The Bluffton news. [volume], June 08, 1944, Image 7

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

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SYNOPSIS
CHAPTER I: The story of the famous
19th and 7th Bombardment Groups, of
Lieut Col. Frank Kurtz and his Fortress
crew in the tremendous air campaign
that saved the day for the United Nations
In the Southwest Pacific. Lieut Kurtz,
who was pilot of the old Fortress, known
as "The Swoose." which escaped from
Clark Field, in the Philippines, tells of
that fatal day when the Japs struck. He
pedals to the wreck of Old 99. finds eight
of his crew lying in an irregular line.
CHAPTER 11: Lieut. Kurtz tells how
orders to camouflage Old 99 were coun
termanded instead they were to load
bombs. Then he was ordered to jerk the
bombs, reload with cameras and rush
the camouflage. Preparations made for
taking pictures of Formosa. Someone
shouts. Look at that pretty navy forma
tion.” The “navy formation” happens to
be a flight of Jap planes.
CHAPTER HI: Bombs hit the mess
hall. The Japs move off. They hear
another hum. "P-40 s." they think, but
they prove to be Zeros coming in from
the direction of Corregidor. The boys
duck back into their foxholes.
CHAPTER IV: The pilots are given
their targets and towering above the
group is CoUn Kelly, about to head out
on his first mission Buzz Wagner is
chased by Japs in his P-40. He meets
Lieut. Russ Church and they bomb a
Jap field. Church fails to return. The
death of Colin Kelly.
CHAPTER V: Fortresses are kent tn
the air to save them from the Japs.
Through some mistake someone opens
fire on them. Japs begin photographing
the place. .No longer safe to sleep in the
barracks, cots are moved into a corn
field. With no fighters left to defend
them, evacuation begins. Lieut. Kurtz
tells of last plane trip out in a patched
up plane. Japs land light tanks at Apart.
Squadron commander Major Gibbs fails
to return from mission. U. S. forces flee
from Clark Field to Mindanao.
CHAPTER VI: Navigator Harry
Schreiber tells of a fight with Zeros in
which Shorty Wheless takes part. He
lands tn
a nee
they take off for AustraUa.
CHAPTER VII: Lieut. Kurtz takes up
the
story again. He describes the hot.
dry Christmas day in Australia, and how
U. S. fliers spent it A report comes in
over CW radio. It was from Schaetzel
saying he'd be in after dark with one
body aboard. Schaetzel gets in, his plane
a
wreck. Gen. Brereton lands on the
field and the boys are summoned to
meeting.
CHAPTER IX:
QUEENS DIE
PROUDLY
©.WHIT& W.N.U.TEATUftlf
paddy and is surrounded
by Filipinos. The crew buys an outrigger
canoe and sail to the isle of Panay. Later
a
CHAPTER VIII: U. S. fliers arrive at
the Dutch field, and shortly after start
on flight for Davao, in the Philippines,
but run short of gas and come home.
Gas up and take off at midnight for
Davao, but fall to make target On third
trip over, Kurtz sees tremendous concen
tration of ships, makes bomb run. Jap
fighters come up. "Bombs away I"
Bombardier
says they
had caught Japs flat-footed. At Malang
Field boys are briefed before dawn,
told about big concentration of Jap ships
N.E. of Borneo. They take off, but hit
a frightful
fog. Cannot see plane right
ahead. Coming out of fog they see a
huge black cloud resembling tornado. It
was
the Dutch burning their Borneo oiL
CHAPTER X: One
of Kurtz’ motors Is
hit as they approach target. He makes
direct hit on cruiser. Losing altitude
fast. Tries to make Malang Field on
Java, but changes mind ana heads for
Surabaya Field. Sets her down safely on
short runway. Dutch get reinforcements
from U. S.—new E model Forts.
CHAPTER XI: 'Bombardier tells ol
hazardous trip to Brazil when running
low on gas, and of sabotage on planes.
Gunner picks up the story, tells how E
model Fortresses tangled with the Japs.
CHAPTER XU: Lieut.
Kurtz tells of
bombing run on cruiser. Two hits scored.
Major Robinson radios to Skiles: "Radio
base at Malang to have ambulance
ready." Then Major Robinson’s plane
goes into a dive and crashes into sea.
CHAPTER XH1: A Jap transport hit
by U. S. bomb, goes up in confetti. Lieut.
Kurtz, now in Batavia, gets word that
P-40's are on way from Australia with
belly tanks. The P-40’s arrive at Gnoro.
Japs move into Borneo and the Celebes,
and three waves of Jap bombers fly over
Java.
CHAPTER XIV: An American sub
sneaks through from Corregidor with 14
passengers aboard. Sergt. Boone, the
gunner, tells how Queens die.
CHAPTER XV
“When that chute cracked open,
the jerk pitched him out of the har
ness head-first, and as the chute bil
lowed loosely back of the plane’s tail,
we saw him dropping down with his
clothes smoking, getting littler and
littler. Oh, Heaven! I couldn’t look
any more.
“The plane was settling faster,
in that steepening curve now, be
cause it was all over. So we who
have seen a Fortress die in battle
can tell you how they do it. They
die like the men who fly them and
fight in them would want them to
die! They die like the great Sky
Queens they are. And Queens die
proudly.
“Just then I heard our pilot Cap
tain Strother over the interphones,
telling Jim Worley, our bombardier,
that he’d opened the bomb-bay
doors, and for the bombardier to
go back and salvo all the bombs
and the gas tanks carried there.
He’d seen what happened when the
other two planes got hit in the bomb
bay—was obvious the Japs knew
our bomb-bay tanks weren’t leak
proof, and down at this low alti
tude, we were at their mercy. At
high altitude they’re lucky if they
can get above and ahead of you, to
come in for one nose-on attack. Aft
er that they have the devil’s own
time skidding around in the strato
sphere to catch up for another. But
down here at 7,000 they could flip
over quick, and come in again and
again.
“Well, Jim Worley is about to
obey, but just then he sees a Zero
coming right in on us, head-on—
and his gun there in the nose is
the only one who can handle this
attack, so he’s got to stay on it.
“He gives her one burst and then
starts to salvo his bombs and gas
tanks, but there’s a crashing sound,
and the controls don’t work. He
doesn’t realize a bullet has wrecked
his controls—doesn’t know what has
happened.
“Then all of a sudden—Bang!—
there’s a hell of an explosion inside
our plane, and dust, and the stink
of gasoline. After seeing what had
just happened to the other two
planes, we thought it could mean
only one thing. We must be on fire!
And later on, ask me about that
railroad spike.
“But somehow there were no
flames, so we kept on pounding
away at the Zeros swarming around
us—it was the only thing to do. What
had happened was that a bullet had
smashed into our compressed-oxy
gen tank, and also cut a gasoline
feed line, so that gas was spurting
all over the cabin, but we didn’t
know it then. Finally the tail gun
ner, seeing gas streaming along the
plane’s belly past him to trickle off
the tip of the tail, guessed what
had happened, and called out to the
rest of us over the interphones for
God’s sake not to smoke. With that
cabin filled with pure oxygen and
gasoline fumes, it would have been
a bad idea. Don’t forget to ask me
about the railroad spike.
“Well, pretty soon Strother dove
us into a friendly cloud where we
lost the Zeros, and I could climb
down from my gun to inspect the
damage. I found that when that
bullet burst our oxygen tank, it had
blown two square feet of plywood
out into the cabin, and blown loose
the bomb-release controls. It had
sounded like a 20-millimeter cannon
shell exploding in there. Then I lo
cated the gas leak and pulled the
emergency release, salvoing gas
tank and bombs, and hoped they
wouldn’t land in some poor peas
ant’s back yard, because we were
back over land now.
“When we got back to our field
and were telling about it, someone
asked our tail gunner if he wasn’t
scared when, right after watching
those other two go down in flames,
that bullet burst our oxygen system
with a big bang. ‘No,’ he said,
‘there wasn’t time to be scared.
But if someone had pushed a rail
road spike into my mouth, I would
have bit the head of it off, clean and
sharp.*
“But we could see the Japanese
were learning. Their tail attacks
against the new E-model Fortresses
had finally taught them a lesson,
and this was the first time they had
attacked us head-on. Of course they
never could have done it so suc
cessfully had they not surprised us
with that forged emblem. But most
important of all, they never could
have done it had we been at our
proper altitude.
“The Flying Fortress was de
signed for the high skies, and if
you keep her in her groove, for her
crew she’s the safest plane in the
air and for her enemies the most
deadly. We found this out not from
any book, but we learned it that
day in combat, which is learning it
the hard way. And we hoped it
wouldn’t take too long for this les
son to percolate upstairs.’*
“On the way home,’’ said Frank
Kurtz, “three of the remaining Forts
hit a heavy afternoon rainstorm.
Visibility and ceiling were zero, and
for hours they flew around the is
land of Madura, off the coast of
Java, looking for a place to land.
When gas was almost gone they de
cided to beach them. Luckily no
one was killed, but two of the three
were completely washed out on the
seashore rocks—they set fire to the
wreckage so the Japs couldn’t find
out anything about the planes. But
Lieutenant Fred Crimmons did a
magnificent job of setting his plane
down on the beach in the rain. He
made two passes, looking at his
gas in between, then squared away
and brought her in—she held firm,
sinking only a little. I had the har
bormaster’s wrecking barge, with
tools and Dutch engineers, on iu
way before daybreak. They were
having a little trouble with the na
tives there they were warned
against Jap parachutists, and our
boys had to yell at them a password
the Dutch had taught them to use if
we were shot down: ‘Kancha Kom
panee!’ It means ‘Our Army,’ they
explained to us.
“They worked a full day—shoring
up the plane, building a base of
logs and sand under it, clearing a
runway strip. And then, in Java’s
regular afternoon rainstorm, in
came old Freddy onto Surabaya
Field. He explained he’d stripped
the plane of everything he could un
screw to lighten it and then, turn
ing the motors on full blast, had
made a jump take-off from that lit
tle strip. He grabbed a sandwich
and went on in to Malang.
“The air-raid alarm in Surabaya
was now going off regularly, some
times three times a day, because the
Java Sea was stiffer than an old
sock with Jap carriers. Colonel Eu
bank was now faced with a real
problem. The three main bases for
our Forts were at Malang, Madiun
and another town which was spelled
Jokyakarta, but the American boys
couldn’t chew this one, so they all
gave it up and everybody just called
it Jockstrap.
“The Dutch had no system to de
tect* planes coming in from over
the sea. Their only warning system
was a tiny island about severity-five
miles out. It had a radio, so Sura
baya got fifteen minutes’ notice and
Malang about thirty.
“So what was the Colonel to do?
Our P-40’s were badly overworked,
so when the alarm sounded, if the
Forts took to the air the Zeros might
shoot them down, while if they
stayed on the ground, the Jap bomb
ers might blow them up. Never were
we able to keep more than twelve
planes in the air, even including re
inforcements, for we were losing
them about as fast as they were
coming in, and a number were al
ways under repair and therefore un
flyable.
“Also we had some bad breaks in
luck. One afternoon Lieutenant Ray
Cox had his plane up on a high-alti
tude test—giving the superchargers
a workover. With him in the cock
pit was Johnny Hughes, who had
been checked off asja first pilotjust
7
finished the test, and at two o’clock
were spiraling down when Zeros
came over to strafe the field below.
These strafing Zeros also had a top
cover of Zeros hanging up at 18,000
feet, in case our P-40’s might come
in to break up their ground party.
“Well, when the strafing began,
our boys in the control tower re
membered that Ray was up, and
they tried to tell him by radio to fly
south over the sea for an hour, until
the Zeros were gone—that was our
usual procedure.
“But Ray and Johnny, alone in
this plane, probably intent on their
test, must have had their head
phones off. Anyway they couldn’t be
reached, although the boys on the
ground tried frantically to let them
know what they were coming down
into. Finally they saw three Zeros
hit them at 15,000 feet. Ray imme
diately turned out to sea, while John
ny probably did what he could on
the guns. But one gunner can’t
cover every side at once, and they
didn’t stand a chance against three
Zeros. Next day the plane was found
shot down and burned about twenty
miles from Malang Field.’’
“Shortly after that,’’ said Boone,
the gunner, “we had a tough little
mission—a night flight to bomb a
Jap task force which was attacking
one of the islands down toward Aus
tralia. I forget which one it was if
I ever knew—that was the naviga
tor’s business. Six of us took off
from Malang, but before we started
for the target, we had to fly over
to Jockstrap and load up with Dutch
bombs—they were running low at
Malang, and the Dutch at Jockstrap
had plenty. Then we took off at
eight o’clock at night in some of
the dirtiest weather I ever hope to
We saw him dropping down with
his clothes smoking, getting littler
and littler.
fly. In that country a storm at
night is so black it’s like going
into the closet under the stairs where
all the old overshoes are, and pull
ing the door shut. For our rendez
vous we turned on the wing lights.
But even with them it took us forty
five minutes to assemble. Then we
went up to 18,000 trying to climb
out, but we were still in that storm.
It was darker than the inside of a
black cow, but every now and then
the lightning would rip everything
wide open—the whole cloud around
us would flame up, and you could see
to read fine print in the cabin. We
were like a bug in a neon tube.
Then blackness would close in, and
it would be a long time before your
eyes could make out the little blue
pink exhaust flame of the plane
next to you.
“After about an hour we had
plowed through the storm, and were
flying above scattered moon-flecked
overcast down below us at aboui
4,000.
“At 10:30 we were over the target,
and we glided down to 3,000 feet to
see what was going on. Through
the hunks of clouds we could see
the gun flashes of Jap warships lob
bing shells into that poor old town.
Then we would see the flash when
the shells exploded. They had fires
already going in several places, and
of course the town had absolutely
nothing to hit back with.
“But clouds protected the Jap
fleet, so we couldn’t make a run on
just where we guessed those gun
flashes were the thickest. Bombs
were scarce. Orders had been if
we didn’t find a good target, to bring
them home, so we did. We had no
flares aboard to light up that har
bor, or any installation for dropping
them. The old Forts were never
cut out for nightwork, but of course
in a war you sometimes get into
cracks where you use whatever
you’ve got to do what must be done.
“We hated it, leaving that poor
old town burning while the Japs sat
out there and tossed shells into her,
without giving it even a little help—
but it had to be.
“On our return we found that
storm had moved on down Java and
was squatting right on Malang
Field. The turf was soaked into ap
ple jelly, and our pilot did a wonder
ful job on the landing. We were
worried, because we knew that a
single pound weight on the brakes
would start our twenty-five tons slid
ing over that slippery field like it
was the frozen surface of a pond.
So to keep from piling up in a crash
at the end of the runway (remem
ber, we had all our bombs aboard
and couldn’t dump them because
they were precious), our pilot
ground-looped her, so she would
start sliding sideways in that muck.
Skidding along, he waited until she
had revolved in a 180-degree turn
and was gliding backward. Of course
By this time you know the answer
to that $64 question—when is D-day
and the radio is the most popular
spot—fact is some of the owls were
up most all night Monday after the
first news flash came soon after mid
night and June, the month of
brides and roses will take on added
distinction as the time of the world’s
biggest military operation and
this year it’s the month of home
grown strawberries—and shortcake—
first berries now on the market
prospects good for some for canning
later—that is if you have sugar
and just how can we put up fruit for
next winter on the present allotment
of canning sugar and the boys
talking a rodeo for Fourth of July at
Harmon field .... and speaking of
Independence day—it was 35 years
ago that Jule Benroth now in Phoenix
Arizona, was a feature of Bluffton’s
celebration when he drove an auto
down Main street at the breath-taking
speed of 50 miles an hour and
still more candidates for the school
superintendent’s place—looks like a
big job for the school board this sum
mer in selecting the right man
action of the mosquito front under
way with every citizen assigned to pa
trol his own premises—and call the
mayor if you need help in spraying
breeding places with oil and don’t
take any of those lead quarters that
have appeared here this week.
It wasn't pennies from heaven that
fell the other night—they were crisp
bills that dropped out of the pocket of
a Bluffon merchant’s shirt aid were
strewn along the sidwalk. It all hap
pened when he shut up shop and start
ed home with the day's receipts stuff
ed in his shirt pocket. The night was
warm and the hour was late, so he
removed his shirt and carried it over
his arm. Arriving home he found a
shotage in his cash and with the aid
of a flashlight he retraced his steps
down town and retrieved the missing
bills enroute.
Wolford Geiger, Bluffton high school
instructor in biology is assisting ento
mologist at the Ohio experiment farm
at McGuffey this summer. The ex
periment farm is making a study of
insect and parasite diseases of muck
land crops, principally onions, potatoes
and com. A 10 acre tract provides
the land for experiments. Also em
ployed at the experiment farm is Mal
colm Basinger, Bluffton high school
student.
Believe it or not—but in these days
when women are busier than ever be
fore, there’s more home sewing. The
sale of yard goods for women’s cloth
ing were 33 per cent higher in 1942
than in 1939, but sales of ready-to-
she would then have crashed tail
first into the end of the field and
blown up all of us, but he was able
to stop her by gunning the motors.
Even if the wheels couldn’t bite into
that slippery ground, the propellers
could bite the air. It was neat.
“Anotheu gripe we had on Malang
Field was the food. The mess was
in charge of the Dutch. They served
only one hot meal a day, and this
was always at noon—usually hot
soup with boiled beef and potatoes.
But I only got to eat this hot noon
meal three times—I was always out
on missions, which should give some
idea how busy we were.
“They had baskets of food for us
to take up in the plane—pineapples,
tropical fruit, and then sandwiches
which were either a slab of cheese,
or else raw bacon, in between two
thick hunks of bread. We found this
heavy stuff made gas in your intes
tines and just as you got to high al
titude going over the target, this
gas swelled up, giving you the
Sripes. So we’d eat the fruit and
irow the sandwiches away.
“Also Malay cooks don’t know hot
food—the breakfast soft-boiled eggs
were always hard, and they’d bring
out a No. 10 can of jam for a hun
dred and fifty men. What with get
ting two or three hours’ sleep a
night, we all lost weight—two of us
lost nineteen pounds and Charlie lost
twenty-three, and it wasn’t scared
off us, either.
“We all felt that with a decent
meal we could do a lot more. So
as much as we needed sleep, at
eight or nine o’clock at night we’d
take the Dutch bus into town to a
restaurant owned by a Javanese,
which had a Dutch waitress who
spoke English, just to buy us a thick,
rare steak. Americans have got to
have red meat to fight on. Give
them that and they’ll manage to
sleep when they can.
“We finally took over the mess,
but that didn’t help much, because
by then the field was being bombed
regularly. The mess sergeant had
his kitchen blown up three times in
a single day, and this didn’t improve
the flavor of things. But the worst
thing was, he’d got hold of three
truckloads of Reigel pale beer, and
had the cases neatly stacked when a
Jap bomb scored a direct hit, leav
ing not more than three dozen bot
tles. I never saw men any madder
than we were when we came out of
our foxholes and word went around
they had blown up our beer.’’
“They’d moved us over to Madi
un Field,’’ said the Bombardier,
“and we had your troubles and some
more besides. When we first ar
rived there were no P-40’s or anti
aircraft guns for miles to keep the
Zeros up. But we did have three
D-model Fortresses out of commis
sion we were using for spare parts.
So Lieutenant McGee dismounted
their guns, and Master Sergeant Sil
va and I decided to mount them in
holes around the airfield. At least
these would keep off strafers.
Mito
URK
food Pix
Ninety-one hours from the Aleu
tians to Bluffton—that’s the time it
took Chief Petty Officer Sherwood
Burkholder to make the trip. Burk
holder, of the navy air service is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Burkholder
of Findlay and a grandson of Mr. and
Mrs. Gid Burkholder of this place.
Ninety-one hours, however, is not con
sidered as setting any travel records
in these days, he said. The trip was
made by air to Seattle, Washington,
and from there east by rail. Burk
holder, who is here on several weeks
leave, spent 28 months in Alaska and
contrary to general belief he says the
climate on the Aleutians is not one of
extreme cold. During the winter the
temperature is usually about the
freezing mark and he has never ex
perienced zero cold waves like we do
in Ohio.
Tribute to the fine work Rev. Ches
ter Aremtrout, former pastor of the
Columbus Grove Presbyterian church,
now is doing in Columbus was con
tained in a column written by Johnny
Jones in “The Columbus Dispatch”
last Sunday. In part the article said,
“The Miami Presbyterian church is
one of the many churches in which it
has been hard to keep the flock to
gether. By working hard and endeav
oring to do his duty this young man
has caught on in his work of rejuven
ating the church. The young people
are coming back. The choir is doing
fine. “Old Sinners” like me are show
i ing up once in awhile. “Some people
can do so much if they just lend them­
RECOGNISING THE NEED Of THE
FRENCH PEOPLE FOR A
A-tt nPfRTS MT
SOUMEAS
AVERAGE A
wear garments increased only eight
percent, according to statistics from
Ohio State university.
Eugene Basinger of the Bluffton
area, now in a Civliian Public Service
camp at Pinehurst, North Carolina,
writes that he is one of a group of 45
serving as human guinea pigs in a
typical pneumonia experiment being
conducted by army physicians at that
place.
LOW COfT FAT
fi] APOLEON
OFFERED A PRIZE TO THE PERSOM
WHO COULD PRCPARE A
FAT TO
REPLACE BUTTER.
THE FRENCH CHEMIST
MEBE-MOURIIZ.
THE WITH HIS
INVENTION OF AfAAOAO/Af 0868)
ONA MARCH NIGHT IN IC2S
SirFMNCIsI&ACM
th* philosophic.
WAS CONTEMPIATINO
THE POSSIBILITIES
OF Rf FRlBfMTIOH
Ht bought
nuNtlMt PERSON
US C*RWM|f ASOVT
1600 POUNDS OF
a
chrdkrn
packed it tn
MOW
outside
hit house-and ■found
HIS
^CIMRIMENT
FOOD A YEAR
but hr contracted a
fever from the raw
chill winds and
died the next month!
selves to their church once in a while,
is one phase of his creed.” Also in
the article the writer mentioned Rev.
Armentrout’s twin brother ,Rev. Chas.
Armentrout, former pastor of the
Bluffton Presbyterian church, who
now* has a charge in Indianapolis.
“Say Sargeant, I was playing foot
ball for Van Wert when you w’ere on
25 MEN WANTED
The War Department and Navy are pressing us hard for maximum
production of tires, tubes, life belts, landing boats and pontoons.
Experience Not Necessary—Paid While You Learn
the Bl iff ton high school team” was
the greeting Staff Sgt. Wayne Depp
ler received the other day day, way
out in Iran. In a letter to his parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Eli Deppler ,their son
Wayne said he was surprised to meet
the Van Wert soldier who recognized
him as a former opponent in the days
when Bluffton and Van Wert football
teams clashed a good many years ago.
Staff Sgt. Deppler is stationed in Iran
with the army signal corps.
If you are looking for a good
home for a cat and her family of
kittens, call up Albert Vermillion.
Albert is looking for a half-dozen
mother cats to clear out the rats on
his farm in Orange township. He
says when it comes to getting rid
of rats cats are vastly superior to
dogs. In return for services as rat
ters, the cats are promised a good
home with plenty of food.
Of the 63,566 trucks released in
1943, agriculture obtained 18,335.
Normal annual replacements require
420,000 trucks.
WANTED
GOOD WAGES—STEADY WORK
Time and Half After 40 Hours
As our production is essential war work we invite
4-F MEN OR 1-A-L MEN
who are not now in essential war work
GOOD PROSPECTS FOR REGULAR
EMPLOYMENT AFTER THE WAR
All applicants must comply with W. M. C.
stabilization program.
THE COOPER CORPORATION
FINDLAY, OHIO
AH Hiring Done Through the
WHOLE MILK
for the manufacture of Spray Powder
WANTED: Man
wanted to learn tire
retreading. Here is
an opportunity to
learn a trade that
will continue when
war is over. No
Sunday or holiday
work. Good salary.
Apply to Manager,
Firestone Stores,
5 0 2 West High,
Lima, Ohio. Phone
40081.
AND
United States Employment Service
216 South Main St, Findlay, Ohio
SOUR CREAM
for the manufacture of Butter
Highest Prices Paid for
All Dairy Products
THE PAGE DAIRY CO.
BLUFFTON, OHIO
PHONE 489-W