Evening star., 1943-07-02
Execution Of Flyers
Put Grim Fight Into
Ahu Attackers
By WALTER McCALLUM.


American port of embarkation for
combat on the little Aleutian island
OF Attu, but they really got their
dander up when they heard via
radio en- route to Attu that the Japs
had executed some Of the American
flyers captured after the Toxic raid.
You could see it in their faces"
said 1t. Col. Keith Ewbank, an
Army artillery observer, just re-
turned from Attu. The men went
around the ship looking pretty
grim. Some Of them began sharp
ening knives and bayonets. We
knew the Jap was going to get
severe pasting on Attu when he ran
up against these men. He did"
The record shows only "a Japs
captured on Attu against more
than 1900 killed.
Only now has Col. Ewbank gotten
the mud and CRIME of that fog
shrouded, bleak volcanic island
from his knees. Like other Ameri-
can soldiers in the Attu attack, he
Topped in the mud and CRIME Of
the sub-Arctic tundra, keeping be-
low the hail of Jap bullets.
Praises Navy Work.
I'VE didn't mind getting dirty"
he said. But the dirt was hard to
get out. spent days working it
out of my knees. We had to keep
down in the mud or get shot"
Col. EWbank has the highest
praise for the troops who did the
Attu job, and for the Navy, which
handled the conveying and landing
operation.
The Navy was wonderful" he
said. Our supply problem was
really tough. Because of the ter
rain and the mud, the usual vehicles
were useless. A few jeeps were
landed and used on the beaches by
military police, but in the tundra
even the tractors stalled in the mud
and had to be pulled out. Every
thing We had in supply-ammuni-
ton and food-had to be packed in
by manpower.
I'VE had the c and K Army ra-
tions and they were good But as
long as the Navy had vessels Off
shore In Massacre Bay, where we
landed, they sent hot food ashore
And don't think that wasn't good
In that cold, wet country"
The returned observer said Amer
ican troops on Attu have become in
doctrinated with the idea propound-
ed by Ground Force Commander 1t.
Gen. Lesley J. McNair.
Jap Sentries Tricked.
Our troops had one idea" said
Col. Ewbank 1T was kill Japs' and
kill more Japs' There were no
sissies on Attu.
There was a red-headed infantry
lieutenant there who did a great job
He was an officers candidate school
graduate. in his early 20s,
red-headed boy with a lot Of in
itiative ard ingenuity. He had a
crack platoon of men who'd go
through hell and high water with
him. His, name was Long and he
hailed from California.
"One night, somehow, he got hold
of the Jap countersign, and led his
platoon into the enemy sentry line.
He tricked the challenging sentries
and with his platoon killed an entire
Jap group OF Is men. That boy was
good. He was typical of the type OF
young officers on Attu. But he was
lucky. He had learned a little jap
anese."
Col. Ewbank reiterated what
Americans found in Guadalcanal;
that the Jap is punk rife shot.
His Arisaka rifle has fired sights.
They used the usual sniper tech
nique on Attu, and tried to flank
American attack groups, shooting
our men in the back as they ad-
vanced But American soldiers had
been we'll coached in that technique
and know what to do. 1T was In
dian fighting, in small groups" said
Col. ETbank.
Some OF cur markSmen were
wonderful. saw one man shoot .
Jap at 1000 yards and kill him with
one shot. On another occasion the
distance between one OF our ret1e-
men and a Jap that he had shot
was found to be 900 PAGES. about 8UU
or 900 yards. Rife craftsmanship
certainly was useful there. Most or
our shooting was at medium and
long range, between 200 and 500
yards. In that sort of thing the
accuracy of our rifles and the
craftsmanship of our men were far
superior to those of the Jap.
Through the binoculars one day
! discovered Jap machine gun
placed deep in the tundra grass. Near
our position was one OF our 81 nm.
guns. Probably We could have wiped
out the enemy gun. But Long and
his men were on another toray. They
were about 100 yards from the gun,
f1anking it and we didn't dare shoot
cannon. Longs men killed the Japs
and captured the gun. We have some
good troops up there. Id be happy
to serve with any or all OF them.
Japs Well Equipped.
'Some of our men didn't know the
sound of bullets. They said: Listen
to the birds sing. (There were birds
on AttuD But they soon learned
those birds were bullets. and their
singing was death. Personally, I
didn't mind getting down in the
mud when the birds began to sing
The Jap was we'll equipped for
the fighting in that foggy, cold is
land. He had rubber boots and good
clothing. So did we, but it was hard
to keep your feet dry; almost i'm
possible One American general, so
close were the general officers to the
firing line, had the stock Of his
carbine shot by the enemy. We had
fewer casualties when the men were
moving than when they were still.
That war up there was pretty
uncomfortable. Fog, mist. mud and
cold. You couldn't keep dry. Water
and snow everywhere"
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