Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1943-11-12
Eisenhower in
Sicily
(WNU Feature-ThrouPh soeciaI arrangement
with Golfers Weekly
By IOhn Gunfher


l went ashore on Sicily with Gen
eral Eisenhower. The first landings
had taken place only 43 hours be-
fore, others were still going on. We
had little information as to the prog
ress of the fighting, but soon it be-
came clear that the war was very
close.
An American cruiser was auuut
mile offshore. 1t began to bark.
First flash, then crack, then a
whish of shell, finally the echo plung-
ing back from the drear Sicilian
hills.
The rate of firing increased, and
another officer, American, said:
"They must be on to it now"
We saw fires quite near. l asked
an officer when the Luftwaffe had
been over this harbor. He replied:
Constantly"
Our destroyer had picked up four
German aviators from the water the
night before and brought them in.
They had been on life raft 80
hours. A British lieutenant, naked
to the waist and with shaggy black
beard, said: They were pretty
popped. We almost chucked one of
them over"
Later the Germans were brought
on the deck of the destroyer, and
shown the prodigious display of war
ships steaming past. One German
said: 81 don't believe it. 1t can't
be true" He had swallowed whole
the Nazi propaganda that the British
Mediterranean feet had been sunk.
Eisenhower wanted to visit Sicily
as soon as possible after the inva-
sion, for several reasons: to confer
with Hewitt, Patton and his other
officers, to see for himself how
things were going, and particular
ly to salute the Canadians who we're
associated with the British and
Americans in a big-scale operation
for the first time.
He stood on the deck and watched
the shore flow along beside us and in
conversation he constantly stressed
the Allied nature of this tremendous
operation, expressing his apprecia-
ton in the warmest terms of the
Exquisite coordination achieved
by all. He talked about how Cum
bingham, Alexander and Tedder,
each working perfectly on his own
sphere, assembled the whole ma
chine into action with consummate
efficiency while he was only Chair
man of the Board"
Before this, I'd met Eisenhower
two or three times, attended several
of his press conferences, and been
extremely impressed by this officer
(only lieutenant colonel a couple
of years ago. who was now in ST.
preme charge of one of the great
est, most complex operations in mill
tary history.
Friendly and Direct.
He is solidly built man of medi-
UNI height, with sandy hair, big fore
head and freckled face. He has one
of the widest, most mobile grins
imaginable. His manner is direct,
simple, friendly.
You get the sense from him that
he's very sure of himself and knows
his own worth. But his informally
and his modesty are intensely
genuine. He's the least stuffed
shirted general l ever met. All his
colleagues admire his enormous
tact. He had never had concrete
battle experience in the fiels till last
November, yet found himself an
pointed superior to veterans like
Alexander and Montgomery.
But he quickly proved himself
real strategist with the final vic
tory in Tunisia. Now he has won
not only the respect of his subordi-
mates but this affection. Though he
likes to call himself chairman of the
board, he is much more than that.
He is perfect co-ordinator, capable
of vigorous, decisive action. He is
very shrcWd, as anyone can tell on
listening to his conversation, de-
spite his tremendous mOdesty. He
tries to keep in the background as
much as possible, always stresses
his responsibility to Washington and
London, and even refuses to let cor
respondents dateline anything as
from General Eisenhower Head
quarters. He insists they use the
term "Allied Headquarters.
Eisenhower went to the Philip
pines with Macarthur in February,
1885. He returned to the United
States in January, 1910 He was GER
tain war was coming, but thought it
would strike US from Europe first.
'Alarmist Ike
Friends kidded him, called him
"Alarmist Ike" He went to work
in the Third Army at San Antonio.
From there he was called to Wash
ington, after Pearl Harbor.
Eisenhower is as sound as can be
on the essential strategy of war and
speaks from experience of the COM
parativc danger from the Germans
and the Japanese. He knows we
must beat Germany first for the
most elemental reasons. and he is ID
solutcly firm for Anglo-American
solidarity.
Just after ten in the morning, we