Evening star., 1942-01-19
By CLARK LEE.

Sergt. Paul Verdi beats out the
alarm signals which alert the bat
terry. All around US men take their
posts with disciplined speed.
Edward r. Wright, a raw-boned.
taciturn. red-mustached private.
CLUES his eyes to the rangefinder.
Pvts. Ernest E. Wheeler and Louis
Rio help him operate the big de-
vice.
Flash, FASH" sounds the radio
phone again Those planes are
enemy dive bombers now flying 1900
yards altitude"
The motors are now audible. q
Japs Pay Costly Price.
The second report had come from
another of the outposts which ring
vital American positions in this
area and whose teamwork has made
the japanese pay a costly price for
their raids.
Corpl. Clarence Graham directs
the operations Of the rangefinder in
quiet voice.
Elevate Depress a little {.
Hold 1t :. Take reading"
This instrument, together with
another which 1t. L. Peterie oper-
ates few feet away, gives complete
data to the gunners. making their
work almost automatic.
The instruments do everything
except tell whether the enemy's
pilots name is Momotarosan or Ha-
bakkari.
Just as Corpl Graham calls out,
ION the target" we see the planes.
They are flying single file and
plunge through the bottom layer OF
clouds into the clear. They are out
Of range of our big guns.
Capt. Abston takes over.
Controlled Excitement.
'Tlash, flash, fash" he says, put
ting in an extra flash. six jap
anese dive bombers flying certain
direction at 1850 yards altitude.
Leading three diving. Two others
flying straight ahead. One winging
toward US"
He speaks rapidly in a tone Of
controlled excitement which per-
vades the entire battery.
This battery has set a world anti
aircraft record for number Of planes
downed per number OF rounds fired,
the officers say.
It has shot down . total Of II
and is after its 18th
In front of us three japanese
planes 90 into q shallow 45-degree
dive and we hear series Of heavy
"whoomphs' as the bombs hit.
The sixth plane is diving straight
for us now, too close for the big
guns.
Capt. Abston grabs the inter-
battery phone.
Machine guns open fire." he Or
ders.
The guns cut loose with a deadly,
staccato chatter.
Take cover" Capt. Abston shouts
to the remaining batterymen.
But everybody is too interested to
think of safety.
Golden tracer fire streaks past the
japanese pilot and he quickly
changs his mind, dumps his entire
load of bombs at random and
reaches for the safety Of the clouds
As the bullets tickle the tail Of his
plane.
Come Back After Breakfast.
The Japanese give us time for an
uninterrupted breakfast. but i'm
mediately after the meal they are
back again.
A low flying observation plane
slips by and Capt Abtaon decides
to give him a few. just to keep
our hands m" -
! At his order, "Open fire - $50
many) rounds only" We crouch be-
hind the sandbags watching the
/ plane.
The big guns crack and the shells
scream skyward.
Some pray audibly, Get him,
knock him down."
The first shell bursts within 50
Yards of the plane. and the pilot
does not tarry to do more observing.
He has seen enough. He dives
sharply and streaks for home.
Says I. MacDanields. Air Corps
first lieutenant, attached to the
battery as an observer: Hes sure
as hell got some shrapnel to PICK
out Of his tail"
This battery got one Japanese
plane yesterday for sure, and PROB.
ably another. The confirmed NIT
blew the plane into infinitesimal
pieces.
These anti-aircraftsmen actually
pray for enemy planes to come
partly because of the fun OF shoot-
ing them down, mostly because every
plane destroyed Is one less to harass
the unsafe ground forces.
They realize that pending the ar
rival Of American airplanes. anti
aircraft is the'U. S. A. F. F. E.'s sole
means Of defense against air attack
Alerts All Morning.
All morning long We get alerts.
Once it Is q twin-engined. twin
teled bomber on an observation
mission. Usually the planes are
single-motored, two-seAted 97-d1ve
bombers. One Of the latter comes
close enough for our battery to hre'
but another battery opens stimuli
taneously sand the pilot dives out
Of range. So Capt. Ahston oCders
ours to cease flre.
1t. j. D. Kwiatkovski reluctantly
records the number Of rounds fred
and gives his mates . friendly bawl-
Ing out.
"Qalit Visiting those shells. Think
Of bur average. II you keep-missins
It will be back to the Infantry fol-
you"
All except the observers take
shelter from the mid-morning sun