Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

K. D. VAN DUYNE (LEFT) SPENT SIX MONTHS IN THE CARIBBEAN; GODFREY RENDELL (.LEFT ABOVE) IS GREET- ED ON HIS RETURN FROM IRELAND BY W. J. ZAUN; AND W. W. BUTLER (RIGHT), WHO SERVED IN AUSTRALIA. forces in modern warfare, Hart- wick flew more than 100,000 airline miles during a year in the Pacific. Although more or less stoical about "the bomb or bullet that has your name on it," Hartwick never- theless acquired an automatic reac- tion of diving for cover when bombs started blasting around him or when a Zero came in low with ma- chine guns blazing. From another Pacific outpost — sandy Midway Island, 1,100 miles beyond Honolulu -— came Edward Edison several weeks ago. Edison, who was the only civilian on Mid- way when he arrived there, found time between installations and service assignments to make several flights in Navy patrol planes and to go along on sea runs to see elec- tronic equipment in actual use. The only "natives" of Midway, according to Edison, are the gooney bird, whose call is a ringer for the Bronx cheer; the moaning bird, which gives a spine-chilling imita- tion of a man who has been stabbed in the back; and brightly-colored little canaries, whose pleasant notes help compensate for the raucous cries of the goonies and moaners. This, however, is little enough mu- sical entertainment for Navy per- sonnel stationed on Midway, so practically every man there has his own radio or phonograph. Several hundred RCA 5-tube sets are help- ing keep the boys in good spirits, and swapping phonograi)h records is one of the favorite pastimes of the Pacific base, with a surprising- ly large number of men putting in quick bids on light classical music of the Victor Red Seal type. Edison, recently relieved by A. E. Hilderbrand. and Tom Shipferling, just back from Pearl Harbor, relate how American boys in the Pacific listen, via short wave, with mingled amusement and contempt to "Tokyo Rose," an American-educated Jap- anese woman announcer who mixes American swing with Jap propa- ganda. The lads get a kick out of the music, but laugh up their GI sleeves when "Tokyo Rose" starts her usual patter urging the boys to forget all about the war and go home. "After all, we Japanese have nothing against you boys," she coos, "and certainly you have no reason to dislike us." The invariable reply to this chatter is a jeering "Oh, yeah?" When the Japs struck at Pearl Harbor two years ago, RCA's Mer- rill Gander was on a ferryboat, re- turning from duty. Other RCA men who followed him to Hawaii include S. E. Baker, R. J. Ehret, T. R. Hays, R. H. Newton, K. C. Heddens and C. A. Hobbs. Two Sent to Iceland Elsewhere in the vast Pacific, RCA engineers have been Johnny- on-the-spot when the Navy needed them—such as Merrill F. Chapin, T. H. Flythe and R. W. Connor in the Aleutians, George Jacobs and William Rutler in the Australian sector and E. C. Tracy in the South- west Pacific. Tracy, a replacement for "circuit rider" Hartwick, is on his second overseas assignment. After receiv- ing from the hand of President Roosevelt a War Production Board "Citation of Production Merit" for a valuable production suggestion, Tracy went with Pryor Watts to Iceland—via Ireland and England. They flew from Rhode Island to their embarkation point, where they polished off an important in- stallation before joining an Iceland- bound convoy. Long after their ship should have docked in Iceland, they discovered the course had been al- tered because of a tangle between convoy vessels and enemy subma- rines. After docking in Ireland. they moved on to London, thence to Iceland, where R. S. Willard was the first RCA engineer envoy. One of the first RCA service men to go on duty with men in uniform was Fred Lakewitz, of Boston, who had three surprise assignments in quick succession. One night after midnight he was called by the Navy, handed sealed orders and trans- ported to a patrol vessel whose com- munication equipment needed serv- icing. Neither his family nor his office knew his whereabouts for the next three days. On another occasion, Lakewitz was assigned to test electronic equipment on a battle cruiser dur- ing a trial run. Expecting to be back at his point of embarkation within a few hours, he left his car at the dock. Several days later he was put ashore at a port 800 miles from his starting point. But Lakewitz' biggest thrill came when a submarine chaser on which he was testing equipment was or- dered into action with three Navy blimps in an effort to run down an enemy submarine that had been sighted. Lakewitz stood "general [28 RADIO AGE