64 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOUR;\lAL . u y-.r IIgllst Model Plane Targets After extensive tests. the Antiaircraft Artillerv Command has apprO\'ed the use of a new type of model ai;plane in the training of machine gunners for ground combat against low Hying enemy planes, the \ \'ar Department has announced. The model plane is re\'olutionary in design. It is a folding wing type craft that is launched from a catapult. The plane is designed so that when it leaves the catapult and until it attains its maximum altitude the wings remain folded. This feature allows the plane, due to lessened resistance and drag, to reach a greater altitude before the wings open for the glide on a zig-zag and extended Hight back to earth. The model is a low-
British AA Battery Arrives \ special battery of the Royal l\nillery. British Army. designated as the First Composite Antiaircraft Battery, ~as Jrri\'ed in this country to demonstrate methods of tram- I 109. drill and tactical employment adopted by the British -\~v. and to exchange ideas on antiaircraft matters. S~nt to the United States bv the British \Var Office at the request of the \Var Depa~tment. the unit consists of se\'enteen officers and 329 other ranks, most of whom seryed in Great Britain during the protracted air attacks on the British Isles during the past three years. Several of the of- I6rers. noncommissioned officers and men have seen service \lith British antiaircraft units in such theaters as the 1\ liddle East. 1\ laha and India. Although the battery as a whole is a non-tactical formation. it has three component troops (equivalent to platoons 10 U. S. Army parlance) which are standard British tactical Iunits-one of four 3.7 inch (9.4mm) antiaircraft guns, o~e of six 40mm Bofors automatic weapons, and one of SIX searchlights. All of the equipment is standard antiaircraft Iequipment of the British Army. I It is contemplated that the battery will visit military e~tablishments in all parts of the United States. \Vhile here, lit will be accompanied by an escort detachment of the United States Army, provided by the Antiaircraft Com- I mand, Army Ground Forces. ~lajor General Joseph A. Green, U. S. Army, Commandng General, Antiaircraft Command, Army Ground Forces, saidthat the purpose of the escort detachment is to facilitatc I n c\'cT)' way possible I "As guests of thc the visit of the British unit. United States Government, every opportunity will be afforded the personnel of the British for' mation to obsen'e our antiaircraft training and to become familiar with American I "It is expected that customs," General Green declared. this opportunity for an exchange of ~eas between British and American antiaircraft troops will l~esult in mutual benefit to the antiaircraft forces of the 1'\\0 nations united in a common cause . I 'The visit of this battery," continued General Green, will not only give the Army an opportunity to see the latest British antiaircraft methods, drills and equipment, but will '1affordan opportunity to the American public to see some. !thingof the British soldiers whose families in Great Britain llla\'eextended such the British Isles." cordial hospitality to American soldiers I The British antiaircraft unit is not a picked body. It rep- .lresentsa cross section of the British population and is drawn bm all parts of the British Isles. Few, if any, of the officers nd men are professional soldiers. They are typical British bjects coming from all classes of the population who have the past four years taken up arms. The 3.7 inch (94mm) antiaircraft guns brought to the nited States by the battery are the British equivalent of ~ :he American 90mm gun. For their 3.7 inch AA guns the yal <strong>Artillery</strong> uses the American Sperr)' Director, modified British requirements. For Field Force purposes the ~al Artillerv also uses the British Vickers Director. The - inch gun' troop also has with it a variety of special uipment used by the British antiaircraft artilleT)' which ffers in detail from the equi\'alent American equipment. :\TE\VS AND COl\l~lE:\TT 65 The Bofor~ troop of six guns will use in the United States American Bofors guns and directors which differ only in detail from the British. This troop also has with it for fitting to the American guns various items of British equipment which are not standard in the United States but for which the U. S. Army has equivalents. The searchlight troop will use American searchlights. some of which are being employed in the British Army. It has brought with it one British searchlight and a variety of special equipment which is used by the British both on British searchlights and on American searchlights in the British service. ., ., The Journal "Gets Through" Colonel \Villiam G. Brey, CAC, at a Pacific APO, writes, "Your publication seems to be one of the few that gets through." The moral of this story seems to be that Colonel Brey is very conscientious about keeping the JOUHNALinformed about changes of address. The JOURNAL will do its part, and the Post Office Department and the Army Postal Service will do theirs, so if you want your JOURNALdelivered no matter where you are, you must keep lIS informed concerning changes of address. ., Seacoast <strong>Defense</strong>s The appropriation act for the military establishment for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1944, carries an item of $29,632,000 for "all expenses incident to the preparation of plans and the construction, purchase, installation, equip' ment, maintenance, repair and operation of fortification and other works of defense, and their accessories, including personal services, ammunition storage, maintenance of channels to submarine-mine wharves, purchase of lands and rights-of-ways as authorized by law, acquisition of leaseholds and other interests therein, and temporary use thereof." ., New Insignia for AAF Planes A new type of insignia for United States Army <strong>Air</strong> Forces planes-consisting of the present white star on a circular field of blue, a white rectangle attached horizontally at the right and left of the circle, and a red border enclosing the entire device-has been adopted to improve identification of <strong>Air</strong> Forces aircraft. ., Reprint Models ill Sellli-Tecllllical E.'positioll, a book published by Harcourt, Brace and Company for use in Composition classes in technical schools of college level. reprints Idellti~catioll of Mercllallt Ships, by Dr. Kenneth L. Brown of the Coast ArtilleT)' <strong>School</strong>, which appeared in the January- Februarv issue of the JOUHNAL. T\\"el~tv-four selections are included in the book, one of which \\:as Dr. Brown's article. Other authors include Antoine de Saint Exupery, Fletcher Pratt, Thomas H. Huxley, Charles Darwin, John Dewey. and Franklin D. Rooscvel t. ., ., ., ., ., ., .,
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