USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Wenham > Wenham in World War II : war service of Wenham men and women and civilian services of Wenham people > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26
"It is impossible to describe the muskeg and mud that was to be found in Adak and Amchitka. All buildings,-officers' quarters, chow halls, etc .- were hooked up with a network of catwalks. Any- one who stepped off a catwalk or who was accidentally forced off would be sure to go up to his knees in mud. Eventually roads were built, but could never begin to serve the area which contained all the tents in which the men lived. The battalion consisted of approxi- mately 1200 men with five and six living in a tent. The tents were floored and each was supplied with an oil stove. Little can be said about the oil stoves, as at times oil was not to be had.
"When the men posed for their group picture for a year book in the partially completed warehouse at Adak, it was the first time in many months that they had worn their blues. The mud was so deep and soupy on the night the pictures were taken that only a photogra- pher's genius prevented the uniforms from coming out khaki in the photo."
Ewen Campbell was advanced to SK 2/c July 1, 1943 at Adak. "When Adak was practically out of the immediate danger zone, the Marines finally arrived and again were welcomed by the Seabees. They must have been volunteers, there were so few of them. Almost immediately they insisted on blackouts and traffic regulations (with the Seabees trying to work on a 24-hour basis). It was nice, though, to see men in uniforms again-medals, too."
The 42nd NCB had been in Adak over a month before fresh meat or fresh fruit graced the menu. "When it did arrive there were no refrigeration facilities, and we enjoyed a steady three-meal-a-day diet of these delicacies until they were gone. The Congressmen
45
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
that approved of dehydrated foods, vienna sausages, and field ra- tions would not have enjoyed Adak during the early stages of occu- pation."
They returned to the States (Camp Parks, Shoemaker, Calif. ) on May 27, 1944 for leave, recuperation and retraining before they were again sent overseas on October 21, 1944. While stationed at Shoemaker, Campbell's rating was changed from SK 2/c to SKD (Disbursing) 2/c, this designation being made to show that he was specially qualified as a disbursing storekeeper.
They were stationed for a while at Pearl Harbor, building huge warehouses for provisions, both dry and perishable, that were later to be transferred nearer the scene of action, and were then sent to Guinan, Samar, in the Philippines, where they built roads, air strips, ammunition dumps and helped build a 5000 bed hospital area which covered at least a square mile.
Before leaving Samar, Campbell's rating was advanced to SKD 1/c. Going from Samar to China, his unit crossed the Yellow Sea to Shanghai in LST's without incident, except for a pontoon being washed overboard. Several hulks of sunken ships were visible that had been bombed by the Japs. When they were leaving the Yellow Sea to go up the Whampoo River, just a few miles from their destin- ation, with almost everyone topside despite the cold wind, getting a good look at China and thinking of the pork chops the cooks had nearly ready, an unswept Jap mine exploded close to starboard. The engines were knocked out of commission. Water and lights failed. Tons of reeking brown Whampoo River water cascaded over the ship. A Seabee who had been asleep in his sack below thought the ship was sinking, tore up on deck and jumped over- board. Well, they closed the circuit breakers again, and got the water on and the engines going; and they fished the sack-hound out of the river in a few minutes. But those pork chops were beyond help. The chow they finally got for dinner consisted of cold Spam sandwiches.
"After unloading the LST's that made up the convoy, the Seabees were kept busy cleaning up an old area that was used by some ship- ping companies before the war. It was a long and tedious job to make it livable but we finally succeeded and when the Navy brought in the regular Navy, their quarters were all spic and span and ready for them. All kinds of equipment, such as trucks, tractors, draglines and road builders were brought in but were not used, as the roads
46
Wenham in World War II
in that particular part of China were in fairly good shape, not like Samar where there were no roads at all."
On December 30, 1945 after waiting aboard a receiving ship for 30 days, Ewen Campbell finally got transportation home aboard a Navy transport and made the trip to Treasure Island in seventeen days. He was honorably discharged January 27, 1946 at the Naval Separation Center, Fargo Barracks, Boston, Mass.
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal Philippine Liberation Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
ROBERT EMERSON CAMPBELL enlisted as a Private in the Army of the U. S. on October 1, 1940, and entered on active duty on January 16, 1941. He was assigned to the Field Artillery and sent to Headquarters Company, 102nd F.A. Regiment at Camp Edwards, Mass., where he was reassigned to the 39th Signal Company. The 39th went to Camp Campbell, Ky., for training, and then to Camp Jackson, S. C., where Campbell instructed in the Radio School. The outfit took part in the South Carolina maneuvers in 1941 and in the Tennessee maneuvers in 1942, and Campbell acted as Radio Operator. He was then sent to Hollidaysburg, Pa. to High Speed Code School, where he made T-4 (Technician 4th Grade). He re- joined his outfit, which had been attached as divisional troops to the 26th Division, and went through final training with that division.
The 26th and its Signal Company went overseas in mid-1944, and landed on Utah Beach in Normandy in September. From then on through Northern France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Czecho- slovakia and Austria, Campbell acted as Radio Operator in a team with one or another of the battalion or regimental HQ's and with task forces.
At the time of the Ardennes breakthrough, the 26th had been roughly handled by the Germans. Campbell says, "We pulled in- to Metz where we reorganized after quite a beating. We were there only a few days and left at once for the relief of Bastogne. I was sent with one of the infantry units for liaison work. When it comes to dates, places, and whether it was the 101st, 328th, or 104th In- fantry I was with, believe me, I can't remember, as I was with them all alternately. I didn't know that the Germans had broken through until a day or so after we left Metz." General Patton
47
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
spoke of the Third Corps of which the Yankee Division was a part, as follows: "The speed with which the Third Corps assembled and the energy, skill and persistence with which it pressed the attack for the relief of Bastogne, constitute a very noteworthy feat of arms. The officers and men are hereby highly commended for a superior performance." According to the C.O. of the 26th, the Division, in its initial attack of seven days and nights without rest, met and de- feated more than twice its number.
Campbell, however, considers his most unusual experience to have been the day he got something for nothing-a very good camera, which under other circumstances might have made a sizeable hole in his pocket. "It was during the 'Rat-race' shortly before the end of the conflict. We were somewhere-I've forgotten the place-in Germany, and four of us were in Bn. Hq. (Battalion Headquar- ters) on the edge of nowhere talking about the merits of wine, women and sarongs. The radio was trying hard to turn code into static and static into code. The telephone rang and the Communications Offi- cer answered, listened, hung up, dashed from the room and shortly reappeared with word of an expected counter-attack by a Panzer out- fit. The crux of this was that we were to sit tight and let anti-tank do the work until definite orders to move came through. I believe he said there were two anti-tank guns in all. He also told us in answer to a query, that making spit-balls might help. So we sweated, thought about our past life and how nice it would be to live it over and wished to h- we were dreaming. My conversation drifted to cameras. The Communications Officer had a 'swell one' that he had been offered 3 Lugers for, he mentioned the name my heart skipped a beat-the camera! Being soft-hearted in what might have been a bad situation, he brought it out and presented it to me-now I could die happy ! P.S. Nothing happened and I've still got the camera."
Robert Campbell was honorably discharged on November 3, 1945. Distinguished Unit Badge for the relief of Bastogne
Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
WILLIAM DOUGLAS CAMPBELL entered on active duty as an Ensign, USNR on June 8, 1942, after four years in the Yale Naval ROTC. He was ordered to the old four-stack destroyer Lea (DD
48
Wenham in World War II
118), then at Key West, Fla. and assigned to duty as Assistant and then Chief Engineer, and Communications Officer. The Lea oper- ated in the Caribbean for the next nine months on anti-submarine and escort duty. On one occasion, she scored an assist in the sink- ing of a German submarine, and took some prisoners. "Usually submarines are submerged when you come up to them, and it is a matter of depth-charging them until the hull breaks open and they go the rest of the way down. A PBY caught this one on the sur- face near our convoy one night, and slightly damaged it. Then a Canadian corvette engaged it, and very severely damaged it, and herself too. When we came up there was not much left to do but to pick up the Germans, who had started to jump off into the water, and to watch the sub go. She was very low in the water, wallowing heavily in the slight swell because of the water in her. In about fifteen minutes her stern went under, and quite slowly her bow swung up out of the sea. She hung there ten or twelve seconds, with air foaming up around her and the phosphorescence glowing, and then slid under. We got nearly all the crew, and handed them over to the Marines in Guantanamo." The Lea was also given credit for a probable sinking of a sub that had sunk four and hit a fifth ship in a convoy that she was sent out to reinforce.
In May 1943, when Campbell was made Lieutenant (j.g.), the Lea and four AVD's (old destroyers used as plane tenders ) joined the USS Bogue (CVE 9) to form the first of the CVE killer groups. They accompanied a convoy to Londonderry, and another one back, and sank seven submarines for sure and six probables. This was the first clear-cut victory for the Allies in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was the turning point of the war against the U-boats. A Presi- dential Unit Citation was awarded to all hands on these ships in recognition of this success.
The Lea then spent a year in trans-Atlantic convoy duty, taking fast tankers loaded with aviation gas, tank fuel, and a deck cargo of planes to various North African ports in preparation and support of the Sicilian and Italian invasions. Next, Campbell was ordered to Greenland as Executive Officer of the USS Albatross (AM 71), a Boston fishing trawler converted into a minesweep in 1941. After a few months up there, during which he made Lieutenant, the ship was ordered to Boston, and on arrival was ordered decommissioned. His next orders were to SCTC (Small Craft Training Center), San Pedro, Calif. where he helped train crews for APA's, as well as for all types of small craft. His principal job there was running the
49
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
Standby Unit, to which men were assigned until the date of de- livery of their ship was certain enough to start them on the two and a half month training program.
After six months, Campbell was ordered to Naval Radar Training School, St. Simon's Island, Ga., where he spent four months learn- ing to run a CIC (Combat Information Center) and to direct fighter planes in combat day or night. He was then ordered to Pacific duty, and got to San Francisco in time to celebrate V-J Day there. He eventually reached the USS Intrepid (CV 11), where his duties were Assistant V-3 (Radar) Division Officer and Night Fighter Director for the ship. They spent some time in Japan as part of the occupation forces ; and returned to the States from Tokyo with 2,000 Eighth Army men due for discharge in time for Christmas 1945. They then swung around the hook in San Pedro Bay until Campbell received his orders to inactive duty on March 17, 1946.
Presidential Unit Citation with star for TG 21.12 Operation.
American Defense Service Medal
American Campaign Medal with star for Convoy TAG 18.
European African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with star for Task Group 21.12.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
ROBERT SHERMAN CAVES entered on active service as a Pri- vate in the Army of the United States on September 21, 1942. He was assigned to the 57th Infantry Training Battalion and sent to Fort Riley, Kan. for basic training.
He served 29 months in Calcutta, India with the 882nd. Ord. HAM Co. (Ordnance, Heavy Auto Maintenance Co.) and was honor- ably discharged in January 1946.
Good Conduct Medal
American Campaign Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
ARLEEN MARIE CHAMBERLAND (now Mrs. John Escales) was commissioned Ensign in the U. S. Naval Reserve, Navy Nurse Corps, on May 12, 1941. She was assigned directly to the Chelsea Naval Hospital where she underwent several weeks of boot training and then received her gold braid.
At Chelsea, her duty was to instruct corpsmen for overseas duty
50
Wenham in World War II
and to try to teach them in a period of two weeks what she had learned in three or four years. She organized classes not only for her own corpsmen but also for all corpsmen from other wards who cared to attend. She says that "they grasped the fundamentals of nursing procedures and learned to think quickly and improvise well. I've had corpsmen sent to my wards for two weeks and then shipped across. There's an awful lot to be taught in 14 short days but it can be done, which the boys later proved in combat areas."
She says she had no unusual experiences in the Navy except for the time when she "broke" Admiral White to Chief. "I was on night duty and we were turning-to all hands preparing for Admiral's Inspection. Nobody knew when he was due but we had to be pre- pared regardless. He was to occupy two rooms on SOQ (Sick Offi- cers Quarters) along with his aide. I was standing in the door- way of the Chief Nurse's office waiting for some keys and reports to be turned in. The night corpsmen were 'hot on the detail' scrub- bing and cleaning SOQ. Usually a Chief is in charge so I thought it not at all unusual to see a man in khakis and without collar device standing by, watching them. He sauntered in my direction so I said, 'Good evening, Chief.' We talked for quite a while about the service in general. Finally he said, 'This has been very interesting, Miss Chamberland, but I believe I neglected to introduce myself. I am Admiral White.' I didn't have the strength to work up a blush ! I was tongue-tied and expected to be at least courtmartialed. He was grand about it, however, and told the 'powers that be' and all hands had a good laugh. The same admiral made inspection at Parris Island later, and remembered me. This time I did blush. Incidentally we received a 4-0 inspection from him on both occa- sions."
Arleen Chamberland was ordered to Parris Island on October 1, 1942 where her duties were essentially the same. It is a Marine Base where the hospital and dental clinic are manned by Navy per- sonnel.
She was released to inactive duty August 23, 1943 in order to marry Lieutenant John Escales, USNR.
American Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
JACOB O. CHRISTOFFERSON entered on active duty as a Pri- vate in the Army of the U. S. on October 21, 1942. He was assigned to Graves Registration, a branch of the Quartermaster Corps and
51
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
sent to Camp Rucker, Ala. for basic infantry training where he re- mained until he received a five-day furlough before going overseas on May 15, 1943.
He sailed from New York with the 1st Platoon of the 49th QM Graves Registration Company on the USS Brazil (an Army trans- port) and landed in New Caledonia which was at that time a stag- ing area for the South Pacific. New Caledonia was a breaking-in point for the unit and, after three months' training in graves regis- tration work, the platoon was shipped to Guadalcanal. From there they went to New Georgia to assist another graves registration unit and after a month there, returned to Guadalcanal to relieve a unit that was returning to the States. By this time the fighting on Guadalcanal was over "except for a scattering of Japs in the hills."
"In December 1943, we were sent to Empress Augusta Bay on Bougainville where our first landings had recently been made. In March 1944 the Japs made their final bid for the island. The counter-attack lasted eighteen days. They were turned back with very heavy losses, and from then on scattered bands of marauding Japs had to be tracked down."
After almost a year on Bougainville, the unit was withdrawn and sent north in time to take part in the initial landing on Luzon. This took place on January 9, 1945 in Lingayen Gulf. Christofferson, (who had been advanced to Sergeant on Bougainville) and his men landed with the Army. They went in on an assault boat and hit the beach within the first half hour on D-Day.
"During the fighting the duty of the Graves Registration Unit was to establish cemeteries where all allied dead were buried; identi- fy and record the dead, and later, disinter the few scattered bodies that were buried at the front lines from necessity for reburial in U. S. cemeteries." This work, so important to the families at home, had to be carried out with care, for the information sent in by the Graves Registration Units to Washington was forwarded by the War Department to the next of kin. The unit also established and main- tained an enemy cemetery and identified and recorded the enemy dead.
In March, 1945 he was sent South with a detail of six men to Legaspi, where they landed with the 158th Regimental Combat Team. Here also a cemetery was established and maintained. When this work was done, they returned to Manila and joined the 37th Division for return to the United States.
Jacob Christofferson returned to the States on December 18, 1945
52
Wenham in World War II
and was honorably discharged on December 28, 1945 at Ft. Devens, Mass.
Bronze Star Medal awarded by Hq. 14th Corps on July 26, 1944
for the recovery, identifying and the burial of three aviators shot down over the enemy territory.
Good Conduct Medal
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with stars for Bougainville and Luzon.
Philippine Liberation Campaign Medal with star for Luzon.
World War II Victory Medal
VERA L. CHRISTOFFERSON (Mrs. Roger S. Case) was com- missioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps on March 15, 1941. She was assigned to the Station Hospital at Ft. Devens, Mass. and served there until her marriage to Capt. Roger S. Case when she was given an honorable discharge on December 6, 1941.
VERN CLARK entered on active duty as a Private in the Army of the U. S. on November 20, 1942. He was assigned to the Air Corps and took his basic training at Atlantic City, N. J. From there he went as a student to the Casey Jones School of Aeronautics in New York and New Jersey. His next assignment was to the 94th Airdrome Squadron, Pyote, Tex. where he served as a me- chanic.
Vern Clark left Los Angeles, Calif. on August 2, 1943. He sailed on a transport, the USS Uruguay, to Hobart, Tasmania where the ship picked up two more transports and had cruiser and corvette escort part of the rest of the way to India.
In November 1943 he was transferred to the ATC (Air Transport Command) and was stationed at Karachi, India, where he worked as a mechanic and as surveyor and draftsman for the Base Engineer. He was sent to New Delhi in January 1944 and worked as drafts- man in Navigation and Briefing, at the headquarters of the South- East Asia Command. When the headquarters of this command was transferred to Calcutta in April 1944, he went with them and con- tinued to do the same work. He was promoted to Sergeant in August 1944.
He flew from Calcutta to Karachi and returned to the United States by boat in November 1945 and was honorably discharged on November 25, 1945 at Ft. Devens, Mass.
53
Personal Records of Those in the Armed Forces
Presidential Unit Citation awarded to ATC, January 1944 for tonnage flown over The Hump.
Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with star for Burma Campaign. World War II Victory Medal
LEROY FRANCIS CLARKE, JR. entered on active duty as Pri- vate in the Army of the U. S. on August 20, 1942 at Ft. Devens, Mass. After a brief stay at Ft. Devens he was sent to Camp Grant, Ill. for indoctrination and then to Camp Chaffee, Ark. where he was assigned to the 113th Station Hospital.
He remained at Camp Chaffee, Ark. for six months undergoing training for Wardmaster, during which time he was promoted to T/5 (Technician 5th Grade). On March 1, 1943, the outfit was transferred to Camp Anza, Calif. an overseas staging area.
On March 28, 1943 he sailed from Wilmington, Calif. with the 113th Station Hospital on the S.S. Hermitage. After three weeks at sea, he landed at New Zealand for ship repair which took three days; from there the ship went to Melbourne, Australia for refuel- ing. After five more weeks at sea, he finally arrived in Bombay, India where the Unit spent ten days at an English staging camp. The outfit then embarked on the last leg of its journey to the Persian Gulf, where they arrived May 30, 1943.
"Quarters were immediately set up 90 miles inland at Ahwaz for all personnel and a 32 ward hospital, later to become a general hos- pital.
"The United States was shipping trucks, tanks, planes and equip- ment of all kinds to stage the Russian offensive. Our cargo ships came in to Khorramshahr, 50 miles up river from the Persian Gulf, from which point the supplies were sent north by truck convoy and railway, to Kazvin where the Russians took over. The purpose of a hospital at this point was to care for the soldiers working on the line and on truck convoys, Merchant Marine personnel from Khor- ramshahr and American flyers brought down by the Russians from U. S. airfields operating in Russia. We also took care of Russians and there were wards to care for Persian and Arab workers."
Clarke performed the duties of Wardmaster of a surgical ward and also flew to Cairo, Egypt with patients that were to be sent back to the U. S. Here he had the misfortune to come down with a tropical sickness and had treatment over a period of six months. After spending nearly two years in the Persian Gulf area where the temperature often went as high as 160 degrees and where for 8
54
Wenham in World War II
months of the year there was not a cloud in the sky, he finally re- ceived orders to return to the United States.
On May 6, 1945 he sailed for home with members of the 113th General Hospital, arriving in New York June 18, 1945.
Clarke had a 30-day furlough at home and then reported back to Ft. Devens where he and members of the 113th General Hospital were immediately sent to Ft. Lewis, Wash. for reassignment. At Ft. Lewis he was transferred to Camp Sibert, Ala. for assignment to another medical outfit where he performed the duty of Wardmas- ter until discharged.
Leroy F. Clarke, Jr. was honorably discharged at Camp Sibert, Ala. on October 27, 1945.
Good Conduct Medal American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal
RICHARD LAWRENCE CLARKE entered on active duty as a Private in the Army of the U. S. April 13, 1943. He was assigned to the Army Air Forces and sent for basic training to Miami Beach, Fla. He went for further training to AAF Airplane School at La Guardia Field, N. Y., AAF Mechanic's School, Casey Jones Me- chanic's School, Newark, N. J., AAF Roosevelt Field, N. Y. At AAF Seymour Johnson Field, N. C. he took advanced flight train- ing and went to AAF Ft. Myers, Fla. for Gunnery School and flight training. He was promoted to Corporal, February 6, 1944 while at Middle Beach, Fla. and was a qualified top turret man.
Richard Clarke had trained with the 863rd Bombardment Squad- ron 493rd Bombardment Group 8th Air Force (B-17's and 24's) but when they were sent overseas, the Squadron was divided, and he did not join them until two months later, when the 863rd found itself stationed at Debach (pronounced Debitch) Suffolk, England. From this base the squadron flew every morning and sometimes twice a day over France and Germany. They bombed Nuremburg, Ber- lin, Kiel and many other places, completing over 200 missions be- tween August 1943 and V-E Day. As a mechanic his job was to "repair engines and keep the aircraft in flying condition. In a pinch we loaded the planes," but bomb loading was not his regular work.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.