Evening star., 1944-06-05

sswboId No,ss, Jr. slammed this re.
markable vehicle into second gear
and hunted the intruder out of line
You are learning some of the
finer points of duck warfare" he
said. Occasionally, somebody tries
to muscle in-I believe that's your
phrase-and you have to give him
the business
We rolled gently on the blue Med
iterranean waves by the side of the
ship waiting for our turn beneath
the cargo net. Noel let the motor
idle and sighed contentedly.
ITS a ruddy night out here" he
said. This is the best side of this
war"
Ducks Have Plenty to Do.
The ducks which did such superb
work during the early days of the
beachhead still have plenty to keep
them busy. 1t is their job to shuttle
from ship to shore about half of the
cargoes which come into Anzio har-
Dor. They make about six round
trips day between the ammunition
and supply dumps and the ships.
: Despite frequent spirited bouts of
"duck warfare" British and Ameri-
can ducks work side by side in eff
cient harmony. They take the jobs
as they come along. In our case a
British truck is carrying ammuni-
ton from an American ship to an
American dump. Noel has made
good friends among many of the
Americans up here. The men OF
one of our antiaircraft units are
hilleted next to the English duck
drivers and they visit each other
personally.
I'VE have beer which they seem to
appreciate" Noel said. They have
fruit which we appreciate. 1t is a
most cordial relationship"
1t is amazing to see on the way
out to the ships how completely
amphibious these machines are. l
had supposed that a complicated
process of conversion would be nec-
assary before we were ready for the
sea. Not at all. One by one the
ducks left the highway, crossed the
beach and into the water. Some of
the leading ducks had their propel-
lers turning while they we're still
on dry land.
viii Do 50 Miles an Hour.
AS soon as they were afioat they
chugged off in the direction of the
big ships riding at anchor. When
our turn came Noel simply pushed
one lever which put our wheels into
neutral, pulled another lever which
started the propeller and away we
went in second gear on land. If
you're in hurry the thing will do
SO miles per hour.
We seemed to roll around a good
deal and I asked Noel how the
ducks behaved in rough weather.
They are wet" he said, "but re-
liable. They have been known to
sink but only when they are old and
have sprung a leak. They do not
handle easily because they slide
around quite bit. The principle of
these things is simple enough-you
can see continue to drive her ex-
actly like car 1t is possible to
back up. With experience you steer
just as you do on land but your
rudder is inclined not to take very
much notice of it,
Other ducks coming back from the
ship passed us on the way and Noel
waved to all the drivers and all of
them waved back.
Noel Likes His Job.
Noel likes his job. Before he got
this duck he drove truck. He says
the duck, which has a body by
Fisher, rides more comfortably on
land than does the ordinary British
lorry. His first assignment was to
drive overland from Sousse In
Tripoli. After he and his buddies
had had little practice in the
water, they loaded an anti-tank gun
on duck and then loaded the duck
on an LIST bound for Salerno.
The first time saw a duck was at
Salerno. was standing on a corner
watching the military traffic roll by
1t was raining. On the opposite
corner an Italian girl was standing
under an umbrella waiting to cross
the street. Its sides still dripping
salt water, came duck named
Ben" The American boy who wa.
driving it, catching sight of the girl
stoop up and made a deep bow
tremendously doff1ng his helmet.
Two minutes later the girl was
still smiling. For all I know she
may have been smiling at the duck