Vol. 1, No. 40 Published by India China Division, Air Transport Command October 25, 1945
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Men Eligible for Discharge As of Oct. 1 To Be Put on Stateside Orders by Nov. Division To Place All Men with 24 Months Overseas in Replacement Depots in Oct., If Centers Can Hold Them Hq., Calcutta - All ICD personnel eligible Oct. 1 for separation from the service, with the exception of comparatively few "stragglers," will be on orders to go home by the end of October, the division personnel section predicted this week. In addition, ICD shipping quotas are available to enable the division by the end of the month to place in replacement depots all men with 24 months' service, provided these centers can accommodate them, which is an unknown factor at this time. Since Oct. 1 temporary delays have developed because of changes in shipping schedules, causing replacement depots to overflow with personnel. As soon as boats arrive to relieve congestion, ICD will get a fair proportion of space to move its delayed men, it was reported by A-1. More Comfortable The only eligible men left behind by the end of the month, according to A-1, will be those who should get orders in accordance with division policy but who, for such reasons as absence from home bases because of hospitalization, get missed in the administrative application of policy. These "stragglers" won't total more than about 500, it was said. Because of bottlenecks at replacement depots, ICD is postponing scheduled closing of some bases in order to keep men at their home stations where they will be more comfortable. Total time required for leaving the theater, however, is not altered by remaining at one's home base. Get Break One factor which causes an apparent disparity in treatment of personnel from various sectors of the division is that men from China, Assam, Bengal and the rest of India all are sent to different replacement depots. Their departure from those centers depends entirely upon shipping at that particular place. Lucky breaks play an important part which ICD cannot regulate, it was pointed out. Because of a replacement depot bottleneck affecting Assam personnel in October, there will be about 400 persons delayed in their departure. Recent closing of China bases required that the division send 1,000 men to Kanchrapara, approximately 700 of them 60-pointers. These men will get a break by beating those in other parts of the division with 60 points, but the China shutdown will lighten the load of the entire division and permit release of personnel in India as well. Eligible for separation in October are GIs with 70 points - including radio operators - and those over 35 years of age, as well as officers with sufficient points to meet requirements under AAF letter categories and the point system. No Quota Yet From V-J Day through Oct. 17 a total of 12,586 persons left the division. By Nov. 1 it is expected that about 21,500 will remain in ICD. Of these approximately 13,500 will be ready to move in November, as separation eligibles with 60 points or as "surplus" personnel. There are approximately 3,000 60-point enlisted men, A-1 estimated. Although as yet, there is no numerical quota for November from I-B Theater, it is believed certain, according to personnel officials, that it will be sufficient to move the 3,000 60-point GIs and eligible officers. Total shipping quotas for the whole theater will be about 50,000 spaces, but not even this figure is firm, it was stated. ICD expects to get its proportionate share of that number. Theater is making every effort to obtain as much shipping as possible. Radio Ops Too When 60-point and 24-month men eligible in November and "stragglers" eligible in October have been moved, then surplus personnel could be released if quotas were sufficient to close additional bases. The division has urged COs to follow the policy of releasing first those with longest overseas service. It was pointed out that persons in CBI are getting a better break than those in Europe and the Pacific where thousands of men with 80 and 90 points still await transportation to the States nearly six months after V-E Day. To date ICD has kept up with its policy of releasing men as soon as they are eligible for discharge. The only exception was in the case of radio operators who had to be held longer. They, too, are being released now if they have sufficient discharge points, A-1 asserted. |
By S/Sgt. Bill Graham Canton - Seven years of Japanese occupation have scarred the face of Canton and left an indelible mark on the minds of its peoples. The flag of the Rising Sun has become no more than a trophy in this city where hundreds of the banners of free China are like bright flowers that bloom from atop tall buildings, on official automobiles and on the sampans in Pearl River. But the carbon-copy record of war remains. The once fine shopping district near the international settlement at Shameen is a gutted mass of crumbling stone. Naked fingers of jagged, smoke-blackened concrete and brick are a reminder of the coming of the Japs in 1938 when Chinese set fire to Canton city. Overflowing Hotels The bombings destroyed little other than factories on the outskirts. But even today a low-flying ATC plane causes the Chinese to stop in the street with apprehensive looks to the sky. And when the plane drones on peacefully the rickshaw coolie and the man in the street turn to each other with broad grins. During the occupation Canton lost more than one-quarter of its two million population. But now the refugees are beginning to return. Everywhere business is booming as never before and every hotel is crammed to overflowing. Americans, including ICD's 32-man detachment which lives at the 14-story Oi Kwan hotel, have ceased to be a curiosity in most parts of the city. The crowds which once followed them on shopping tours are absent. And with their increased knowledge of Cantonese they have discovered that history has bred a strong anti-foreign feeling among some of the Chinese here. On the streets many times they hear the shout, "White foreign devil!" In other shops Chinese refuse to sell to white people. Dumped Goods But those with this hate for the Americans form the minority. Elsewhere the Yankee good nature wins friends, and the Yankee dollar has spoken with thunder loud enough to drown out any discordant note. Shops bulge with a quantity and variety of goods such as natives of Canton say never before existed. Several months ago the Japs, near the end of their financial rope, dumped all the confiscated goods in Hong Kong on the Canton market. As a result silk merchants smoke their long pipes behind mountains of brightly-colored cloth, show shops are overflowing and cosmetic and liquor counters are swamped with wares long absent from Stateside stores. For a price you can get almost anything. Nylon stockings sell for $20 American money. Every known brand of whisky is in stock and prices range from $10 for Schenley's Black label to $24 for Grand Parr. However, Americans, fleeced many times by rice wine in Johnny Walker bottles, stick to the beverages bottled by the Japanese. Diamonds are cheap and experts say most of them are genuine. The best blue-white stone of a single carat was quoted at $100 gold and a seven-carat diamond was on sale for $1,200. Back to Normal Prostitution is one of the biggest businesses in Canton today. When a man checks in at a hotel he is asked, "With or without a woman?" even as in the U.S. he might be asked, "With or without a bath?" The girls, most of them Chinese, spent the occupation living with Japanese officers. Life is fast getting back to normal. The New Asia Hotel, which since 1938 billeted the Nip army, is being reopened this month. Bridges between here and Hong Kong are being repaired. Lingnan University, which operated on a limited scale during the war, is preparing to resume its full peacetime program. On nearby islands the Japs are interned. But many still rove the streets of these places. Officially they have been disarmed, but soldiers wearing their samurai swords stroll about. Their overtures to a visiting American (though few actually go out to the islands) are polite but in no way reflect the attitude of a conquered people. They attempt to fraternize by inviting Yank soldiers to dinner, but they do so with an obvious display of equality. Canton has not had an easy life during the war. But in no way could its fate be compared with the sufferings of other Chinese cities. Those with money continued to live well during the occupation. The Japs for the most part were strictly disciplined during their stay. And food was available in reasonable quantity. Contrasted to this is the poverty of nearby Macao where the Japanese cut off all supplies. Mice became a delicacy and Chinese killed dogs in the streets and ate them without cooking. At one of the leading hotels human bones were found in the garbage and the story is told by hundreds of how actual human flesh was served in the dining room. |
Annie Anopheles won't live here anymore, if the pilot of this B-25 has anything to do with it. The pilot gave Hastings Mill ICD headquarters a good
buzz job recently, to spray the area with DDT insecticide. The plane barely missed chimneys and water towers as Lt. M. L. Blakemore caught this shot.
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There's a "gay-ninety" touch about this luscious-looking Hollywood lass, and her newest picture as well. She's Adele Jergens, a Columbia star, and
her latest release is "She Wouldn't Say Yes." A gal with curves like hers (ooh, those enticing black-mesh hose) could say "no" and still hold our
interest!
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1306 BU, Karachi - Amateur archaeologist and jungle-explorer on the side, Pfc. Zita Machinsky, who works in the base photo lab here, picked up
this interesting fossil while on DS at Jiwani. Everybody said it was a whalebone, and who are we to disagree?
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"But, Darling - don't you have any OTHER postwar plans?"
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| Military transport schedules over India for cargo, personnel and mail . . . maximum tonnage of essential war materials over the Hump . . . movement of troops and supplies in support of tactical operations in China . . . evacuation of the sick and wounded - these are the missions of ICD-ATC. |