, I—
(Continued from Peg* Five)
Valley and the high ground sur
rpurahng the area. Most of the
Japan*** had been exterminat
ed, or had committed suicide, by
that evening and the situation
was well under control.
Later the battalion was assign
ed the task of combing the area
east of Chicagof Valley’ by Pa
trol action, hunting out and de
stroying the scattered and
docpned Japanese stragglers.
The Fourth Infantry had add
ed another battle streamer to
its colors—no other unit of the
Army boasts as many—but it had
|»aid a high price. Approximate
ly five officers and 60 enlisted
men of the battalion were dead.
Their experience in Alaska
jsfoved invaluable to soldiers of
the Fourth during the Battle of
Attu, as evidenced by the fact
tliat casualties from exposure in
this battalion were few. The
much-discussed “immersion feet”
which took such a terrific toll
among other troops were virtual
ly non-existent in the ranks of
the Fourth.
The cold blasts of wind and
the oozing muskeg that kept
clothing and sleeping bags sat
urated was old stuff tc them.
Consequently, they could' relak
and sleep when they were afford
ed the - opportun ity, while other
troops who were newcomers to
the Aleutians were too miserable
to rest.
Transported to Nome
HEADQUARTERS. ALASKAN
DEPARTMENT — One of the
first of the big troop movement*
by air, probably the largest up
to that time, took place last year j
when Nome, on the Alaska room- i
land, near the edge of the -Arctic
Circle, was threatened with an
invasion.
Dutch Harbor was still smold
ering from two Japanese bomb
ing raids, and Kiska and Attu
had been occupied by the Japs.
Enemy surface activity had been
reported in the vicinity of St.
Lawrence and the Pribilof Is
lands in the Bering Sea. Several
Jap ships were reported steam
ing toward Nome, which had no
defense force capable of turning
back a full-scale invasion.
-An unidentified plane, flying j
higher than was possible for any
based in the area, circled over
Nome.
Early on the morning ef June
19, reinforcements were ordered
moved to Nome immediately, and
the Fourth Infantry’s second bat
talion, reinforced with engineer,
field artillery and anti-aircraf*
units into a force of more than
2.000 troops, hastily prepared to
depart from the Fort Richardson
area.
The move was made under the
direction of Col. Thomas M.
Crawfoird. Lebanon, Tenn.; GSC
G-3 of .ADC. Maj. E. H. Jacob
son. Oakland, Calif., .AC, repre
sented the Air Transport Com
mand. and Capt. Neil W. Phil
lips. of the Fourth Infantry. Pa
lbs Verdes Estates, Calif., then a
first lieutenant, superintended
the actual loading of planes.
Only a pitifully small number
of army transport planes were
available, the situation was crit
ical, and orders required that the
vanguard of the force—20 anti
aircraft and guns and their crews
—be in Nome within 24 hours.
All civilian air traffic in Alas
ka was stopped that day and
every suitable plane in the terri
tory was requisitioned for the
movement. The fleet of planes in
cluded Stinsons, Bellandas and
two old Ford tri-motored jobs.
By midnight of the same day,
after 39 individual trips, the
anti-aircraft units had been mov
ed to Name and the big shuttle
movement was under way. De
spite weather that kept the planes
on the ground part of the time,
the entire force, along with all
is equipment, with the exception
of big field pieces and similar
heavy items, was transported to
Nome in a period of 18 days. The
movement could have been com
pleted in a week had it not been
for unfavorable weather condi
tions.
Cargo - carrying commercial
planes coming in from Canada
were used to supplement the air
armada. The midnight sun, pro- !
viding almost a full 24 hours of
daylight, ma<fe it possible for
some of the planes to make two '
trips in a single day.
Ammunition, rations, tents, ,
even 37 millimeter guns and
field kitchens—everything nec
essary to make the force self- !
sufficient—were moved by air
without one single accident. ;
Heavy weapons were brought up
later by boat. The troops step
ped out of the planes at Nome,
equipped and ready to fight. A
total of 218 flights were made in
the movement.
With Col. W. K. Dudley of
Eustis, Fla., then a lieutenant j
colonel, in command of the force,
the defense of the area was has- I
tily organized with the troops
working long hours and until
late at night. There had been only
a small garrison at Nome until
that time, and there were no fa- ,
cilities for housing or feeding the
big force.
Later, after it became apparent
the expected invasion wqpld not
materialize, the troops prepared
themselves far the bitter cold of !
the winter to come. Tents were
I',? OPEN 10:30 A. M. CLOSE 2:00 A. M. ||
1 1
| Our Package to You This Yuletide: f
»-*-- |
E* <t*
| MAY YOU ENJOY A
Merry Christmas
m
-AND A
Happy New Year
*
MAIN 129 NOME, .ALASKA
winterized, buildings went up, I
the supply of rations was sup- !
plemented. Nome is ice-bour.d i
about nine months of each year,
and all supplies moving by boat
must be brought in during the
three summer months.
The troops maneuvered in
weather from 20 to 35 degrees
below zero. They found that none
of the elaborate footgear pro
vided by the anmy protected the
feet from this particular type of
weather as well as the native
mukluk, made by the Eskimos
from deer and reindeer hides or
seal skins.
Major Roy M. Morse of Eugene.
Ore., who described the Nome
adventure, said that the mukluk
had no equal in a climate like
Nome’s. The army purchased a
n amber of them by contract from
the natives and provided every
soldier there with a pair.
The second battalion remained
in the Nome area for about a I
year, later moving out the Aleu
tians to Dutch Harbor for a short
stay, and then to Ad'ak where
they became acquainted with an
other type of disagreeable wea
ther
—
Learn Mach of Eskimos
HEADQUARTERS, ALASKAN
DEPARTMENT — Soldiers of
the Fourth Infantry’s third bat
talion learned during their three
years in Alaska, among other
things, that although many Eski
mos are mechanical wizards, it
is next to impossible to teach
some of them close order drill.
The battalion furnished some
pf the personnel for operating an
Alaska Recruit Training detach
ment where draftees from Alas
ka, including Eakimoea, get their
basic training.
The best method for teaching
them close order drill, Fourth
Infantrymen said, is to get all
the native recruits in a small
room where they can not help
but hear what the drill sergeant
has to say about the intricacies :
of this GI institution. Outside,
the Eskimo**, became extremely |
interested in each other and pay
little attention when the ser
geant is explaining the proper
way to do an about face.
After days of patient explana
tion and innumerable demon#te- j
lions, they finally learn to march j
in a straight line in simple for- i
mation. A “column left” causes j
considerable confusion and “by j
the right flank” results in pan-1
demonium.
The drill sergeant, by this
time, is on the verge of suffer
ing a cerebral hemorrhage and is
muttering incoherently.
On the other hand, they show
a remarkable mechanical apti
tude. Some of them can watch a
complex machine gun dismantled
and then put together just once,
and can take over and do a re
peat performance.
.One officer said he had heard
of cases where an Eskimo, with
some machine part broken and
no replacement available, would
take a piece of iron and a file 1
and patiently file out a new part.
They have infinite patience, he
said.
On the whole, they are intelli
gent and serve many useful pur
poses in the Alaskan theater.
As for army chow, tihe Eski
moes missed their native dishes
of seal oil and fish, but most of
them were already well acquaint
ed with most foods served. Pork
chops are their favorite.
They are extremely susceptible
to common siokness of the white
man and, having no immunity,
are gravely ill with simple ail
ments like measles. Large num
bers were hospitalized.
Medical stocks of castor oil,
salad oil and butter disappeared
from refrigerators while trays of
carefully-prepared hospital food
were left untouched.
When the Fourth Infantry ar
rived in Alaska, the two com
panies which had been stationed
at Chilkoot Barracks for many
years before the w^r when that
was the largest army garrison ii>
Alaska, became a part of its
third battalion.
Soane members of the famed
Alaska Combat Scout Intelligence
platoon, which include* many
Alaska oldtimers, came fromr
these two companies.
Only a few of the soldiers that
were at Chilkoot Barracks tor bo
long still remain in the campan-s
ies. There are few, if any sol
diers who have been on dyty
outside the United States for bo
long a time as these Alaska vet
erans.
First Sergeant James Kay, of
Adauns, Mass., Company ‘‘K'\
for example, had been in Alaska
for eight and one-ha If years, with
the exception of one eight
month period when he returned
to the Slates with the Fourth.
Several experimental and re
connaissance trips were conduct
ed by the third battalion. One
party of ten men made a trip
with toboggans to Eagle River
glacier and reconnoitered the vi
cinity of Eagle River pass. Ma
jor George A. Felch of Spokane
Wash., now head of the Alaskan
Department Experimental Board,
and formerly with the Fourth
Infantry, made a trip to variour
outposts to determine the best
types of foot gear for various cli
matic conditions.
An interesting experimental
trip was one on which Major f\
Belch led a party of 28 men on
a three-weeks’ trip to an area
near Mt. McKinley. Certain items
of food, clothing and equipment
were tested. As a result of this
trip and previous research, Ma
jor Feloh was called to. Washing
ton, D. C., by the quartermaster
general to make recommenda
on Arctic clothing.
Members of the third battalion
became past masters at the art
Continued on Page Thirteen)