Evening star., 1944-08-27
BY Walter Me- cCallurn,
Star War CORRESPONDENT.


There are SO many wpnderful things
surrounding the chore Of becoming ad-
justed to q brief visit home from the
war front 1t Is easy to settle for any
of them. They're all wonderful-the
freedom from bombing, the feeling of
peace and security. the knowledge that
you don't have to have handy foxhole
and that there won't be any robot bombs
overhead this afternoon. The people
are living more or less normal lives.
and look 1t. They have no strained
look about the eyes. their clothes are
new and good, and they appear as If
they ate regularly, and slept well.
Sure, had read and heard over the
radio (sometimes a captured German
radio) of strikes in this country. If
there's one thing that gripes frontline
soldier down to his toes it is strike for
a dime an hour more, but in the main
we in the combat areas know the Amer
ican people are sound and put their
backs behind this war, decrying strikes
and any interruption Of the war effort.
Furthermore in France We saw the end
result Of that effort in the form Of so
much war material that it will, COM
bined with the bravery and battle savvy
of our troops and their leaders, over
whelm the German.
The prisoners were impressed with
the war technique Of our men, and
perhaps even more with the quality and
amount of the battle material we are
putting on every front in this war.
Despite strikes and anything else we
may have in the way of domestic trou-
hles we are getting the stuff where 1t
hurts the enemy most. And that, after
all, is what counts.
Out of the Dark
Many things impress a reporter back
from England and the battle area in
France. First, and probably foremost.
are the lights. We had groped our way
for months through blacked-out London,
had barked shin or two against side
walk distractions, and once had fallen
down an areaway. We had used the
torch (flashlight sparingly, when the
constable warned us glimmer of light
was showing, and we had thought long
ingly of the brightness of American
cities. But we were not prepared for
the flood of light that is Washington
at night in wartime. 1t is wonderful
that light. I wonder what London will
be when the lights go on again.
That was one thing, but another, and
quite as wonderful, was the quantity of
goods on sale in the shops Of the Cap
ital. You really should take a turn
through Selfridges, or Marshall g. Sell
grove or some of the other good stores
in London and compare their stocks
with those in the better stores in WASH
ington. You would then worry less
about what the stores here don't have.
Those London stores have very little,
by comparison. Combs and other such
articles are sold at the American post
exchanges in London We've had Lon
doners ask us (almost on bended knees
to get them some of the things at those
post exchanges. OF course, we couldn't
do it because of regulations.
Black Markets Flourish
London has its black markets, appar-
emily permitted by the government. OK
ford street teens with little curbside
stalls where you can, If you watch
sharply, buy a comb or pair of gar
ters (sock suspenders to the British).
But the sock suspenders have no elas-
tic in them and the combs break at q
touch. The combs which sell for Is
cents here go for 10 cents in London
Most Of the combs available are no
good, although they look nice on the
shelves.
The third thing that impresses a re-
porter back from the fighting front is
the casual way in which automobiles
are driven (private automobiles, I mean !.
In England you only drive car if you
have essential gasoline for essential pur-
poses and that means essential and
nothing else. In combat area you
drive in an Army vehicle and nothing
else. If you go few yards out Of the
way in London you are liable to fine
for wasting gasoline But here (and I
don't know how they get the gas) people
seem to have plenty Of mileage.