London Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 23, 1942, London, Middlesex                                Page 2the stars and stripes wednesday dec. 23, 1941 the stars and stripes daily newspaper of the . Armed forces in the european theater of operations. The stars and stripes is edited and published by and for the personnel of the . Armed forces in the european i Heater of operations printed by fhe times publishing Impf inv. Ltd., at printing House Square London e.c.4. Telephone Central 2000. Contents passed by the i a. Army and Navy censors subscription is 26 shillings per year. Staff . E. M. Llewellyn associate editor 1st it. H. A. Harchar associate editor 2nd it. J. C. A  editorial Board staff sgt. Russell Jones staff sgt. Robert Moora staff sgt. Ben f. Price sgt. Bud Hutton pvt. Mark Senigo and \ woman Tom Bernard. User. Vol. 3. No. 45. December 23, 194_ a a ush he a ass Jap conscription the japanese Are using a proportion of conscript chinese troops from Manchuria As Cannon fodder against the allies in the Southwest Pacific according to a recent arrival in chunking from the northeastern provinces. Others Are sent to Garrison duties in occupied c Hina but they Are not in general thought a a reliable a enough to be sent into action against their fellow countrymen. The puppet units who number altogether about 300,000 men Are always closely supervised by Small japanese units besides having japanese officers and a a advisers a Over them. Nevertheless there Are frequent cases of mass desertion and Mutiny and Many of the japanese attached to such units have been killed by the troops. Conscription of chinese in Manchuria is based on japanese methods. The country has been divided up into 11 districts and each District has a japanese conscription officer who has discretion Over All conscription matters. Conscripts Are trained by japanese and All orders Are Given in the japanese language. Discipline is strict at times terroristic and heavy punishments Are inflicted on the recruits at the slightest pretext. On rare leave periods and on japanese festivals the puppet soldiers Are dressed up in full War uniform to impress the civilian population and on such occasions even the surly japanese gendarmes Are instructed to a a Honor a them by returning their salutes. Outside their Camps they have some of the a a privileges a of the japanese Soldier in dealing with their civilian Fellows. They May demand free transport and use their discretion about payment for goods bought from chinese shops. Recently in Western Supeh among some 10,000 troops to surrender to the chinese were Many of these chinese conscripts. In fighting around Kinghwa the puppet 13th division and the 25th brigade have also surrendered to the chinese. The chinese smilingly remark the japs Are now training and equipping their new armies for them. Railroad records californians Oakland Tribune touches on a tender spot in hitlers War machine in a manner that deserves the attention of us All. Says the Tribune a a the Axis transportation system is stretched already beyond the breaking Point by the necessity of supplying so Many actual and potential fronts and by the daily pounding received from Allied planes. In contrast american railroads have never before performed More  this year american railroads will haul More freight than was Ever handled in a single year of their history almost a third More than was carried last year More than twice As much As was moved in 1938, the last year of peace. Trains will also surpass All previous a a passenger records a by doubling the total number of passengers carried in 1939. Brains and sweat have done this Job. Between the outbreak of War and october of this year management has increased the number of freight cars available by reducing the number of units awaiting repairs and has also duplicated a this procedure with locomotives. As a result we have had a Hundred and ninety thousand More cars and five thousand More engines in  in every Field of endeavour american labor and management Are cooperating to insure the maximum War Effort. The record chalked up by american railroads is a Good example of the result. It All spells a a Good news a for us and a a bad news a for the Axis. Sad talc of a big City pfc Jack Mcdonnell. Brooklyn n.y., making his first visit to London asked the waitress for a a seconds on butter. . He did t get it. I it a it a member of an armoured unit fighting in the desert writes Back that his Crew encountered a Guy in a bathing suit labelled a a lifeguard a strolling across the Sandy wastes. Still thinking it was a Mirage they queried a what Are you doing out Here in that outfit ? quot the stranger waved his hand nonchalantly commented a a some Beach he Bud and vanished. Here a one we dreamed about the other night. Hitler was talking to his favorite Stooge ii Duce the big bad bombast from Italy. Trying to get the Bald headed one to Send More italian troops to the russian front de fuehrer was rating a a but we Are doing twice As Well with the russians As we did last  a a twice As Good a a sighed Mussolini a a but two times nothing is still  it took pvt. J. Lipsman of an infantry unit Over Here to finally put the Finger on us. He writes a a now 1 know Why you Call your column hash Marks All your gags have done a hitch  yes yes Lipsman the older the gag the quicker we steal it. One Guy who is willing to give his country the very shirt off his Back is Farmer Robert Everhart of Urbana Illinois. At a Victory rally to raise Money to buy War Bonds Everhart offered to sell his clothes right Down to the last layer the proceeds to go to the fund. Everything was auctioned off swiftly and someone even bid $1,250 for Everhart s underwear. The rally took place in the town Square and rather than go Home a a barrel the patriotic Farmer bought Back his undergarments for $2,900 and Uncle Sam s Bond fund is now Richer by that a letter from new Guinea is Mem. Associated press in one of their rare moments of recreation . Officers play Badminton somewhere in the swampy new Guinea Jungles. Left to right they Are it. Curran l. Jones Columbus Ohio maj. Jack Berry Albany Ore. It. George a. Parker Riverside Cal. And it. Ralph Martin Detroit Mich. Yanks have grown Tough in Savage country sum. One of the quickest comebacks we be heard lately came from a Corporal belong ing to an artillery unit Over Here. As he entered a pub to join friends who had already gotten a table a waiter crashed into him and drowned him in beverage. Sitting on the floor dripping from head to foot he managed to say with a wan smile a a Well boys i guess the drinks Are on  j. C. W. A year ago Janies Eugene lout hers 26-year-old employee of a chemical factory in Boston mass., was working nights As a club entertainer in an atmosphere of Bright lights and music and Gay people. As a member of the National guard he was inducted into the regular army Jan. 16 and ims sent to Australia with some of the first units to go there from the states. Then he went to new Guinea where he has been recommended for the purple heart for action in the bitter hand to hand Jungle combat. As he says in this letter Home written for the new York times a a beards Are in style. And we Are Tough now and Savage like this Savage  by sgt. James e. Lowthers my pop used to say a a it looks like a White Christmas  i can Tell you one thing. It won t be a White Christmas Here. We have plenty of three things in new Guinea rain mud and japs. We can get rid of the japs but the rain and mud never. It is raining Here now lots of the Day and most of the night and we have to work sleep and fight in mud. Mosquitoes get worse All the time. It is no use trying to keep dry and clean in this environment but we Are getting used to it and concentrating on private Breger copy 1942. King features Syndicate inc., world rights reserved. The Job of getting the japs out of new Guinea. We Are making steady Progress at that. One thing that makes me feel Good about the outcome is the conduct of our officers generals colonels majors and ally when a scrap is imminent. Generals on firing line Only a few Days ago just before an attack was pushed off they were right with the lowly private at the jumping off Point. Everybody had a Tommy gun or Rifle some a few grenades. It seemed funny to see the big shots who did not have to be there getting ready to take a crack at the japs. It was no easy Job. The japs had been in these positions for months. They had reinforced machine gun pits with Concrete. Usually around the pits were snipers on the ground and on platforms built at various Heights in Trees. There was not any whistle to signal the Start of the attack but just the words a a o.k., lets go  we had not gone 30 Yards through the thick under Brush when the japs started firing. Everybody dropped and then started sneaking ahead on their bellies. Helmet saved him the fellow in front of me was hit. I hauled him on to a path As the medic went by and he gave him treatment.4 i started ahead but did not get far when everything went red and i am on my Back. My helmet has a Lovely crease in it and i m thanking Uncle Sam for making Good steel. We got the japs out and on the run until we hit another line of Concrete pits. Headquarters had a few casualties. One general got it through the Arm but he came away grinning. I guess we re going to miss the brightly lighted Trees and Holly at Christmas. 1 wont be there this Christmas but the following year yes sir. Christmas Over new Guinea i imagine will be identical with the previous night and the Light before that. In the Jungle All Active file ceases. Once darkness Falls we to move for that might mean a shot in Back. Wiped out bivouac in a Surprise attack at night a so time ago our boys a a went to town quot a Jap bivouac area. Because of the spot and precision of the push our casual were Low and Tojo had quite a few soldiers who will fight no More. The area was set afire and the Desola Tion that greeted our eyes next Tomim was appalling. Two japs had staved Side the buildings rather than face do avenging yanks. Their bodies remain charred and misshapen most of the Day until we could find a Hole to Bury then the americans who pulled this Ata were the same Fellows who a few Sha months ago were dancing and kidding girls shooting Dice and thinking nothing much but having an easy Pleasac life. Heavy beards in style we have changed. Heavy beards Are in style our clothe Are pretty filthy and broken Finger a and calloused hands Are common officers and men alike. Big Waistline have gone the Way of All flesh. Lonj gruelling marches through the Mountain and Jungles have taken care of that. We Are Tough now and Savage like the Savage country. We have Learned How kill. We done to like it but it is the business of War. Somehow it Only make thoughts of Home and the pleasant of Christmas All the Keener. Of Cour All of us want to be Back Home. But Christmas for us won t he a Day it yearning for things gone by hut the tis of greater determination to make a Jmc end of All this strife and hardship forces upon us. I sometimes wonder if a 4 callousness to death and life that weta1 acquired will change our desire for pleasures such As Christina i think so. By the Way a merry Christmas to from the new Guinea Jungle. % 1 in Force of soviet drive amazed nazis seized general admits Henry Shapiro United press correspondent in Moscow is now on the Stalingrad front where he has seen the russian offensive under Way. He is the first non russian Newspaperman to be permitted to cover a huge area of the front Between the Don and the Volga by Henry Shapiro United press War correspondent with the red army around Stalingrad dec. 22�?�?� the red offensive was so unexpected and so crushing it shattered All the plans of the German and rumanian commands. We a a put up your hands or i shoot a did not think the red army could mount a counter offensive this Winter on anything like such a  the speaker was a rumanian general captured on the Stalingrad front. 1 spoke to him of the terrific russian attacks which resulted in the trapping of 22 Axis divisions Between the Volga and the Don. To the Northeast bewildered hordes of rumanian prisoners trudged on their Way to prison Camps practically unescorted. I have seen something of the russian blows Over the past fortnight during which time i have covered a huge area of the front Between the Don and the Volga watching the steady and uninterrupted Progress of the red army towards the completion of the conclusive stages of the Stalingrad Campaign and the elimination of the 22 enemy d v. Hemmed in Between the Don Ana Volga. Stalingrad free soon i covered a vast Snow Mant Edfield of approximately 10,000 nue saw the red army in action note it tightening its ring around the forces but also thrusting Sharp 1 West and South barring enemy e2p the doomed divisions. Prisoners with whom i talked con the opinion the germans will or be unable to extricate the self the trap and face inevitable let Rren extermination. Maj. Gen. Chris Iankov Cut m1113. A the 21st russian army said conclusion of what May or vet0t most decisive Battle of the Var quot a a question of time. A unless there was some Chan could not be foreseen the gene/3�?~ let the full liberation of Stalingrad expected before Long Relea my a Able russian strength for use never since the beginning of. Been has such supreme Confidence a Vas about the immediate future is 4 ultimate future among the ranks0 red army. Fort during a drive which last co Days i passed endless car Fer motorized infantry pouring of a Al ments to the front often or path of thousands of rumanian p