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How It All Started ...
Many years ago Ginger & Gene Bassett gave birth to the idea and began publishing
Lagoite e-mail addresses in the
Aruba Chronicle making it possible for one
another to keep in touch over vast distances. What a great idea. I didn't have a
computer at the time so I wasn't too personally concerned how that progressed.
If I wanted to talk to someone near or far I would simply pick up the phone and
do it the old fashioned way, albeit occasionally expensive because of the longer
than usual conversations that I somehow always seemed to be involved in. At that
time having a computer wasn't at the top of my list of priorities and I
certainly didn't give thought to the advantages of e-mail contact at little or
no expense vs the cost of using long-distance telephone.
I've always been a huge fan of the Aruba Chronicle and always looked forward to
the next issue. I noticed that with each new Chronicle delivered to my home the
published list of e-mail addresses grew until there were approximately 40 or 50
addresses. After a couple of years, though, I noticed that the list had pretty
much leveled off and very few, if any, new addresses were being added. When I
bought my first computer, about 9 years ago, the idea of contacting some of the
people listed in the Chronicle would be a great test of what this thing called
e-mail was all about. I was, after all, now part of the electronic e-mail crowd.
Hooray! I dug out some old Chronicles, looked up a few e-mail addresses and
began clicking away on my new computer. After finishing my first e-mails I
happily pressed SEND and off they went winging their way through cyberspace to
inboxes far and wide. With anticipation and great expectation of receiving
immediate responses containing messages of amazing interest I sat back and
waited. You guessed it. Nada! Zip! Nix! Absolutely nothing came back! Boy, was I
disappointed. What the heck happened? Very soon after that maiden voyage I
noticed some strange looking entries in my inbox about Mailer Daemons that were
attached to addresses of the people I tried to contact. A little research
acquainted me with what Mailer Daemon meant along with the realization that very
few of the folks on Ginger's list had valid addresses anymore.
That got me thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to start some sort of
e-mail address directory and keep it updated. What the heck, I'm retired with
lots of time on my hands and should be able to handle that. My inauguration
list, composed of only a few good addresses still in the Chronicle, didn't
amount to much at all. I think there may have been 15 or 20 addresses that still
worked. Anyway, I put together the first Lago E-mail Directory and sent it out
to those few people with a note asking them to pass the word to anyone who
wanted to join up. At first it was very slow but over a span of one year that
little list grew to about 60 people. Word of mouth is indeed powerful. This was
starting to work. I also noticed that when people e-mailed me with a change of
address they were also including short newsy type notes about themselves and of
their Lago friends whom they had been in contact with recently. Those little
notes then germinated the next idea to start some sort of a newsletter. I began
saving those short e-mails and over a period of time I had enough for the first
newsletter. A very small one but nevertheless newsy. I didn't know what to call
it at the outset. The name "Lago" would definitely be part of the name. That was
a no-brainer as this was what it was all about. I started out using the title,
"Lago Community Newsletter" but after a while thought to myself that just didn't
have the right ring to it. Having only a few "bits and pieces" of news to work
with eventually resulted in light bulbs going off ergo resulting in the birth of
the title name, Lago News ~ Bits & Pieces. It was a beginning. I posted the
first newsletter to the few folks listed in the brand new e-mail directory.
Almost immediately I started getting responses saying what a great way to pass
the news so quickly. In essence it was the electronic equivalent of the Aruba
Chronicle although at the time I didn't correlate the two as such. Word started
getting around resulting in more requests from Lagoites wanting to add their
names to the listing. This of course also meant more news coming in via e-mail.
The newsletter wasn't much to see at first but over time it grew and became more
interesting. Eventually I was posting obituaries, birthdays, weddings, Aruba and
other Caribbean Island trip reports, lots of family updates, informational
websites about Aruba, the Lago/Airways [now Lago/Hertz] car rental program, Lago
wartime memories, high school memories, and much more. It seemed that the list
of news items and topics kept growing. Eventually I started adding pictures to
the postings which gave folks a more personal and hands-on feeling regarding the
articles submitted. Wow, people could put a face to a name now. "That's great,"
said some folks who hadn't seen some of their classmates and friends in decades.
The e-mail directory kept growing as well and today we have a very respectable
membership of 546 people. Quite a growth from a start of 20. It's been a fun
ride the whole way and I hope to keep it going for a while longer.
See below for a few early samples of past postings ....
Sunny regards,
Larry Riggs ~ Class of '56
E-mail: RiggsLarry@aol.com
Lago Memories ~ Part 5
From: Bill Potts ~ Lago Annuitant
Larry,
These "Lago History" issues about life in Aruba in its heyday are great. Thanks
so much.
Muriel and Bob Mundinger's son-in-law wrote recently, and I was pleased to hear
from him. Muriel, a fine lady and a great teacher, taught me Spanish which I
studied as an avocation. It became very useful in an unexpected way. I left
Aruba in a hurry in 1949 due to an unfortunate set of circumstances. I had been
assigned to several different post W.W.II jobs after return from military
service in 1946, and had been made the first Lago Sales Manager. A strange
title, but Joe Horrigan, the General Manager, felt we should have closer contact
with S.E.L. Maduro and Sons in Curacao, where they were our marine bunker
agents. We were not selling much in the marine lubricants line, and Horrigan
wanted to see it improved. As a side note he said, "You should also supervise
our Esso station and out of colony Aruba sales of products as well."
I spent some weeks working with the Maduro family then started to look into our
Aruba retail sales. The first thing I found was that by simply adding the
totalizer meters on the pumps at the San Nicholas station they showed tens of
thousands of gallons more sales than the log of volume moved by tank truck from
the refinery! Oh boy, I calculated the value of sales tax we owed the Government
and it was nearly a million florins over a 5 year period alone. Horrigan was
shocked and immediately called the Lago lawyer, Van Delden, in Curacao. The
lawyer came to Aruba at once and quickly determined Lago was being robbed and we
would have to prosecute to protect the Company position with the Government.
This meant police from Curacao since it looked like Aruba police and watchmen
might be involved. My life was a headache with threatening phone calls at 3:00
a.m., etc., so I sent the family North and prepared to testify. I was issued a
revolver by Horrigan himself for my personal safety. Felt like I was back in
uniform! However, before any testimony was taken, Horrigan called me in and told
me New York had decided to get me off the Island and I was to report to Cy Helm,
Latin American Marketing Coordinator, in the New York Office. I left three days
later, and that was the last time I saw Aruba. Sad ending. I was assigned
Manager of Honduras in Central America, and there was real surprise when I
started talking Muriel Mundinger's Spanish ... they thought I had come from
Argentina! It was a great help to me, and I always think of the Mundingers with
much 'carino'.
Bill Potts
From: Bruce Kilpatrick ~ Class of
'56
Re: Nostalgia
Larry:
I continue to be surprised by the memories you elicit from various ex-Lagoites.
Most of them jog mine and it often is tempting to send you a rambling list of
reminiscences, but usually lie down quietly until the urge passes. Most
recently, however, the messages from George Cvejanovich have been of particular
interest to me, as I was a special friend (as a very young boy) of Muriel
Mundinger. She taught Spanish in her home and I was privileged to participate in
her classes, even though I was younger than many, if not most, of her students.
(I also studied Spanish at Lago High many years later, with Miss Gallicani.)
Those lessons really stuck with me, for yet another many years later I began
working in Mexico and was surprised how what I had learned came back to me. I
went from Mexico to Spain and later to Chile, improving my Spanish along the
way, until most people I encounter think I grew up speaking it.
My fluency in Spanish probably kept me employed in Latin America (as a mining
geologist) for the past several years, and I owe it to Mrs. Mundinger and Miss
Gallicani, who drilled me in Spanish fundamentals, despite my recalcitrance. (I
was not their best student.) They are both gone now, but I remember them well
and have always been grateful for their tutelage.
While I am in the mood, let me share a few more memories with you. I was
interested to see the message from James Clute. He and I were pals for a while
in Aruba. I remember his parents and their vintage black Cadillac (V-12, if I
remember right). I also seem to remember them having a Studebaker. James was
keen on flying model planes and was always tinkering with the small gasoline
engines that were used to propel them.
Berry Schendstock was another good friend of mine and his name has recently
appeared in your trips down memory lane. His parents were very good to me and I
enjoyed their hospitality in Aruba for several weeks in the summer of 1962,
right after I got out of the U.S. Navy. He was working at the new Esso Club at
the time, exercising his training in hotel management. He would be amused to
know that I am now working in a hotel in Tucson -- life goes in circles. The
trick is to keep the circles open and not allow them to spiral inward . . . . .
enough.
Bruce Kilpatrick
From: Dick Faunce ~ Class of 1953
(in reply to Dotty Learned Dill's entry in Part 4)
~ The Good Ole' Days ~
Hi Dottie,
I had almost forgotten about our Cabin on the Little Lagoon until you mentioned
it in your e-mail to Larry. I have very vague memories of the cabin, but I do
remember the location was near the Esso Club but on the beach facing the little
lagoon. I can still remember there was a lot of coral but a clear area of white
sand where we used to swim. My dad said that the Army took possession of the
cabin but I don't remember him saying why we didn't get it back after the War. I
wish I would have questioned him more on this and other things that are coming
up on the memories of Aruba. He would have known exactly where the old Esso Club
was and some of the other questions that are popping up lately. He went down in
1929.
Hope all is well with you and yours. We saw Merlene in Bellingham.
Ayo. Dick Faunce
From: David Wood
~ Some Aruba Photos ~
Larry,
First I'd like to thank you for all the work you do sending out the Aruba info
that you do. We really appreciate it.
There has been some interest expressed of late in photos from Aruba. I wonder if
many folks know about the Aruba "Photo Gallery" I have at: http://w3.trib.com/~dwood/photogallery.html
A good number of these are from the collection of Dick Hiemstra. This is
actually a sub-page to my "Aruba Stuff" page at, http://w3.trib.com/~dwood/aruba.html.
The main feature of this latter page is a list of email addresses but it's not
nearly as complete as the list you maintain.
Thanks again for all your hard work.
David G. Wood (Dave & Babs)
From: Ronald M. Turner ~ Class of 1951
~ More memories ~
Larry,
Thanks for the continued experiences from Aruba. Speaking of the old Esso Club,
I remember the post office was south across the street. Can't remember the
number of our box, but each box had two dials, with a combination. Ours was
"left on G, straight up M." There was a fountain like circle in front of the
Esso Club. In the North
part was an enclosed movie theater. Some of us, by crawling under the building
(the Club was up on the standard oil-moat foundations) found a small hole in the
floor and we would often peek at the movies from this vantage point. One movie
the children were not allowed to see was, "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell! And,
"Gone with the Wind" as it was too long.
The night the Esso Club burned, they had shown "Citizen Kane" with Orson Welles.
My father and mother saw it, and when we saw the flames of the fire from our
home, later that night, my Dad said, "Well, for showing such a horrible film,
the place deserves to burn." He was joking, of course, but he infrequently went
to movies!
The replacement Esso Club was near the old Jr. Esso Club, and was constructed of
four galvanized steel army barracks placed to form a square. The theater was
open air. Most of us hurried to be first in the front row seats, which were all
movable fold-up chairs. We used to watch some serials before the main feature.
One of them was "The Phantom." On one night, a meteor flashed across the
southern sky, and was so close that when it burned out, we could hear the
explosion.
Did I mention that during our last trip (February 2001) to Aruba, we were early
enough to attend the service at the Lago Community Church, which now is under
the direction of the Dutch Protestant Episcopal Church? As previously mentioned
their former pastor, Rev. Anthony van den Doel had passed away, and they were
looking for a replacement. The church board thinks they have a replacement from
Canada, and hopes he can be there by July, 2001. I have a picture of the church
taken in the 1970s, when all the landscaping was still present—palm trees,
shrubs, etc. These have all died because they were not watered. However, the
church, which was dedicated in 1939, is kept in good repair, for which we are
grateful.
This past month we took a drive to Texas to see the Bush Presidential Library.
It is beautiful. On the way we stopped by and visited Mary B. (Spitzer)
Henderson (class of 1952) in Austin. Unfortunately, she lost her husband, Jerry,
in 1999.
Ronald M. Turner
From: Frank Pekary ~ Class of 1960
Dear Larry:
The memory series has prompted me to take out the old 8 mm family pictures and
have them transferred to video. I viewed the first batch yesterday and there I
was in the 1950s with my brother and two wonderful parents enjoying what must
have been the best place on the planet to grow up. I don't think I ever really
left Aruba.
Looking forward to the next Aruba email.......
Frank Pekary
Note: The newspaper being referenced in Kathy's below entry was an item on eBay
auction a few weeks ago. It was an old collectible WW2 newspaper called the "NY
PM" published in New York on Feb. 20, 1942 that includes first photos of the
Axis attack on Aruba. Very interesting. Our congratulations to Kathy for a
successful bid. She is also asking a question regarding individual patient
medical records at the old Lago Hospital. If anyone has an answer I'll forward
it to all of our network members.
From: Kathy (O'Brien) Long ~ Class of 1961
Hello Larry,
Just to let you know we bought that newspaper! And I'll send you all the
information and photos when it arrives.
I have a question for you and all those Aruba folk out there: Who would have all
the medical records from the Lago Hospital? My Mom, Ellie (O'Brien) Holloway
(40-51) wonders how she might find her records, surgeries, etc. That kind of
information is always asked of us when we go in for a new medical problem or
treatment, and the older we get, the longer is the list!!
Thank you.
Kathy (O'Brien '61) Long
From: Jane (Wilken-Kurtz) Andringa ~ Class of 1944
Visit With Ruth Kilpatric And Passing Of Bobby Kilpatrick
Dear Larry and Ginger:
One of the delights of being a "snow bird" is the opportunity to look up old
friends. We are RV camping in Benson, AZ, about 40 miles southeast of Tucson and
yesterday I went in to Tucson for a wonderful visit with Ruth Kilpatrick. We
talked about the years of girl scout and mariner programs in Aruba, camping at
Palm Beach, Balashi, at the Eman's Tarabana plantation and the Sea Grape Grove.
That should bring back a lot of memories to the 11 girl scouts and 2 mariner
troops that Ruth led.
Ruth and Van Kilpatrick went to Aruba in 1935 and when he retired in 1957 Van
was head of the Utilities Department. My late husband, Don Kurtz, worked for
Van. Their children, Bruce, born in 1938; Bobby, born in 1943; and Kenny born in
1945, grew up in Aruba. Bruce later married Jean Straub. After retirement, Van
continued to work for Exxon in New Jersey until his death in 1961.
Bobby, who was developmentally disabled, moved into the New Lisbon Center for DD
in 1969. He died of Melanoma on March 1, this year. The family visited Bobby
there each weekend when they lived in New Jersey. After Ruth moved to Florida
she still was able to visit periodically but when her health required family
support she moved to Tucson where she now lives within two miles of Bruce, Jean,
and grandsons, Johnny and Kenny. A very caring social worker supplied Ruth with
frequent reports of Bobby's welfare.
Ruth and I talked for several hours about our memories of life in Aruba. They
lived in bungalows 134, 310 and 439. We especially laughed about the time the
dog, "Dimple," that had lived with my family through the years rebelled at
moving in with Don and me after my parents retired. At my parent's home,
bungalow 259, she had a large yard to run in. At the army barracks, vacation
homes, and temporary housing Don and I had to live in due to the lack of housing
in 1946 when we married, Dimple did not want to be locked up in the house all
day as we both worked. She ran away and adopted the Kilpatricks who had just the
kind of yard she wanted. At the time I
wasn't amused but now can laugh at the irony of being deserted by a dog who knew
what she wanted.
Ruth would love to hear from former friends including scouts and mariners. Her
address is: Sierra Woodland Assistive Living Center, 1020 Woodland Avenue,
Tucson, AZ 85111 or she can be called at (520) 320-9320.
Jane (Wilken-Kurtz) Andringa
Note: The below is a short synopsis on the Tom Mowell family in Aruba. Tom
recently rejoined our ranks after being "temporarily" missing from the loop.
From: Tom Mowell
(Mowell, Thomas A LCDR (CNAL N453)
Larry,
I graduated from the Seroe Colorado School (8th grade) in 1974. I attended
school there from 1969 through 1974. In fact, the year prior, they graduated the
last 9th grade class. My dad, Henry Vail Mowell, Jr., was an engineer at Lago
eventually working his way up to Vice President of Lago. We lived in Aruba
twice, once when I was a pre-schooler in '63-'64 (I believe) and then again from
'69-'74. In fact, I started sending printouts of your e-mails to my mother,
Nancy, and she recalls that you lived next door when we lived in Aruba the first
time.
Tom Mowell
Lago Memories ~ Part 32
Comments Re: Stan Norcom's photo of the "Big Docks" in the early days ...
From: Dotty (Learned) Dill ~ Class of 1952
Arthur Whitney displayed a small hammerhead shark one day at the big docks.
Perhaps he will remember where he caught it.
From: Adelaide (WILEY) Loges ~ Class of 1958
Big Docks Memory ...
I was a timid soul but finally got the courage to go off the diving board facing
the T-Docks in the late 40's. Just as I jumped someone yelled there was a
barracuda underneath. I must have flown that day as I have no recollection of
hitting the water, only scrambling up a ladder.
From: Shirley (Mechling) Werline ~ Class of 1943
More on the Big Docks
Dear Larry,
I graduated in 1943 and before that time there was always three diving boards.
Reg is right about how they were facing. The top level faced the reef, the
second faced the refinery and the lower board faced the then T-Dock. My sister
Joanne dived off the high board, but I, who was usually not afraid of anything,
never felt comfortable diving and only jumped off of all three boards.
We also occasionally saw barracuda but they were small and never bothered
anyone. I marvel now that our parents allowed us to go to these big docks
without a lifeguard as I swam out to the barrels with no one else in sight.
Thanks to Stan for the picture. We never thought about taking pictures back then
and it is so good to see this again, as it was then.
From: John Tully ~ Class of 1956
I spent many happy summer afternoons at the Big Docks playing "Ships and Bombs"
and "Matchstick" in 1947-1949 before being shipped off to Canada for school and
braces. The "Ships" were kids hiding under the high end section of the dock who
tried to avoid the "Bombs" who were other kids who took running dives from the
runway to try to touch the "Ships" just using their momentum from the dive and
outstretched hands as rudder and dive planes. "Matchstick" was simply the
underwater release of a wooden match by someone who dove from either the top
tower or second tower, and the other players on the same tower would try to see
it and dive for it first as it rose to the surface. It was usually seen
simultaneously by more than one player when it was still 2-3 feet from the
surface, and all would dive at the same spot at the same time. The match would
often disappear for a time in foam, bodies, and general hilarity until someone
retrieved it and made the next dive.
I remember a long swing rope hanging from the top tower and a couple of the big
kids (Bob Moore, and Albert Fuller I think) who would run with it towards the
reef and swing in a one-hundred eighty degree arc, and then release several feet
above the low level spring board and get a dive half way to the T-Docks it
seemed.
I think that it was about this time that concrete steps were installed to the
Big Dock from the upper parking lot, an asphalt path was laid between the two
docks below the big cast iron sewer pipe, and a 10' X 14' raft placed seaward
and between the docks. My guess is that the photo was taken shortly after WW II.
From: Fay (Cross) Keene ~ Class of 1939
Hi, Larry:
The photo of the big docks at Rodger's Beach really pulled at my heartstrings! I
can't tell you (rather, WON'T tell you!) how much mischief I got into at that
special location! I Remember Helen Miller and I playing tag with a barracuda we
managed to contain under the dock, my father catching us at it and my being
forbidden to go near the place for two weeks. Or being the "target" for the
divers coming off that highest platform, getting a direct "hit" on the head and
suffering amnesia for ten days! God alone knows how I lived to become an adult!
I'm also delighted we have my dear friend, Paddy Rodger, playing at her computer
with me. How's that for two old ladies who started 1st grade together and
haven't seen each other in seventy years?
Editors note: Fay, I'm happy that our little newsletter was helpful in bringing
two old friends together after all these years. It does my heart good. May you
both have many more years of sharing nostalgic memories.
Aruba / Lago ~ Wartime Memories ~ Part 29
... FINAL SEGMENT ...
In reply to:
"German U-Boat 156 Brought War To Aruba, February 16, 1942 "
Comments From: Chuck Scott
Class of 1957
Re: Aruba / Lago ~ Wartime Memories ~ Part 26
While I did not get to Aruba until Nov. 1950, I do know that German U-Boats were
usually armed with an 88mm deck cannon for use against surface targets. I also
read or heard somewhere that the U-156 crew when they surfaced off the refinery,
that in their hurry to get into action someone forgot to take out the plug at
the muzzle of the deck gun, which caused the barrel to explode when they fired
the first round. Probably did a number on the gun crew accounting for the
inaccuracy of the later shelling. They had to cut off the end of the barrel with
a hacksaw which would have taken forever. The 88mm gun was basically the same
one used on tanks and as an antiaircraft gun with modifications for the intended
task or set up. Also, it would have been hard to have done any damage to the
tank farm with the machine gun -- the location of the sub would have put it way
beyond the maximum effective range of the machine guns carried by the sub
(approximately .30 caliber at that time). And knowing the gauge (thickness) of
the steel used in tank construction it is doubtful that the machine gun bullets
could have penetrated any tank at that range.
Comments From: Dick Greene
Class of 1952
Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27
Hello Larry,
The "Old Esso Club" was located, roughly, across the street (northward) from the
post office, in the vicinity of the BQs of the 30s and 40s. I think the Dining
Hall was later built on the site. Some time after the U-boat attack, when the
island was under such severe blackout that airplanes flying from Curacao could
not see the island without moonlight, an American Navy destroyer east of
Colorado Point just before dawn mistook the island for a vessel and launched
star shells to illuminate the scene. The shells landed on the "Old Esso Club,"
but no explosives were involved. Could it be that one of these star shells came
down on a BQ, narrowly missing an occupant? Sometime even later, the Old Esso
Club burned down, and a Temporary Esso Club was built with corrugated steel roof
and sidings near the Commissary and the Jr. Esso Club. Someone did a very good
job persuading U.S. authorities to permit shipping the four buildings to Lago
for use as a clubhouse during the war (1942).
Comments From: John Masters
Class of 1953
Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27
Don Gray's question:
Did the shelling that John Masters witnessed, take place on February 16th, or
some other date?
John Master's reply:
I do not remember the date, I was too young then to think about it but from our
house from on top of the wall around our yard I saw a shell come from the
Southeast at a point between our house and the Little Lagoon traveling on a
Northwesterly path. I noticed it because it was making a "whoosh, whoosh,
whoosh" noise as it went over in front of me and some sparks were coming from it
like something was burning off of it. The sparks ceased when it got due South of
me and as I was looking upwards at about a 45% angle. The next one was from
further to the West almost due South of me. It did the same thing with the noise
and sparks but did not have as many sparks, just two bright puffs like flash
bulbs before it got to the Island. I never saw the actual shells as it was dark
-- only the sparks and flashes in the sky as they came in, one from the
Southeast and one from the South. I saw or heard no others that night, just the
two and I do not remember if it was before or after the tankers were hit.
Comments From: Ed Hillstead
Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27
Ed Hillstead here. I think the incidence of the shell penetrating a BQ has been
misunderstood. I personally visited the BQ shortly after the shell went thru a
room on the first floor of (I believe it was BQ # 5) . It penetrated the floor
about 4-5 feet from the foot of the bed. It slid across the coral under the
bldg., for about 50 feet and ended up in a garage. Remember that the BQs were on
concrete piers with about three feet of clearance above the coral. It was an
empty shell casing that had carried a flare that was fired from a US warship
that was hunting enemy submarines. This was at a time some days after the U-156
had shelled the refinery.
In answer to some of Don Gray's questions as to what could have happened:
1) ... There was no submarine net across the harbor entrance at that time and
the US Coast Artillery had not had time to get their guns set up. If the sub had
gone into the harbor it could have hit the Power House and shut down the
refinery.
2) ... Even small shells could have wrecked the turbo electric generators.
Instead the sub hit several of the Lake Fleet tankers sitting outside of the
reef that sent up such cloud of smoke that the sub couldn't see where it's
shells were going.
Hope this is of some interest for the Aruba gang.
Comments From: Bill Potts
Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 26
Larry,
I don't want to extend the speculation about potential damage forever, but there
are some personal experiences I feel appropriate to mention.
I worked in the pressure stills for a while and a couple of times on my shift we
had a Cross furnace tube split. The Cross furnace had light hydrocarbon
fractions at about 1,200 degrees temperature and 1,000 pounds/sq. in. pressure
pumped through the stainless steel four inch diameter pipes. When a tube split
open you can't imagine the roaring fire that resulted. Lake tanker crews told me
that the flames could be seen from Venezuela when that happened. Yet we stayed
on the unit, shut down pumps, and switched to the slop rundown line. It is
difficult for me to imagine a WWII German sub deck gun firing a four inch shell
creating much more havoc. I was in WWII and in the invasion of Okinawa the
battleship "Massachusetts" fired sixteen inch shells over our landing craft,
which we plainly saw explode up ahead. But when we got there, after wading
ashore, we were surprised how little damage was done. Oh yes, people were killed
by the dozen, but serious structural damage was confined to an area about fifty
feet in diameter. Later, in 1947, on August 14 during the Spanish Civil War, I
was aboard the Panama flag tanker "G.W. McKnight" which was attacked by an
Italian Sub that fired its deck gun at us. The noise was horrible, but we all
got off in lifeboats and after about twenty shells, the tanker was set afire but
not sunk. I don't have a lot of respect for WWII sub deck guns. Torpedoes
yes!... but that's another story.
Comments From: Don Smith
(US Army Retired)
Class of 1960
This is a short bit of U-156 history that I accumulated from the web. Thought it
would be interesting. The U-156 had (3) deck guns -- one was a 105 mm, next a 37
mm and last a 20 mm. My guess is that the gun that jammed was the 105mm. If it
had worked, the refinery and our lives, would have been totally different. When
I was in the infantry a 105mm was used to kill armored vehicles in a direct fire
mode. It was a great weapon for us (our more modern version of course) and I am
sure, when used properly, was effective for the Germans. A storage tank and any
other targets would have been easily destroyed if the gun had worked. The 37mm
and 20mm were designed for antiaircraft use (probably between 2500 and 3500 foot
altitudes) and when fired at forward targets would have sent the projectiles in
a wide arc. As a result of firing at a great distance they probably didn't have
much effectiveness against a target that was low and out of range of both guns.
This is only speculation on my part. I have seen others write about the
clown-like approach of the U-156 when in this attack. The crew must have learned
quickly because the Captain was considered to be one of Germany's submarine
aces.
Comments From: Clyde Harms
Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27
Don Gray's question to Clyde Harms:
You'll note in paragraph 5 (Episode #2) of the Wartime Memories report, I state,
..."Another shell finds its 'home' in the BOQ ...The shell enters several walls
and exits slightly above a sleeping cot in one of the living quarters...." I go
on to say in the paragraph following, "I definitely remember reading in the
Aruba Esso News (or somewhere) about a shell going through one of the BOQ's and
landing...unexploded, in a resident's bedroom."No one with whom I have either
corresponded, or talked with, can remember the unexploded U-Boat shell landing
in the BOQ apartment incident!!
Can either of you direct me to a particular issue of the Aruba Esso News or
other publication that verifies my BOQ story?
Clyde Harms' response
Here's a story I scanned from "The War Years At Lago" published in 1946. It's
the only material I could find that approaches an answer to the question.
(February 18) started out well enough, but ended with a bang at 5:30 a.m. on the
19th, when even heavy sleepers were awakened by tremendous explosions off the
East end of the island (light sleepers practically picked themselves up off the
floor). Then there was the whisper of big shells passing over the Colony. One
shell casing six inches in diameter and eighteen inches long had passed
completely through the Esso Club library, knocking over a file cabinet and a
counter on the way, and littering half the Club with splintered wood. A soldier
was later heard to remark, "Thank goodness, it wasn't the bar!"
Tex Schelfhorst, living in Bachelor Quarters No. 6, had taken a near miss. A
similar shell had gone through his door jamb, passed within inches of his feet
as he lay sleeping, then went out through the floor. It ricocheted off the
coral, went through the wall of a B.Q. garage, and finally stopped against the
engine of a car belonging to Carl Johnson (Carl at that moment was a passenger
on the missing "C.O.Stillman," which was playing hide-and-seek with submarines
somewhere along the East Coast). A third shell bounced harmlessly off a road.
Besides excitement, the shells stirred up some mystery. They were merely more
like a section of pipe than an artillery shell. Also, they were empty, yet had
not exploded. They had done their damage only by the smashing blow of their 25
or 30 pound weight.
Unfortunately, for security reasons the U.S. Navy at first forbid any official
release of the true story; it could only be said that the shelling was not enemy
action. However, the rumor was out that the shells were from U.S. warships, and
there were many thoughtless complaints about poor shooting or careless target
practice. To people whose closest contact with the grim realities of war had
been the news reels, nervousness ("the jitters") was natural.
Several days later the true story was released (see bulletins above) and cooler
heads realized that the destroyers protecting our coast and shipping were
fighting a deadly enemy, and if they needed quick light on a suspected submarine
they could not be too particular where the flare shells' casings landed.
Comments From: Steve Fremgen
Class of 1963
Steve Fremgen's observations (in answer to Don Gray) as to why certain actions
may not have taken place on U-Boat 156 that fateful night of February 16, 1942
...
Things to consider about the U-Boat attack:
"Those shells for the deck gun, when stored below decks, are not armed...they
need to be fused before shooting. You do not want them going off during a depth
charge attack on a sub, which can cause them to be rolling around on the deck
plating and bumping into things.
"Before placing them (the shells) into the breech, you need to screw in a
fuse...usually a contact exploder. In the dark this may not have been done, or
they may have been screwed in, but the safety pin not removed in the dark. Not
only was the refinery blacked out, but Das Boot was too...to avoid becoming a
target themselves from the shore batteries that the captain knew had to be
there. Obviously, however, there was a SNAFU on the submarine as they started
shelling the refinery.
"Ironically, there were plenty of maps and information printed about the
refinery and the location of the tanks and stills, etc....before the start of
the war. One map of the harbor area (San Nicolas Harbor) is on eBay right now,
and the map date is 1937! They (the Germans) could have easily obtained copies
from Berlin prior to departing on their patrol."
Comments From: Jim Riggs
Class of 1953
US ARMY AIR CORPS in ARUBA during WWII ...
Larry,
Reading through the very interesting war journals you forwarded to me about the
sub attacks on and off Aruba, I have yet to read a story about a small US Army
Air Force contingent that was stationed in Aruba. Could it be I missed some of
the articles that were reported on the subject?
Earlier in the war, the Germans learned quickly to avoid attacking vessels
during the day. Once an alert was out, the US Army Air Corps fighters would
scramble and within minutes be right down their backs.
Later, the German strategies changed -- they avoided daylight attacks and would
let the old flat-bottom T2 tankers sail to Lake Maracaibo empty. Later that
night or early morning under the protection of darkness the T2's, fully loaded
with oil, would sail back to Aruba. However, the protection of darkness didn't
stop the subs from surfacing. They would fire off their flares, light up the
skies, and in short time fire their deck guns at the tankers. It was more cost
affective to fire deck guns than use torpedoes. Who wouldn't when the oil
tankers were "sitting ducks with clipped wings." The oil tankers had minimum
defense capabilities. The Germans, realizing they had only minutes to spare,
would immediately dive to avoid the attacking American fighters.
Do you remember the UK Captain, Charles Berley? Charles and his wife Ann, from
Scotland, and their two boys, Charles Jr. and Brian, lived in the bungalow next
door to us. I believe Charles lost one or two vessels due to German attacks.
Charles and Ann would call Mom and they would visit and share with us their fear
and anger after each attack. Ann would comment, " Charles made it this time but
will he on his next run?" Lots of tears were shed during these sad moments.
Charles would talk about his horrifying experiences about survival, the ensuing
rescue efforts, the loss of his close friends and shipmates, how they died due
to injuries and drowning in the burning oil slicks. Charles war experiences as a
sea captain in Aruba stuck with him right up to his death some 20 years ago.
Through all the post war years, Charles and Ann kept in touch with Mom until
they died. Charles Jr. went on in life to become an air traffic controller and
worked out of the Glasgow International airport for a while. I am sure he is
retired by now.
During that period of history there were quite a few Charles Berley's from the
tanker fleet who had similar stories. They were the unsung heroes who had a job
to do, they were the silent soldiers who kept the oil flowing at any cost and
who contributed immensely to the war effort.
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