Our Quarters 1945
Home Sweet Home -- my cot was the first on left inside this door – before there was a garden
On the outside corner to left is
Rain Barrel & Helmet Wash Basin -- these also served as our "photo
lab". Smitty planted the front garden after I arrived
My Quarters Desk is blanket covered
plywood board. The vertical plywood also served as support for Ammo Box with
light bulb in side, always left on to keep envelopes dry, else they would
stick, we wrote "free" for a stamp. Power branched to light bulb in
box and radio above left. Items are flash light, insect propellant, Benedictine
Liquor bottle, from Smitty, can of Prince Albert, matches, pipe, zippo lighter,
GI can of beer, clipboard and pen.
This pen with monkey teeth marks was
borrowed by Gen T. Spaatz (story follows) and later lost when handed to the guy
behind me to sign his discharge papers, though I intended to keep it, I forgot
and walked on.
If you'd turn about you'd see a
blanket covered wooden cot, also a carbine bayonet stuck in the floor for
opening beer cans. Laundry often still wet hung from the wall in a barracks
bag, a fresh outfit would soon dry, wrinkled shirts/pants were the style.
Smitty (Radar) & Brownell (Radio) both graduate engineers, had bunks near mine and told me I was assigned the bunk used by the engineering officer I replaced.
Landau with 45 & Officer of the Day armband Landau in Quarters
Brownell Fellows looking at B-29's en-route to fly over Nimitz Hq
Smitty pulling sward, Brownell
I was impressed with the technical capability our nation brought together for these operations. Almost no other nation could fielded such talent in such large numbers.
Smitty & Landau on construction
break Smitty giving Landau orders
to pound there.
Smitty’s Addition Smitty drafted me to help build the above addition. The Atomic Bomb had been dropped the day before. Smitty & I discussed the subject as we built on. Smitty the Group Radar Officer with a degree in chemical engineer, expressed genuine concern of what forces had been turned loose. He spoke as would a theoretical physicist – he was a very remarkable person.
Brownell’s Photo Kit My interest in photography began when
Brownell, Radio-Radar Maintenance Officer, received a Kodak development kit in
the mail from his parents. Captain Keough had left me his roll of K-20 camera
negatives.
Printer
The kit included a holder for a negative plus copy paper. Brownell told
what was needed for illuminating negatives and transferring the image to photo
paper. I made a box with light bulb and switch and mounted the holder in it.
Brownell and one of the other fellows mixed print developer chemicals and put
them in a dark bottle. They also obtained some ice and a thermometer so the
chemicals could be cooled to the proper temperature. We had a bottle of
Developer, a bottle of Fixer, trays from the kit plus steel helmets and plenty
of rain water in our bomb barrel for final rinse. After a bit of
experimentation we were doing quite well. With this “printer” we made Christmas
cards using a Keough photo and mailed them to friends and family.
Using a photo from Keough’s K-20 camera roll & Brownell’s paper, we made christmas cards
45 years later I found one of our
Christmas cards among my mothers things. She'd mounted it in a special frame,
the above is a scan of that card.
Developer I watched as Brownell got out kit's
“negative developer”. This was a plastic container with a holder inside which
could be adjusted for various size negatives. We emulated a dark room, so as
not to expose the negative to light, by placing our hands under a layer of
blankets. The negative was inserted into the holder by feel with great
difficulty. Once sealed in the container chemicals could be poured in, and the
internal rack turned with a protruding pin.
After a proper amount of exposure to chemicals, at proper strength and
temperature, we generally obtained satisfactory results.
Smitty’s
Chemistry Set Smitty joined with others at Kearney Nebraska to fly overseas with
one of the crews. Just taking off for overseas Smitty, the chemical engineer, went
to town and looked up a Chemistry Teacher. From him Smitty bought some chemical
paraphernalia, for use in the name of science, of course. After arrival
overseas he put some ingredients in bottles into ferment.
Smitty in
center Bernard Bug at
left Landau at left
The Still Smitty, Bernie Bug and I made a setup one
night to distilled some “spirits”. The endeavor began when Smitty told us of
his advanced planning and got out the now dusty bottles he'd set aside to
ferment. Smitty also opened his footlocker and placed his Chemistry Set out on
the bed. Immediately all about became
interested. Bernie Bug had a home made table which he placed in the center
walkway under a rafter. Someone came up with a Colman type gas burner for heat.
Smitty assembled a “boiler” bottle with tall neck and branch off tube. A
thermometer extended into the boiler bottle via a hole in a cork and the
branched vapor outlet was connected to a “condenser” (tube in a tube). These were suspended from the rafter so the
burner heated the boiler and a steel helmet placed to collect water from the
condenser. Using helmets it was my job to bucket rain water through the condenser
to cool the vapor. Bernie read the thermometer
and collected the condensate keeping a record of what boiled over at what
temperature. Bernie had been a Pharmacist, before becoming a Navigator and
announce what PROOF was being distilled from the thermometer readings,
classified good, better and potent.
Old Overholt One bottle of raw stock was really
producing a high alcohol content when all of a sudden Smitty came off the cot,
from which he was overseeing the production, and grabbed up the dusty bottle.
He said "no wonder it's so good, stop!
We're distilling the real thing, this is my last bottle of Old
Overholt!"
The 10cc Jigger You could smell the potency of the
condensate, no one wanted to be the first to try it. A Major, I recognized but didn’t know, came back from the movie
and with knowing glances we knew we had our “sample taster”. Assuring him it was great stuff Smitty
poured him a drink in his homemade bamboo 10cc jigger and handed it to the
Major. Assured it was good stuff, he
downed all 10cc. His eyes and mouth
came open and he fanned his breath until he could finally croak out a
"Wow! that's powerful stuff! But it sure warms you inside!" We all
grinned, but diluted ours with rain water.
Liquor Ration We had a liquor ration via the club, lots
were drawn for what you got. We didn't
have ice until after the war and seldom any mix. My first drawing was Gin and to this day I don't like Gin. The smell of it reminds me of that volatile
warm stuff that overwhelmed your sense of smell and tasted like kerosene. I
traded most of my ration for boxes of cigars from guys in the Navy. Photos of the plane crash cost a bottle of
bourbon.
Beer Can Opener Near
the end of the War beer was no longer rationed. We still didn't have ice but a
can of warm beer tasted good after a long hard day. I didn't have an opener but
didn't need one when I found my carbine bayonet served as an excellent can
opener. Two cuts to make a V fold-down segment and one punch for an air
hole. The barracks had a 2x4 frame covered
with plywood sheets for floor, sides and roof. I kept the bayonet stowed by my
bunk stuck in the floor. I'd pluck it out, open a can and throw it to stick in
the floor.
Lucky Throw One night the guys saw a rat walking along
the 2x4 roof beams, rats were common on the island. Some threw shoes, etc., trying to hit it. I plucked my bayonet from the floor, flipped
it to hold it by the blade, called to the guys to stand clear and threw it end
over end. Thud and squeak, the rat was pinned to the rafter, in moments it was
dead. This really impressed those present.
Later I'd throw at a stump doing well to stick it 1 out of 10 tries! Yes
I scrubbed and rescrubbed the blade before opening beer cans again.
Defensive Reflex After the “old timers” left I was laying
on my cot for a brief siesta after chow it what was now an empty barracks. My senses were suddenly aroused, I
instinctively rolled out of the bed, came up with the bayonet at waist level,
pointed at a man standing in the doorway beside my cot. He was a Jap PW, part of a crew I'd seen
cleaning up the area. His eyes popped
wide open, put his hands up and chattered incoherently as he backed out of the
doorway. My heart was pounding as I
incredulously observed my stance, as if ready to defend myself! My reflex behavior startled me? I knew the PW's were out there and apparently
become semi-aware of his presence, instinctive reflexes responded.
Movies and
Flashlights Our movie theater was a bulldozed
clearing with a picture screen at the apex and bomb boxes for seats. There are
no photos of this theater version. Wearing apparel was helmet, poncho (rain
coat), flash light, smokes and cans of beer. There were no lights except the
projector and our flash lights. It was necessary to change reels for every
movie. Flash lights would come out, and someone would shine a spot on the
screen, others would chase it with their flash lights.
Those who had to relieve themselves would do so during
the reel change, climbing on the tree trunks and aim off into the rubble.
Searching flashlight beams would find someone in mid act. He's be illuminated by the sum of their
flash lights. The audience would applaud the stance and amber arc as if it were
the main feature. The performer would shake and tuck it away then turn to the
audience and bow. On occasion there would be nurses present but the fellows
behaved as if oblivious to their presence.
Rain Coats to Poncho’s We were issued rain coats in the states but
ponchos when shipped overseas. Ponchos
did not have arms and a person could carry a weapon protected out of the
rain. Curls of smoke indicated a
hunched silhouette was enjoying the movie.
Radio Repair One
night I decided to try to get my radio to work rather than go to the movie. I'd
asked my Radio-Radar friends Brownell and Smitty what might be wrong. They said
they couldn't tell without instruments. With the benefit of good luck it was
playing when they got back.
Typical 1940 5 tube radio
It was my 5 tube high school radio.
It had been smashed when packed inside my clothes in my barracks bag. I made a
wooden case for it and it played for a while then quit. After receiving my
commission was been shipped by train from Dodge City, KS to Mariana, FL to
Santa Ana, CA to Pecos, TA. Along the
way from FL to CA I purchased a book Radio for the Millions and struggled to
comprehend how a radio worked as the rails clicked by during that long, long
ride. I really didn't know much I
decided to at least try though I didn’t have the book or a diagram. The tubes lit and all seemed fine but there
was no sound. It was equipped with an electromagnet speaker and had four wires
between it and the radio. I disconnected that speaker and connected a Signal
Corp. permanent magnet speaker. Since the new speaker had a permanent magnet I
coupled the old speaker coil wires to the new speaker coil wires – it
played!! It had an awful gravelly
sound. I then reconnected the old
speakers electromagnet without it’s speaker coil connection. It played clear as a bell, beautiful! I was delighted. When the experts returned
they were soon grinning ear to ear surprised to hear it play. I showed them
what I'd done and asked "why does it work now?" They said 110 VAC was
converted to DC by using a rectifier tube and used a capacitor and inductor
coil to iron out the ripples in the power supply. To save on parts the speakers
electromagnet did double duty; serving as the speaker magnet and as the filter
for the DC. The electromagnetic method
was discontinued after WWII.
Native women going back to do our
laundry. Early flight line laundry
replaced with horizontal rotary barrel driven with vacuum pump driven as a
motor with Cletrack air compressor.
The Laundry South
of our barracks was the laundry.
Commercial household washing machines had been placed on a concrete slab
and covered by a tent. Guamanian women ran the machines. One of them, an
attractive young girl, would bring her baby with her. It's father had been a
Japanese soldier killed when the island was taken. We'd leave a barracks bag of
clothes in the morning and pick them up in the evening. They washed them bag
and all, dumped them back in the bag and hung it on a peg. Our fresh clothes in
the morning were always cool because they were still damp.
Flight line washer The coveralls used by the mechanics would
become too oil soaked and carbon smeared to launder. The fellows on the Flight
Line made their own washing machine.
They abandon an initial windmill version and rigged a stand to hold and
rotate an oil drum, like a pig on a spit. They cut a door in the side which was
sealed with a rubber gasket then clamped shut. They would dump clothes and
solvent in the drum and then turn it on. It was rotated by using an aircraft
vane vacuum pump as a motor, driven by compressed air from the Cletrack’s air
tank.
Home made scooter and trailer The fellows were always innovative
Funnel urinals Delux steel helmet “Pot”
urinals! John is near, Shower far
Left 2nd Lt’s
Bernard Stelzenmuler, Hank Talbot,
D. Landau. mid Wurth Wheelwright, Mormon Bombardier, to shave &
shower. Right Frank Stephens, Mormon
Pilot with bag packed ready to return to the states..
39th BG Club Opening The three of us above came over on the ship
together. Hank and I were both Engineering Officers, Hank was from Kansas City
Kansas, and became a part of the 39th Bomb Group across the field
from us, their planes had a large "P" the tail. He called and I made a special trip to join
him when they opened their Officers Club.
They had a new shower system so I took a change of cloths and enjoyed
their deluxe shower set up. A fellow
taking a shower at the same time looked exactly like a well known movie actor –
I was tempted to ask but didn’t. We
took a good look at each other as if we’d seen each other somewhere. I knew a movie actor would not know me so
we parted with a passing nod.
A 2/L from Quarters Master Corp we
knew at Kerns UT met us for a foursome at our table.
Do
you have a pen? When engrossed in conversation someone
behind me tapped my shoulder and asked if I had a pen. I reached in my shirt pocket and handed it
back over my shoulder without interrupting our conversation. Then I noticed a strange look on the faces
of those opposite me. One said don’t
look now but those are high powered people that sat down behind you. I asked like who? They said it’s General Spaatz, General LeMay and General
Twining, known by all from photos. I
didn’t turn about and gawk, but wish I’d at least turned and said you’re
welcome. About 10 min later the person
tapped me on the shoulder with the pen saying thanks. Moments later the fellows opposite me said they got up and left. They’d been engaged in intent conversation,
the club opening was a convenient place to meet. I later learn that Spaatz was on Tinian in charge of arrangements
for dropping the A-Bomb. That LeMay
would fly back to the states and inform Pres Truman it was not necessary to
drop the A-Bomb to defeat Japan, that Japan was already defeated by the intense
B-29 raids. I wondered if Spaatz needed
a pen to signed orders for LeMay to return and report his convictions to the
President. I’m certain Twining and LeMay had shown Spaatz the “War Room” photos
at 20th AF Hdqs showing current bomb damage. The target Hiroshima had been off limits
according to the book "Dear Folks" by Maj Van Parker a 28th Sqd
Airplane Commander. It’s almost certain
they were discussing the pending use of the Atomic Bomb?
Ground Officer Mess During the war, ground officers mess would be packed then abruptly clear out when a mission was due back. Generally speaking they would start landing about 8:00 am, and flight line personnel would be there to meet them to determine what repairs were needed to get them ready again. Noon and evening meals were whenever the person got there. At the end of preparations for maximum effort missions personnel were too tired to talk, sometimes too tired to eat after being up for prolonged hours to get a flight off.
Close Friends Ship Home Brownell, Smitty and many others shipped
home shortly after we got the Christmas cards done. They were happy as they
gathered their things; Smitty left me his Chemistry Set, the one used to
distill spirits, and Brownell left me his Photo Kit and associated supplies –
plus warm memories of wonderful guys.
New Friends Wheelwight & Stephens, arriving as the war ended, became new buddies. We were very short handed on the flight line and they were assigned to help. They delighted in quizzing me on my knowledge of B-29's. Wheelwright brought a screw to see if I could identify it – one of thousands used. It was a very special kind used only on props – that made it easy to recognize, but he remained impressed. They and others confided they wished they had acquired my experience vs their own.