~RR.O.

By WILHELM SCHULZE

Ci"CI"lI.~tallcM of I/'ur h(we placed in our hall//oS ul"rge I'Ilt1nb~r of AustnllimtnCII:spaper8 from the mOllth., following J)c,'ember 8, 194/. They were especi(LllyIt'e.lcoll1e since, owillg to Ihe interrllpti(1tt of po,.I(11 communit'"tion.~, it ill very difficultin ti~s oj war 10 form fI, picture of Ihe det·elopm.cltl08 lakillg pll/ce ill other countries.The a·utho·r, known to OlU readers from his ort'ide "Wings of the JU1xme.,e Navy"ilt the July issue oj "The XXtlt Cctltury," has studied the volWII'illmlS material anrlput dOlt'1l part of tvlwt he jOUlut ilt the followiny p<lgu. l,t doi'/l(1 IN. he il/troduces luourreaders Lt. Col. Lehrbas, r.R.V., the most 8ucce.ssf'lll officer of the US An"y.-1'.Jl.

LEHRBAS HAS A UTILE TALK appeared before the reporters of the Sydneypapers, he had a mimeographed statementready for them about an order by Roose­velt t.o leave his troops and about his"breaking through the Japanese lines," Ofcourse, hc said, he would be glad to meetthe journa.lists later, but for the time beingthey would have to be content with hismimeographed statement. He could nottell them anything more a.t the moment,and nothing further should be printedabout his appearing in Australia. Well,see you later . . . !

THE WORK BEGINS

The Australian journalists are obligingpeople: in no Australian paper is there asingle word that differs from Lehrbas'sversion of MacArthur's flight. And, be­cause they were so obliging, they receivedduring the next few days and weeks asmuch material as they could desire aboutMacArthur, who had meanwhile alreadybeen dubbed the "victor of the Philip­pines." Lehrbas had gone to work.

One day, MacArthurdeclared that "success inmodern war demandsmore than courage andthe readiness to die," andthese words appeared inall the papers accom­panied by an ascetic por-

THE darkest period for the ...o\llies mthe Greater East Asia War has sofar been the second half of March,

lid, when Hongkong, Manila, Singa­pore, and Batavia had already fallenad tIIe-·fall of Carregidor was imminent.It W88 duriDg this time that General¥a:cArthur, a ~ten general, arrived~ his wife·... foor-year..old child at asmall military airfield in Australia. Hearrived unannounced and, for that reason,unhailed. Only one man was there tol!8Cl8ive him.. an American lieutenantcolonel by the name of Lehrbas, whosepotP,tion was that of Public RelationsOfficer of the US Army, P.R.O. for short.A P.R.O., an American invention, is anofti~ who is in charge of maintaininggood relations between the army and the~ public-in other words. a pub­Jioity agent in uniform.

Befote the Australian public knew8Jlytbing about the arrival of the Ameri­can. general, Lehrbas andMacArthur~ a littletete - a-tete, and noAustraliannewspaper wasable to report the con­tents of this conversa­tion. But on the follow­ing da)', when MacArthur

98 THE XXth CENTURY

trait of thehc1'0 MacArthur. On the follow­ing d!ty, MacArthur stated that he wouldkeep faith with his soldiers and, in spiteof the obvious discrepancy between thewords and thc deed, the statement wasused as a fine heading for a specialMacArthur number, with photographs ofhis father, grandfather, and all his rel­atives, with photographs of him at WestPoint, during the Great War, and fromthe brilliant days of peace in the Philip­pines. When Corregidor fell, MacArthurindicated threateningly that, although hehad escaped from the Japanese, he wouldretUl'n there one day. And after thatthe Australian press published in hugeheadlines that, according to MacArthur'swords, the halo of Jesus of Nazareth haddescended on the fallen sons of weepingAmerican mothers andthat God had taken theminto His Kingdom. Lehr­bas had really gone towork, in every direction.

"2\IACARTHUR ROSES"

Even Mrs. MacArthurand her little son did notescape the attention ofLehrbas. Just as Mac-Arthur himself, at the beginningof his Australian career, had saidthat it had never been his policy toadvertise himself, Mrs. Ma{lArthnr de­clared in the mimeographed sheets handedout by Lehrbas that she was accustomedto st~ying in the background and thatshe saw her sole duty in keeping a pleas­ant home for her overworked husband.But, notwithstanding this, there followeda hail of messages to the women ofAustralia, while series of portraits ofMrs. MacArthur swept into the editorialrooms and one tea reception followedanother. Suddenly there appeared"MacArthW' roses," dedicated to the wifeof the general. Lehrbas knows his tradeand is fully aware of the fact that Aus­tralia is a country in which the influenceof women must not be underestimated.

Gradually, and probably in proportionto the developments in the cable ex­changes between Canberra, \Vashington,

and London, a new note began to crecpinto MacArthur's utterances, as issued byLehrbas. After a visit to the AustralianParliament, MacArthur said that, if theAustralians fought as bitterly as theirM.P.'s quarreled, God shouJd have mercyon the enemies of Australia. This wasthe first time that MacArthur touchedupon the domestic conditions of Australia.Getting still bolder, he made a shortspeech a few days later at a governmentdinner which Premier Curtin afterwardshanded to the press because "it is thegreatest speech ever made with suchbre\ity before this assemblage."

"There can be no compromise," hesaid in this sp<.'ech. "We shall be vic·torious or we shall die. and under this

slogan I pledge for OUi'

fight the entire wealth(;J and all the strength of

'

my country and the blood, I of all my cotmtrymen."

P~:>J The initiated mustha,ve known from thisspeech that the negotia­tions with Washingtonand London were aboutto be completed. In the

second half of April, the result of theprotracted cable exchanges was finall~'

releasen: at midnight on April 20, GeneralDouglas C. MacArthur took over thesupreme command with almost unlimitedpowers over all Allied forces in the south­western Pacific. Publicity had extin­guished or at Icast covered up his past.

Al\IERIC.L~ BALLYHOO

Now the MacArthur ballyhoo reallystarted in America. It is true that theGeneral himself was clever cnough tocomment on his nomination to the effectthat his success or failure would dependmainly on the means placed at his dis­posal by the various governments. Inthis way he already prepared his line ofretreat, should things go wrong again.But Lehrbas and his colleagues inAmerica let all restraint fall, and: theAmerican-Australian public followed themblindJy.

LT.-COL. LEHRBAS, P.R.O. 90

In New York, EastSide Drive was renamed"Mac Arth u r Dri ve."Thirty-nine other townssuddenly acquired a"MacArthur Avenue."Westpoint, the leadingAmerican military a­tmdemy, received a bustof its famous pupil, whichwas unveiled in a solemnceremony in the presence of high militaryauthorities and representatives of the StateDepartment. Scores of fathers named theirnewborn sons "MacArthur," among themthreenegro fathers. Tin Pan Alley broughtout a new march: "Hats off to MacArthur&Dei our boys down under!" ~LwArthur

was made the president of an "inter­national movement" called "Let the FlagWave in Every Home." He exchangedoongratulatory messages with WaveIl and-other defeated colleagues who extolledhim as a master of strategy. Finally,~velt gave him the Congressionallfedal, the highest decoration that canlie pnn in the United States, and nat­-.uy all the exiled governments, from~ to Greece, immediately followedthis eumple.

A mAYO Ilf LI'l'1'LII BOCK

It isim~ to list all the absurditiesproduoed by Lehrbaa's pubUcity. WeIball just mention ODe mOl'8 whioh istypical of the Anglo-Saxon mentality.On one occaeioo, Lehrbu induoedMacArthur to cable to the preacher ofthe ohurch in Little Rock, Arkansas, inwhich he was baptized, asking him topray for divine guidance for his aervantill the great struggle that lay ahead ofhim. Of oourae, the preacher fulfilledJllcAnhur's request, so that a few dayslater the following prayer went out overaU the cablee of the Allies and over alltheir broadouting stations: "Above allwe beg Thee, 0 Lord, to protect Thyeenaat KaoArthur, who was consecratedto Thee in thisohuroh. WebegThee, Lord,to preeerve him in' body, to lead him inspirit, and to strengthen his heart and hissoul, that he may serve Thee and our coun­try wisely, loyally, and effectively. Amen'"

Thus it appears thatLehrbas and his employ­ers have succeeded inmaking MacArthur, adefeated general, into avictorious commanderwho. in the eyes of theAnglo-American public,is a guarantee for finalvictory. American pub­lioity has supplied its

masterpiece. Not onl)' has it forgedhistory: it has actually made history.Anyone who knows anything at all aboutAmerican domestic politics, will knowthat matters do not end hero. When,during the height of the publicitycampaign for MacArthur, the New Yorkpapers began to moot his nomination asSecretary for War, MacArthur knew whathe was doing when he brusquely declined.Anyone who has as muoh publicity valuein America as MacArthur does not headfor the obscure job of Secretary of War.Be knows that avictorious general hasa far better startingposition in the strug­gle for the highestpost to- be had inAmerica.

BBDJlBADS AND STRAWBERRY BLO:SDES

Aside from MacArthur, Lehrbas'sattention is devoted mainly to populariz­ing the US troops in Australia. Aspublicity officer for the American troops,he knows how to arrange reoeptiol18 forthem, how to publish reports, interviews,and piotUl"8ll in the Australian press, inehort, how to create goodwill for hiesoldiers. During the first few weeksafter their arrival, even the Americanprivates were flooded with invitations.The months of March, April, and Maywere the honeymoon in the American­Australian marriage.

A queer document dates from this time.It was printed in many Australian news­papers (with the appropriate change inthe name and addrees of the organizer),in the form of an open letter andreads:

100 THE XXth CENTURY

Dear Madam:

On behalf of American l!&ilors, soldiers andairmen in Melbourne, I offer the following sugges·tions for ent-ert,aining them. I do it aware of therisks. I'll take a chance bec.ause it's wartimeand these boys need looking after.

To contact tJ,ern you have got to put your nRJDeand requirements down in a black book at the ACFHospitality Bureau, Town Hall. Rev. H. L. Haw.kins, organizer, does the rest.

Now, here is what the men want:

Partiu,-Gay parties with swing music, redheads(Say. miss, wo've never seen 80 many good.lookin'redlleads before!), strawberry blondes (not suicide.synthotic or bottle-just blondes). beer (Boy! Dowe like MelboUrne beer!), lot.s of sweet.smellingHowers, and aBparagus rolls.

1'enni.!.-Only if you can supply racqueta, redheads,and stmwberry blondes.

Bridge.-Well. not unless you have to.

DimICT.-Don·t make it too formal. :Family dinnerpartie" llrO nicer than dowagers and diplomats.Serve meloIl.8 for sweettr---they love them.

Luncheon.-Toheroa soup. sweet com with meltedbutler sauce and grills. (I'm telling you, miss,your grills nre better than anythiJlg we got backin the States.)

Pict1~re Pnrlic8.-Think twice before you take theplunge. They'vo seen most of our shows, anyway.

Swimmi1lg.-0nly if VERY hot.

Quiet evening at home.-Well, not too quiet. please.Remember the strawberry blondes and redheads.

Da?lce8.-And howl They love our big uncrowdedballrooms. Hero again, your blonde and redheadfriends will be useful.

How do I know all this? I'm not giving awayany secrets, but it's first·hand information plUilledon straight from the horse's mouth.

Yours in earnest,

A Woman Reporter.

.F'lOHT OR MARRY 1

We ha\"e printed this document in full,not ouly because it is a masterpiece ofLclubas publicity, but,also because it showsto what lengths the Aus­tralian population wasa.t that time prepared togo to please the Americantroops and adjust itselfto their whims. TheAustralian troops return­ing at that time fromNorth Africa and theNear East were only ofsecondary importance tothe Australian editorscompa,red to the Ameri­can newcomers, just as

the Australian General Blamey was over­shadowed by the American GeneralMacArthur, or :l\1rs. Blarney byMrs. MacArthur.

With his methods of publicity, Lchrbasdominates the Australian newspaper fieldfrom Port Darwin to Melbourne andfrom Perth to Brisbane. He does nDtirritate his public, a.nd he avoids mistakeslike that made by Major Cowan who, inhis capacity as representative of the"Morale Brunch of the US Army" (a.lsoan exclusively American invention), begana quarrel with the heads of the Churchin Austmlia over Sunday movies andSunday dancing for American soldiers.

The Australian Council of Churchesfinally won in thjs conflict, for it wasagreed upon that Sunday ent.ertainnll'Tltfor the Am£'rican army should not takeplace in public and for private profitand that it should be limited to men inuniform and not form a. precedent forafter the war. But this quarrel leddirectly to the first profound conflictbetween the feelings of the Australiansand the Americans. Within five weeksof the first American landings in Mcl­bourne, there had already been twentymarriages between American soldiers audAustralian girls, while hundreds hadalready applied to the authorities forlicenses, and no statistics told the numberof love affairs.

Probably 8-8 a result of unfavorableexperience, the Roman Catholic Churchof Australia was forced a few weeks after

the American invasionto refuse marriages un­less the Americans couldprove that they were notcommitting bigamy. TheArchbishop of the EnglishHigh Church in Brisbane,less diplomatic than theCatholics, declared that,after all, the Americanshad come to Australia tofight and not to marry.The Head Chaplain of theAmerican army ha.dfinally to put a tem­porary end to this

LT.-COL. LEHRBAS. P.R.O. 101

conOict by the announcement that heha.d instructed all American cOlUlnandersto prevent a,"l far a.s possible a.ny mar­riages between American soldiers andAustraljan redheads and stra.wbcrryblondes. "They can't, after all, tak'Ctheir' wives with them when thjngs gethot," the Head Clmplain >:aid at the endof hi. announcement. Of course, be ovcr­looked the fact that General MacArthurdid bJing along his wife when he fledfrom the Philippine. Rut then ~rae­

Arthl1l' is a genet·al.

Things really only bega,n to quiet downwhen the Al11erieans were gmdually tra.ns­fened to the newly built camps, the firstof which was Ha.Jlled after MaeArt hurand only the second after thc AustralianMinister of War, :F'ords. These campsarc far from any settlement. "!)S pel'cent of the ervice ill Australia. consistsof dullness and boredom in the de.olateAu tralian bu h." wrote Allan Ravmondof t.h )lew r01·!.- H mId 'PTilJI11Ic, ',,!In ismuch quoted in Au t1'aJil~.

FUN AND DAFFODILS

Dullness and boredom arouse ill theAmerican, once he is let loose, that rowdi­ness for which he is known throughoutthe world. The little town of HeaJesvillenear Melbourne can tell us somethingabout that, sometmng that has apparentlyescaped Mr. Lehrbas's notice, for wefound the story printed on an inner pageof the Times Weekly. One night Heales­ville was awakened by violent explosionswmch . hattered all the windows in themain street. Detectives searching for themiscreants traced the deed to two Ameri­can officers from the near-by camp, whocalmly admitted having exploded a fewsticks of gelignite in the sewers "for fun."They had not intended any harm, theysaid.

Now the Australian soldicrs and menare a.nnoyed because they see them elvesthrust into the background in the eyesof the Australian girls by the Americanwith their Wgh pay. The Australiangirls are annoyed because they havetaken lip with the Americans withoutany chance of marrying now. The

peaceful Australian citizen is annoyedover the disturbance of his peace bythe uncouth behavior of ms guests.And the American soldiers are an­noycd because they had entirely differentideas of life "down under" as saviors ofthe country.

After the honcymoon, a certaindisappointmont over the Ameriean­allies cannot he denied. In a Ictter,which got into our hands in a round­about "a.y, a simple Australian girl wriwsto her Australian sweetheart at the front:"Everybody here is complaining a,boutthe air support of the Amer'icans wmchyOIl ha,Ye had. Y (,ii. darling, we don'tIwlic,-e milch now ill the BBC broadcastA.\\"e <:all the Anwrican pilotR 'liatl'oelils.'They are nice to look at. bllt they areyellow."

And, finalh·. the .-\merican authoritieare also aml~\;ed. Not MacArthur him­:self but, on bis behalf. the Administratorof the Lend-Lea e Act in Aust,ralia, a.\11'. \Vnssermann, clearly expressed thisannoyance in an interview in wWch hesaid: "But Australia must make some('!forts herself; Ahe cannot rely on Americaalone winning the war for the Austral­ians. AustJ-alia must bear not only herju. t, but more than bel' just share."

IT TAKES MORE 'rnAX A LEHRBAS

The Australian papers are full of itemswmch seem to justify Mr. Wassermmillin his demands. The number of "con­shies" (conscientious objectors) continuesto be terrific. Encouraged by the lenientpolicy' of the Minister of La.bor andNational Service, Mr. Edward Ward,who himself in the last war avoidedjoining the armed forces, the number ofconsciences too tender to ('arry l\rms oreven to work for the war effort seems tohave been growing beyond expectationand comparison with any other countrywbere exemption on conscience groundliis allowed. No wonder, then, that thepress abouncj,; in bitter comments andbiting cartoons about t.he "rabbits" who,before the ~Iagisterial Courts decidingabout their demand for exemption, gaveanswers such as these:

102 THE XXth CENTURY

Question: "If an enemy soldierattacked your wife, what would youdo?" Answer: "Sit down and pray."Or, Question: "If you saw your motherattacked, what would you do?" An­swer: "God would tell me what to do­my duty would be to pray."

Now, there are cowards in every na­tion, and the establishment of courts ofexemption may be a strong temptationto weak characters. If we learn, how­ever, that "it is reckoned that 14,000applications for exemption from com­batant and noncombatant service havebeen received in New South Walesalone. and this when only three of

the five classes liable for service havebeen called up" (The BuUetin, Sydney,April 15, 1942), the existence of acertain percentage of cowards is nosatisfactory explana,tion for such aphenomenon.

It appears that the Australians arefinding it very difficult to give up theirlives of comfort for the grim reality ofwar and its demands. Thus, withoutwishing to minimize the efficiency of Lt.Col. Lehrbas, P.R.O., we see again thatwar is not a matter of publicity. It is,in the last analysis, decided by the willof a nation and of each of its citizens tofight for victory.

leem. from Recent Anied P'ublicaliolu/:

fJJusy lJJefenu (3ounc;{The District of Columbia Defense Council operates a "date machine"

for soldiers. Girls file information on their height. weight. and dancingability on punch carda. Date.seeking soldiers specify t.heir requirements. andpresto-the sorting machine gives them the cards of girls who will suit.

(The Reader's Digul. January 1942)

tTJIa66mgton'6 tJJtain ProductChecking rail freight movements. the US Chamber of Commerce found

that the biggest it~m of export from Washingt.on is wastepaper. baled anden route to paper mills for reclamation.

(The Reader's Digest. January 1942)

Smart fJJoyA reluctant conscript faced the army oculist. who asked him to read a

chart. "What chartf" asked the draftee. The doctor rraevered: "Just sitdown in t,hat chair and I'll show you." "WhAt chair!' asked the man.

Deferred because of bad eyesight, the draft. went to • nearby movie.Wllen the lights came on. he was horrified to disoover the oculist in thenext seat. "Excuse me," said the conscript as calmly as he could, "doesthis bus go to Shipley'"

(Digu' oj Diguts. April 1942)

Q.n.ra{ '1{1I;&onc."Do you know who I am'" shouted the irate General to the Austral·

ian who had neglected to salute him."Do you know who I am'" he persisted. as the soldier looked

blankly at him."Here, boys." said the Australian. turning to his friends. "here's

lIOmething good. A General who doesn't know his own name!"(Digul oj Digests. March 1942)