ABCA Drops an A

Many a World War II Tommy learned his social and political ABCs from ABCA (the Army Bureau of Current Affairs). ABCA started after Dunkirk, when British troops had a lot of time on their hands, and needed a mental pick-me-up. Slick pamphlets crammed with hard facts were sent to platoon leaders, with orders to hold bull sessions about them. ABCA did far better than anything the U.S. devised to tell soldiers what the shooting was about.

Last week in London, ABCA (now minus the A for Army) had set out to make the citizen as well informed as the soldier was. BCA's boss was husky, soft-spoken William Emrys Williams, 49, the Welshman who ran ABCA. All ten of the young Army officers (now "demobbed") who turned out the Army leaflets, plus five other veterans, were at work on new ones, on topics ranging from the rising British airways to the falling British birthrate. The first (just out): Food and Famine.

BCA, like ABCA, will run no discussions itself. It will simply provide guides for group leaders in unions, churches, women's clubs, adult education groups. More than 2,000 requests have already come in.

BCA, has cut loose from the Government, now has Carnegie Foundation funds to keep it free from partisan seduction. Says Williams: "Anyone who comes to our cafe must drink out of the same urn. We are not touting for any government, department or political party."

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