Imperial Valley press., 1944-08-25
Our Men i'm the Service

Officers of the fifteenth AAF in
Italy announced that Second Lieu
tenant William H. Caughlin, %, an
AAF P-38 fighter pilot, destroyed
two German FW 100 fighters on
last July 18 in an aerial battle while
escorting heavy bomberS of the fif-
teenth air force to Friedrichshafen,
Germany. He is a son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Tom M. Caughlin of CaleXico.
On this mission the heavy bomberS
were attacking the Dornier aircraft
production center ard Lieutenant
Caughlin was leading a flight of
P-38's escorting them over the Alps.
A. the P-38'S came within sight of
the target they saw SWarmS of en-
emy aircraft coming in for an attack
upon the rear of the bomber forma-
ton. The P-38s were waiting in
the sun and as the enemy aircraft
began their attack, the AAF fighter
pilots diVed to attack Coming up
on the rear of the German fighters,
they began a concerted attack by
first attacking the trailing enemy
fighters anc, then circling to come
back and pick off another group.
Describing the encounter, Lieuten-
ant Caughlin said, Il shot at least
eight of them and two of them went
down. All the ferries that I didn't
get my flight got. Every man in
my flight got at least one enemy"
On this day the 1855 were greatly
outnumbered. Fourteen men in the
squacron of P-38s attacked over
75 enemy aircraft. The AAF squad
ION accounted for Ia of the enemy
and dispersed the German fighters
who broke off their attacks on the
heavy bombers and fled. This makes
the third victory for Lieutenant
Caughlin. He destroyed his first
German fighter, a Me 109, on May
81, 1914 while escorting heavy bomb
erS to the Ploesti oil fields. This
recent mission was number forty
eight for Lieutenant Caughlin, all
of which have been long escort mis-
Sions over Germany, Austria and the
Balkans with the heavy bombers..
Lieutenant Caughlin graduated from
the CaleXico Union High school in
1899 and then attended the Uni
versity of California where he was
a member of Sigma Nu fraternity.
EnliSting in the AAF on June 10,
1912, he received flight training and
won his wings on November 3, 1943
at Luke Field, Arizona Arriving
overseas in March, 1914, he has been
awarded the Air Medal with three
oak clusters for "meritorious achieve
ment in aerial flight in the Medi-
tewanean theater of operations.
Lieutenant Leonard Moore, son of
Mayor and Mrs. P. L. Moore of Ell
Centre, has been sent to Lake
Charles, Louisiana, to attend in
structors' school. The army pilot
recently returned to the United
States after long service in the
Pacific war zone and with several
decorations to MS credit.
John Carleton, son of Mr.. and
Mrs. Wendell Carleton of the I'M
perlal district, reported at navy boot
camp in San Diego July 81. He
attended Imperial Union High
school three and a half years and
was graduated from Phoenix, Ari-
zona, high school. He entered the
army Viz program and when that
closed, Joined the navy. He was de-
lighted to learn that Louis Birn-
baum, former boys physical educa-
ton instructor at Central Union
high school in Ell Centro, was his
commanding officer.
First Lieutenant Harvey Ladd, son
of Mrs. Minnie Ladd of CaleXico,
was home on leave from Camp
Chaffee, Arkansas, where he COM
mands a battery in the sixteenth
armored division of the army. He
served as an instructor for three
years an6i then went TO line out
fit where his own battery was as
signed to him six months ago. Be-
fore he entered the service three
and a half years ago, Lieutenant
iISNeANt Woo III lit
chanical department. First he was
stationed at Camp Roberts, later at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Bragg,
North Carolina: Fort Devins, Mas
SachuSettS; and then was sent to
Camp Chaffee. He was to return
there August 25. One of his BROTH
ers, Corporal William Laod, is with
the army military police in Los
Angeles. Another, Private Orville
Ladd, is with the medical corps at
Camp House, Texas. A third
brother, John Ladd, is with a COM
pany of army engineers in Porto
Rico.
Robert E. Radcliffe, son of Mr..
and Mrs. William Raccliffe, has
been transferred from Maxwell
Field Alabama, to permanent train
ing station at Fletcher Field, Clarks-
dale, Mississippi, he writes his par
entS.
Miss Louise Allen, Imperial, clerk
in the district attorneys office has
a letter from q friend, Pfc. Bill