Vol. 3—No. 25 U. S. NAVY PRE-FLIGHT SCHOOL, CHAPEL HILL, N. C. Friday, March 9, 1945 Four Former Carolina Cadets Win Mention In Navy Releases From Marshalls, Cadet Of 5th Batt Just ‘Went On West’ A fifth battalion cadet who spotted gunfire for a heavy Cruiser from his Kingfisher came aboard last week to show his bride of 11 days his Pre-Flight ®lnia mater . He is Lieut, (jg) W. F. Allen, Who was en route to Pensacola tor multi-engine training follow- a year of sea duty in the Pacific. Flying from the catapult of his ship, Lieut, (jg) Allen not Ofily spotted gunfire but aided in Rescuing downed pilots at sea. , Completing his training here September, 1942, Lieut, (jg) ^llen went through Memphis, r^nsacola and operational train- at Jacksonville before join- his squadron. In January, |944, his cruiser joined her task lorce. “It seemed as if we just started on the Marshalls and ''^ent on West all the way,” he Said. “We made raids at Marcus, Truk, Wake, Hollandia, Yap, 'Volei, Saipan, Tinian, Guam ^rid the Philippines.” tiescued Squadron Commander Last June Lieut, (jg) Allen Participated in a notable rescue J'^hen, following a hard encoun ter with the Jap fleet, some Navy Wanes were late getting back to their carriers. In the darkness ^^d out of gas, they fell into the ^rink but the following day Seven survivors were picked up, |:^ieut. (jg) Allen rescuing ^omdr. Blitch, commanding offi cer of a dive-bombing squadron ^fom the Wasp. “The two planes aboard our ^ruiser went out at dawn,” ex- Wained Lieut, (jg) Allen, “and ''^ith fighter protection overhead, flew at levels of 1,000 and (Continued on Page 3) Making Dates Is Now ‘Only’ Half As Tough The problem of dating local Sirls by phone or chinning ^ith the one back home was halved for cadets during the Past week with doubling of telephone facilities in Navy Hall. . Installation of two addi tional booths in the east end of the basement raises to four the number available to Pre- flight personnel in Navy Hall, i^ocal calls are made without .charge^ Showing his bride around the station is Lieut, (jg) W. F. Allen, a 5th Battalion cadet who visited Chapel Hill en route to Pensa cola following experiences in the Pacific, where he served as gun fire spotter from his Kingfisher. All Hands Aboard Are Urged To Join In Red Cross Drive Membership in the American Red Cross for each officer, cadet, crew member and civilian em ploye is the goal of the 1945 War Fund Drive on this station dur ing the campaign which started March 7 and which will run through March 14. Chaplain George W. Cummins, chairman of the Red Cross com mittee, has announced that names of- all personnel to be solicited are in the hands of the various departmental chairmen and he urges all hands to join. Enlisted personnel will not be solicited, pursuant to instructions from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, but all others, including civilians, will be so licited and Chaplain Cummins has expressed the hope that members of the crew will volun tarily join 100 per cent. The national goal of the War Fund campaign is $200,000,000, which will finance Red Cross ac tivities during another year un der war-time conditions. $7 Per Second Pays It requires $7 per second to keep the Red Cross going. CADETS TO DANCE ON BASE SATURDAY Cadets of the 64th and 66th battalions, together with 11-R-A, will dance tomorrow in the Pine Room, Lenoir Hall, at a Welfare and Recreation Office hop. The Cloudbuster swing band will provide the music and refresh ments will be served. The dance will start at 2100 and wind up at 2400. An exten sion of liberty for the battalions invited has been granted. NAT Chief Earns DSO From Britain Rear Admiral Charles A. Pow- nall, USN, Chief of Naval Air Training, has been awarded hon orary membership in the Distin guished Service Order of Great Britain for “outstanding gallant ry and leadership” in the Gilbert Islands campaign. Rear Admiral Pownall earlier had been honored by the Presi dent of the United States with the award of the Distinguished Serv ice Medal for his work as Com mander of the Carrier Force, Central Pacific Force, in opera tions for re-conquest of the Gil bert Islands in November, 1943. Fountain Pen Lost A brown-and-gold striped Shaeffer fountain pen with a gold cap has been lost by B. E. Earp, Y3c, WAVES quarters, Al exander Hall. Ex-’Busters Figure In Pacific Air War Four former Carolina Pre- Flight cadets, ranging from the 5th to the 27th Batts, figure in recent Navy Department releases on the war in the Pacific. Lieut, (jg) W. J. Ennis, 5th Batt member from Jackson Heights, L. I., N. Y., is described as “the champion water-lander of the Pacific Fleet,” for his feats as a pilot in Carrier Air Group Seven. A veteran of the first carrier strikes against five im portant outposts of the Jap’s “New Order” in the Pacific, the group is returning home on leave after a four-month combat tour in which it amassed a total of combat flying hours ordinarily compiled in six months. Air Group Seven participated in the first strikes on Okinawa, Formosa, and Amami O Shima, as well as the historic January assault on the Asiatic continent, blasting targets in China and Indo-China. Record of the group shows 76 Jap aircraft shot out of the air and hundreds of others destroy ed on the ground. The group helped sink 64 ships of all sizes, including one light cruiser, one submarine tender, one destroyer and five destroyer escorts. During the Battle of the Phil ippine Sea, Lieut, (jg) Ennis was forced down three times in three days. Twice his plane was shot down. Both times he was rescued, but after the second rescue the seaplane which picked him up was itself forced down by foul weather. He was saved this time by a destroyer. Navy Cross Winner Another Carolina Pre-Flighter Lieut, (jg) Fred B. Roach, 15th Batt member from Dover, Mass., has been awarded the Navy Cross, as one of four torpedo pilots of Air Group 44 who scored torpedo hits on a Japanese battleship last Oct. 25 during the second Battle of the Philippine Sea. The record of Air Group 44, returning to the United States from four months of heavy ac tion in the Pacific, typifies the lopsided score of destruction which Naval air power, operat ing from aircraft carriers, is in flicting upon the Japanese. A small-sized but high calibre group of fighter and torpedo (Continued on Page 4)

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