The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-02-05

oIdzu DulBe, anu
equidistant from American and
British air bases on the southern
coast of the African bulge. It's Sc
lection as a rfueling base for the
Air Transport Command came, in
fact. after the generals running the
ATC wished that they had such a
halfway base, then looked at a
map to see that Ascension Island
was right where they wanted It,.
With auxiliary fuel tanks, fighter
planes could make the South At
lantic crossing In two hops, easily.
But the island was British pos
session. That meant making deal
with the British, which proved far
easier than the next obstacle en-
countered-the fact that the island
was volcanic, with 2SOO-foot Green
mountain rising in its middle, an
extremely irregular lava rock ter
rain cut by deep gorgeS, and no
place level or big enough for an
airport. That did not stop the en-
gineers who were given the job of
building a field in 80 days. Eighty
seven days later a minor peak that
loomed up in the middle of the run
way which the engineers mapped
out, had been removed. And in its
place was a beautiful, 70O0-foot,
hard-surfaced landing strip that has
accommodated hundreds of Amer
lean planes on their way to the
fronts.
SECRET" PUBLICIZED
Use of Ascension as a q. s. air
base has been one of the Army'S
worst-kept secrets. When Gen.
George c. Marshall's biennial report
was issued last summer, it revealed
that U. s. troops were then sta
toned in some 80 foreign countries
and island possessions. On a map
accompanying the report, showing
where all these places were, the
name of little Ascension stood out
prominently in the South Atlantic.
A legend indicated that o. S. troops
had been stationed there since
March, 1912.
Everything in the Marshall report
was supposed to be off the restrict
ed list and on the record, but eff
forts to learn more about what
went ON at Ascension met with flat
refusals. Ascension was supposed
to be very hush-hush operation
and the Air Transport Command
didn't want anything said about It.
Even though the Marshall report
had lifted the lid and even though
anyone looking at a map could
guess what it was being used for,
still even the simplest announce
ment about a q. S. base on Assem-
sion had to be kept secret"
Then. few days ago, lunch
eon-club speaker in Washington, in
full possession Of all the facts, talk
ed freely about Ascension and said
1t was all right for the story to be
told, without attribution. That's
how it got out. The Air Transport
Command is issuing a hand-out re-
lease about the island later in the
month, to coincide with publication
of a magazine article which tells
all in greater detail.
DEBATE INEVITABLE
But this won't be the end of the
Ascension Island story. Being an
other one of these American-built-
paid for and maintained bases on
British territory, it will become a
topic for argument in deciding its
postwar use. The strong national
list point of view Is that all such
bases, wherever built, should re-
main as American bases. U. S.
built military air bases at New
foundland. Bermuda and other
points involved in the swap of old
destroyers to the British will re-
main under the American flag dur
ing the 99-year least, but cannot be
used for commercial aircraft.
Some of the leading commercial
airline executives are of the opin-
ion that this is unimportant because
most of these bases are not on
what will be the commercial post
war air routes. Ascension Island,
before the war, was certainly no
great asset, except for millions of
terms and sea turtles who went there
to lay eggs. Its human population
numbered 300, mostly living in the
one community of George Town.
But it's an important air base
now, and It's no longer a secret, and
what's to be done about 1t and the
hundreds more like it, in the post
war by-and-by, is free topic for
debate.