Aleutian Fliers Commended For
Service In Army Transport Duty
(Edior's Note:—This is the
first in a series of four articles
telling the story of the 42nd Troop
Carrier Squadron’s two years of
flying in the Aleutians. The sec
ond of the series, which will ap
pear Wednesday, describes the
hectic adventures of the airman
in pioneering days of flying
‘‘down the chain.”)
By CPL. TOM LOVE
(1 lh AAF Correspondent)
HEADQUARTERS, 11TH AAF
SERVICE COMMAND—Veterans
of two long years of flying in the
bitter cold of Alaska and the vio
lent witids of itfc Aleutian Is
lands, the 42nd Troop Carrier
Squadron, which pioneered fly
ing in the Aleutians, has returned
to the Unied States after writing
an unique chapter in this war’s
history of air transport. The
squadron was the first complete
troop carrier unit to return under
the army’s overseas troop rotation
system.
It was just four months before
the Jap attack on Dutch Harbor
that the first elements of the 42nd
Troop Carrier arrived in Alaska.
Capt. Philip T. Durfee mow Lt.
Col.) of Los Angeles, Calif., land
ed at Elmendorf Field near An
chorage with five C-53’s and one
crew for each of them.
Previous to this, four lieuten
ants had been flying army cargo
around the mainland of Alaska in
some old B-10 bombers. This
unit, known as the Tow-Target
Detachment, together with per
sonnel from a signal corps com
pany and a materiel squadron,
were hastily combined with Capt.
Durfee's group, and the 42nd
Troop Carrier Squadron was de
clared activated.
The airmen were told ’heir job.
Cargo vital for the defense of
American soil must be flown from
the mainland of Alaska down the
Aleutian chain of islands. Hardly
anyone doubted that the Japs
would attack—and probably soon.
There was no time to await
slow-moving ships. And besides,
the sh'ps were not available. The
two-motored transports, flying
over the uncharted volcanic
mountain peaks and through the
almost incredible Aleutian wea
’her must fill the breach.
The only trouble was that in
the islands there were no airfields,
and on the Alaskan peninsula, en
route to the islands, there were
none worthy of the name.
The farthest-west landing field
was Naknek, which is located on
the Bering Sea side of the penin
sula where it joins the mainland.
The field was merely a muddy,
cleared-off place on the tundra,
75-feet wide and barely long
enough to make a take-off. Col.
Durfee said, ‘‘Over half the time
we landed and took off in cross
winds, and in these parts, a cross
wind is not a zephyr but a gale,
and the wind is always blowing.
Sometimes we landed on frozen
lakes.”
At the same time, army engi
neers were feverishly putting in
landing strips at Cold Bay, fur
ther down the peninsula, and at
Umnak, about three islands far
ther down.
These bases were so highly
secret they were listed in all cor
respondence and records simply
as “The Blair Packing Co.” The
fighters and bombers that roared
up from them to meet the Jap
a’taekers on June 3, 1942, were
given full credit for stopping the
nvaders. But the airmen them
selves gave the credit to the en
gineers who slogged around in
the rain and wind to lay sieel
mat ing over the muddy tundra.
‘The Japs didn’t know our engi
neers could do things like that
then,” the flyers said.
As in many parts of the world
at this time when American forces
w’ere trying to s‘em the Jap tide,
there were periods of extreme
emergency. When the Japs struck
Dutch Harbor, the 42nd was al
ready hurl ng troops, specialists
and equipment “down the chain".
For six long weeks thereafter,
every man in ‘he squadron rolled
up flying hours at the rate of 200
a month. There was only one 1st
pilot, one co-pilot and one crew
to each ship, and it meant to keep
going. Major Guy Kintner ‘then a
lieutenant of Oakley, 111., rolled
up 237 hours in one month during
the period. Major Kintner later
became commanding officer of
the squadron.
In addition, the squadron dur
ing the emergency pressed into
service some ferry pilots who had
brought up a flight of transports.
‘‘Every day,” Col. Durfee recalls,
‘‘we got a red-hot wire from San
Francisco requesting their ferry
pilots back, but we had to ignore
the wires until we could get
lighting equipment and men down
the chain.”
(To be continued^
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN
that Molly Berryman, has been
duly appointed by the Probate
Court, for the Noatak Kobuk
Precinct, Territory of Alaska,
Second Division, administratrix
of the estate of Tom Berryman,
deceased.
All persons having any claims
against the said estate, are here
by notified and required to pre
sent such claims, duly verified,
to the undersigned administra
trix, at Kotzebue, Alaska, or to
her attorney, O. D Cochrane, at
Nome, Alaska, within six months
from the publication of this no
tice.
Dated this, the 14th day of
April,, 1944
MOLLY BERRYMAN,
Administratrix of the Estate of
Tom Berryman, deceased.
Advertise it in The Nugget.
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\TG EVENTS
This winter the members of 'h
Deering company of A T G. kill
ed 13 wolves. Last winter Deering
heel no company of A. T G. No
wolves were killed las? year. The
A. T. G. men ‘rapped and shot
the :e 13 wolves in the vicinity of
Deering.
One can realize the tremendous
signif cance of this A. T. G. ac
complishment when it is under
stood that Deering is a native Es
kimo vill.'ige wi’h a large herd
of reindeer upon which wolves
prey.
For years wolves have been
killing deer at an alarming ra‘e
in the Deering area. Each year the
situation seemed to grow worse.
It is interesting to note in this
connection what ‘he old Natives
have to say about the wolf prob
lem now and the wolf problem be- j
fore the white man came.
Years ago, before the rifle came
into common use in Alaska, three
were caribou in this section of
Alaska. Wolves were here then.
The caribou let!* when the rifle1
came. The wolves did too. The
wolf returned when the reindeer
came. They increased rapidly.!
It is believed fhat the wolves
came down from the Kobuk
country to the north.
Wolves do not usually come
right up to the village. Tracks!
are sometimes seen a mile from
the village at the closest. It is the
hunters, trappers and herders
along with the pilots who see the
wolves.
During the summer little is
seen or heard of the wolves. Once
in a great while berry-pickers or
greens gatherers will see one.
Moth gray and black wolves are
found in this area. There are
more of the gray. It is the light
gray wolf fur that the Eskimo
prefer for ruffs.
A hunter gets a $20 bounty for
a wolf. If his wife cuts up the
pelt and sells it for ruffs it will
bring him from $20 ?o $50 more.
Wolf ruffs are famous for parka
hoods. They do not frost quick
; ly and they make excellent wind
breaks.
The skin of wolf legs are used
! for jackets and high mukluks.
The skin of the head is often
! used for mittens.
! Deering A. T. G. men get the
j majority of their wolves by trap
ping. They usually do not use
i bait. The favorite trapping
ground is west of Deering near
the mouth of Cripple Creek. There
is a place there on top of a high
I Vi AE ADVERTISEMENT
IN THE PROBATE COURT CAPE
NOME PRECINCT, ALASKA
IN THE MATTER OF THE ES
TATE OF ALPHONSINE TAL
LARD, Deceased.
No. 670
NOTICE OF HEARING AND SET
TLEMENT OF FINAL
ACCOUNT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN
tha4 the undersigned administra
tor of the estate of Alphonsine
Tallard, deceased, has filed i'
the above-named Court his Final
Account, and the 29th day <
June, 1944, at the hour of 10:00
o'clock A. M. of said day, at the
cour room of said Court at Nome.
Alaska, has been by Court order
fixed as the time and place for
hearing on said Final Account and
the adjudication as to who the
heirs and distributees of said es
tate are,
Objections to said account will
be heard at this time.
Dated the 28th day of April,
1944.
EMIL LAURIN.
m Administrator.
May 1-8-15-22.
hill where wolves go to howl and
scout for unherded reindeer.
Gideon Barr, the leading A. T.
G. wolf trapper, is only 25 years
old. He got five wolves. We asked
him how he did it. He said ‘hat
it is easy if you understand
wolves. He went on to say: ‘‘All
I do is set a few traps up on that
hill by a urinal rock."
The Reindeer Service has long
carried on the light against
wolves. Now the A. T." G. comes
into the picture, contributing a
community service too, for the
well-being of the native people,
by fighting the "all-the-same-as
Jap-animal.”
Reported by commander of
Deering A. T. G.
john e. Shea.
A. T. G. DANCE SATURDAY
MAGNANIMOUS SUCCESS
A group of army boys calling
! themselves the “ATG” orchestra,
| furnished music for the dance.
I The orchestra is composed of an
: accordion, saxophone, piano and
I drums, and a vocalist gave a fine
account of themselves to the en
joy of all who attended the dance
No program was necessary to get
*he couples into the mood, as there
was a good time in store for all
who participated or cared to lis
ten, and a banner crowd enjoyed
the party. The ATG plans to have
more of these well-conducted, en
joyable dances in the future.
Regular Meeting Tuesday
The regular meeting of the
ATG will be held Tuesday eve
ning as usual, at 1900 hours.
MAJOR BRONSON,
Commanding.
! Tell them you saw it in The
! Nugget.
LOCAL MEN BAG
15 WOLVES l\
COURSE OF DAY
Fifeon wolves ' ! ' t Tue-.
day by gunners of h r—i nlnnes,
included n ne ad 'b fom'd'es ac
cording to report from the local
Reindeer Service oHTe.
According to ‘he report these
were 37 unborn pirns. About 50
per cent of these would be fe
males. These po’s would have
been born withi1 about 10 rtnv<
Wolf pups are s!:,h Iv larger than
foxes by Augvis' and are being
trained to kill lay their mothers,
These wolves w it'd hav"1 caused
destruction of hundreds of rein
deer A single wolf has been
known to kill up ‘o 50 reindeer
,n one night.
The Reindeer Sm-'-’ce has been
attempting to nb'ain light planes
for wolf hunting and closer herd
supervision. It maintains that
constant herding and airplane
wolf hunting are both necessary
as a two-pronged effort, to elim
inate wolves on reindeer ranges.
Within the past three years con
stant herding programs have been
developed on the Brower. Barrow,
Wainwright , Kivalina. Selawik,
Golovin, Egavik. Rockland, St
Michael, Akuluruk, Hooper Bay
and Naknek ranges
New herding programs have
also been commenced near Cape
Douglas, Bunker Hill and Deer
ing. When constant herding has
not been performed on mainland
ranges, wolc- have slaughtered
the defense! • reindeer in great
numbers.
KENNETH HOMER
WILLOYA ADOPTED
Kenneth Homer Willoya, under
one year, was adopted by Mr. and
Mrs. Peter Curran of Solomon
Alaska. Mr. Curran is a business
man of Solomon.
IN THE PROBATE COURT OP
THE NOATAK KOBUK PRE
' CINCT. TERRITORY OF
ALASKA. SECOND DIVISION.
In the RI liter of the Estate of
George Wn-mcr Deceased,
NOTICE TO CREDITORS
Notice s hereby given that by
order of he Probate Court in
and for the Noatak Kobuk Pre
cinct, Second Division, Terri
tory of Alaska, the undersigned
has bee 1 appointed administra
tor of the estate of George Wag
ner. deceased.
All persons having claims
against sa d estate shall pre
sent thorn wi'h proper vouchers
, attached, within six months from
the date of this notice to the un
dersigned at Kotzebue, Alaska.
Dated at Nome, Alaska. April
'27, 1944.
DELBERT CAREY,
AdmlnisTatop,
Kotzebue, Alaska
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