COOL AND FIRM

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3270, 31 May 1943, Page 7

COOL AND FIRM

COMMANDER IN N. AFRICA AT ALLIED HEADQUARTERS LIEUT.-GEN. D. D. EISENHOWER A close-up of the Command-er-in-Chief in North Africa. In Africa, as in London, he handles his hard job coolly, firmly, quickly, writes Frank L. Kluckholn in the New York Times Magazine. As chief of the Allied campaign in North Africa, Lieut.-General Dwight D. Eisenhower probably has had the most, difficult job of any United Nations commander—and he seems to thrive on it. Besides heading the Anglo-Ame-rican force, whcih entails an involved task of co-ordination as well as making far-reaching military decisions, the 53-year-old Second Front commander has had to handle a complicated political situation in a territory where politics always has been a prime factor, where the Arabs in addition to, the French have to be considered. He has overseen sea operations of perhaps un- ! equalled magnitude and directed the re-arming of the French armies in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. This is obviously a 24-hour job, and while all the troops get rest periods the commanding general has had no day off since long before November 8, when American troops in a surprise landing took Casablanca, Oran and Algiers. Yet the Eisenhower of to-day is little changed from the Eisenhower who planned this huge undertaking in London. .Still Canny In this colourful area of tumbled deserts, mountains and green valleys, of Arabs in striped costumes and French troops in multi-coloured garb, including even scarlet capes, his simplicity and matter-of-fact way of dealing with issues and making decisions are more impressive than if he had a dashing loquacious manner.

It is still the canny Kansan who sends tanks into battle near the heart of Hannibal’s Carthage, who works out sea plans with Admiral ’Cunningham of the Royal Navy, who, incidentally, outranks him,, for naval fighting in seas where Don Juan’s galleys fought. Amid present surroundings, wielding vast power, it would be easy for Eisenhower to change. Under him are scores of general officers. The difficulties of fighting on long lines of communications are enough to fray the stolidist temper. Yet “The Boss” remains modest and deals quietly but rapidly with issues, letting nothing ruffie him.

Although his military genius remains to be fully proved by final results of this campaign, General Eisenhower has shown some of 'General Grant’s qualities in action. He knows exactly what he wants. Officers who, like + he paratroop leader, Colonel -Edson Raff, of New York, do a good job, are promoted and given wider powers. Those who make serious mistakes, as a few leaders have done-, are summarily dismissed, but without table-pounding oi' histrionics. No Hesitation The Allied commander does not hesitate an instant in making major decisions. When French North Africa fell far ahead of schedule, it was Eisenhower who made the decision to rush into Tunisia with a light force to try to capture Tunis and Bizerta before the enemy could consolidate his position there. When that rush failed within sight of the Tunis suburbs he methodically went about building up a force sufficient to the job. Nowadays commanding generals of large forces —in more than one army —are not front-line battle leaders, whether their names be Eisenhower or MacArthur, except under most exceptional circumstances. To carry that point further: Rommel commands actively only because he is a tank expert technically in charge of

a corps. The commanding general here in North Africa has all of the responsibility, all of the headaches, and little of the fun. Eisenhower visits the front occasionally, but it is one of his private complaints that he can’t just stick to military operations and let the rest go by the board. As it is he spends most of his time well behind the lines, ordering supplies, conferring with the field commanders, seeing -French generals and politicians and arranging civilian affairs. Briefly, besides- heading a military front and an operational sea war, he is a sort of temporary viceroy over a territory it has never -been simple to rule. . The loss of life in this war is relatively light compared to the last, but it would cost more lives if the Com-! mandcr-m Chief a political

blunder than a military blunder, strange as it may seem. “Lack of Front” Some military men are intense disciplinarians; Eisenhower is not, although he insists upon discipline. Watching him about headquarters the salient fact which strikes everyone is his “lack of front,” his quiet ability to get along with people. .. Instead of isolating himself at meal times, he eats in the large hall of the huge building taken over for his headquarters and he demands no punctilio at the dinner table.

Two things protect General Eisenhower from any untoward results of his natural democratic instincts: his natural dignity and the knowledge on the part of every official, of his. command that he demands results, that he is not interested in “politiking” and is not impressed by suave talk. Every one knows he is “The Boss.” There is no doubt that he is proving himself a superb administrator. He knows how to pick a man to do a job, and then to delegate authority. He is an expert in relieving an officer’s dejection over some development as well as in curbing the over-enthus-iastic. If an officer at the front shows signs of faltering, he is quickly replaced. Headquarters is always startling to one who has been at the front a relatively long period. Its tranquility is strange after the roar of guns and zoom of planes. Its relative cleanliness and comforts are in sharp contrast* to the mud, cold and lack of simplest facilities at the front. Up there one gets all the passion 5 ’ of act-

ion as well as the fine camaraderie but loses one’s perspective. At headquarters one is able to view the day’s happenings dispassionately, to piece events together, fitting the parts into a pattern for action to come. That is what General Eisenhower does. He is a man who, while sending out relays of observers and listening’ to them, makes his own decisions. When he goes to the front he takes the same risks and undergoes the same hardships as the private soldier.

Typical Arrangement Let’j see how he lives. He has shifted headquarters several times since operations started and probably will do so again. Yet the present arrangement is fairly typical. At present General Eisenhower is quartered in a white, Moorish-type house with two bedrooms, two baths, a dining room, a living room,, equipped with a fireplace and a music room with a leaky player piano. From his living room the furniture has been cleared in order to provide seats in front of the fireplace. The floors and walls, which has points of discomfort since the previous owner removed all the rugs except one in the living room and one in the general s bedroom. When the Commander-in-Chiei moved in there was no water, no gas and no black-out arrangements. The fiist night it was necessary for the general to use only the one room which had shutters. After tuat the bedding rolls and blankets of tne staff, wh.ch was billeted in* comfortable hotels, were employed in order to black-out the windows. With the general as his constant compan on Is Lieat.-Coui-iUH-xx*

( Harry Butcher, U.S.N.R., his naval aide, who sleeps in a child’s bedroom with the general’s Scotty. Lieut.General Mark W. Clark, General Eisenhower’s deputy, has the other real bedroom. General aide, Major L. B. Meecham, who has the maid’s room, is the only Frenchspeaking member of the intimate military entourage. Sergeant' Michael McKeough, of I Corona, L. 1., is the general’s personal orderly. Private Henry Clay Williams, who served table 12 years- in the Baker Hotel -at Dallas-, is his waiter. Corporal John Moaney, of Cambridge, Md., and Private John Hunt, of Petersburg, Va., complete the roster. Early Riser General Eisenhower rises before most of his staff at 7 o’clock. He reads the overnight messages from - the battlefront, the War Department i I and other sources. There are mess- , ages requiring his personal decision, i others having been dealt with by the ■ staff. -Some of these always are from ; British Major-General Anderson, who • directs the operations of the mixed ; ' Anglo-American First Army in Tunr I isia. General Eisenhower’s telephone i by his -bed occasionally rings during > ■ the night, but only with the most • I urgent messages. The general gets to his office • around 8.30- and begins a round of conferences. He calls his small, ill- ; fitted office “Grand Central Station” since it has three doors and despite ’ the efforts of the staff some one is always entering. Admiral Cunningham; Major-General Carl Spaatz, his air adviser; French officials and British liaison officers are always popping in from all sides. The general lunches at his table in i the main dining room at 1 or 1.15. Afterwards he' gets out orders or communications' for the front and the | combined -Chief of Staff in London i and Washington. Then he receives I callers —like Major-General George S. ' Patton, junr., who has just been front, or Major-General Jimmie Doolittle—an average of perhaps 50 per-

sons a day. He goes home at 7or 8 o’clock. Few Formal Entertainments When he leaves his office at night General Eisenhotver takes home to dinner his immediate aides and l usually some French and British generals. Dinner, which lasts usually until 10 p.m., has more of a business than a social aspect. He retires early and sleeps soundly. His only relaxation is work. . *

In Africa he has followed, his invariable custom of avoiding formal, entertainments. He has had only two here, one for the French commander in West Africa with a return engagement which led to French West Africa’s joining the United Nations. General Eisenhower can be a diplomat on occasions, but he to be a soldier.

Eliminating jealousies in the services and smoothing the irritations natural to allies since the world began is part of General Eisenhower’s job. -He doesn’t do this over the dinner table but in personal contacts where he excels. “Ike can grin at any one and make him feel good and more than half of what ever trouble there is disappears,” one aide remarked. . General Eisenhower has grown with his job, but he remains essentially the same—conscientious, daring and careful, at the same time making use of his life-long study of war. For him Africa and. what it leads to is merely a military - problem. He is fighting the war to beat Hitler; he has none of the feelings which engrossed conquerors like Alexander and Napoleon when they felt the thrill of this continent. Rather, we hope—and- so far believe —he has the qualities of a Hannibal with power equal to Rome’s- behind him.