Page Two
CLOUDBUSTER
Saturday, November 18, 1944
CLOUDBUSTER
Vol. 3—No. 10
Saturday, Nov. 18, 1944
Published weekly under the supervision of
the Public Relations Office at the U. S. Navy
Pre-Flight School, Chapel Hill, N. C., a unit
of the Naval Air Primary Training Command.
Contributions are welcome from all hands and
should he turned in to the Public Relations Of
fice, Navy Hall.
The Cloudbuster receives Camp Newspaper
Service material. Republication of credited
matter prohibited without permission of CNS,
War Department, 205 E. 42nd St., N. Y. C.
Lieut. Comdr. James P, Raugh, USNR
Commanding Officer
Lieut. Comdr. Howard L. Hamilton, USNR
Executive Officer
Lieut. Leonard Eiserer, USNR.
Public Relations Officer
Lieut, (jg) Francis Stann, USNR
Editor
Orville Campbell, Ylc
Associate Editor
''for Blessings
Restored'"'
Cadets, enlisted personnel, officers and the
public are Invited and enjoined to attend
Thanksgiving Day Vesper Services next
Thursday, Nov. 23, at 1900 in Memorial Hall.
In his annual proclamation, setting the
fourth Thursday of November as Thanks
giving Day, President Roo'sevelt urges a na
tionwide reading of the Bible from Thanks
giving to Christmas. The President’s procla
mation:.
“In this year of liberation, which has seen
so many millions freed from tyrannical rule,
it is fitting that we give thanks with special
fervor to our Heavenly Father for the mercies
we have received individually and as a Na
tion and for the blessings He has restored,
through the victories of our arms and those
of our allies, to his children in other lands.
“For the preservation of our way of life
from the threat of destruction; for the unity
of spirit which has kept our Nation strong;
for our abiding faith in freedom; and for the
promise of an enduring peace, we should lift
up our hearts in thanksgiving.
“For the harvest that has sustained us and,
in its fullness, brought succor to other peoples;
for the bounty of our soil, which has produced
the sinews of war for the protection of our
liberties; and for a multitude of private bles
sings, known only in our hearts, we should
give united thanks to God.
“To the end that we may bear more earnest
witness to our gratitude to Almighty God, I
suggest a Nation-wide reading of the Holy
Scriptures during the period from Thanks
giving Day to Christmas. Let every man of
every creed go to his own version of the script
ures for a renewed and strengthening con
tact with those eternal truths and majestic
principals which have inspired such measure
of true greatness as this Nation has achieved.
“Now, therefore, I Franklin D. Roosevelt,
President of the United States of America,
The Battle of Antwerp
By Lt. (jg) William Shanahan, USNR
Academic Department
The successful conclusion of the battle of
Antwerp marks the greatest allied success on
the western front since the breakthrough at
St. Lo. The significance of the British victory
has been obscured by the announcement that
American troops had begun a new offensive
around Metz, yet both events are closly con
nected. By driving German troops from Wal-
cheren Island in the estuary of the Schelde,
and clearing the banks of the river itself, the
great port of Antwerp has been opened for
the supply of allied armies. The long and
tenuous supply line from Cherbourg to the
western front can be supplemented by more
direct communications over Antwerp and the
long-awaited general offensive can begin.
When the Germans began their retreat to
the Westwall in August, they evacuated Ant
werp so hastily that few demolitions could
be carried out among the docks, quays, and
harbor facilities which have made Antwerp
one of the greatest ports in the world. But
Antwerp is an inland port connected to the
sea by the Schelde River, and the Germans
retained control of the river and also the
large island, Walcheren, which dominates its
estuary. Before any allied freighters could
make use of the port the desperate German
defense along the coast had to be overcome.
Casualties Were Heavy
The British campaign to free Antwerp was
exceedingly hard fought. South of the Schedle
the Germans contested every yard, fighting in
Ihe incredibly sticky mud which has always
been the curse of a campaign in the Low
Countries. Two amphibious attacks on Wal
cheren Island were made by the British, one
at Flushing on the south coast, and the other
at West Kapelle. Despite support fire from
the battleship Warspite and the monitor Ere
bus (15” guns), the force attacking West
Kapelle suffered virtual annihilation when
the landing craft were fired on by 250 mm-
coastal batteries. Four-fifths of the landing
craft were sunk; British commentators re
port that the casualties exceeded those at
Dieppe. Eventually beach-heads were estab
lished at both places and Royal Marines mop
ped up the German garrisons. These British
operations unquestionably will have more
value than the landings on Walcheren in 1809»
which failed to drive Napoleon from the
Netherlands.
V-1, V-2 Weapons Fail
Though the German batteries along the
Schelde and on Walcheren now have been
silenced it is reasonable to assume that block
ships have been sunk and mines have been ^
planted in the river. The Schelde itself is
silted easily and some dredging may be neces
sary before cargo ships can approach Ant' ^
werp. Notwithstanding these difficulties, Al'
lied harbor clearing experts probably will
have the port ready for use early in Decem- '
ber. Both V-1’ and V-2 have been fired on Ant- '
werp by the Germans but neither of these
weapons has been sufficiently destructive to :
hinder a modern military operation.
The expenditure of effort in the battle for
Antwerp is indicative of the value of ports
to our armies on the Western front. Since ,
D-day the bulk of supplies has poured ii^ ;
through Cherbourg and the emergency haf'
bors created along the French coast. Brest
was smashed in the hard fighting that pre- ;
ceded its capture and German garrisons stH' ,
hold St. Nazaire, Lorient, and La Rochelle- ■
Now a great deal of the burden can be shifted ,
to Antwerp, which is nearer England and ii’ ,
the midst of the great belt of railways which
governs military operations on the westeri^ ■
front.
On The Lighter Side
]
1
An officer’s wife asked a little grocery boy
in Paris his name. “Humphrey,” answered the
boy, and added that the last name was Bogart.
“Humphrey Bogart, eh?” said the Brass’s
wife. “That’s a pretty well known name.”
“It darn well ought to be,” the boy agreed.
“I’ve been delivering groveries in this neigh
borhood for four years.”
Happy prospective bride to girl frieiid: (
“I don’t know a thing about him—except that ]
he wants to get married.” i
!(!#*** t
Daffinition—Allotment: An arrangement s
whereby the government guarantees that som® '
of a GI’s money is spent on the woman entitle^
to it.
in consonance with the joint resolution of the
Congress approved December 26, 1941, do
hereby proclaim Thursday the twenty-third
day of November, 1944, a day of national
Thanksgiving; and I call upon the people of
the United States to observe it by bending
every effort to hasten the day of final victory
and by offering to God our devout gratitude
for His goodness to us and to our fellow men.”
Rear Admiral 0. B. Hardison, USN, Chief
of Naval Air Primary Training, sends the
following message:
“As we remember on this Thanksgiving
Day the events of the past 12 months, we are
grateful beyond measure for the good fortune
whic has attended our efforts in the prosecU',
tion of the war in every area, and for the pro'
gress our nation and allies have made on th^
way toward final victory. ’
“It is especially appropriate that thi^
Thanksgiving Day should be marked primari',
ly by a Universal acknowledgment of ouJ',
gratitude to Almighty God. j
“In our humble gratitude to God for th^^
abundance of His strengthening grace in tb^
past, may we find the source of renewed
strength and courage for every demand whicl’
the future days and years may hold.”