July-August - Air Defense Artillery

Gen. Lawton
Chief of Staff, AFF, Promoted
Major General \VilIiam S. Lawton
graduated from USJ\'IA in 1922 and was
commissioned in thc Air Service. After
graduating at the Advanced Flying
School he transferred to the CAe.
In 1939 he went to Hawaii. Beginning
there as a captain in the Harbor-
Defenses, by 1944 he had climbed to
the grade of brigadier general as Deputy
Chief of Staff of the Pacific Ocean
Areas. Those who served in the Pacific
remember him as the coordinator and
expediter around the "Pineapple Pentagon,"
particularly as to its far-Rung activities
in pushing the war to Japan.
General Lawton returned to the States
in 1947 to serve with Headquarters Fifth
Armv. He served later as Commandant
of the Coast Artillery School at Fort
Winfield Scott until transferred in 1950
to his present assignment as Chief of
Staff, Army Field Forces, Fort J\lonroe,
Virginia.
War decorations: DSi\I, LM (OLC),
BSJ\I, CR.
Brig. Gen. Kelly Retires
Brig. Gen. Paul B. Kelly retired for
physical disability at Letterman General
Hospital on 31 1\lay 1951, and now
68
makes his home at the Hotel Chamberlin,
Old Point Comfort, Fort Monroe,
Virginia.
General Kelly graduated from USJ\IA
in 1918 and was commissioned in the
CAe.
In 1943 General Kelly took the 1st
AAA Group to Casablanca where he
commanded the Antiaircraft and Coast
Defenses of the Atlantic Coast of French
J\'lorocco. He returned to Camp Stewart,
Georgia, in June to take command of the
56th AAA Brigade.
Returning to Africa in 1944 he became
the antiaircraft officer of the
Seventh Army for the invasion of Southern
France and in the advance through
the Vosges Mountains, Alsace Plain,
Germany, and Austria.
Returning to the States in 1945, General
Kelly served with AFF and the
Fifth Army until he went to Japan in
1947 to become Chief of the Special
Services Section, Far East Command.
His retirement culminates an active
career of 33 years in the Army.
War decorations: LM (OLC), and
BSM.
32d AAA Brigade Highly Praised
MILDENHALL, England.-HThe
outstanding way in which antiaircraft
artillerymen of the 32d AAA Brigade
and its units immediately began to work
smoothly and enthusiastically with the
American Air Force and the British military
units in England is commendable,
and should serve as a source of great
pride for each officer and enlisted man
in the organization," said Lt. Gen.
Charles L. Bolte, Army Deputy chief of
staff for plans and combat operations,
after his recent visit to the American AA
units at their bases in the United Kingdom.
The general, who was in the United
Kingdom to give a series of lectures sponsored
by the Kermit Roosevelt Foundation,
was accompanied to this base by
J\laj. Gen. J. P. McConnell, USAF, and
was met at the headquarters of the 32d
by the brigade commander, Co!. Metti-
cus \V. i\lav Jr. and his staff, and American
and British Air Force officers. After
visiting the brigade units at their respecti\'e
bases, the general said, HI have nothing
but the highest praise for these men.
The officers and enlisted men impressed
me as knowing their jobs well. I ha\'en't
seen better looking soldiers anywhere."
-Arm)' Times.
Colonel Nelson Dingley, III,
Retires
The President of the Board of Trustees
of the New York J\lilitary Academy
has announced the appointment of Colonel
Nelson Dingley, III, General Staff
Corps, U. S. Army, as Superintendent
of the Academy. Colonel Dingley, who
will retire from the Army on August 31,
is presently serving as Senior Military
Attache at the American Embassy in
Stockholm, Sweden. He is an alumnus
of the Ne\\;York Military j\cademy ('10).
Colonel Dingley was commissioned in
the CAC in 1916, serving both in the
Mexican Border Campaign and as an
artillery commander in France in \ Vorld
\oVar I. He served initially with antiaircraft
artillery in Hawaii. Later he served
in Europe as assistant to General Lucius
Clay in Military Governmen t, as G 1 in
the Third Army and as Military Attache
in Poland. Decorations: L1\I, BSM, CR.
General \Xi'ilson Retires As
AER Director
At his own request, the resignation of
l'vlaj. Gen. Walter K. Wilson, USA,
Ret., as Director of Army Emergency Relief
has been accepted to become effective
1 July 1951. He will be succeeded
by Maj. Gen. Edward F. Witsell, the
Adjutant General of the Army, who retires
on June 30, 1951.
General Wilson has served as Director
of Army Emergency Relief continuously
since January 11, 1944. In addition to
being Director of AER, General Wilson
was appointed by the late Honorable
Henry L. Stimson as the Secretary of
War's Liaison Officer with the American
Red Cross. It was in the latter capacity
that he was largely instrumental in
effecting an efficient and cordial operating
agreement between the Red Cross
and AER with a view of coordinating
the activities of both organizations. This
agreement is still in operation and insures
a minimum of duplication of the
emergency financial assistance which
both organizations are prepared to render
ANTIAIRCRAFT JOURNAL