THE BEND BULLETIN. BEND, OREGON, THURSDAY, MAY 24. 1945 -
PAGE ELEVEN
Vueirroi Oregon urman I el is
j v-i wviw viu iff iiiuuy
(The following description of
devastated Germany, as seen
from the air, is from a letter writ
ten by U. F. K. Shepard, to his
parents. Mr. and Mrs. Fred Shep
ard, ol the Tumalo district.)
airo
1 par
By Lt. F. K. Shepard
On May 9 I flew an observation
flight over Germany. Our route
went in over Brussels where we
did a 360 degrees turn. Brussels
is a very beautiful city and is
practically undamaged. Allied
bombings in France and Belgium
were pin point Jobs and towns
were not bombed as they didn't
want to hurt any more French
men and Belgians than was ab
solutely necessary.
Flags were flying from rnost all
tne Duuaings in Belgium and
om the buildings in what little
I part of .France we crossed. One
Brussels street nau Dig letters in
white, saying "We thank you."
The country here Is not mussed
up much. Occasionally one will
see trenches and tank tracks cir
cling around where a battle took
place, but not often.
The story is not the same once
you cross the German border, for
here is where strong resistance
was really met. We crossed the
border two miles west of Aachen
where everything was really torn
up. Zigzag trenches and bomb
craters have ruined every bit of
ground around here. The concrete
teeth of the Sigfried line were
easily discernible. This line was
a great construction feat but
didn't do much good.
Coming up on Aachen one sees
what appears to be a regular
town, however when over the city
only debris can be seen. The roofs
are gone and only shells of some
buildings are standing. Artillery
i
I
did most of this damage, I believe.
4 saw tsnwieler, eleven miles
north of Aachen, where I dropped
bombs November 16, 1944 In close
support of the ground forces. The
8th air force dropped 100 pound
ers in this area so the doughboys
could move a head through the
Jerries strong defenses. These
bomb craters were well distribut
ed and easily Visible.
The next town we flew over
was Duren, probably the flattest
town in Germany. Most of it looks
like piles of sand from the air
for there is hardly a w,all standing
today. Bombing was responsible
for most of this destruction.
Bombs being larger than artillery
shells carry more explosives
which knock walls to powder
whereas artillery shells cause
more of their destruction to such
buildings by- fire. Had these
towns been built of wood, there
would be no signs of these towns
today.
Next we crossed the Cologne
plain which is very flat and beau
tiful farm land but signs of battle
are very much In evidence as the
Germans were attempting to keep
our troops from Cologne all along
this route from Aachen on. The
spots where villages stood are al
most bare. We passed some big
mines and factories and 'then the
spires of the Cologne cathedral
came into view.
Cologne is certainly a sight.
Once a city of 800,000 people, it is
now dead with most of the center
of the city leveled flat. More walls
are standing here, though, than
at Duren. The cathedral still
stands, which is a miracle that no
direct bomb hits caught it as we
often bombed Cologne through
the clouds. However, the cathed
ral has been gutted1 by fire. All
as W as this?
Then treat your
taste to this
"Pm-POINT CARBONATION'keeps drinks spar
kling with life, to the last sip. And Canada Dry's
special formula points up the flavor of any tall
drink. Ask for Canada Dry Water when you're
out Serve it in your home.
tl !!
Where there's you'll hear-
life air
BIG BOTTLE
15
Plui deposit
CANADASgDRY
WATER
the bridges on the Rhine are in
the drink. The Germans only had
to destroy one bridge In Cologne,
the Hohenzollern, a great, large
railway bridge so big that it still
stood after direct hits by 1000
pounders from my group.
One sees very few people in
these cities and towns, but those
you do see don't look up, whereas
the Belgians wave eagerly. The
Germans certainly look like a de
feated people, and apparently
dont think much of our flying
over their ruined country gloat
ing over our victory.
Plane Heads North
From Cologne we headed north
and flew over the heart .of the
Ruhr valley, passing over Dussel
dorf and Hamborn, south of
which lies what used to be the
greatest inland port -in Europe.
Here we turned east, flying over
that great industrial area which
is mostly covered with factories
and towns. At Dortmund we
turned north and flew over Mun-
ster and then down to Hamm.
Hamm, although quite a small
city has one of the biggest mar
shalling yards in Germany as it
handled the traffic from the
Ruhr which went into central and
northern Germany. This rail
yard, like all others in Germany,
was completely ruined, the result
of many allied bombings. It didn't
have one good track a hundred
yards long that a train, could run
on. AH the rails in Germany are
covered with rust, indicating that
they have not been used for
quite some time.
We continued south and Were
soon over a beautiful, scenic,
mountainside area devoid of large
towns all the way to Frankfurt
on Main. Here we saw villages in
the valleys where streams flowed,
there being castles and forts on
the hill tops, none of which ex
tended higher tan 4,000 feet. '
Frankfurt, like Cologne, and
all the cities 1 saw In Germany,
was beat to ruins, being different
from other cities in only one re
spect, that being that one bridge
was left intact and 'being used.
Ten or fifteen other bridges across
the river were gone.
Rhine Crossed
Flying down the Main river we
hit the Rhine at Wiesbaden and
followed it up to Bonn, passing
over Bingen and Coblenz, old tar
gets of ours. We also flew over
about live prisoner ol war camps,
fields with fotrifications around
.them in. which the prisoners of
were just driven in like a herd of
cattle and a big herd at that.
They had no shelter and were
very overcrowded. The men had
dug holes in the ground and other
than that lt was like living in a
barren wheat field. The men look
ed like red ants from a distance
as there were hundreds and may
be thousands per pen. We also
saw trainloads of open box cars
which were really packed ' with
what we took to be prisoners -f
war.
Our route passed out over Aa
chen, Duron and Brussels again,
then on to Lille, France over the
flying bomb sights at Calais.
Flying the whole trip from 20 to
1,000 feet altitude, we saw prac
tically everything, even the old
flak positions. Most of the guns
were removed, however. The
weather was great, perhaps a bit
warm, but fine for sight seeing
tour. All agree that such a trip
was well worth waiting a long
time for. I know I enjoyed flying
my B-17 over it, anyhow;
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Inventor Who Designed Tanks
For War Use Is Forgotten Man
TJ.. Vnrlr Mav 24 UP Rob
ert .F. MacFea, pioneer designer
of military tanks, worked tn his
50-cents-a-day hotel room today
on inventions he hoped would
earn him three square meals m
day..'-. . ' ''
Unemployed, forgotten by those
who hailed his caterpillar track
war machine and Used it effectite
ly against the Germans in the
first world war, MacFea refused
financtal help from relatives and
discouraged publicity of his situa
tion. The tall, lean engineer was one
of five officers of the British royal
navy who developed tanks under
the sponsorship of Winston
Churchill when the prime minis
ter was First Lord of the Admiral
ty. None of the five ever received
a nickel in royalties.
MacFea has been overlooked by
writers on tank history. Yet, the
British magazine "Aeroplane,"
oldest in its field, published an
article years ago crediting Mac
Fea with the basic design for
tanks.
Charles G. Grey, editor Of
"Aeroplane" for 30 years, wrote
of MacFea as "a forgotten' pio
neer." Grey said that MacFea
"brought to this office in Septem
ber or October, 1914, the general
arrangement of a machine exactly
like the tanks which went into ac
tion in France in July, 1916, and
at intervals for weeks he dis
cussed with us his various efforts
to get support for the idea."
MacFea, in 1915, was. allotted
700 pounds to contrive a "land
ship." He turned out an angled
f ront, endless track steel machine
that terrified German infantry
and broke the stalemate of trench
warfare on French soil. .
vThe British Royal commission
finally awarded MacFea 500
pounds for his work. Rear Ad
miral Sir Murray Sueter, com
mander in the last war of the
Admiralty's air department, called
this sum "a housemaid's legacy."
He said "Lieutenant MacFea was
badly treated."
Today In a Mills hotel In Green
wich village, MacFea stayed close
to his room working on plans for
inventions he would not disclose.
Over 60, he, was far lighter than
the 234-pound man who ieft this
country in 19H to Join the Royal
navy air service.
, He was born In San Francisco
of British-American parents. In
his youth he traveled extensively
in England and studied at the
British naval engineering college.
In his hotel for the down-but-not-out,
he talked only about
tanks, his personal affairs, he
said, were not for publication.
Prices today in China are 250
times higher than prewar prices.
Erickson's
for
Fri. and Sat.
jjljl Can 34c
Post Bran Flakes - 3 pigs. 25c
Kernel Corn
H-D Vat-Pac
2 tans 28c
Green Leaf Spinach, No. 2... ........ 2 cans 29c
Southern Sweet Potatoes No. 2 can 23c
Fancy Cream Style Corn, No. 2..... 2 cans 29c
H&D Solid Pack Tomatoes No. 2 can 19c
Lavores Sweet Peas 3 cans 29c
Fountain String Beans .2 cans 25c
Dodge Freestone Peaches 2 can 24c
Kadota Figs ......No. 1 tall can 17c
Solid White Meat Tuna .can 43c
Merrimac Salmon . ..No. can 27c
Mackerel No. 1 can 15c
Clam Chowder .can 29c
Grapenut
Flakes
3 pkgs. 25c
Schillina's
Black Tea
1 lb. pkg.
89c
Si
Sunshine
Krispy
Crackers
2 lb. box 31c
Kara
(Golden Syrup
V? lb. jar 15c
Pf'.-yMllrJIWfVlnHKnOfV I
unit, -nrwrraairaw fflifflrai
Stidd's Tamales .... . . . . . U oz. glass 22c
Boyardte Spaghetti Dinner. ....... .2 pkgs. 15c
Kerr's Jelly Assorted .......... 2 lb. jar 45
Libby's Grape Preserve .........303 glass 29c
Hamburger Relish ............ ..12 ox. jar 20c
Twistie Noodle Dinner ...lb. jar 14c
Precooked Navy Beans, Copeland...2 pkgs. 25c
Colo Dog Food ..................Scans 25
Libby's Mixed Sweet Pickles...... 12 oz. jar 29c
Libby's Apple Butter ..............303 jar 19c
Hood River Apple Juice .quart 23c
Derby Steak Sauce .bottle 1 4c
irTililT
CHEESE, Cheddar lb. 35c
COCOMALT ............. 1 lb .jar 43c
SACRAMENTO HOT SAUCE . . .can 5c
C'lmso & SanlMiru
Coffee
Drip or Regular
29c
Borax 2 lb. pkg. 25c
Borax 5 lb. pkg. 55c
Boraxo pkg. 14c
Borax Chips... pkg. 23c
Carnation
Milk
3 cans 29c
Red Mexican Beans 3 lbs. 29c
Grapefruit Juice No. 5 can 33c
Libby's Tomato Juice No. 5 can 24c
Leg O' Lamb
Grade A Always in Season, 7 1'oinls
I AA :
Round Steak .lb. 39c
(inula A Steer Beef. Ask for them tenderized, U point). '
Pork Steak .......lb. 34c
' ( Choice Lean Kllcex, 9 Points
Roasting Hens .lb. 47c
Save on ruintol Fresh Drewed
Liver Sausage .lb. 39c
Swill's Premium, S I'uintN
Thuringer ... ........... .lb. 37c
Summer KatiKagc, C IVmiltt
Full Cream Cheese ....... .lb. 37c
FRYERS, FRESH FISH AND OYSTERS
Crown Regular Lids pkg. 5c
Rolled Oats No. 10 bag 53c
Triuiiglo
Rinso-Duz - Oxydol . .Ige.pkg. 23c
Camay - Lux - Lifebuoy, 3 bars 20c
Aerowax pint jar 25c
Old English No Rub Wax . . . pt. 39c
5 lb. Johnson Floor Polisher, ea. 49c
- (Special Offer Without Handles)
DsPans each 49c
Dalles Radishes or jr
Green Onions ..... .bunch 3C
Fresh Tomatoes ...lb. 23c
Oranges dozen 23c
Asparagus 3 lbs. 25c
Fresh Peas 2 lbs. 29c
Rhubarb ..lb. 5c
Calavos each 19c
Sunkist Lemons . .doz. 19c
Grapefruit ..... .doz. 75c
ALLEY OOP
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HEAVEN'S NAME IS
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IS UNDISTURBED... UP AT TM8 ) THAT BlG. DUMB i7" I -LJ
HE HASN'T EVE NV LABORATORY.'! DOPE.' ' li'XT f37
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