT NAMHKAM
    At Namhkam, advance units of the 475th ran into their first Japs, when S/Sgt. Ernie Reid, an ex-Marauder, and S/Sgt. Chester Wilson, acting as lead scouts, flushed out a nest of Japs masquerading as villagers. Wilson fired a Tommy gun from the hip, killing the first Jap as he stepped from behind a tree. Reid killed the second one. To Wilson goes the credit for the first Jap killed by an American in the new Burma Road thrust.

Photographs, understandable the world over, are the center of interest as Pvt. Lewis R. Drew of Danville, Kan., shows his snapshot collection to hill-dwelling Kachins during a brief halt of the Mars Task Force, now battling to clear the Burma Road south of Wanting.

    On the 19th the battle for the Burma Road positions was on in earnest. The 475th had marched more than 300 miles to its objective, sometimes on short rations when airdrops failed, and traversing mountains as high as 6,700 feet.
    The 124th went into action on the 19th after a 279-mile march, travelling over four mountain ranges, including the 7,800-foot Loi-Lun range, and reached their objective south of Kawnsong on empty stomachs. Ahead of them lay a 1.200-foot climb up the steep side of the Hosi Valley, which they made without eating, when terrain again prevented an airdrop. They attcked their objective the next morning, one man going into the fight on a breakfast of vitamin pills, others eating Jap rice and biscuits after the attack.
    Between Jan. 19 and Feb. 7, which found the Mars Task Force perched on positions commanding the Burma Road, the outfit proved its mettle. Tired, unshaven, unwashed men, fought on the perimeter without water; others used mortar shell cases, canvas parachute bags, and ammo bags to haul water on their backs and by mule to men facing the Japs.
    Willey paid tribute to the men last week following the capture of Loi Kang and Kawnsong.
    "The Mars Task Force has covered the most hazardous terrain in Burma ever traversed by an American unit. A magnificent job of marching over rugged mountains, followed by an equally magnificent job of fighting. The morale is unbelievably high. They did, and are doing, a grand job and I feel very proud to command a unit of this caliber."

CONSTANT ACTION
    From the time the 124th first hit the Burma Road they have been in constant action. Pfc. Sam Hightower, Toomsboro, Ga.; James D. Ivy, Crosby, Miss.; Jack R. Munson, Baton Rouge, La.; Kenneth J. France, Cedar Rapids, Ia. and platoon Sgt. William Scott, Cleveland, Tenn., were the first on The Road by Jan. 20. They killed 12 out of a 19-man Jap patrol.
    Since then the outfit has improved its position despite Jap mortar and artillery fire. During the day the Mars Artillery shelled heavily with mortars and artillery. At dusk the Nips counter-attacked, after barrages.
    Meanwhile Mars patrols mined the Burma Road, set up road blocks with vehicles their artillery had destroyed. That's they way the fighting goes as the Japs are pushed towards Lashio.
    Portable Surgical outfits have done yeoman service. Frequently men fighting on the perimeter have been given first aid or evacuated from liaison plane strips under enemy fire. Sgt. Carl W. Hughes of Sheldon, Ill., made seven landings and departures in five hours under fire, taking out 28 men.
    Litter bearers, mostly Shans, are now working for rations and without pay. Led by Pvt. Albert W. Gomez of San Francisco and Pvt. John Keenan of Chicago, they expedite evacuations.
    That's the story of Mars to date. Since taking off from Myitkyina they have killed 783 Japs and taken a handful of prisoners. That word "handful" graphically illustrates how savagely the Mars Force has fought in its drive to cut the Burma Road.

'WHAT COMES NEXT?' ASKS GENERAL SULTAN

ROUNDUP STAFF ARTICLE - "What comes next?" The question was from the Theater Commander, Lt. Gen. Dan I. Sultan. It was in reference to the future activity of this Theater following the completion and opening of the Stilwell Highway, supply route to China. And here is Sultan's answer to our future operations and objectives:
"Having opened the land route to China, our mission is now to keep supplies moving over it. Combat operations will continue until the route is secure against any threat of enemy action. The Ledo Road will be constantly improved by new construction until it can handle maximum traffic.

STARS DOUBLE FOR EVANS

Lt. Gen. Dan I. Sultan, Theater Commander, pins two stars on Maj. Gen. Vernon G. Evans, his Chief of Staff, whose nomination for promotion from brigadier general was confirmed by the U.S. Senate this week. Evans has served here since November, 1943. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff School.

    "The beginning will be slow, mainly one-way convoys, delivering both supplies and vehicles that carry them to China. Initially, heavy non-flyable equipment will bulk large in traffic over The Road. Regular two-way convoys on schedule will probably be able to start this summer. Air Transport Command will continue to increase its already inspiring record for deliveries over The Hump.
    "We have licked the Jap in North Burma and opened land communications to China. Our most important mission will continue to be giving of maximum support to China. At last we are beginning to swing into full stride. Our work in the past has been hard, but our work in the future is going to be harder because of the increasing volume. Every vehicle, every ton of supplies delivered to China will aid in licking the Japs. That is our job, one of which we can be proud and one of which we have already proved we can do."
    Sultan, in reviewing the opening of the land route to China, paid additional tribute to the forces under his command for their work in making the accomplishment possible. He said the following: About combat troops: "Combat troops, including the Marauders and the Mars Task Force, but consisting mainly of our Chinese allies with American direction and assistance, cleared the road trace."
    About service troops: "Service troops, working long hours under difficult conditions, built the Ledo Road."
    About the Air Force: "The Air Force in support of both, gave tactical and strategic support to combat operations and performed miracles of supply and evacuation of casulaties."
    Rear Echelons: "Troops behind the actual area of operations contributed a great part to the opening of the land route. Base Sections One and Two unloaded ships and started supplies on their way forward."
    Moving of supplies: "Air Transport Command and the Military Railway Service kept supplies moving."
    The Theater Commander concluded: "Every soldier in the Theater had his part."

WAR CASUALTIES UP TO 764,584 TOTAL

WASHINGTON (ANS) - U.S. casualties last week were 27,242 in all theaters, it was announced this week, with the total for the Army and Navy now at 764,584. The Army has had 130,266 dead, 296,176 wounded, 91,476 missing and 58,878 prisoners. The Navy has had 33,192 killed, 40,248 wounded, 9,783 missing and 4,475 prisoners.

BRITISH FORCES ONLY NINE MILES FROM MANDALAY

  BURMA - British 14th Army troops were making progress against stiff Japanese opposition at Mandalay this week, with units entering Saye, nine miles across the Irrawaddy River from the city.
    Further to the north, dug-in Japs battled against the British bridgehead 65 miles upstream. The Nips were using tanks and artillery to aid their deeply-entrenched defenders who were fighting from pillboxes.
    As the Nips fought against the bridgehead expansion which at last report, was three and a half miles deep, another British force crossed the Shweli River near Myitson, northeast of the bridgehead, and threatened the Nips in the rear. British 36th Division troops had captured Myitson.
    Chinese First Army troops moving south along the Burma Road and to the east and west of The Road have reached the village of Mong Yu, while Chinese 50th Division troops continued patrolling east and south of the Shwelhi River.

JAP OPPRESSION TOLD BY BRITISH PENSIONER

  CENTRAL BURMA - Out of the upper reaches of the Mu River region in this hinterland of a hit-and-run war comes the story of a 74 year-old Englishman - deaf, weak-sighted, wearing a khaki coat and a felt hat. Infantrymen of an Indian regiment found the man - until lately the headman of a Burmese village - during a routine search of the area.
    He is John Davis Watts, formerly of Berkshire, England, and an Indian Army pensioner. His story is one of the strangest to come out of this war.
    Watts joined the Scottish Borderers in 1893 and after service in India went to Burma 42 years ago. Later he married a Burmese girl and they had two children. The oldest became a police official but died in his late twenties; the second, a girl, died when she was 12. His wife died two months ago in a North Burma village.
    When interviewed he said, "She died of starvation. She was only 56 at the time. The japanese gave us no food as we were suspects."
    All his misfortunes have failed to sour his outlook, and he spoke cheerfully of his early days in Burma. "I lived in Shwebo with my wife then," he said. "My pension of 25 Rupees was hardly enough so I bought a bullock cart and plied it for hire, living like that for nine years. It was an honest occupation and I am not ashamed of it.
    "The District Commisioner then gave me the job of headman in Wetto village," he continued, "and I held that job for 15 years." With pride he then recounted how he had organized life in the village.
    "I was happy there for I had a good home and all I needed. Then the Japs came and I went into hiding in the jungle for a time. When I returned I was suspected as a spy, placed under surveillance and given a suspect's badge which I had to wear."
    Watts went on to tell that he had not had an English meal for two-and-a-half years and that he lived on boiled rice and leaves. He was described by the men who found him as quite a character.

I-B CHAPLAIN PLACES CART BEFORE HORSE

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER - An India-Burma Theater Chaplain was going all out giving the G.I.'s the semi-annual lecture on the evils of sex.
    The bored audience stiffened to attention as the Chaplain said, "The woman I was living with..." Amid a wave of mirth, he blushingly corrected himself, "The woman in whose house I was living."
    Incidentally, the best line in the sex movie that is now current in the Theater is "If you ever go overseas." It never fails to draw a howl.

14TH BAGS 54 JAP PLANES

  HQ., 14TH AIR FORCE, CHINA - Approximately 54 Jap planes and 52 locomotives were destroyed by 14th Air Force fighters and bombers during the past week in raids on enemy railroads, airdromes and othe installations throughout China.
    At week's end, Maj. Gen. C. L. Chennault's scorecard showed the following: at Peipingseven planes, four locomotives; at Hsiancheng, three locomotives; in the Suchow area, 20 railroad engines; from Changsha to Tatung, 25 engines, one Jap bomber, and one railroad bridge. Most profitable raid of the week was a surprise sweep over Tsingtao airdrome, where 46 Nip aircraft were destroyed. From all missions, only three 14th A.F. planes failed to return.
    Official figures on January operations disclosed this week showed the 14th airmen accounted for 330 Jap planes, plus 48 probables, 343 locomotives, over 13,500 tons of shipping and 42 bridges.

C'MON
LITTLE
ANNA!
Aviation Engineers of the 10th Air Force have brought rear echelon comforts to the forward areas. In their bivouac area they have electric potato mashers, electric washing machines and Stateside style shower heads for cold and hot running water. The boys even have several revamped slot machines to fit Anna pieces. Above, hitting the slot machines, are left to right, First Sgt. James Cleveland, Sgt. Nick Muscato and Sgt. Louis J. Dalphone. The CO of the outfit, Captain Jean Pressler, is given credit for bringing the above listed equipment to the boys.

Baylis Relieves Williams as I-B Surgeon Chief

  INDIA-BURMA THEATER - New Theater Surgeon of India-Burma is Brig. Gen. James E. Baylis, who relieves Col. Robert P. Williams, returning to the States after more than three years out here.
    Baylis says he regards this Theater "as one of the most interesting of all overseas assignments, especially in the problems of preventive medicine and curative treatment."
    A native of Hattiesburg, Miss., the General is Regular Army and has served 33 years in the service. He came to this Theater from Ft. Lewis, Wash., where he had set up and headed a new Medical Training Center.
    One of the surgeon's first key jobs was as commanding officer of the base Hospital at Camp Shelby, Miss. Then he became Assistant Surgeon of the Philippines Department, with headquarters at Manila. He served there from 1934 to 1936, then went to Washington, D.C., where he joined the Plans and Training Division and became Executive Officer of the Surgeon General's Office.
    In 1939 Baylis took over as surgeon of the Fourth Corps Area, with headquarters at Atlanta, Ga. In 1942 he was appointed commanding officer of the Medical Training Center at Camp Robinson, Ark., and was commisioned brigadier general Feb. 13 of that year. He was appointed commanding general of Camp Grant, Ill., in Oct. 1943, also heading its Medical Training Center.
    Baylis is a graduate of Mississippi State University and Tulane Medical School at New Orleans. He served a two year medical internship at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. He has attended the Command and General Staff School at Ft. Leavenworth and the War College during his career.

AACS Huntsmen Find Elephant 'On Rampage'

  AACS HEADQUARTERS, ASSAM - Elephant hunting is all right for elephant hunters, but for five thoroughly convinced men of this outfit the only elephants they want to see are the trained variety back in Ringling's three-ring circus.
  It all started when M/Sgt. Newt Johnson, Sgts. Bob Becker and Jim Gates, Cpl. Harold Covington and Pfc. Paul Stacy were quietly minding their own business along one of this area's remote jungle roads sometime after dark. Moving along the road, in a slight drizzle, the lights of their weapons carrier flashed over several smashed native huts and uprooted trees. It was obviously the destruction wrought by an elephant on a rampage, and Becker mused, "It would be funny if we ran into him."
  Seconds later, as they rounded a bend, their lights picked out the huge beast crossing the road. Covington, who was driving, slowed down to give the elephant plenty of time to cross. The elephant lumbered majestically toward the jungle, and Covington warily eased the weapons carrier forward.
  As the vehicle came abreast of the elephant, it turned, reared on its hind legs, and emitted a roar the likes of which never came over an AACS amplifier. Covington put his foot down on the accelerator, and the elephant came charging after them "with ears spread out like an L-5 about to take off."
  Covington pushed the accelerator down to the floor, but a governor kept the weapons carrier down to 35 miles-per-hour. As the truck careened along the one-lane road, the elephant gained until it was only 20 yards away. The AACS men had a couple of Springfields - not particularly noted for their effectiveness against elephants - but Becker remembered that a lumberman at a nearby camp had once told him that a shot fired over an elephant's head would invariably startle and stop him.
  The shot was promptly fired, and the elephant came to one of thos abrupt, skidding halts familiar to anyone who has seen a Disney short. The weapons carrier rounded another bend, and the huge beast disappeared from sight. When, a few hours later, the group had to backtrack down the same road, they were not slighted when the elephant failed to put in a repeat appearance.

Lt. Gen. Dan I. Sultan, India-Burma Theater Commander, speaking at the ceremonies which marked the first convoy to China, at Wanting. His speech was translated into Chinese by Gen. Sun Li-jen, commander of the Chinese First Army, who stands at the right of Gen. Sultan. Behind and to the left of Gen. Sultan are Gens. Pick, Davidson and Chennault. Marshal Wei Li-Huang, commander of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, is behind and immediately to the right of Gen. Sultan.

Brig. Gen. Lewis A. Pick, who led the first China convoy, speaks at the ceremonies which marked the arrival of the convoy at Kunming. His speech was translated by Col. Yee Fu-de, public relations officer of the Chinese First Army (right).

15,000 TRUCKS DUE
ON STILWELL ROAD

  WASHINGTON (UP) - An estimated 15,000 American-made trucks will rush enlarged supplies of food and war material to China over the new Stilwell Road, announced Foreign Economic Administrator Leo T. Crowley this week.
    He visualized a centralized transportation system - the first in China's history - and said American technicians will aid the organization to make "more flexible distribution inside the country."
    Crowley added that the new program also plans completion of a 2,000-mile pipeline from Calcutta into China. He stated that Chinese will also be trained in the U.S. for technical work, with 69 having arrived this month for instruction.
    In addition, several power plants will be sent to China, Crowley promised.

CHINESE APPROVE 'STILWELL ROAD'

INDIA - The Roundup this week is in receipt of a letter from one who signs himself a member of the Chinese Army in India. He wrote the following on naming the overland supply route to China "Stilwell Road." "The naming of Stilwell Road is welcomed here by all members of the Chinese Army in India. They would have all voted for this name had it been submitted to a plebiscite."

ATC Smashes Hump Mark With Ton A Minute

  CALCUTTA - The India-China Division of the Air Transport Command announced this week another record-breaking accomplishment during the month of January when its Skymasters, Commandos, and Liberator Express cargo ships lifted approximately 44,000 tons of freight - the equivalent of better than a ton a minute - across The Hump to China. A China-bound aircraft crossed The Hump every two-and-a-half minutes during the period.
    The January tonnage was more than twice the mark set in July, and more than three times the cargo hauled in January, 1944, according to Brig. Gen. William H. Tunner, Commanding General of the division.
    The old Burma Road carried less than 20,000 tons of freight at its peak.
    A new and impressive feature in the ATC record-smashing performance is a regular direct-from-Bengal service, recently inaugurated to relieve the sorely pressed Bengal-Assam Railway.

BOMB RANGOON IN HEAVY EAC SWEEP; SOUTH BURMA HIT

  ROUNDUP STAFF ARTICLE - Complete air support of Allied ground forces and harassment of Japanese bases and communication lines continued this week as B-29's of XX Bomber Command attacked Rangoon and the area of Southern Burma.
    B-24's of the Seventh Bombardment Group and RAF Liberators of Eastern Air Command had earlier raided Southern Burma and struck at enemy supply lines in Siam. The 24's did extensive damage to the Burma-Siam Railroad, 125 miles northwest of Bangkok. Photographs showed two direct hits.
    The attack was personally led by Col. Harvey T. Alness, Group Commanding Officer, while Lt. Col. William B. Kyes took the second flight over the target.
    The Liberators bombed Khao Hunagang, newly-built supply port on the western side of the Kra Isthmus.
    The 12th Bombardment Group destroyed a bridge at Pyinyaung on the Thazi-Heho railroad and knocked out another bridge at Thazi. Three other bridges were damaged.
    More than 300 tons of bombs were dropped on Japanese defensive positions along the Irrawaddy River by B-24's and Liberators. Objectives were in the Chank, Yenangyaung, and Twingon areas.
    Early in the week, 10th Air Force planes subjected Lashio to one of the heaviest air bombardments of the war in this Theater. More than 150 sorties were flown by 10th AF B-25's, fighter-bombers of the 80th Fighter Group, another fighter group and B-25's of the 12th Bombardment Group.

MEDICS' NON-COM FEEDS, DRESSES BABY OF KACHIN

  MYITKYINA - Cpl. Chester Stewart of a Portable Field Hospital operating in the forward areas with the Mars Task Force has a two-year-old son in the States, but he didn't know that he would have to act in the role of a father over here.
    A Kachin woman, with an eight-week-old baby was recently injured by a shell fragment. She was operated on and is recovering. But her injuries were such that she could not nurse her child.
    Stewart was not daunted. He improvised a feeding vessel out of a plasma bottle and a nipple out of the rubber top of a medicine dropper, fastening it on with adhesive tape.
    He daily feeds the baby with a combination of sterile solution of Pet Milk, water, dissolved vitamin tablest, and sugar. The Unit Surgeon Lt. Col. W. W. Hiehle, reports that the baby is thriving on the Stewart diet. The baby's getting fat, Hiehle reports.
    In addition, Stewart has achieved a new height in Burma cradle styles, with colorful clothes combinations for the infant, made from parachute cloth combined with stockinette gauze, which is used in applying plaster casts.
    Stewart has other tasks besides his medical chores and care of the Kachin child. He is the unit barber and has improvised a still for making the spirit that cheers!

Ceylon Dhobis Being Taught Lesson By G.I.'s

KANDY, CEYLON - The guys - and some gals - hereabouts wonder why native laundrymen insist on waging personal war on all garments entrusted to their care. With that in mind they've tossed together the following definition for the unenlightened:

DHOBI - A native jungle laundryman. Specifically the man who beats the buttons off G.I. shirts, brings them back with gaping holes and frequently, with fresh unaccountable stains and mysterious, irritating fruit-juice laundry marks which give the wearer "dhobi-itch." One who abuses clothes unnecessarily, washing those intended to be dry-cleaned and drying those which ought to be be washed. The man you see at roadside streams, flailing G.I. clothes against rocks. A flagellator of good garmets. Woodchoppers turned washermen.

    The whole system got on the nerves of one group of fellows here, and they solved the problem for themselves by doing their own washing, using soap instead of strong-arm tactics.
    As members of the South-East Asia Command Signal Battalion's one and only American-style laundry on Ceylon, they take great pride not only in its existence, but in its results. Their clothes actually come back clean and without jagged holes, missing buttons and betel-nut stains. What's more, they pay less than half as much as formerly.
    Approximately 300 bundles a month are handled in the basha-hut G.I. laundry, according to Pfc. Nate Pessaroff, master-mind of the project. "The whole set-up is run on a self-service basis," explains the New Jersey laundry mogul. Pessaroff owned a string of dry-cleaning shops before doffing mufti, but he has had no previous experience in the dhobi-competition business.
    Pressers use large Ceylonese charcoal irons which spout smoke as they assist in daily operations. The queer implement is about a foot high, 10-inches from fore to aft, with a six-inch beam. It is built like a stove with an air flue in the stern and a mesh grating within, upon which cheap, specially-treated coconut shells burn.
    Pessaroff's project uses 500 pounds of soap monthly. The hired help live in the shop and help guard it.

KANCHOW LOST BY U.S. AIR FORCE IN JAPANESE THRUST

KUNMING (ANS) - The 14th Air Force announced this week that another American air base at Kanchow had been abandoned due to advances by the Japanese ground forces. Kanchow is 50 miles southwest of Suichwan, abandoned earlier, as was the field at Namyung.
Troop carrier planes evacuated most of the personnel and equipment while fighter pilots flew their own planes away from the advancing Japs.

Uncle Joe Gets DSM Cluster, Legion Awards

WASHINGTON (ANS) - Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, Commander of the Army Ground Forces, received the Legion of Merit and the Oak Leaf Cluster to his Distinguished Service Medal in a ceremony here this week. Secy. of War Henry L. Stimson presented the awards to the general for his "exceptional" record in CBI. High ranking War Department officials attended the ceremony.
The Oak Leaf Cluster citation recognized "the tremendous magnitude and complexity" of Stilwell's achievement in directing the Ledo Road, new overland supply route to China. The Legion of Merit was for his "unfaltering and devoted constancy of purpose and untiring zeal in all phases of his numerous responsibilities as Commander of CBI."

Here are two offspring of Maj. James G. Collins of NCAC Headquarters. The picture was sent in by Mrs. Collins. At left is Douglas, age two, and right, Skipper, age four. The picture was taken near their home in Rahway, N.J. The uniform material was sent from Burma.

  "This is most likely nothing more than 'maternal ego,'" writes Mrs. James G. Collins from Rahway, N.J., "but I thought the officers and enlisted men (of the I-B-T) might enjoy seeing junior replicas of themselves in uniform - I think they look cute." Roundup thinks so too, hence the picture of Maj. and Mrs. Collins' two sons, Skipper and Douglas, sporting the tropical uniforms their father sent them from Burma. A third son, Robert, being only eight months old, is a bit too young to don a uniform. Besides being the father of these "troops," Maj. Collins is also an Engineering Officer at NCAC Headquarters.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  The boys at one Assam bas are still snickering over a recent "orientation lecture" delivered by their newly-arrived commanding officer, fine and true, but filled with a "this-is-it-men" spirit. Said the gold-leafer: "Men, we're only a few minutes from the nearest Jap air base, so I think it wise that we construct slit trenches. Now, I've never seen a slit trench, but I understand they're "six feet deep!" Not a word was said.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  S/Sgt. George Tener, deskbound warrior, is strutting proudly around the First Troop Carrier Squadron these days. At a special ceremony, his CO presented him with the Paper Clip Cluster to the Typewriter Ribbon for "meritorious service and unprecedented devotion, without thought of his personal safety and possible loss of sanity, in battling against A.R.'s, T.O's, T.E.'s and T.A.B.'s."

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  First Sgt. Edward C. Day, Mother Hubbard of an Air Service Command Assam base, may go down in history as the kindest and most thoughtful top-kick in this or any army. On a recent Sunday morning, day gently woke up each man in his barracks and asked if he would like breakfast in bed. It was no joke, for back came the Sarge, lugging trays of fried eggs, toast and coffee.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  Wing Commander Michael Lowry, pilot, and F/O G. Stevens, navigator, of the Eastern Air Command, spent eight hours and 20 minutes in the air on a recent reconnaissance flight in Burma, covering more than 2,350 non-stop miles without pausing to eat. Record or not, it's a long time to go without food.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  After pinning decorations on all 22 members of his AACS outfit at Myitkyina, Lt. Col. Jess R. Gurthrie has finally received a Bronze Star Medal himself "for meritorious achievement in connection with combat operations in the Burma campaign.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  The Bronze Star has also been awarded to Cpl. Thomas J. Sweeney, who held down the thankless job of First Cook for Col. Phillip Cochran's Commandos after they had taken their first airstrip in enemy territory. After Jap planes had demolished his kitchen, Sweeney stayed on the job, handing out rations and vitamins.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  The Roundup has located everything from false teeth to size 14 shoes for various G.I.'s and now Lt. Robert J. Schoeppner writes in requesting our aid in finding an accordion. The lieuetenant says he used to play the squeeze box back in the States, and now he's "deep in Burma's jungles," he's lonely. So if you have an old accordion stuffed away in a barracks bag, drop Schoeppner a line. He'll buy it. His address: Co. B, 4th Engr. Regt., APO 689.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  Troop Carrier planes of the 10th Air Force have just completed one year's operation of the "Meat Run," a mission designed to keep forward areas well supplied with fresh meat. Nearly 2,000,000 pounds of steaks, roasts and other fresh meats have been flown to the guys "up front" during the past 12 months. Recently Sunday ice cream was added to the menu.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  Metropolitan Opera Star Lily Pons, Conductor Andre Kostelanetz and an all-soldier ochestra were a "big hit" with a British and American audience at a 20th Bomber Command base recently. After an entertaining performance, Commanding Officer Col. W. H. Blanchard presented Miss Pons with a lei of flowers, for which she showed her appreciation by kissing the blushing colonel on both cheeks.

*           *           *           *           *           *           *           *
  Latest publication to be born in the I-B Theater is Monsoon Motors, a monthly magazine edited by the Ordnance Section. Appealing chiefly to G.I. drivers and mechanics of all vehicles, the magazine will attempt to improve driving and also first and second echelon maintenance "by giving explanations instead of quoting orders." Contributions and suggestions from G.I.'s should be addressed to Monsoon Motors, Ordnance Section, Hq., I-B Theater, APO 885.

The Roundup is a weekly newspaper of the United States Forces, published by and for the men in Burma and India, from news and pictures supplied by staff members, soldier correspondents, United Press, OWI, and Army News Service. The Roundup is published Thursday of each week and is printed by The Statesman in New Delhi and Calcutta, India. Editorial matter should be sent directly to Capt. Floyd Walter, Hq., U.S.F., I.B.T., New Delhi, India, and should arrive not later than Sunday in order to be included in that week's issue. Pictures must arrive by Saturday and must be negatives or enlargements. Stories should contain full name and organization of sender. Complaints about circulation should be sent directly to Lt. S.R. Rose, Hq., U.S.F., I.B.T., New Delhi, India. Units on the mailing list should make notification of any major change in personnel strength or any change of APO.

FEBRUARY 15, 1945

Original issue of India-Burma Theater Roundup shared by CBI veteran Howard Sherman.

Copyright © 2006 Carl Warren Weidenburner

SEE A PORTION OF THE THE ORIGINAL

TOP OF PAGE PRINT THIS PAGE ABOUT THIS PAGE SEND COMMENTS

PREVIOUS ISSUE CLOSE THIS WINDOW NEXT ISSUE