July-August - Air Defense Artillery School

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 Artillery 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.
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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.
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Seacoast Defenses
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."
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New Insignia for AAF Planes
A new type of insignia for United States Army Air 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
Air Forces aircraft.
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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)' School, 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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