History Of The

Lago E-mail Directory

&

Lago News ~ Bits & Pieces

By: Larry Riggs

How It All Started ...

Many years ago Ginger & Gene Bassett gave birth to the idea and began publishing Lagoite e-mail addresses in the Aruba Chronicle making it possible for one another to keep in touch over vast distances. What a great idea. I didn't have a computer at the time so I wasn't too personally concerned how that progressed. If I wanted to talk to someone near or far I would simply pick up the phone and do it the old fashioned way, albeit occasionally expensive because of the longer than usual conversations that I somehow always seemed to be involved in. At that time having a computer wasn't at the top of my list of priorities and I certainly didn't give thought to the advantages of e-mail contact at little or no expense vs the cost of using long-distance telephone.

I've always been a huge fan of the Aruba Chronicle and always looked forward to the next issue. I noticed that with each new Chronicle delivered to my home the published list of e-mail addresses grew until there were approximately 40 or 50 addresses. After a couple of years, though, I noticed that the list had pretty much leveled off and very few, if any, new addresses were being added. When I bought my first computer, about 9 years ago, the idea of contacting some of the people listed in the Chronicle would be a great test of what this thing called e-mail was all about. I was, after all, now part of the electronic e-mail crowd. Hooray! I dug out some old Chronicles, looked up a few e-mail addresses and began clicking away on my new computer. After finishing my first e-mails I happily pressed SEND and off they went winging their way through cyberspace to inboxes far and wide. With anticipation and great expectation of receiving immediate responses containing messages of amazing interest I sat back and waited. You guessed it. Nada! Zip! Nix! Absolutely nothing came back! Boy, was I disappointed. What the heck happened? Very soon after that maiden voyage I noticed some strange looking entries in my inbox about Mailer Daemons that were attached to addresses of the people I tried to contact. A little research acquainted me with what Mailer Daemon meant along with the realization that very few of the folks on Ginger's list had valid addresses anymore.

That got me thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to start some sort of e-mail address directory and keep it updated. What the heck, I'm retired with lots of time on my hands and should be able to handle that. My inauguration list, composed of only a few good addresses still in the Chronicle, didn't amount to much at all. I think there may have been 15 or 20 addresses that still worked. Anyway, I put together the first Lago E-mail Directory and sent it out to those few people with a note asking them to pass the word to anyone who wanted to join up. At first it was very slow but over a span of one year that little list grew to about 60 people. Word of mouth is indeed powerful. This was starting to work. I also noticed that when people e-mailed me with a change of address they were also including short newsy type notes about themselves and of their Lago friends whom they had been in contact with recently. Those little notes then germinated the next idea to start some sort of a newsletter. I began saving those short e-mails and over a period of time I had enough for the first newsletter. A very small one but nevertheless newsy. I didn't know what to call it at the outset. The name "Lago" would definitely be part of the name. That was a no-brainer as this was what it was all about. I started out using the title, "Lago Community Newsletter" but after a while thought to myself that just didn't have the right ring to it. Having only a few "bits and pieces" of news to work with eventually resulted in light bulbs going off ergo resulting in the birth of the title name, Lago News ~ Bits & Pieces. It was a beginning. I posted the first newsletter to the few folks listed in the brand new e-mail directory. Almost immediately I started getting responses saying what a great way to pass the news so quickly. In essence it was the electronic equivalent of the Aruba Chronicle although at the time I didn't correlate the two as such. Word started getting around resulting in more requests from Lagoites wanting to add their names to the listing. This of course also meant more news coming in via e-mail. The newsletter wasn't much to see at first but over time it grew and became more interesting. Eventually I was posting obituaries, birthdays, weddings, Aruba and other Caribbean Island trip reports, lots of family updates, informational websites about Aruba, the Lago/Airways [now Lago/Hertz] car rental program, Lago wartime memories, high school memories, and much more. It seemed that the list of news items and topics kept growing. Eventually I started adding pictures to the postings which gave folks a more personal and hands-on feeling regarding the articles submitted. Wow, people could put a face to a name now. "That's great," said some folks who hadn't seen some of their classmates and friends in decades.

The e-mail directory kept growing as well and today we have a very respectable membership of 546 people. Quite a growth from a start of 20. It's been a fun ride the whole way and I hope to keep it going for a while longer.

See below for a few early samples of past postings ....

Sunny regards,

Larry Riggs ~ Class of '56

E-mail: RiggsLarry@aol.com

 



Lago Memories ~ Part 5

From: Bill Potts ~ Lago Annuitant

Larry,

These "Lago History" issues about life in Aruba in its heyday are great. Thanks so much.
Muriel and Bob Mundinger's son-in-law wrote recently, and I was pleased to hear from him. Muriel, a fine lady and a great teacher, taught me Spanish which I studied as an avocation. It became very useful in an unexpected way. I left Aruba in a hurry in 1949 due to an unfortunate set of circumstances. I had been assigned to several different post W.W.II jobs after return from military service in 1946, and had been made the first Lago Sales Manager. A strange title, but Joe Horrigan, the General Manager, felt we should have closer contact with S.E.L. Maduro and Sons in Curacao, where they were our marine bunker agents. We were not selling much in the marine lubricants line, and Horrigan wanted to see it improved. As a side note he said, "You should also supervise our Esso station and out of colony Aruba sales of products as well."
I spent some weeks working with the Maduro family then started to look into our Aruba retail sales. The first thing I found was that by simply adding the totalizer meters on the pumps at the San Nicholas station they showed tens of thousands of gallons more sales than the log of volume moved by tank truck from the refinery! Oh boy, I calculated the value of sales tax we owed the Government and it was nearly a million florins over a 5 year period alone. Horrigan was shocked and immediately called the Lago lawyer, Van Delden, in Curacao. The lawyer came to Aruba at once and quickly determined Lago was being robbed and we would have to prosecute to protect the Company position with the Government. This meant police from Curacao since it looked like Aruba police and watchmen might be involved. My life was a headache with threatening phone calls at 3:00 a.m., etc., so I sent the family North and prepared to testify. I was issued a revolver by Horrigan himself for my personal safety. Felt like I was back in uniform! However, before any testimony was taken, Horrigan called me in and told me New York had decided to get me off the Island and I was to report to Cy Helm, Latin American Marketing Coordinator, in the New York Office. I left three days later, and that was the last time I saw Aruba. Sad ending.  I was assigned Manager of Honduras in Central America, and there was real surprise when I started talking Muriel Mundinger's Spanish ... they thought I had come from Argentina! It was a great help to me, and I always think of the Mundingers with much 'carino'.

Bill Potts
 


From: Bruce Kilpatrick ~ Class of '56

Re: Nostalgia

Larry:

I continue to be surprised by the memories you elicit from various ex-Lagoites. Most of them jog mine and it often is tempting to send you a rambling list of reminiscences, but usually lie down quietly until the urge passes. Most recently, however, the messages from George Cvejanovich have been of particular interest to me, as I was a special friend (as a very young boy) of Muriel Mundinger. She taught Spanish in her home and I was privileged to participate in her classes, even though I was younger than many, if not most, of her students. (I also studied Spanish at Lago High many years later, with Miss Gallicani.) Those lessons really stuck with me, for yet another many years later I began working in Mexico and was surprised how what I had learned came back to me. I went from Mexico to Spain and later to Chile, improving my Spanish along the way, until most people I encounter think I grew up speaking it.

My fluency in Spanish probably kept me employed in Latin America (as a mining geologist) for the past several years, and I owe it to Mrs. Mundinger and Miss Gallicani, who drilled me in Spanish fundamentals, despite my recalcitrance. (I was not their best student.) They are both gone now, but I remember them well and have always been grateful for their tutelage.

While I am in the mood, let me share a few more memories with you. I was interested to see the message from James Clute. He and I were pals for a while in Aruba. I remember his parents and their vintage black Cadillac (V-12, if I remember right). I also seem to remember them having a Studebaker. James was keen on flying model planes and was always tinkering with the small gasoline engines that were used to propel them.

Berry Schendstock was another good friend of mine and his name has recently appeared in your trips down memory lane. His parents were very good to me and I enjoyed their hospitality in Aruba for several weeks in the summer of 1962, right after I got out of the U.S. Navy. He was working at the new Esso Club at the time, exercising his training in hotel management. He would be amused to know that I am now working in a hotel in Tucson -- life goes in circles. The trick is to keep the circles open and not allow them to spiral inward . . . . . enough.

Bruce Kilpatrick
 



From: Dick Faunce ~ Class of 1953

(in reply to Dotty Learned Dill's entry in Part 4)

~ The Good Ole' Days ~

Hi Dottie,
I had almost forgotten about our Cabin on the Little Lagoon until you mentioned it in your e-mail to Larry. I have very vague memories of the cabin, but I do remember the location was near the Esso Club but on the beach facing the little lagoon. I can still remember there was a lot of coral but a clear area of white sand where we used to swim. My dad said that the Army took possession of the cabin but I don't remember him saying why we didn't get it back after the War. I wish I would have questioned him more on this and other things that are coming up on the memories of Aruba. He would have known exactly where the old Esso Club was and some of the other questions that are popping up lately. He went down in 1929.
Hope all is well with you and yours. We saw Merlene in Bellingham.

Ayo. Dick Faunce
 



From: David Wood

~ Some Aruba Photos ~

Larry,

First I'd like to thank you for all the work you do sending out the Aruba info that you do. We really appreciate it.

There has been some interest expressed of late in photos from Aruba. I wonder if many folks know about the Aruba "Photo Gallery" I have at: http://w3.trib.com/~dwood/photogallery.html

A good number of these are from the collection of Dick Hiemstra. This is actually a sub-page to my "Aruba Stuff" page at, http://w3.trib.com/~dwood/aruba.html. The main feature of this latter page is a list of email addresses but it's not nearly as complete as the list you maintain.

Thanks again for all your hard work.

David G. Wood (Dave & Babs)
 



From: Ronald M. Turner ~ Class of 1951

~ More memories ~

Larry,

Thanks for the continued experiences from Aruba. Speaking of the old Esso Club, I remember the post office was south across the street. Can't remember the number of our box, but each box had two dials, with a combination. Ours was "left on G, straight up M." There was a fountain like circle in front of the Esso Club. In the North
part was an enclosed movie theater. Some of us, by crawling under the building (the Club was up on the standard oil-moat foundations) found a small hole in the floor and we would often peek at the movies from this vantage point. One movie the children were not allowed to see was, "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell! And, "Gone with the Wind" as it was too long.

The night the Esso Club burned, they had shown "Citizen Kane" with Orson Welles. My father and mother saw it, and when we saw the flames of the fire from our home, later that night, my Dad said, "Well, for showing such a horrible film, the place deserves to burn." He was joking, of course, but he infrequently went to movies!

The replacement Esso Club was near the old Jr. Esso Club, and was constructed of four galvanized steel army barracks placed to form a square. The theater was open air. Most of us hurried to be first in the front row seats, which were all movable fold-up chairs. We used to watch some serials before the main feature. One of them was "The Phantom." On one night, a meteor flashed across the southern sky, and was so close that when it burned out, we could hear the explosion.

Did I mention that during our last trip (February 2001) to Aruba, we were early enough to attend the service at the Lago Community Church, which now is under the direction of the Dutch Protestant Episcopal Church? As previously mentioned their former pastor, Rev. Anthony van den Doel had passed away, and they were looking for a replacement. The church board thinks they have a replacement from Canada, and hopes he can be there by July, 2001. I have a picture of the church taken in the 1970s, when all the landscaping was still present—palm trees, shrubs, etc. These have all died because they were not watered. However, the church, which was dedicated in 1939, is kept in good repair, for which we are grateful.

This past month we took a drive to Texas to see the Bush Presidential Library. It is beautiful. On the way we stopped by and visited Mary B. (Spitzer) Henderson (class of 1952) in Austin. Unfortunately, she lost her husband, Jerry, in 1999.

Ronald M. Turner
 



From: Frank Pekary ~ Class of 1960


Dear Larry:

The memory series has prompted me to take out the old 8 mm family pictures and have them transferred to video. I viewed the first batch yesterday and there I was in the 1950s with my brother and two wonderful parents enjoying what must have been the best place on the planet to grow up. I don't think I ever really left Aruba.

Looking forward to the next Aruba email.......

Frank Pekary
 



Note: The newspaper being referenced in Kathy's below entry was an item on eBay auction a few weeks ago. It was an old collectible WW2 newspaper called the "NY PM" published in New York on Feb. 20, 1942 that includes first photos of the Axis attack on Aruba. Very interesting. Our congratulations to Kathy for a successful bid. She is also asking a question regarding individual patient medical records at the old Lago Hospital. If anyone has an answer I'll forward it to all of our network members.


From: Kathy (O'Brien) Long ~ Class of 1961

Hello Larry,
Just to let you know we bought that newspaper! And I'll send you all the information and photos when it arrives.
I have a question for you and all those Aruba folk out there: Who would have all the medical records from the Lago Hospital? My Mom, Ellie (O'Brien) Holloway (40-51) wonders how she might find her records, surgeries, etc. That kind of information is always asked of us when we go in for a new medical problem or treatment, and the older we get, the longer is the list!!

Thank you.

Kathy (O'Brien '61) Long
 



From: Jane (Wilken-Kurtz) Andringa ~ Class of 1944

Visit With Ruth Kilpatric And Passing Of Bobby Kilpatrick

Dear Larry and Ginger:

One of the delights of being a "snow bird" is the opportunity to look up old friends. We are RV camping in Benson, AZ, about 40 miles southeast of Tucson and yesterday I went in to Tucson for a wonderful visit with Ruth Kilpatrick. We talked about the years of girl scout and mariner programs in Aruba, camping at Palm Beach, Balashi, at the Eman's Tarabana plantation and the Sea Grape Grove. That should bring back a lot of memories to the 11 girl scouts and 2 mariner troops that Ruth led.

Ruth and Van Kilpatrick went to Aruba in 1935 and when he retired in 1957 Van was head of the Utilities Department. My late husband, Don Kurtz, worked for Van. Their children, Bruce, born in 1938; Bobby, born in 1943; and Kenny born in 1945, grew up in Aruba. Bruce later married Jean Straub. After retirement, Van continued to work for Exxon in New Jersey until his death in 1961.

Bobby, who was developmentally disabled, moved into the New Lisbon Center for DD in 1969. He died of Melanoma on March 1, this year. The family visited Bobby there each weekend when they lived in New Jersey. After Ruth moved to Florida she still was able to visit periodically but when her health required family support she moved to Tucson where she now lives within two miles of Bruce, Jean, and grandsons, Johnny and Kenny. A very caring social worker supplied Ruth with frequent reports of Bobby's welfare.

Ruth and I talked for several hours about our memories of life in Aruba. They lived in bungalows 134, 310 and 439. We especially laughed about the time the dog, "Dimple," that had lived with my family through the years rebelled at moving in with Don and me after my parents retired. At my parent's home, bungalow 259, she had a large yard to run in. At the army barracks, vacation homes, and temporary housing Don and I had to live in due to the lack of housing in 1946 when we married, Dimple did not want to be locked up in the house all day as we both worked. She ran away and adopted the Kilpatricks who had just the kind of yard she wanted. At the time I
wasn't amused but now can laugh at the irony of being deserted by a dog who knew what she wanted.

Ruth would love to hear from former friends including scouts and mariners. Her address is: Sierra Woodland Assistive Living Center, 1020 Woodland Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85111 or she can be called at (520) 320-9320.

Jane (Wilken-Kurtz) Andringa
 



Note: The below is a short synopsis on the Tom Mowell family in Aruba. Tom recently rejoined our ranks after being "temporarily" missing from the loop.

From: Tom Mowell

(Mowell, Thomas A LCDR (CNAL N453)

Larry,

I graduated from the Seroe Colorado School (8th grade) in 1974. I attended school there from 1969 through 1974. In fact, the year prior, they graduated the last 9th grade class. My dad, Henry Vail Mowell, Jr., was an engineer at Lago eventually working his way up to Vice President of Lago. We lived in Aruba twice, once when I was a pre-schooler in '63-'64 (I believe) and then again from '69-'74. In fact, I started sending printouts of your e-mails to my mother, Nancy, and she recalls that you lived next door when we lived in Aruba the first time.

Tom Mowell
 



Lago Memories ~ Part 32

Comments Re: Stan Norcom's photo of the "Big Docks" in the early days ...

From: Dotty (Learned) Dill ~ Class of 1952

Arthur Whitney displayed a small hammerhead shark one day at the big docks. Perhaps he will remember where he caught it.
 



From: Adelaide (WILEY) Loges ~ Class of 1958

Big Docks Memory ...

I was a timid soul but finally got the courage to go off the diving board facing the T-Docks in the late 40's. Just as I jumped someone yelled there was a barracuda underneath. I must have flown that day as I have no recollection of hitting the water, only scrambling up a ladder.
 



From: Shirley (Mechling) Werline ~ Class of 1943

More on the Big Docks

Dear Larry,

I graduated in 1943 and before that time there was always three diving boards. Reg is right about how they were facing. The top level faced the reef, the second faced the refinery and the lower board faced the then T-Dock. My sister Joanne dived off the high board, but I, who was usually not afraid of anything, never felt comfortable diving and only jumped off of all three boards.

We also occasionally saw barracuda but they were small and never bothered anyone. I marvel now that our parents allowed us to go to these big docks without a lifeguard as I swam out to the barrels with no one else in sight.

Thanks to Stan for the picture. We never thought about taking pictures back then and it is so good to see this again, as it was then.
 



From: John Tully ~ Class of 1956

I spent many happy summer afternoons at the Big Docks playing "Ships and Bombs" and "Matchstick" in 1947-1949 before being shipped off to Canada for school and braces. The "Ships" were kids hiding under the high end section of the dock who tried to avoid the "Bombs" who were other kids who took running dives from the runway to try to touch the "Ships" just using their momentum from the dive and outstretched hands as rudder and dive planes. "Matchstick" was simply the underwater release of a wooden match by someone who dove from either the top tower or second tower, and the other players on the same tower would try to see it and dive for it first as it rose to the surface. It was usually seen simultaneously by more than one player when it was still 2-3 feet from the surface, and all would dive at the same spot at the same time. The match would often disappear for a time in foam, bodies, and general hilarity until someone retrieved it and made the next dive.

I remember a long swing rope hanging from the top tower and a couple of the big kids (Bob Moore, and Albert Fuller I think) who would run with it towards the reef and swing in a one-hundred eighty degree arc, and then release several feet above the low level spring board and get a dive half way to the T-Docks it seemed.

I think that it was about this time that concrete steps were installed to the Big Dock from the upper parking lot, an asphalt path was laid between the two docks below the big cast iron sewer pipe, and a 10' X 14' raft placed seaward and between the docks. My guess is that the photo was taken shortly after WW II.
 



From: Fay (Cross) Keene ~ Class of 1939

Hi, Larry:
The photo of the big docks at Rodger's Beach really pulled at my heartstrings! I can't tell you (rather, WON'T tell you!) how much mischief I got into at that special location! I Remember Helen Miller and I playing tag with a barracuda we managed to contain under the dock, my father catching us at it and my being forbidden to go near the place for two weeks. Or being the "target" for the divers coming off that highest platform, getting a direct "hit" on the head and suffering amnesia for ten days! God alone knows how I lived to become an adult!
I'm also delighted we have my dear friend, Paddy Rodger, playing at her computer with me. How's that for two old ladies who started 1st grade together and haven't seen each other in seventy years?

Editors note: Fay, I'm happy that our little newsletter was helpful in bringing two old friends together after all these years. It does my heart good. May you both have many more years of sharing nostalgic memories.
 



Aruba / Lago ~ Wartime Memories ~ Part 29

... FINAL SEGMENT ...

In reply to:

"German U-Boat 156 Brought War To Aruba, February 16, 1942 "

Comments From: Chuck Scott
Class of 1957

Re: Aruba / Lago ~ Wartime Memories ~ Part 26

While I did not get to Aruba until Nov. 1950, I do know that German U-Boats were usually armed with an 88mm deck cannon for use against surface targets. I also read or heard somewhere that the U-156 crew when they surfaced off the refinery, that in their hurry to get into action someone forgot to take out the plug at the muzzle of the deck gun, which caused the barrel to explode when they fired the first round. Probably did a number on the gun crew accounting for the inaccuracy of the later shelling. They had to cut off the end of the barrel with a hacksaw which would have taken forever. The 88mm gun was basically the same one used on tanks and as an antiaircraft gun with modifications for the intended task or set up. Also, it would have been hard to have done any damage to the tank farm with the machine gun -- the location of the sub would have put it way beyond the maximum effective range of the machine guns carried by the sub (approximately .30 caliber at that time). And knowing the gauge (thickness) of the steel used in tank construction it is doubtful that the machine gun bullets could have penetrated any tank at that range.
 



Comments From: Dick Greene
Class of 1952

Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27

Hello Larry,

The "Old Esso Club" was located, roughly, across the street (northward) from the post office, in the vicinity of the BQs of the 30s and 40s. I think the Dining Hall was later built on the site. Some time after the U-boat attack, when the island was under such severe blackout that airplanes flying from Curacao could not see the island without moonlight, an American Navy destroyer east of Colorado Point just before dawn mistook the island for a vessel and launched star shells to illuminate the scene. The shells landed on the "Old Esso Club," but no explosives were involved. Could it be that one of these star shells came down on a BQ, narrowly missing an occupant? Sometime even later, the Old Esso Club burned down, and a Temporary Esso Club was built with corrugated steel roof and sidings near the Commissary and the Jr. Esso Club. Someone did a very good job persuading U.S. authorities to permit shipping the four buildings to Lago for use as a clubhouse during the war (1942).
 



Comments From: John Masters
Class of 1953

Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27

Don Gray's question:
Did the shelling that John Masters witnessed, take place on February 16th, or some other date?

John Master's reply:
I do not remember the date, I was too young then to think about it but from our house from on top of the wall around our yard I saw a shell come from the Southeast at a point between our house and the Little Lagoon traveling on a Northwesterly path. I noticed it because it was making a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" noise as it went over in front of me and some sparks were coming from it like something was burning off of it. The sparks ceased when it got due South of me and as I was looking upwards at about a 45% angle. The next one was from further to the West almost due South of me. It did the same thing with the noise and sparks but did not have as many sparks, just two bright puffs like flash bulbs before it got to the Island. I never saw the actual shells as it was dark -- only the sparks and flashes in the sky as they came in, one from the Southeast and one from the South. I saw or heard no others that night, just the two and I do not remember if it was before or after the tankers were hit.
 



Comments From: Ed Hillstead

Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27

Ed Hillstead here. I think the incidence of the shell penetrating a BQ has been misunderstood. I personally visited the BQ shortly after the shell went thru a room on the first floor of (I believe it was BQ # 5) . It penetrated the floor about 4-5 feet from the foot of the bed. It slid across the coral under the bldg., for about 50 feet and ended up in a garage. Remember that the BQs were on concrete piers with about three feet of clearance above the coral. It was an empty shell casing that had carried a flare that was fired from a US warship that was hunting enemy submarines. This was at a time some days after the U-156 had shelled the refinery.

In answer to some of Don Gray's questions as to what could have happened:

1) ... There was no submarine net across the harbor entrance at that time and the US Coast Artillery had not had time to get their guns set up. If the sub had gone into the harbor it could have hit the Power House and shut down the refinery.
2) ... Even small shells could have wrecked the turbo electric generators. Instead the sub hit several of the Lake Fleet tankers sitting outside of the reef that sent up such cloud of smoke that the sub couldn't see where it's shells were going.

Hope this is of some interest for the Aruba gang.
 



Comments From: Bill Potts

Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 26

Larry,

I don't want to extend the speculation about potential damage forever, but there are some personal experiences I feel appropriate to mention.

I worked in the pressure stills for a while and a couple of times on my shift we had a Cross furnace tube split. The Cross furnace had light hydrocarbon fractions at about 1,200 degrees temperature and 1,000 pounds/sq. in. pressure pumped through the stainless steel four inch diameter pipes. When a tube split open you can't imagine the roaring fire that resulted. Lake tanker crews told me that the flames could be seen from Venezuela when that happened. Yet we stayed on the unit, shut down pumps, and switched to the slop rundown line. It is difficult for me to imagine a WWII German sub deck gun firing a four inch shell creating much more havoc. I was in WWII and in the invasion of Okinawa the battleship "Massachusetts" fired sixteen inch shells over our landing craft, which we plainly saw explode up ahead. But when we got there, after wading ashore, we were surprised how little damage was done. Oh yes, people were killed by the dozen, but serious structural damage was confined to an area about fifty feet in diameter. Later, in 1947, on August 14 during the Spanish Civil War, I was aboard the Panama flag tanker "G.W. McKnight" which was attacked by an Italian Sub that fired its deck gun at us. The noise was horrible, but we all got off in lifeboats and after about twenty shells, the tanker was set afire but not sunk. I don't have a lot of respect for WWII sub deck guns. Torpedoes yes!... but that's another story.
 



Comments From: Don Smith
(US Army Retired)
Class of 1960

This is a short bit of U-156 history that I accumulated from the web. Thought it would be interesting. The U-156 had (3) deck guns -- one was a 105 mm, next a 37 mm and last a 20 mm. My guess is that the gun that jammed was the 105mm. If it had worked, the refinery and our lives, would have been totally different. When I was in the infantry a 105mm was used to kill armored vehicles in a direct fire mode. It was a great weapon for us (our more modern version of course) and I am sure, when used properly, was effective for the Germans. A storage tank and any other targets would have been easily destroyed if the gun had worked. The 37mm and 20mm were designed for antiaircraft use (probably between 2500 and 3500 foot altitudes) and when fired at forward targets would have sent the projectiles in a wide arc. As a result of firing at a great distance they probably didn't have much effectiveness against a target that was low and out of range of both guns. This is only speculation on my part. I have seen others write about the clown-like approach of the U-156 when in this attack. The crew must have learned quickly because the Captain was considered to be one of Germany's submarine aces.
 



Comments From: Clyde Harms

Re: Wartime Memories ~ Part 27

Don Gray's question to Clyde Harms:
You'll note in paragraph 5 (Episode #2) of the Wartime Memories report, I state, ..."Another shell finds its 'home' in the BOQ ...The shell enters several walls and exits slightly above a sleeping cot in one of the living quarters...." I go on to say in the paragraph following, "I definitely remember reading in the Aruba Esso News (or somewhere) about a shell going through one of the BOQ's and landing...unexploded, in a resident's bedroom."No one with whom I have either corresponded, or talked with, can remember the unexploded U-Boat shell landing in the BOQ apartment incident!!
Can either of you direct me to a particular issue of the Aruba Esso News or other publication that verifies my BOQ story?

Clyde Harms' response
Here's a story I scanned from "The War Years At Lago" published in 1946. It's the only material I could find that approaches an answer to the question.

(February 18) started out well enough, but ended with a bang at 5:30 a.m. on the 19th, when even heavy sleepers were awakened by tremendous explosions off the East end of the island (light sleepers practically picked themselves up off the floor). Then there was the whisper of big shells passing over the Colony. One shell casing six inches in diameter and eighteen inches long had passed completely through the Esso Club library, knocking over a file cabinet and a counter on the way, and littering half the Club with splintered wood. A soldier was later heard to remark, "Thank goodness, it wasn't the bar!"

Tex Schelfhorst, living in Bachelor Quarters No. 6, had taken a near miss. A similar shell had gone through his door jamb, passed within inches of his feet as he lay sleeping, then went out through the floor. It ricocheted off the coral, went through the wall of a B.Q. garage, and finally stopped against the engine of a car belonging to Carl Johnson (Carl at that moment was a passenger on the missing "C.O.Stillman," which was playing hide-and-seek with submarines somewhere along the East Coast). A third shell bounced harmlessly off a road.

Besides excitement, the shells stirred up some mystery. They were merely more like a section of pipe than an artillery shell. Also, they were empty, yet had not exploded. They had done their damage only by the smashing blow of their 25 or 30 pound weight.

Unfortunately, for security reasons the U.S. Navy at first forbid any official release of the true story; it could only be said that the shelling was not enemy action. However, the rumor was out that the shells were from U.S. warships, and there were many thoughtless complaints about poor shooting or careless target practice. To people whose closest contact with the grim realities of war had been the news reels, nervousness ("the jitters") was natural.

Several days later the true story was released (see bulletins above) and cooler heads realized that the destroyers protecting our coast and shipping were fighting a deadly enemy, and if they needed quick light on a suspected submarine they could not be too particular where the flare shells' casings landed.
 



Comments From: Steve Fremgen
Class of 1963

Steve Fremgen's observations (in answer to Don Gray) as to why certain actions may not have taken place on U-Boat 156 that fateful night of February 16, 1942 ...

Things to consider about the U-Boat attack:
"Those shells for the deck gun, when stored below decks, are not armed...they need to be fused before shooting. You do not want them going off during a depth charge attack on a sub, which can cause them to be rolling around on the deck plating and bumping into things.
"Before placing them (the shells) into the breech, you need to screw in a fuse...usually a contact exploder. In the dark this may not have been done, or they may have been screwed in, but the safety pin not removed in the dark. Not only was the refinery blacked out, but Das Boot was too...to avoid becoming a target themselves from the shore batteries that the captain knew had to be there. Obviously, however, there was a SNAFU on the submarine as they started shelling the refinery.
"Ironically, there were plenty of maps and information printed about the refinery and the location of the tanks and stills, etc....before the start of the war. One map of the harbor area (San Nicolas Harbor) is on eBay right now, and the map date is 1937! They (the Germans) could have easily obtained copies from Berlin prior to departing on their patrol."
 



Comments From: Jim Riggs
Class of 1953

US ARMY AIR CORPS in ARUBA during WWII ...

Larry,

Reading through the very interesting war journals you forwarded to me about the sub attacks on and off Aruba, I have yet to read a story about a small US Army Air Force contingent that was stationed in Aruba. Could it be I missed some of the articles that were reported on the subject?

Earlier in the war, the Germans learned quickly to avoid attacking vessels during the day. Once an alert was out, the US Army Air Corps fighters would scramble and within minutes be right down their backs.

Later, the German strategies changed -- they avoided daylight attacks and would let the old flat-bottom T2 tankers sail to Lake Maracaibo empty. Later that night or early morning under the protection of darkness the T2's, fully loaded with oil, would sail back to Aruba. However, the protection of darkness didn't stop the subs from surfacing. They would fire off their flares, light up the skies, and in short time fire their deck guns at the tankers. It was more cost affective to fire deck guns than use torpedoes. Who wouldn't when the oil tankers were "sitting ducks with clipped wings." The oil tankers had minimum defense capabilities. The Germans, realizing they had only minutes to spare, would immediately dive to avoid the attacking American fighters.

Do you remember the UK Captain, Charles Berley? Charles and his wife Ann, from Scotland, and their two boys, Charles Jr. and Brian, lived in the bungalow next door to us. I believe Charles lost one or two vessels due to German attacks. Charles and Ann would call Mom and they would visit and share with us their fear and anger after each attack. Ann would comment, " Charles made it this time but will he on his next run?" Lots of tears were shed during these sad moments. Charles would talk about his horrifying experiences about survival, the ensuing rescue efforts, the loss of his close friends and shipmates, how they died due to injuries and drowning in the burning oil slicks. Charles war experiences as a sea captain in Aruba stuck with him right up to his death some 20 years ago. Through all the post war years, Charles and Ann kept in touch with Mom until they died. Charles Jr. went on in life to become an air traffic controller and worked out of the Glasgow International airport for a while. I am sure he is retired by now.

During that period of history there were quite a few Charles Berley's from the tanker fleet who had similar stories. They were the unsung heroes who had a job to do, they were the silent soldiers who kept the oil flowing at any cost and who contributed immensely to the war effort.

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