Evening star., 1939-08-07
District Troops Ready
To Defend RaiIhead
In War Games
260th Coast Artillery
Prepares for Attack
Next Week
By ROBERT A. ERWIN,
Star STAFF Correspondent.

tional Guard was all set today to
defend the 29th Division railhead at
Gainesville, Va, from enemy" at
tacks.
The attack won. come until next
week and it will be from the Regular
Armys provisional division. The di-
visions first and biggest job, how
ever, will be to find the 260th Coast
Artillery.
While headquarters has been es-
tablished in the open spaces on
highway No. 21l above Gainesville,
where enemy" aviators can recog-
nize anti-aircraft units without diff
fculty, there are numerous gun en-
placements in heavily wooded areas
where the eyes of aviation cannot
penetrate.
Under the setup outlined by 1t.
Col Leroy S. Mann, executive officer
. of the 260th under Col. Walter w.
Burns, there is gun battery at each
OF the triangle's three points. with
machine gun battery defending each
gun unit. The machine gunners will
direct their fire against enemy"
planes trying to lay smoke screens
that would make the gun batteries
useless in real combat.
Searchlights Recently Issued.
On the outer fringes of each area
are the powerful searchlights re-
Gently issued to the 260th as part OF
the regiments moderniZed equip
. ment. Troopers manning the search
lights will have the job of spotting
enemy planes in the sky.
When the 3rd Corps Area phase
of the first Army maneuvers actual
ly get under way next Sunday for a
continuous four day period, the ma
chine gunners will depend somewhat
machine batteries will be posted
"out front" according to the di-
rection from which the wind will be
coming, bringing with it enemy
planes.
The 260th's weapons include 81
millimeter guns, firing 10 shots
clip at the rate of 100 minute. The
regiments emplacements are located
both north and south of Gainesville.
ton for an Army camp were func-
tioning today in the area of the 29th
Division, embracing the District
Maryland. Virginia and part of the
Pennsylvania National Guards.
There were telephone lines. tele-
. type machines, telegraph instru-
ments and radio outfits, fast motor
cycles and foot messengers all doing
their part in the two weeks ma
neuver that is testing the defense
forces in this section of the At
lantic Seaboard.
Wire Crew Busy.
Capt. Louis PhilhoWer, Norfolk,
Va, commander of the 29th Signal
Company, said that 20 miles of tele-
phone wire were laid by his men
from 10 am. to pm. Sunday, with
from IS to 100 miles to be laid by
the time camp is fully established.
The signal company already has es-
tablished a reputation for speed and
precision and previously has won
the approval of Regular Army in
spectors for its work
For the first time the military
lines are in direct contact with COM
mercial telephone lines, thus per-
mitting long distance telephone calls
in and out of any headquarters in
the camp area Four District Guard
units are encamped here, the Coast
Artillery, the 121st Engineers, the
29th Divisional Special Troops and
the 10th Quartermasters.
When the big push begins next
Sunday, pitting the 28th and 29th
National Guard Divisions against the
Regular Army's provisional division
of $500 men of newly motorized
force, Maj. Gen. Milton A. Reckord
of the 29th will be able to pick up
telephone wherever he stops.
The District Guardsmen and other
units of the 29th headed today into
busy week of training and test
warfare between battalions. The
12lst Engineers. commanded by Col.
John w. Oehmann, will hold a
regimental assembly Wednesday.
Brig, Gen. Albert L. Cox, COM
mander of the District Guard and
District Commissioners Melvin c..
Hazen and David McCoach, jr., will
come to the Bull Run battlefield
area, where the troops are encamped,
Friday night for the annual officers
dinner of the engineer regiment.
They are scheduled to spend the
night in camp.
Test Battle Tuesday.
Battalions selected from the 1st
and the 5th Maryland Infantries
will clash Tuesday in test battle.
The 29th Division special troops
took advantage of their newly in
stalled shower baths Sunday for the
first bath since they settled into
camp Saturday morning and after
noon.
The District troopers, numbering
about $500 officers and men found a
heavy fog overhanging the maneuver
area when they turned out of their
camp cots for 7 o'clock Sunday
morning breakfast, served an hour
later than during the week. Later in
the day, the weather turned warm.
Despite the sun, however special
details labored the day. establishing
message centers, setting up telephone
and electric light wires, digging
drainage bitches around the tents
and erecting flagpoles.
One of the poles was put up on
division Hill" as 29th headquarters
Is known, in front of Gen. Reckord's
tent.
Twenty-ninth Division Military
Police, under Capt. Donald Falk,
established one-way streets in sew
eral camp areas to avoid traffic con-
gestion and to assure greater degree
of safety for the men.
Staff Officers Meet Daily.
In addition to the District units
the following regiments are here as
part of the 29th Division troops:
Ninety-first Brigade Headquarters
and 1st Virginia Infantry, 116th In