Vol. 2—No. 27
U. S. Navy Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill, N. C.
Saturday, March 18, 1944
Two Swimming Records Broken
Prelude
To Invasion
By Ens. W. 0. Shanahan, USNR
Academic Department
That the Anglo-American armed
forces stand ready to deliver the
blow that promises to topple the
Germans seems to be the easiest
military phophecy that can be
made for the year 1944. The in
vasion of the continent has been
Well advertised by the remarks of
our generals and statesmen. No
attempt has been made to conceal
the extent of our armaments in
Great Britain, or the thoroughness
with which our troops have been
trained. This alarming frankness
may be disturbing to some persons
who expect the utmost secrecy
wherever military events are con
cerned. Yet in view of the vast
Scale of the armies poised for the
attack absolute secrecy would be
impossible. The very scale of the
operations, the incredible numbers
of tanks, guns, ships, barges, and
So on, cannot be hidden completely
from the prying eyes of the
enemy’s air force. It is reason
able to believe that the recurrence
of air raids on Britain is intended
mainly as an air “reconnaisance
m force” in order to obtain valu
able data on the extent of the al
lied preparations.
These comments illustrate the
generally accepted belief that
strategic surprise is impossible at
the beginning of a campaign. Not
Only are modern armies too big to
Conceal but the vast numbers of
^en and machines impose logisti
cal problems that determine the
plan. Since the enemy also under
stands and is limited by the same
logistical problems he can calcu
late the other side’s intentions.
"The situation is not quite so sim-
l^le as it was in 1870 when General
l^oltke. Chief of the Prussian Gen
eral Staff, determined the entire
^I'ench war plan by study of a
cheap railroad map, but there are
See INVASION, 4
Cadets John Lilley, 45-E-l, and
Robert Howard, 42-L-l, set new
records in the indoor swimming
pool during the past two weeks.
Lilley, who hails from New York
City by way of Exeter Academy
and Yale University, broke the 50
meter backstroke record with a
new mark of :38.4. Cadet Fallon
of the Mariners was the previous
record holder with the time of
:39.7.
Howard, who last week broke
the cross chest carry record with
a new time of :24.8, broke his own
record Monday afternoon. The
new time was :23.2. Cadet Laub
of the Buccaneers was the pre
vious champion in this event.
Breaking records is nothing new
for either Lilley or Howard. Three
Personnel Changes
One officer was attached and
another detached during the past
week.
Reporting aboard was Lieut.
Francis L. Boyle, USNR, from the
Norfolk Naval Hospital, He will
serve here as assistant Medical Of
ficer.
Leaving Chapel Hill and order
ed to report to LanCraftScol,
PHIBTRABASE, Coronado,
Calif., was Lieut. John E. Hollis,
USNR, officer in charge of Mili
tary Arts Instruction here.
weeks ago Lilley broke the 50-
meter free style swim record (See
Cloudbuster, Feb. 26, ’44) when
he swam-the distance in :26.3 to
better the old mark of :27.1 set
jointly by Lutz of the Buffaloes
and Kelly of the Kingfishers.
Lilley won six varsity letters at
Exeter, and seven at Yale.
Howard attended Hamilton Col
lege where he won letters in swim
ming.
On their personal data ques
tionnaires both selected Lou
Gehrig as the athlete who they
thought had contributed most to
sports in the past decade. Both
want to stay in aviation after the
war.
Howard’s home is in Bingham
ton, New York.
Dance Scheduled
For March 25
A dance for 43rd Battalion
cadets will be held in the Pine
Room of Lenoir Hall on Saturday,
March 25, from 2100 to 2400.
Liberty for the Senior Battalion
that night will be extended to 0030,
with taps coming at 0045.
Uniform for the cadets will be
service dress blue, able.
Refreshments will be served and
music will be furnished by the Pre-
Flight band.
Buster Bits...
Cadet Fred McIntosh, 44-D-2, is
no newcomer to the Navy. Only 24
years old, he has been in the ser
vice of Uncle Sam for the past
five years.
Before becoming a V-5’er, Cadet
McIntosh served on the USS Wasp
and USS Ranger. As a crew mem
ber, he already has about 300
hours in the air.
* * *
An aerial photographer in the
Marine Corps for one and a half
years. Cadet Joseph Maschek,
45-F-2, is anxious to get his wings
in the same branch of service. He
hails from Chicago, Illinois.
* * *
Cadet Walt Fulp, 45-F-3, was a*
Navy mechanic previous to the
start of his V-5 training. He has
two and a half years of regular
Navy air service to his credit.
* H: * ,
For the past four and a half
years Cadet Ben Crytser, 45-F-3,
has been wearing the Navy blue.
As a RM3c, he was in Naval com
munications. Followed two years
of sea duty, and a year at the U. S.
Naval Academy. He plans to make
the Navy a career, and is looking
forward to duty in China, if pos
sible, after he gets his wings.
* *
Patrol duty in the Atlantic
from the Arctic Circle to the equa
tor kept Cadet Joe Baszak, 45-E-2,
busy for three years.
♦ *
Cadet Algernon Miller, 45-F-2,
enlisted in the Navy in April of
See BUSTER BITS, page 3
Outstanding Cadet
Cadet Robert Whitney, Jr.,
has been selected by the Com
manding Officer as the out
standing cadet of the 41st Bat
talion and his name will be in
scribed upon the Commanding
Officer’s Trophy which hangs in
Navy Hall.
BREAKS OWN RECORD: Cadet Robert Howard, 42-L-l, above, broke
the cross chest carry record last week with a new time of :24.8.
Monday afternoon he tried it again, and broke his own mark with a
new time of :23.2.