The Council Room

[DavidAyars]

...specifically, World War II. I realize that most of us posting here were not old enough to be at Wyanoke during the summers of 1942-1945. But does anyone remember hearing older guys at camp talk about the ways in which camp life was different during the second world war?

I recently saw on PBS the outstanding Ken Burns series, The War. It's available on DVD now, and there's also a companion book which I've been reading, both of which I can highly recommend. The War doesn't try to comprehensively cover WWII. It focuses on the American point-of-view in the story, and tells it primarily through modern oral recollections of veterans and family members and citizens mostly from four towns (Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama; Luverne, Minnesota; and Sacramento, California), and draws on letters, journals, photos, and newsreels from the early 1940s. It gives much less attention to the national leaders and generals and admirals who've been covered elsewhere, instead concentrating on average Americans and the way in which the war disrupted and forever changed their lives. It's a deeply moving account of sacrifice and of what it calls the best and worst of the generation then living, with the distinction sometimes hard to see.

And in the book, there's a brief passage on rationing. Food staples, fuel, and tires were strictly rationed. The USA was mostly self-supporting during this period in terms of food, but much of the food that was produced had to be diverted overseas for the armed forces. At various times, it would become impossible to find certain food staples that would have been needed for the normal output of the camp kitchen. Recipes were adjusted and everyone did the best they could, with some grumbling, but there was also widespread understanding that everyone had to sacrifice. I'm wondering how food service was affected at camp. All I've read about rationing was home and family based, and I don't know how it was handled for institutions like summer camps.

Staffing camp also would have been a challenge. I'm sure Wyanoke was strongly affected in other ways by the war.

I remember being at Wyanoke and seeing the campwide photos of campers and staff in the pre-war years and realizing that a number of them would have died in the two world wars.
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975

[Bob Kennington]

My Dad's photo unexpectedly popped up at the www.wolfeboro.net website this morning. (With my stepmother).



He was the Grand Marshal for the Wolfeboro parade a couple of years ago and, at 91 years old, still a regular breakfast fixture in Wolfeboro. He will be wearing a ball cap emblazoned with "VP-11", his wartime squadron, or this emblem:



Most likely, those breakfasts are being taken at that old restaurant—Bailey's—now under new owners and known as "Morrison's Front Porch". I've only gone to lunch and dinners with him and stepmother Terri, and not breakfast. (Yes, he does all the driving, and I do all the sightseeing!)

I'm guessing he attended around 1930, when he would have been in his early or pre-teen years. He was later an employee of Wyanoke, and later still, the manager of Manchester's airport at a time when all aircraft had wooden propellers!

I've sent a few of our site's photos to my stepmother, to see if he (who's not computer-savvy) remembers anybody. His memory is razor-sharp, and will not hesitate to correct any of my recollections—correctly! My poor stepmother has almost lost all recall of names, places and dates because my Dad remembers every one of them and has become a constant "memory-crutch"!

To him, Wyanoke's memories are a bit sketchy; but when I mentioned Charlie Byrd's name, he broke into a medley of old and familiar Wyanoke songs!

He flew the PBY-5 Patrol Bomber in WWII, and recently put his pilot's logbook on the Internet. I never knew he'd kept one! There are many, many, hours of "training-flights". One entry he made was, "My co-pilot was 'wounded'".



In different ink, the wounded got crossed out, and "deceased" written in—a poignant reminder of how "at-risk" one's pilot companions were—sitting just two feet apart in the cockpit.

This is being "edited" only because every other forum I've been on has the Preview/Submit buttons reversed.

Oh yes, the logbook URL, which has the double whammy of having being put on a slow-loading program, and kind of dull until you get into the South Pacific entries.

Some enterprising active-duty Navy enlistee has been tending the wartime memories found in these pilots' logbooks.

If it's still "slow" to you Wyanokers with high-speed Internet connections, I'd like to know. Also, if you find the few "action pages", let us all know please.

http://www.vp-11.org/LogBooks.nsf/ce70ec057e33c2e08825680d00018580/1dad875606cbceb1882568bc007d0fb3!OpenDocument
_________________
Gordon B. (Father) Wyanoke ~1929-1937
Midget C-1 (1952, 53) (Belden, Edwards)
Junior J-7 (1954, 55) (Scheirer)
1967-1971 Military-Naval Security Group
Sister: Winnemont 1955-56

Blue: there's another color?

[DavidAyars]

Here's the "action page" you were looking for:
http://www.vp-11.org/LogBooks.nsf/ce70ec057e33c2e08825680d00018580/dcd192b0d0a8ff57882568bc001aa670!OpenDocument
December 27, 1943. In pencil on the right side, he wrote "Shot down by P-40s. Lambert wounded [crossed out and changed to] DEAD, [another name I can't quite make out, maybe Browayard] wounded. Plane destroyed." He logged a 12 hour mission that day and may have returned to Moresby, which could mean the city in Queensland Australia, or Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea. The next day, he logged another 5.7 hour mission, from Moresby to Palm Island, Queensland, Australia.

Here's to your Dad (raising a coffee cup because it's early).

On broadband this holiday morning, the pages load reasonably quickly, in a second or two.
_________________
Camper: J-8 1965 (Kevin Ryan), J-8 1966 (Mike Freeland), S-6 1967 (Russ Hatch), S-3 1968 (Jeremy Cripps), and JA-2 1969 (Dan Mannis).
JC: J-2 1970 (Bill Bettison) and J-3 1971 (Gene Comella). Councilor 1972, J-5 1973, and JA-1 1974 & 1975

[Bob Kennington]

I spent a lot of time preparing this blurb for another forum, but I thought these three observations might be of some interest to Camp Wyanokers. I hope to draw out still more Lakes Region WWII stories from my super-healthy Dad. (While I'm still living!)

Anyone have any Wyanoke/Lakes Region anecdotes from those times?

Rationing? Local observation/fire-tower volunteers? Anti-Axis sentiments? Aircraft repairs? Manufacture? Escaped German prisoners? (Maine had 'em).

Here goes my contribution—so far:

1) Hikers in the Ossipee Mountain range during WWII would be startled in seeing a big radar truck perched on top of Bald Peak.


The new detection and ranging technology was attempting to accurately locate aircraft.

A Piper J-2 flew a repetitive pattern over Black Island—and Camp Winaukee—then back to Bald Peak. (Bald Knob on some maps). The truck simply drove to the site using "Castle in the Clouds" carriageways.

2) A British "Tarpon" torpedo-bomber (a US-made TBM) crashed on the ice in Wolfeboro Bay during the war.


The pilot was viewing the "bob houses" there but suddenly lost altitude and crashed, seriously injuring the crew. All were treated at Huggins Hospital.

After the wings were removed from the crashed plane, the Commander at the new His Majesty's Naval Air Station—Lewiston, Maine, drove a huge aircraft-recovery vehicle to return the aircraft for repairs. He made a special side trip to Huggins to thank the nurses for their help with the injured crewmen.

3) Short-field fighters, like the P-40, would have no difficulty in taking off or landing at any place with a 3500' straight section. :coolsm:

Redeploying Army Air Corps P-40 pilots would visit relatives in the Winnipesaukee area by landing their fighter aircraft on Parade Road!

(Wolfeboro Dad has a full recall of WW2 stories all the way from Melvin Village to the battle for Rabaul, Papua New Guinea).

==============================================

The aircraft mentioned above in Lake Winnipesaukee's WW2 activities:

==============================================

The Piper:



Grumman TBM/TBF (Wolfeboro ice crash) and is also the same aircraft shot down in Imperial-Japanese-controlled waters with Lt. j.g. G. H. W. Bush parachuting from it—rescued by submarine.


Curtiss P-40 "AVG", (American volunteer group, attacking Imperial-Japanese forces before Pearl Harbor).
[/i]

BTW: When preparing a response, be sure to "select all" and "copy" what's being written here before submission. There is a time-out feature in forums that can ruin your article.
_________________
Gordon B. (Father) Wyanoke ~1929-1937
Midget C-1 (1952, 53) (Belden, Edwards)
Junior J-7 (1954, 55) (Scheirer)
1967-1971 Military-Naval Security Group
Sister: Winnemont 1955-56

Blue: there's another color?

[Bob Kennington]

[Bob Kennington]

I was Googling "Camp Kabeyun" of Alton, for their Town-class sailboats. They were having races off Rattlesnake Island last Wednesday. Their sails have the "K" (for Kabeyun) in Fractur font. Here, the first letter:


From that search, I found two names from Google from "The War Years".

Dana Jones and Bruce Parker. (Dana Jones attended 1932-1938 — 'Wonder if my Dad knew him?)