Image TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage Tile
Image size: 4608x6656 Scale: 35% - PanoJS3
Page overview thumbnail

Article text

Personal Equation
T HREE important per
sonages have recently
been revealed in their
true colours.
They are General Joseph W.
Stilwell (U.S. solUer), Odd
Nansen (son of the Norwegiaa
statesman and explorer) and
Thomas Skelton (Irish adven
turer), and thanks to enterpris
ing publishers readers will have
immediate access to these
works in Perth libraries.
"The Stilwell Papers" have
been arranged and edited by
Theodore H. White, with an
introduction to the British edi
tion by Major-Gen. J. F.
C. Fuller and a dedication to
Madame Sun Yat-sen. General
Joseph W. Stilwell, known as
"Vinegar Joe." was the senior
General Stilwell and a Chinese general study Japanese positions in the Burma jungle. Help
General Stilwell and a Chinese general study Japanese
positions in the Burma jungle.
American commander in the
India-Burma-China theatre of
war during 1942-44, charged
with the important task of
organising the supply of Ameri
can war materials and of keep
ing China in the war against
Japan. He was recalled to the
United States in October, 1944,
because of his strong criticism
of General Chiang Kai-shek's
attitude towards the Commun
ist forces which at that period
were allied to the National
Government of China in the
war against Japan. General
Stilwell died shortly after his
recall and these notes and let
ters are the record of his
struggle and of his achieve
ment. There are maps and
original illustrations to help the
context. Macdonald and Co.
Ltd. (London) are the pub
lishers.
"Day After Day" has been
prepared by Odd Nansen, son
of Fridtjof Nansen, famous in
adventure and in politics. He
is an architect by profession
who, during the German occu
pation of his country, was
arrested as a hostage and in
terned first in Norway, and
later at the notorious concen
tration camp at Sachsenhausen.
Throughout, Odd Nansen kept
a diary on sheets of drawing
paper, hidden in hollowed-out
bread-boards. Then bit by bit
the diary was smuggled to
safety. The author reveals the
weaknesses of his fellow
prisoners of war under an un
scrupulous conqueror and, on
the other hand, he points to
occasional bravery and almost
martyrdom. His study of the
invading gaolers uncovers no
excellences at all. He con
firms the German capacity for
sadism and he shows that their
boasted efficiency is mostly a
myth. This work has been
translated from the Norwegian
by Katherine John and it con
tains unusual photographs. In
his explanation Odd Nansen
writes: "This book is a diary
and makes no claim to be any
thing else. I was in the habit
of keeping a diary, so it was
natural to continue after my
arrest on January 13, 1942.
Paper and writing materials
were the last things I put in
my knapsack before going off
with the district sheriff and his
henchman, up in the mountains
at Gausdal." Putnam and Co.
Ltd. (London) are the pub
lishers, and Hicks, Smith and
Wright (Melbourne) are the
distributors.
"Clay Under Clover" de
scribes how Thomas Skelton.
descendant of a family associ
ated with Carrickfergus, in the
north of Ireland, for over a
hundred years, spent his time
after the war, in which he
served as a flight lieutenant.
When a new factory was to be
built near his home the author
took on labouring work, which
lasted a year, sometimes from
8.30 a.m. to early next morn
ing, for seven days a week, and
then he would take up the pen.
In introduction he writes: "So
I introduce myself, and enter
this as a Latchico at Wood
burn. A Latchico, I should
explain, is a name which is
not given meritoriously for
work done or services rendered.
Rather is it a prefix often
applied to labourers or navvies
who dig holes and generally do
anything which no-one else is
paid to do. Few trouble them
selves to write of the gallant
army of the pick and shovel,
so I must do it myself--an
untutored Latchico. This is
good entertainment, full of an
Irishman's fun. Victor Gol
lancz Ltd. (London) are the
publishers.
$