Evening star., 1942-07-10
Transport Command
Keeps LifeIines
OF Sky Open
Hazards Are Many
For Men Who Keep
Supplies Moving
(Second OF a Series.)
By JOHN LARDNER.


the Middle East, Australia and
Alaska-the far-flung regions of the
earth are familiar committing
ground to the flyers of the Air
Transport Command. They call the
United Kingdom the "U. X" just
as a train passenger out of New
York states casually that he is bound
for Philly.
Ferrying supplies, men, munitions
and planes about the world. the
A. T. c. man will spend Christmas
in India. New Year eve in Darwin
and Mothers Day above the Arctic
Circle.
And in South America it's
dengue, in Africa it's malaria. and
in the Middle East it's sand-flea
fever" said Capt. Adolph Cattarius,
grizzled in the service. one of the
commands finest engineers, who
was recently commissioned from the
rank of master sergeant That
sand-fea fever is a very tough dish.
I would rather have frost bite,
though they tell me it is pretty
uncomfortable at Is below zero in
a bomber flying the North Atlantic" :"
Thirty below" corrected 1t. Car
roll J. Cain, leaping to the defense
of the North Atlantic. "It was 80
below in our bomb bay. I felt real
sorry for the boys down there"
(Which is better" said sergeant.
listening in, than onions in the
bomb bay. We were carrying a box
of onions north as treat for some
of our men at the base, and we
broke the box open. Seven guys
in the bay OF bomber eating raw
onions. 1t was worth your life to
step in there"
Your correspondent sat at the
edge of an airf1eld at command
headquarters. soaking up the stories
of these matter fact pioneers of
the half-charted sky. Another off,
Ger lounging nearby put in his word
They get around the world all
right" he said, but two of these
fellows got lost on a simple train
out of Boston after flying back from
Greenland and landing on a dime
That's true" admitted 1t. Cain.
ME and Dever got on the wrong
train. But that's hard work, dop-
ing those Boston trains"
1t. Cain and 1t. James l.. Dever,
navigator. were just home from a
supply fight north of the Arctic
Circle and brought back news of
Berndt Balchen, the famous Morse
pilot who commands our ferrying
base there.
Order for Next Christmas.
"Balchen gave us one of his Fin
nish steam baths" said 1t. Dever.
You have to take 'em," said 1t.
Cain. "Balchen makes everybody
take 'em. They pour water on these
hot rocks, and you bathe in the
steam. Then you go out and roll
in the snow. Feels pretty good"
And then you 60 south and get
malaria said Capt. Cattarius rue
fully. well, that's life. I wish, I
was on my way somewhere now"
To Balchen's post the flyers had
carried Christmas Day order
next Christmas - which included
onions and plenty of cologne water.
Don't know why they wanted
cologne, maybe for the Eskimos,"
said 1t. Cain. you try to make
friends going around the world.
Onions are in big demand. But the
things that really make friends are
silk stockings. With some onions
and silk stockings in your cargo you
can't miss"
They Like Coca Cola.
"And Coca Cola" added Master
Sergt. James G. Parsons, engineer.
They lap it up in Africa and India"
They're entitled to it." said Capt.
Cattarius. You shoulds see the
black pool OF water that the whole
town drinks from at one OF our
African bases. Not the men at the
base, of course. They're pretty we'll
supplied"
Il hear even the camels have
gone out Of business there" said 1t.
Cain.
That's right" replied the cap
tain. They used to lug our gaso-
line to the 'airf1elds by camel. Each
camel would carry a certain num-
ber OF gallons and go on strike if
you put another pint on his back.
You should have seen that Africa
route when we first surveyed 1t.
Nothing there, absolutely nothing.
except some pretty nice lizards on
the walls OF the Grand Hotel at
Lagos. But now the supply is mod
ernized, and the bases are in shape,
and the flying over Africa is fine"
Friendly" Guns Dangerous.
Danger? The Air Transport Com
mand flies into many a combat
zone, but the gravest peril is from
guns at friendly" but cautious air
fields. 1t. Gains bomber was fired
at by the Dutch at Java last winter.
1--WE got out of there fast" he
says. That's the one great worry
we have-our friends gunfire when
they don't recognize us or get the
signals mixed. They threw a few
shells at us in Brisbane, Australia,
coming down. And sometimes
they're ticklish with the trigger
fingers at Iceland and even the
U. K. But what the hell! When
you see bomber coming over it's
hard to wait and find out If she's
going to bomb you. You fire first
and ask questions later"
These flyers fly everything in the
air. from tiny Pipers to huge four
engined bombers. They fly food
and refugees and generals going to
confer quickly with other generals
and olInS and nnadicirae and on noineS