The Months New Reading

As an instructive and, as it turned out, entertaining, ship board task on the way to London, I read Sir Arthur Bryant’s Triumph in the West, the second and completing volume based on Viscount Alanbrooke’s war diaries. So it is appropriate that the review be written here in London, where most of the events

took place.

“ A PPROPRIATE” but probably even more unreal than if I found myself doing the job on a South Pacific island, or in the middle of the Sahara, instead of in danger of dehydration insiae this steam-heated flat while the cold January sky we ps drizzle outside.

For the physical scars of the war Alanbrooke fought have all but healed. Few gaping “bomb sites” remain—as they did even 4£ years ago when I was last here.

Large blocks of offices and flats fill the gaps the bombs left, but for the most part the architecture is conventional; London soot, damp and grime does the rest, and in five years it is hard, outwardly, anyhow, to distinguish the very new from what might have bsen there for 200 years.

But even more to the point, a new generation has grown up since Alanbrooke did his stuff as Chief of the Imperial General Staff; and if these long-haired youths with their pipe-stem pants and Robin Hood hats, or their Egyptian-eyed girls, think at all of the ancient history ■ that was the Second World War, they give no sign of it.

However, in one respect this is a i good place to review this particular book: Here amongst Engii:hmen

] and Englishmen’s circumlocutionary

and tradition-steeped methods of l doing anything, from buying the I groceries to foreign policy, it is far l easier to understand how the : British war chiefs almost drive their American colleagues round the bend ! a nd why a great deal of this and other published diaries of other Allied war leaders, are devoted so largely to battl s with friends, and to a considerably lesser degree to how they got on with the war.

The Cold War Probably the greatest contribu- A 1 ? 11 u to blstor y that this section of Alanbrooke s memoirs makes, is not —interesting, amusing or instruct ing as they mostly are—in its catalogue of differences between Eisenhower and his ebullient sub ordinate, Field Marshal Mont- KIJS’t 01 ’ i he ar S um cnts about a Second Front or the wisdom of the Italian campaign or other projected or rejected campaigns; or the h-ouble s Alanbrooke had with Prime Minister Churchill; but in the catalogue of events that cast the*

shadows before and were the genesis of the Cold War that had be devilled the world since the “peace” of 1945.

If the United States has carried the biggest burden during these 15 years, Triumph in the West makes it abundantly clear that much of it was the result of American think ing or Roosevelt thinking—in the vital years between 1942-45.

It is evident that Roosevelt con sidered himself the instrument for bridging the ideological gulf be tween the Soviet Union and the West and, according to this account, during his many talks with Stalin continually stressed the fact that the forward-1 ook i n g American character had more in common with the USSR point of view, than with conservative Imperialistic Britain, which had maintained the balance of world power in the past, Roosevelt’s conception of the future was based on America and Russia working together for the future governance of mankind”, and he shaped his military and civil policies to conform to this ideal.

Roosevelt, of course, died before this new heaven and earth came into being, and although there were signs, even before his death, that there were serpents in his Eden, his last message to Churchill, sent on to® morning of the day he died, still indicated his state of wishful thinking: “I would minimise the

general Soviet problem as much possible,” he said. At HV- S time - b y hi s wish, he h the Allied armies held up wh they could have made their fir assault on Berlin, in order that t Russians who had been bogged dov could catch up. Two days aft Roosevelt’s death, the Russia began their offensive and five da iater entered Berlin. It was n until four days later still that th linked up with the waiting Amei cans, halted 50 miles to the sout

Truman's Legacy

When Truman stepped into t] dead President’s shoes, he felt hin self morally bound to carry on li predecessor’s policy of trustii Soviet leaders. He found himsc surrounded by civil and military a( vis?rs who had been educated iook with suspicion on England’s s< called imperialistic policy. It wou have taken a far stronger and abl man than Truman to shake hin self loose from that set-up, at thj St£lgo. !t was Churchill’s wish to ha the Russians until they ha honoured their agreements, whi the Allies still had sufficient forc< on the spot to force them to do s But the Americans insisted on witt drawing their troops to the west < Leipzig, and in presenting to th Russians a huge slice of Centn Europe, although already the Sovi( leaders had shown their brutj hand in Poland. in regard to this tha Churchill, soon himself to be vote out of office by the British public coined one of his last famou phrases: It was, he said, “bringin down an iron curtain between u and everything to the eastward”

In the American view, howeve: it was vital that the United State snould not be manoeuvred into • Position where she would be alignei with Great Britain in a bloc agains

uissia, in order to implement Eng

md’s European policy.”

IChurchill (or England), it was •Id was more concerned with up olding England’s position in Europe

;.an in preserving peace.”

Entertainment Value

Bryant’s first book based on janbrooke’s diaries (Turn of the ide ) ended with triumph in North Ifrica in 1942; the present volume overs the years 1943-46, and thus icludes some incidents after the 'id of actual hostilities, when the :old War was already shaping it "As in the first volume, a great eal of its entertainment value— uite apart from its merit as a

iistory—comes from the actuall ext

racts from the diaries and the word iictures and vignettes of aaracters and events, which remove ie characters in question from ifty pedestals and cut them down 3 human size. .

At the end of 1943, in Cairo, Janbrooke met his Chinese Allies i the persons of Generalissimo ana iadame Chiang Kai-shek, in whom he Americans set considerable store, ,nd Alanbrooke, none whatever. His iescription of the pair is interest qct I “The Generalissimo reminded me »f a cross between a pine-martin ind a ferret. A shrewd, foxy sort >f face. Evidently with no grasp >f war in its larger aspects but de ermined to get the best of all jargains.”

He wrote, later, of Madame; “I have never known whether

tfadame Chiang gate-crashed into

;he morning’s Plenary Meeting, or whether she was actually invited. It nakes little difference, for I feel certain that she would have turned ip, whether invited or not. She was ;he only woman amongst a very ,arge gathering of men and was de termined to bring into action all the fiiarms nature had blessed her with.

Although not good looking she cer tainly had a good figure which she knew how to display at its best... her closely clinging dress of black satin with gold chrysanthemums displayed a slit which exposed one of the most shapely of legs. . . I even thought I heard a suppressed neigh from a group of the younger members.

Who Wore The Pants?

“The trouble that lay behind this was that we were left wondering whether we were dealing with Chiang or with Madame. Whenever he was addressed, his Chinese Gen eral sitting on his right interpreted lor him, but as soon as he had finished, Madame said: ‘Excuse me, gentlemen, I do not think that the Interpreter has conveyed the full meaning of the thoughts that the Generalissimo wishes to express. If you allow me I shall put before you

his real thoughts.’ I certainly felt that she was the leading spirit of the two and that I did not trust her very far. . . As for Chiang ... he was certainly very successful in leading the Americans down the garden path.” , . As also, with the previous volume the book abounds in Churchill anecdote. It has been questioned often enough whether it is wise to expose the clay feet of heroes which the unfortunate public, in times of national disaster, must regard as supreme beings.

Both the Alanbrooke volumes present Churchill as the impulsive, problem-child rather than as a great statesman, and as a final exercise in giant-lopping, this in

cident describing Churchill’s visit to the Allied lines during the cross ing of the Rhine, deserves a place for itself: “As we were leaving Simpson s HQ, Simpson asked Winston whether he wished to make use of the lavatory. Without a moment’s hesi tation he (Churchill) asked, ‘How far is the Siegfried Line?’ On be ing told about half-an-hour’s run, he replied that he would not visit the lavatory but that we should halt on reaching the Line! On arrival there, the column of some 20 to 30 cars halted, we proceeded solemnly out and lined up along the Line.

As the photographers had all rushed up to secure vantage points, he turned to them and said, ‘This is

me of the operations of this great var which must not be reproduced ;raphically’. I shall never forget he childish grin of intense satis action that spread all over his face is he looked down at the critical noment.” , , There isn’t much for a sne •eviewer to say after that one, *xcept “Men—Exclamation Mark! • J .i • (TRIUMPH IN THE WEST. Published >y Wm. Collins Ltd. Australian price, 17/3.)

Australia—and

The South Seas

rR a year or two now there has been included in PI M’s rather extensive Pacific library an attractive volume, filled with excellent photographs and text, entitled Australien Und Sudsee Heute, von Bernd Lohse.

The book was presented by Mr.

Lohse himself, and it has been en joyed by various members of the staff at different times, but not by this reviewer, whose linguistic accomplishments embrace nothing more than the phrase, “Make mine a beer please” in a dozen languages and a couple of dialects. German is not one of them.

For him, then, the highlight of this month’s reading was the arrival of an attractive volume entitled Australia And The South Seas, by Bernd Lohse, which turned out to be the first English edition of the German work by Mr. Lohse, who toured Australia, New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Hawaii a few years ago, taking photographs as he went.

Because of the delay in transla tion, some of Mr. Lohse’s facts are now out of date—there are changes in the Islands he refers to —but this detracts very little from the work as a whole. , „ . , Mr. Lohse is not one of that class of foreign correspondents which adopts a learned air in explaining the intricacies of economics and politics to the readers back home.

He travelled as a plain observer

and photographer, and puts down, simply and without fuss, an ac curate account of conditions in the places he visits. He is a sound observer, with a sympathy for the people he meets.

Most of the book is taken up with his visit to Australia. He makes some interesting comments on the Australian way of life—-i.e.: on the one hand, each Australian is proud to be thought of as an individualist, yet on the other A 0 wants Government care lavished on him from the cradle to the grave.

Therefore he tolerates rules and regulations from State and trade union to an extent which surprises even a person from a country of much older—and much softer— people. Somewhere in the short history of the continent there must be psychological reasons for it all .

Mr. Lohse makes an attempt at explaining the reasons by pointing out that in the transition from a penal settlement into a free com munity there had to be more traces of a paternal welfare than if the new colonies had developed simply out of the personal initiative of free men.

On Fiji, Mr. Lohse has something to say which is of more than topical interest at the moment. He describes Fiji as “Her Majesty s Most Loyal Colony”. He asks, “Why is Fiji, home of the friendliest people on this earth, not a para dise?” and he answers his own question— “ The Indians. Not because of what they do —or do not do —but simply because they are there. They were brought to Fiji by the British after the take-over of the islands as contract workers, because the flourishing plantations needed labour. The sons of the land were all gentlemen and proud of the written rights assured to them by Queen Victoria. The British have strictly adhered to these and they saw no need to work themselves to death in the plantations. Trade commercial bargaining, egoistical penny-grabbing—these were not for them! So it comes about that

everything that does not belong to the millionaire Australian-controlled Colonial Sugar Refining Company, or the gold mining Golden Rock companies of Vatukoula, or the big South Seas trading companies in Suva and a few white cocoa planters, is in the hands of the Indians and a few Chinese. You see the same picture wherever you look in the South Seas —wherever white enterprise leaves a tmy gap, in slips Asia. , “You will not hear much good said about the Indians here. But, where cornered by a questioner, every European or Fijian will admit that without the Indian worker the islands could never have flourished as they have. Their industry, their ambition, and ccmmunal sense would merit the highest praise—if only they were not * n< “The Indians are as conservative in their uncompromising nationalism as they are advanced in all technical matters. . . .

“Now that Indians can 109 k with pride on a homeland which is play ing an increasingly important role in world affairs, the tension, human rather than economic, has heightened. It seems almost im possible to lower it, especially when the number of Indians is every day. It is a cloud threaten ing an idyll, for Fiji does seem truly idfllic to the vistor who looks beyond the huge industries, sugar and gold, and the Indian problem.

(Australia And The South Seas.

Published by Oliver and Boyd Ltd., UK, distributed by Rigby Ltd.. Adelaide. Aus tralian price, 37/6.)

The End Of An

Australian Trilogy

THERE is nothing very hurried about The Big Fellow, the late Vance Palmer’s novel which completes a trilogy ( Goleonda and Seedtime were the first). It develops slowly, for some people no doubt a little too slowly. It has the realism of The Passage and the solid writ

and Buka

Masta Ben

ca that marks Vance Palmer’s ork, but it is not nearly as suc ;ssful as The Passage. [ln The Big Fellow, Macy Donovan, ,e trade union leader, has become "emier of Queensland and leader the Labour Party, still the irewd and successful politician 'ie solid Labour man who appears i have got what he wanted.

But there are many troubles still, here are political storms —the old hunt Clutha mining scandal is re -ved, and with it an attack on his itegrity; and there are personal roblems—an old flame awaken ig; his daughter restless; his wife utty is not what she was.

The politics in The Big Fellow re first class—it’s impossible not i) be convinced that here is a real labour politician. But in some of iis personal angles Palmer does lot awaken the same interest, llthough the material was there. (THE BIG FELLOW. Published by mgus & Robertson Ltd. Australian price, »/-.)

or The Children—

tecommended

A USTRALIAN writer Kylie \ Tennant’s story for children, All The Proud Tribesmen, is a ttle book that deserves to live.

It tells the story of the volcanic jland of Firecrest, off the north oast of Australia, in that chain of slands that extends from Cape r ork to New Guinea. It tells how choolteacher, nurse and friend of he people, Miss Buchanan, saves hem from an eruption and leads hem to a new island. The story is old through Kerri, a young native ioy whom Miss Buchanan had tdopted, and whom she is coaching or a scholarship.

The tale unwinds in simple ashion, reminiscent of Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea. It is a book hat can be read by young people, Dut the older people, too, especially hose with Islands experience, will jet a great deal of satisfaction out )f it.

Some of the Islands readers no ioubt will have a few reflections )f their own. There are people like Vliss Buchanan in the Islands, but more often than not in real life hey go a little “queer” and are dif ficult to get on with.

Maybe there are District Com missioners like “Long Jack”, who are sympathetic, show initiative and enterprise, can cut red tape with immunity, and who do what they think best for the common good and still come out on top—but, we fear, they are scarcer than men on the moon. And perhaps there are young and bright native boys like Kerri, who can be sent away for a main land education among the “white boys” and still come back to their village perfectly satisfied with life

there; but we think they would be as rare as those District Com missioners.

But, of course, all these would merely be cynical thoughts by the wayside to the Islanders, and they will not detract one bit from the story. Rather, Islands readers may feel a glow at the thought that here indeed is Islands life as l should be and this one is for the youngsters, after all.

Kylie Tennant is well known in Australia for her novels, but this is the first book she has written for children. She should write more.

All the Proud Tribesmen is illus trated in black and white by Sydney artist Clem Seale.

(All The Proud Tribesmen. Pub

lished by Macmillan. Australian price, 14/6.)