The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-03-12
Every Report Of Action
Mentioned Fog, High
Winds And Sleet
THE ALEUTIANS

4lllS 10 ol1OlAlS1 Vi A6 a. GAS1So
titled Where Are the Yanks?"
The series has been prepared
by the National Geographic
Society for The Wilmington
Star-News to inform readers
about the regions where Amer
lean service men are station
ed An article appears in the
Wilmington Star News each
Sunday.
By The National Geographic Society
If the Yanks in the Alel.tian is
lands wanted to boast, they might
say they fought and conquered
the Japs with one hand tied be-
hind them. The ted hand was
busy battling nature in war the
alter that has few equals in physi-
cal discomfort.
Virtually every report of action
in the June, 1912, to August,
1913, tug-of-war that followed the
Japanese sneak landings at the
western tip of the chain-mention-
ed fog, wind and sleet, driving
rain and sudden blizzard.
The Aleutian Islands string out
thousand miles of stepping stones
from the Alaska mainland toward
northern Asia. Attu, at the end of
the line, is farther west of Port
land, Oregon, than Portland, Ore
gon, is west of Portland, Maine.
On a flat map the position of
the Aleutians is deceptive. Al
though they appear far to the
centers of power. they actually lie
between Japan and northwestern
United States. The American base
at Dutch Harbor, near the east
ern end of the group, is about 40
miles south of the shortest pos
sible flight route from Tokyo to
Seattle.
The Aleutian chain made a bat
tlefield that was freakish ev e n
among the fantastic fronts of this
worldwide conflict. 1t rises from
the sea in five main sets of is
lands-rugged volcanic formations
of fire and ice, contrasting scenes
Of desolation with green and flow
ering fields. The group has been
called "America's Garden of Fire
works" Behind the mists a n d
fogs that usually obscure the is
lands is unrolled panorama
which includes active volcanoes
crowned by swirling halos of
smoke, boiling springs, creased
and tumbled lava beds.
Disappearing Islands are a curl
GUS feature of this turbulent vol
canic region. 81 k-in-the-box"
Bogoslof has exploded at times
into two and even three sections.
Once it "blew its top to throw
ashes on settlements so m S
away.
The Aleutian area is a winter
weather factory where rain, snow
and violent storms are ''manufac-
tured for export" to Canada and
the United States. Cold on the is
lands is not severe despite the
northern location. Their unpleas-
ant dampness and fog result from
the meeting of warm ocean cur
rents from the south and the icy
waters of the Boring Sea. Especi-
ally dreaded is the "WilliwaW, :"
a sudden, fierce wind that often
sweeps out of the coastal noun
talns with hurricane force. 1t may
wreck planes, capsize ships, and
scatter piled lumber as If 1t were
match sticks.
Military oper atoms in the Aleu-
tians were complicated by the re-
gion's peculiar hazards for sea,
land, and air traffic. Naval sklr-
mishes have had to adjourn be-
cause of fog. Bombers, timing
their blows by careful weather
charts, played hide-and-seek with
the enemy, as fog and other ele-
ments favored first one and then
the other side.
Pilots, now on routine patrols
are still plagued with low ceilings
and high winds, poisonous gases
and tricky air currents that may
rise from volcanic craters. Spongy..
Doggy ground, rolling hills covered
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
BUY WAR BONDS AND
10 70 Ct