Evening star., 1943-07-26
Nv John GUNTHER,


WITH THE BRITISH 9th ARMY
IN THE FIELD, Sicily, July "a (By
Wireless).-I have worked in many
news rooms during the past 20 years,
but never before have been in any
so strange as the one here. We are
in a deserted stone cottage on the
edge of a rocky field, the only "hab-
liable" building for miles around.
One side was blown in during a re-
cent bombardment. the stone is
cracked and charred and all the
windows are out.
Only one room in this cottage can
be used and it's about IA feet square
and Uttered with jagged hunks of
rock. There are only two tables,
each considerably smaller than the
American card table, and two rickety
stools where an amiable public rela-
tions officer and his censor work.
But every one gets along well to-
gether. haven't spotted frayed
nerve yet.
Transport Top Problem.
This all goes to show that the art
OF human relationship is one of the
most difficult but one of the most
rewarding OF all the arts.
My first day with the 9th Army
went something like this:
We landed at about $50 in the
morning after an uneventful trip in
the moon-brjght Mediterranean wa
ters AS we tied up to a busy dock
we could hear the soft, fiat thud of
heavy guns long way off We had
been without news since the evening
before and We wondered If this bonn
bardment meant our forces were
taking Catania.
1t seems the first problem for
covering this kind of war Is one of
transport, and through the courtesy
of two British brigadiers who came
here on the same boat with me we
found an open truck, without
windshield, and drove off toward
headquarters, dropping the officers
en- route.
1--WE copped it here for fair last
night" said the driver. The Ger
mans raid this town necessarily.
We prodded through the town
and were smartly directed by an
Italian traffic cop in shiny black
boots and an exaggeratedly hand
some uniform. He was still armed
with a pair Of carbines and when we
stopped he came up to US and
Saluted.
Vanquished Enemy Friendly.
My companion asked, Where is
army?" He didn't ask where is the
army, but just army" meaning
headquarters.
And it was an odd sensation to
be directed there-more or less-by
friendly enemy who had Just been
vanquished.
We drove through fields heavy
with dust and scraped past lemon
trees in orchards. The eficient
British have the place beautifully
organized. There are neatly let
tered signs saying, Visitors and
Enquiries" as If 1t were bank in
London.
Suddenly the chauffeur pointed
upward and we saw a dogfight,
though the visibility was very poor
against the burning sunlight. The
sound Of the cannon on the British
plane was exactly like that Of a
very quick succession of horses
hooves trotting on dry pavement.
We saw bursts of ack-ack and
heard the enemy plane zoom down
in a power dive but couldn't see
what had happened to it or the
British plane.
After checking in at the press
room we took a jeep downtown and
got comfortable quarters at a sea-
side hotel. The first italian to whom
I talked had spent rs years in the
State of Maine, and he was de-
lighted at the way things were turn
ing out.
You'll get it here tonight" he
said pointing to bomb craters and
pulverized buildings near the harbor.
At lunch we met some Of our COL
leagues and caught up on the news
and gossip, and heard-as USUAL
couple of new stories about Monty"