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)