Evening star., 1943-03-22

"a iJ-H'tt Dp+it titlf Nttl tkdNBl III
/ this country without getting COM
plcteIy lost and eventually having
/ to appeal to the mercy of the resi-
dents to keep from starving to
death
Even if the Germans battered
down the dctenses and succeeded
landing in force, it would be only
matter OF time until they were so
bewlGered by the twisting, winding
roads, bypaths, news. closes. no
/ entry streets and the like that they
would swap their machine guns,
/ gTeuadea and tanks for road map.
such p map OF course would only
/ ado to their confusion and bring
utter dlscord into their ranks be-
cause the English road map shows
( everything else on earth but how
( to get from one place to another.
Good Enough for Fathers.
I The English road map was orig
/ nally designed BY a man who had
I had 10 years with a carnival, en-
. craving poems on the heads of pins
/ or on grains of rice, Tiring of this
/ cor 50 the story goes) he decided to
/ 90 III for engraving even smaller
/ things. So he did road map.
/ Times have changed since then and
! so have the roads. corners and turns
/ but the map Is the same. If 1t was
/ good enough for our fathers, say
/ the British, it is good enough for us.
/ This column is being written
/ somewhere on the side of a road
somewhere IN England. l am sitting
in a .JeeD driven by COrpl Joe Batch
ing of Texas and as l write the
| corporal is using a super strong
magnlfying glass and is studying
the map to see il he can find out
where We are. The corporal is also
using very strong words. You may
wonder why we don't ask passing
natives where We are We have
done that and found it to be a most
! fatal mistake. All the English are
very friendly toward Americans and
are happy to furnish directions but
/ the directions they give would make
| a homing pigeon lose its way.
/ Take the first turning to your
4 left" they say, but they don't ex~
plain they don't really mean the
first turning or even the second
one, being as they are such small
/ turnIngs, but 10 take the third turn
| ing which IS a big one. Or. they
will say, Just follow this road and
keep straight on it and it will lead
/ YOU directly there" That makes
! liars Of them because no English
road has ever been straight for more
/ than so yards and when it isn't
/ twisting like snake with
stomachache, it is joining six or
seven other roads at what is called
a roundabout" Roundabouts are
/ aptly named. You can go round and
round about them for hours without
making any progress save IN the
wrong direction
unsung Heroes.
The real unsung heroes of this
war are the men like Corpl. Batch
ing, who is from a country where the
roads are wide and Straight and
there is marker every mile or so.
They come to England and are
handed jeeps and told to start de-
Hverlng messages and materials to
officers all over the Landscape. They
must master the art of driving on
the right side of the road. They
must drive through fogs and the
deepest blackoutS. Nothing must
stay them on their errands. From
such places DIS Upper Dorking on the
tloy Fl0y to Lower Dorking on the
Same Same, they must travel as
fast as a jeep will go, which Is
plenty
Fighter pilots, tail gImnerS. fame
/ throWerS and Others get the glory
and the glamor. but G. I. Joes who
drive jeeps are overlooked. Not one
OF them will ever get a medal or be
mentioned III dispatches. When
/ they return to the States after the
war, their sweethearts, wives and
friends will not look upon them as
heroes and boast that they we're
jeep drivers no nearer the front
lines than Midland England, but
those OF us who have ridden with
them VIII always honor them tor
the dauntleSs souls they are.
Corpl. Batching has just informed
me that by. the use of the magnify
ing glass he has located our position
and that we are ready to take off.
He has promised that we will not
be lost again for a full minutes.
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