Thoroughly Occupied

Premier Hermann Joenasson of Iceland thought Icelandic conditions last week were approaching the outlandish. If 15,000,000 soldiers were dumped in London, said he, it would not be any worse off than Iceland is now. Further, the British-American occupation has upped living costs for Iceland's residents 70%, disrupted the island's foreign trade, upset many an Icelandic lass. (Last week four U.S. Marines got 10 to 20 years in Portsmouth (N.H.) prison for rape committed in Iceland.) Nevertheless Premier Joenasson was still anxious to cooperate.

It was revealed last week that on the heels of the original U.S. force of sailors and Marines a U.S. Army field force had arrived at Reykjavik in mid-September.

The U.S. field army in Iceland is headed by cob-nosed, soft-spoken Major General Charles H. Bonesteel, formerly in command of the Fifth Division. His force, complete from infantry to ordnance units, is equipped with everything from Garand semi-automatic rifles to fighter planes, telephone poles to cement mixers. Well-secured against Iceland weather, each of his men has been issued fur caps, wool-lined mackinaws, heavy galoshes, gloves, five pairs of shoes, heavy underclothes and socks in addition to regular work clothes and uniforms. Each soldier also has a pair of skis and snowshoes.

As they disembarked, Bonesteel's men got a rousing welcome from Brigadier General John Marston's tough Marines: they were barked at (ordinary soldiers are called "dogfaces" by the devil-dog Marines). Once the Army force is established in the camps built during the past few months, General Bonesteel will put his men through general maneuvers alongside of U.S. Marines, British and Norwegian forces. Still in command of all Icelandic troops, including the U.S., is British Major General Henry Osborne Curtis.

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