Show 'X'Llt - - g'1117' ' ' -- 7- — f'' Akitakb— - 4- i i t ! Sunday 1 t ttlic 5111 glAk 7ribttn 13Torning November 15 1912 t - f VVendover 'vVorld's Largest Military Reservation Trains Crack Gunners f - I 1 :i I 1 1 'I ' : t t - i 1 Overseas Flying Officers Request Utah Soldiers For Combat Duty Mopping his face with a large handkerchief the engineer of the Western Pacific railroad train looked ahead into the blazing sun turned to his fireman and said: "Well soon be there and I'll be damned glad to get off this desert" The train had passed Mt Sinai named after the Biblical mountain and was just coming off Poatoano mountains at the foot of Granite range a weather-beate- n suneoaked towering SPI1- tine' that stands guard over the Great American desert to the west The small engine pride of railroaders at the turn of the centurv pulled up to milepost 8063 and stopped the clanking of its pistons and the palpitating wheeze of its boilers echoing in the bright desert air "This is Wendover" said the engineer "anybody want to do any target shooting before we start for Salt Lake?" The remark was no joke—engineers on the San Francisco and Salt Lake run of the Western Pacific railroad made it a practice to let passengers shoot at jackrabbits and coyotes that came down off the Granite range to the sunbaked oasis of Wend-ove- r i 4 9 ' ' er er lf self-contain- frA'''''''5"- '" '' ' ' ' f t f f 5 4 1 !- --- -- '''' - ': - '' — - ' s ': s' t4AA: - '' -- - f 0 ' i' - 441 a ! i 1 '' H r'i4 ' : f-- i s T tA r' - ' -: dr''''''' ' ' f-f - ' '' A ''' ' r : - : - 0 Rte i k e- - - A "p L—I - s r 'o ' I '- 1 -- -- v two 3 r- -- - el tr45 - - - 4 0 is 4t 4i: M :: '- - ' -- - ' '' - ki-- ' 1 - ' ' ' ' ' T - t -- 1474 tipz N - '''''"'- - - :' 440 1- '4' t 14--- t 0:- 4 i: ' A: :: re - " : ': :: H :: r7'' 1 ''— l'"' -- :: i:::: i:: :: : " 4 - k4- : i:- w- Major Robert N Dippyi commanding officer of Wendover field ' 1 ':' : : y '''''''' - - '' 400"'''71 -:oz400004 1 i- - - :- ':':: : - 1 ": I44' ""Trier : a' ) I ' i p- ':" - --- ' ' '' many of the contrivances and devices these men have made at little or no cost have proven so practical that other schools over the country have adopted them" he said One of these is an Ingenious mechanism designed to steer a jeep around a circular track The jeep supports a moving target for machine gun practice The circular track has two advantages: (1) the target moves at 5 to 30 miles an hour affording target: practice at a moving (2) it provides a change In the depth of range simulating an attacking and a retreating plane When the target moves around its track closest to the gunner it is 170 yards away At its farthest point on the other side of the track it adds another 70 yards to the range The Mechanism came Into prominence as a safety feature There always was danger of the target driver being hit by a ricochetting bullet Then too driving the jeep required services or an extra man who could be used elsewhere to more advantrige Captain Neya and his men ago placed planking about eight inches high through the center of the track the affair looking something like the third rail of an electric train Then a crude structure was bolted to the steering mechanism of the -jeep with the two arms closinp- up on the planking When the jeep moved forward the arms riding either aide of the planking steered the car But trouble always was in evidence The mechanism broke easily tires on the jeep wore out too fast because of the stress Involved on the curves Jumping thetrack was frequent The B & G boys recently a new months ' t device They wheels off two wheal ba rrows (ha nged bushings to avoid shimmying compensated for one wheel being lower than the other on curves and among other things introduced springs to insure the steering mechanism hugging the plank The result was the first practical use of the mechanism Other schools since have asked for plans on the device improvement was made by use of levers and pulleys and arms to make he jeep more speed was wanted a rope was pulled and an arm moved out on the side of the track to contact another arm on the gas feed as the jeep went by The speed increased Two other arms are used for faster or slower speed rigged up took the ruhber-tire- - i '''' ' ''- --:- - t "'' '4' sk' : “ ''''t '1' Further i A 41 d self-steeri- :: : '''''' - ' ' 'i i i I 1 A NV-he- self-operati- t 1 field bombing range Much of the equipment here was made by enlisted merit :: 1 4 4 — i ' - -- '' ' t- ''' 40i - are some of 'l - l''' --4 1 44—e:4 Abe Creekmore it - target " - - P '''' 104e -- - mi 4t y ksi: t i'-':''''- ' 1 - - : 1 1 at jeep v7::'' i F I return What happens when a young man volunteers to join the ranks of these heroes? If he is assigned to Wendover he'll put in the toughest week of his life That gruelling first week is another of the school techniques not common to the curriculum of other schools That first week Is really tough" said Captain Keys "but our whole course is dependent on it The first week is a conditioner The men work hard at manual labor and get the feel of living under field conditions "They know that when they get overt that first week the rest of the course cannot pos- " f - r:t c- r "'Ave ' :If gib 4 Z: 920' gooe — " s" - Another arm stops the jeepaltogether Another innovation that promises to be widely copied is the mounting of three machine guns on a railroad car similar to that used by a section foreman The army purchased the car and a section of narrow gauge track from official5 of an mine The track is about mile long The car with its three gunners speeds up to 40 miles an hour in passing the targets To hit a target consistently at that speed with a machine gun on a moving mount is really the ultimate in marksmanship Actual conditions of aerial warfare are produced The car gives the motion effect and the aeroelyrnanic characteristics of an The three gunners em'irplane ploy an interphone system using a throat microphone to permit the hands to be free The fire control officer then scores the hits and suggests needed corrections in leading the target The men in turn can talk to the fire control officer Students constantly are drilled that accuracy is far more important than speed It has been determined that in a burst of 10 rounds two shells yin find their ma rk Instructors stress that rounds are to be fired as a single burst a difficult thing to do with a machine gun that can empty all Its ammunition in a few seconds Time after time students hear the admonition: "Fire those bursts singly and realm with each shot but fire those single shots so fast they are in reality a burst" All of the accuracy is not developed on the range a great deal being done in "skull practice" provided in the class rooms Here again the ingenuity of I3 87 G men collies to the fore For instance in showing formations of p!ancs both for at& tack and defense the lads took a leaf out of the fisherman's book Fishing rods with their telescopic sections were used The rods hang from A platform and each supports a model plane The rods can be moved up or down at will and a knuckle joint holds the plane at the angle desired The planes can be arranged singly or in groups With this visual aid instructors point out vulnerable points to attack or to defend Identification of planes was another puzzler for wide awake gunners Many hours are spent in learning the characteristics of the various friendly or enemy craft Wooden models are used drawings on aban-clone- d one-four- th a made-to-ord- er : - boards and likenesses are flashed on a screen But the B Gers had to go one better They found out that planes couldn't be presented fast enough to the student if actual warfare conditions were to be simulated How to speed up the process was the problem Another of the bright young men stepped to the fore A toy electric train was the answer The device presents to the students sitting in front of it a ground glass screen about the size of an ordinary living room window On the screen is painted a sight somewhat larger than used on machine guns Back of the glass is the electric train which controls the backward or forward movement of a long strip of heavy wrapping paper Into the wrapping paper was painstakingly cut an exact repThese are lica of the planes flashed on the glass screen from the rear by means of an electric light beam such as is used in projecting still pictures The movement of the train on its track controls the speed of the images flashing on the screen The instructor not only can demand the name of the plane but can ask of a student just where he would fire as the plane nose enters the sights or just how much lead in the front of the plane he would place his sights before tripping off the sserschmitt Macchi 190 and other highly touted enemy aircraft Learning to be a Wendover gunner is perhaps the toughest five weeks' course in the army But every graduate says it is worth it Ile's proud of the serthe geant's rating completion ofcmcourse gives him and his t wings with the United States coat of arms in the center Gunners must 'volunteer for the duty and the army still needs thousands of such men For the most part they are between the ages of 20 and 25 years and come from all walks of life although one thing- is common'con-to all—they are a proud and fident lot "It's that spirit which puts an unholy fear into their enemies" said Captain Keys Give these men adequate training and they are good—they have to be good or they are One of the strongest dead weapons the United States brings to this war is its aerial bombardment If the gunners are mediocre an entire combat crew maybe lost to say nothing of the plane valued at up Fock-Wo- - lf r!- 1 P k 1 i7-i- 1 'T:' !"' I t i r 7?:77:7:: !'''7':-: 1 'tE'''''''' : I f t turrets Classroom work Is In charge Staff Sergeant Glendon P Nordell range work in charge of Staff Sergeant Abe Creek-mor- e and power turrets In charge of Staff Sergeant L R Peterson Each has one assistant and 15 additional men are assigned to each training phase as instructors Two other key Keys' men are of - '1'::!1'ri i'—::::— t ':i-- i - F t - otAok—sfiet-1o"-qA- t b 4 Sergeant Joseph E gunnery range chief in charge of all construction on the ranges and Technical Sergeant master Charles M range chief Gilbert :r :::— :i-- Drew - -' - bombing After that first week the training starts on a Sunday when the men are divided into sections of about 30 men each 1 Men trigger It's surprising how on students learn the vulnerable spots of the Zero the Heinkel Ale- ':':1'7T- I- sibly be as hard and from a paychologiral standpoint it works wonders They n re then ready to use their heads" he said Training at Wendover is divided into three phases: Chtssroom gunnery range and power -- showing leadership qualsection ities are appointed leaders The next day the men learn the fundamentals of shooting small-bor- e arms and how to qualify for marksmanship ratings After he has become proficient with the smaller' guns the student progresses to the machine gun laboratory One of the most important phases of this training Is the ability to assemble blindfolded the hundreds of parts of the machine guns so that in event of a blackout or when am a night bombardment mission no gun will be out of fiction because a gunner couldn't see to fix it Theory and operation of power turrets comes early in the course Types studied include the two Sperry models the Martin the Consolidated and the Bendix Here again the B & G improved on turret teaching facilities The usual turret stand accommodates few students at a time The B & G built one that will care for a section of men Next comes firing of the 30-- caliber machine guns atastationa ry targets Students fire under the interphone and throat microphone system am directed by the From this fire control officer point on records are kept on Bullet each student's scores (Continued on Folicrwing 1 4 17":- 17:f:'5' axe) - 0- ' I I t Olm144!hg :71':-- ! ' '''''t' : I ' 71:::t t :2' '' - : I - '': i ! 'i ''r:' I - - i 7 - : '' 1 :'--' i f- ' :r - r': - r k - a ' : t :: tr : - - -4 - ward of $250000 that failed to Nt 0 6 : :'T 1 why Wenis an out- Sergeant John Ernst on turret gun firing Lower left is Captain Keys and Staff Sergeant '''''" -- - 1 -' ‘ Staff i: No-11- :''U- t L '46 111'4-- 4 t i ''' Upper right Lieutenant E Palmberg Instructs l - - "0 ''''''''''t"''''' '''''''' i ' :: 3 p Dean Dixon and Orville R Kurtz fire as directed by Captain William D Keys I ' - : '" - V' - " '! ' the controls reversed to that used on new models None of his operators cared to work on the machine The B & G men heard about it "We'll find out how it works if we have to scar up all the salt flats" they said to the contractor The contractor loaned them the machine with the understanding he wouldn't care if he never saw it again "We'd never have gotten along without it" said Captain Keys Other field officers who knew what B & G was getting away with used to smile and then say: "Have you heard the latest on the B & G? Seems that one of the sergeants pulled up to some lumber in a borrowed truck and under the eyes of a guard drove off with a load The sergeant came back a second time When he came back the third time the guard cocked his rifle so the sergeant drove off" It's really not dishonest the consensus of B & G seems to be The government is owmer of all the property and if the B & G can make good use of it the taxpayer's money is not being wasted not by a long shot "rm not so sure but that being short of ppropria tions isn't a good thing" said Captain Keys "It's amazing the things these boys have done in using their ingenuity If we lacked a piece of equipment we improvised something" "I'm not boasting when I say ' - Wy r'sI -- !' dts with i ' Pictured above --- -- 3 Az a men even then were putting into practice sentiment expressed in the now popular song hit "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" Up against it for a power shovel the B & G men had one practically given them A contractor had an outdated model 4 the reasons dover field standing aerial gunnery and fire control school Upper left Gunners Harold W England left )'''' Ir 4a: i — ipeei0r1:01- - 1 t ' - : '4 A ''"'' '''''''''''''''''"'""-'''''''''''''''- - 0- - - 4 ''' ::fr - 4-- ‘ I : - rm40 1 4 f :: :::::::: i:: - - --:- - !: o7-'410'9- - - ic- -- :nx-1- 4i3O44-1:A- ' i - 1‘t swo:0!!:s - ( 4 i 0 ' ' t ::::::::::::::::: i I:: '''' ' ' 'i I :' ' a - - t ì :::fli:41 t '1 i 4 - - - 'r ' : '" '':::a:::::1:"::::!:At V - (4 ”7 i ' ?° - 9 - ' 141 ' 'jt) '' ' 44 tr ' - L :::: r 1 's Ii - L 1 4 ':IM1)11111"a"11"M1"—' : The 'hermits of the salt flats' plot the accuracy of bombardier hits on Wendover I 1 f F 7'" : - : ts ' i-- i $ ' - ' - ' : ' ':1 7 - 5 "' i - - 'N 7 - '''4:4:‘t7 ' t i: ( - - ! ::: t‘ ':: :: :: :'': : k ' 4 - ' -' ''- t A 1 6- NL vt( ‘: ! iss s rz- sk - : f 1 44 c 4 ' t i '' ' 1 4 '-' --- - -- 4 " : -- -'- :: : 7 : t2-'- : ' - r: ''''::: ' 7 - ' :fk r ii- :: - 7kir41 3 N - --- 'i ' 42 - I : 1 ': I ''''-- l'i I k i: 0 w7-- r - ? " 4 - - '''''' - - ' t '4:a '' 6-1 r "r li 2- I 7 " Nc 1 -- ' :- ' - ' ' - y ' - r- - ' (::::t Or - 1 — ' 40 4: '--- - '' j ' '4 ---- 4 i ' I !" ii ' ' -- i '- ''''! '''' - - '''''''' fgart00 oAr' ' ' -- 11 i( t 't t 4 "At''' ? ' '''''' 40tamonat- 't:-"- e 4 7 It 14000AA - fq r - ::"11'17-- i i - qk : re7141§ ' 1:to— It e - '' : t - : 4 46 t r ' ' i' c s 1 : t '' ' 0 MeWgINSIONOWST P! ' -- 1 4 - i - 1"- ''''''4- -' ':: AAA---- ' 1- ::: I s' 1-- ig : e A L" - lowerz) 4A I : " i a' i - : i ' -- ? settled iAA- 1 — ! i - ' :1"'"6-'-- :: -- 4 '' ' j'' ' 1 4 ' i :7 - 1 r I 1 : :' - ' : i — i familiar - ' ' ' s r 1 - point things looked up The men lost themselves in construction of the va riOus ranges—rifle skeet and machine gun What they lacked in equipment they improvised or obtained elsewhere Meantime the field grew with its attendant runways and hangars and shops Many a contractor still is wondering what happened to a pile of lumber that was unloaded the night before The boys from the bombing and gunnery range just smiled next day and went about their work Fame of the B & G started to spread Other officers of the field were most cooperative they knew the problems Lieutenant Keys and his men faced They could spare some lumber here loan a truck there detail some of their men to the B G when possible After all it was better to give consent to the needs of the 11 G than find out later that "Lieutenant Ali Baba" was just finishing a new installation with equipment that looked strangely 30-cali- r '' 3 i said: "We're here to build a school and we're going to build one the best in the So just make up your world minds you are stuck here and the only way conditions will improve is through your own ef- d s : :4 In effect adequate firepower That word—firepower—what does it mean? A good example is the differmaence between a machine gun and a has chine gun The two and one-hatimes the firepower of a 20 In another sense firepower is the rate of firing bullets per minute per gunner The term is used a lot at Wendover field these days for no matter how large the plane how it may be it is no better than the gunners that make up part of its crew "The gunner was a virtual nonentity rot so long ago" said Captain William D Keys director of training for the bombing and gunner range detachment of the aerial gunnery and fire control school at Wendover field ''However when reports start "k-Zr'- t' vi4s" authority to requisition equipment In ons respect it was a school but because it wasn't so designated it couldn't participate in army funds set up for schools (Months later the army gave it the status of a school) Some of the less enthusiastic saw visions of a transfer as soon as headquarters found time to issue the orders But this mirage like others peculiar to the desert vanished when Lieutenant Keys That t : i -- forts" ' 4 "- - — - i- :i 4c 4 1 out of flying school His men were not overjoyed with the asWendover was 125 signment miles from the nearest large community What they saw bespoke Of To be sure utter desolation there was the small railroad town of Wendover but away from that was vast expanse of dazzling salt impregnated wasteland weirdly somber mountains barren of vegetation First the group outlined its teaching course noted its needs and then discovered they had no prostriking unit with ample tective armor and more than ' e ld First battleship of the air it is one of the greatest offensive weapons of this war It is a - 7: '''' ' ''' '4'-'1- '' gunners Early this year a group of men headed by Captain Keys then a lieutenant reported to headquarters at Wendover field A native of Rochester Ind the officer was not long Today 1Vendover is the largest world military reservation In the its LS000O0 acres of alkaline-incruste- d wasteland boasting an Heal aerial bombing range Its gunner range could not have been more aptly suited to army needs had man made it himself Instead of shooting jackrabbits or coyotes soldiers at Wend-ove- r today are training to shoot the more deadly animals that have been loosed on the world When training for this is completed at Wendover the aerial gunner invariably follow the meaning of the name—they go over Commanding 'Wendover field which lies wholly in western Utah !is Major Robert N Dippy one of the first American fliers In the World war In 1917 and 1918 he flew the famous Italian Caproni bombers Bombers of that era like the little railroad engines that once pulled into Wendover have undergone many changes The Caproni was a singleengined bomber the vaunted Flying Fortress of today boasts four powerful motors each capable of sustaining the ship in well-balance- ' i 1 it for these operations Nowhere else in the world is there more natural terrain for speeding motors for spitting machine guns —and it's lonely That factor alone is important: soldiers are not distracted by "bright lights" and their energies are more easily turned to becoming finer 1912 well-design- - P war consistently attest to the superiority of Wendover gunners You probably could not find files on this subject but Captain Keys and every man in his detachment knows that Wenclover gunners are tops What makes these soldiers so sure of their superiority? In the first place they have the advantage in natural facilities The salt flats are ideal i 1 i back from combat crews over German held territory and over the Pacific the gunners' importance loomed large" he said "Today the gunner is the man who sees that a plane gets to its target and then has the equally important duty of assuring that the mission is successfully completed by protectreturn flight" irg the plane in itslikes to believe Captain Keys that Wendover gunners are the best in the world If reports from combat crews are correct the captain is correct too Reports from officers of combat crews flung over this global the early Back Thomas J Wyche construction engineer for the Western Pacific railroad named mile post 8063 after the Anglo-Saxo- n Wendover verb Wendan meaning to wind or to go over Little did he know that the railroad's practice of permitting passengers to shoot targets or the name he gave milepost 8063 would have a double meaning in - - ' $ ed coming 1900s in e- :' |