l^^riday, December 8, 1944
CLOUDBUSTER
Page Three
AROUND
The
STATION
Dances for the crew and for
inffiembers of the 58th Battalion
ta^re on the Welfare and Recre-
f ^tion bill for next Saturday,
m* The crew dance, with free re-
I t^eshments, will be held at the
.v^ountry Club from 2100 to 2400.
< The 58th Battalion hop is
iiSlated for the Pine Room of
I Renoir Hall, also from 2100 to
ar400. Uniform for the cadets
'^ill be service blue, able, with
^^j^Ptional dress for the ladies.
y i Sections of the Pre-Flight
I Hand will furnish music for both
jjOccasions.
The five top cadets of the 60th
“attalion academically are D.
,Robinson, Jr., (K-2) with aver-
;?ge of 3.767, W. A. Pavlik (L-2)
3,726, D. L. Darrow (L-1)
Wh 3.691, W. T. Groves (L-1)
^ith 3.617, and R. J. Ferron
=I^L-2) with 3.615.
jiL In weather to which Henry
ji^udson was accustomed, Pre-
light’s new “trading post” was
^j!?Pened early this week . . . The
^I'ain-child o f Lieut. Frank
i*^owman of ENS, the post is lo-
./ated at the Canteen and latest
^^®Ports had it that brisk trading,
"^Uying and selling was in pro-
. . . Seems you get a 3x5-
T^h card, fill it out, pin it up,
presto, you swap your
l^houlder-boards for a cigarette
;r,§hter, a bicycle for a sled, a
i!DJ.onde pin-up girl for a brunette,
. . . Ten-day leaves were at
premium, however.
’f Lieut. Howard L. Hanson,
*■ S^otographic officer of the 167th
Photo Company, in Europe
^ brother of Harold Hanson,
H specialist - Photographer aboard
station, writes that since ar-
i^ving overseas last October he
(made four trips from Cher-
j g^H^g to the front and back
; »Sain—and each time by a dif-
I route . . . Lieut. Hanson’s
\ ^j^otographers have taken nearly
of the newsreel and still
, r^otos showing action in Hol-
^and below Antwerp and at last
^®Port they were shooting less
i-^an a mile from the enemy
When they en-
^^nt lines
fed Aachen they found only
persons not attached to their
rvcompany . . . “In their hur-
y> writes Lieut. Hanson, “the
tg?^^ans left hot food on the
oles and several officers left
th
overcoats.’
Divine Services
PROTESTANT
lOOO Memorial Hall
CATHOLIC
,^15 at Gerrard Hall
1000 at Hill Music Hall
JEWISH
iOOO at Hillel House
Night Flying Experiences Told
Cadets By Army’s Lt. Wirkus
LIEUT. LEONARD V. WIRKUS
64th Battalion Tops
All In Academics
Academic standings for batta
lions failed to run true to form
for the two week period just
ended when the junior instead of
the senior battalion won top
honors.
The latest entrant in battalion
competition—the 64th—won first
place with an overall mark of
83.35%.
The 61st was second with
82.80, while the 62nd had 65.97,
and the 63rd, 65.58.
Missouri’s first deer season in
7 years was a big success. No
hunters were shot. No cows were
shot by careless hunters. Only a
few deer were shot, too.
COMING EVENTS
TOMORROW
AT THE MOVIES
Village: Free movie, "GREENWICH VIL
LAGE,” with Don Ameche and Carman
Miranda. Features start at 1918 and 2048.
Carolina: "NONE BUT THE LONELY
HEART,” with Cary Grant and Ethel Bar
rymore.
Pick: "WEIRD WOMAN,” with Lon
Chaney and Evelyn Ankers.
BASKETBALL
Woollen Gym: Pre-Flight vs. Cherry Point
Marines, 1930.
DANCE
Pine Room, Lenoir Hall: Officers’ dance
from 2100 to 0100.
SUNDAY
AT THE MOVIES
Village; Free movie, "TAKE IT OR LEAVE
IT,” with Phil Baker and Phil Silvers.
Features start at 1326 and 1452.
Carolina: "MRS. PARKINGTON,” with
Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon.
Pick: "DARK MOUNTAIN,” with Ellen
Drew and Robert Lowery.
OPEN HOUSE ^
Alderman Dormitory: For 62nd battalion
from 1530 to 1730.
WEDNESDAY
BASKETBALL
Woollen Gym: Pre-Flight vs Seymour
Johnson Field; University of North Caro
lina vs. High Point College, at 1900.
AFT cadets last week were
treated to an informal narration
of personal experiences in night
fighting over Europe by Lieut.
Leonard V. Wirkus, AAF, who
came to Chapel Hill to visit his
brother. Warrant Officer Faustin
E. Wirkus, head of the Marine
Aviation Detachment here.
Emphasis was on the impor
tance of navigation in air opera
tions, as Lieut. Wirkus described
experiences gained during 150
hours of night flying in British
Beaufighters, mostly in the Ital
ian theatre.
Lt. Wirkus, who entered Italy
right after the capture of Naples,
flew cover for the Anzio opera
tion, as well as for the invasion
of southern France. He holds the
Air Medal with 2 clusters for
sustained operations over Italy,
the Unit Citation, and ETO and
ATO service ribbons.
—SHOT DOWN—
(Continued from Page 1)
“Our flrst action on a large
scale came in the big naval en
gagement in November. Our ob
jective was the Jap fleet, com
posed of a few carriers, battle
wagons and several transports.
We were successful, for the most
part, and our outfit sank the
battleship Kongo. That is, we
put seven ‘fish’ in her, and she
exploded that night.
Ack-Ack Hits Home
“We were busy every day.
When we couldn’t find Jap ships
we would bomb Munda as an
alternative.”
It was while returning from a
bombing mission over Munda
that LeLande experienced the
first of three parachute jumps
with Jap planes overhead.
His plane, along with several
others, had dumped its load and
was on its way home when ack-
ack hit the engine and knocked
out a couple of cylinders.
“Nine Zeros were after our
formation at the time,” explains
LeLande, “but we bailed out and
our own ship gave us wonder
ful protection. We landed in the
water, close to a small island,
and were picked up the next
day. No one was hurt.”
Later, the American forces
started attacking Bougainville,
and LeLande’s group started go
ing through “real hell.” Their
objective was two-fold: In the
day time they would attack ships
in the harbor while the B-17 and
B-24 would raise hell with the
air fields. At night they would
drop aerial mines, which was
especially dangerous in that they
had to fly at a slow speed and
low altitude.
Wears Two Citations
Not long thereafter, LeLande
took to his parachute again. His
ship was escorting a cripple
back to Guadalcanal when two
Jap planes spotted them. Sec
onds later his own ship was
Ens. Thomas Weds
Lt. Hewlett Jan. 6
A Pre-Flight romance which
began six months ago will culmi
nate on January 6th at York,
Pa., with the marriage of Ensign
Gertrude Thomas to Lt. Joseph
Hewlett.
The couple will be married in
the Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church in York, Pa., home of the
bride to be. The wedding will be
a simple affair, with close friends
of the couple on deck. Ensign
Thomas, who has resigned her
commission effective December
15th, will leave on that date for
York to make plans for the wed
ding.
Lieut. Hewlett has served as
head coach of gym and tumbling.
Prior to being commissioned in
the Navy he was an instructor in
Devereux School at Berwyn, Pa.
While stationed in Chapel Hill,
Ensign Thomas was attached to
the Naval Dispensary as a mem
ber of the nursing staff.
BRIDE-TO-BE—Of interest to
all station personnel is the forth
coming marriage of Ensign Ger
trude Thomas, above, to Lieut.
Joseph Hewlett, head coach of
gym and tumbling. The wedding
will take place on January 6 at
York, Pa.
knocked out, and the crew of
three landed in the “drink” to
be picked up shortly thereafter
by PT boats.
Just before returning to the
states it happened again. This
time a group of Jap fighter
planes did the damage, and Le
Lande, the pilot and turret gun
ner took to parachute.
LeLande stayed on Guadal
canal for nine months. During
that time Americans at home
were building ships and planes
to replace those that had been
destroyed at Pearl Harbor, and
Americans at Guadalcanal were
starting an offensive that will
not end short of Tokyo.
LeLande wears the Pacific
Theatre and American Defense
ribbons with three battle stars,
along with two presidential cita
tions.