University of Virginia Library

Civil Air Patrol

Meantime the “eyes of Albemarle” had been far from idle during
the war years. While the younger generation thrilled to the drone
of P-40's and dreamed of becoming “hot pilots,” the flying fathers,
a group which had known the age of the aerial flivver, made up the
home guard of the air for the community. These part-time aviators
played an inconspicuous but important role in the drama of home
defense, standing ready to fly doctors and nurses to disaster scenes,
to locate downed aircraft, to train youngsters as future soldiers of
the blue, and to perform various other missions in the common
cause.

The Charlottesville and Albemarle Civil Air Patrol Squadron was
activated on May 24, 1942, under the guidance of W. R. Franke,
a professional aviator with over 2,000 hours of flying time to his
credit.[39] In addition to Squadron Commander Franke, the officers
appointed at the initial meeting included W. P. Kilgore, executive
officer, Loyd W. Charlie, adjutant, Miss Marjorie Carver, assistant
adjutant and public relations chairman, Frank Kaulback, intelligence
officer, Dr. Arthur Eidelman, supply officer, and C. B. Lewis, communications
officer.[40]

Membership in the Civil Air Patrol was not limited to aviators
but included also persons interested in aviation. The national organization
had grown out of a desire on the part of private flyers
to make some contribution to the war effort. Thus it was not the
purpose of the organization to train pilots, but rather to enhance
the knowledge of those who had pilots' licenses and to stimulate
non-pilots' interest in aviation. The ground instruction offered by
the C.A.P. included courses in close order drill, first aid, meteorology,
navigation, communications, formation flying, and theoretical observation.[41]

The equipment at the University Airport[42] adjacent to the Rivanna
near Milton, home of the squadron, included eight privately-owned
planes, in addition to ten light planes used in the Civilian Pilot
Training Program, which were available for emergency use.[43] Besides
Albemarle, ten other mid-Virginia counties came under the
jurisdiction of the Squadron. Flights at Harrisonburg, Staunton,
and Waynesboro, received their orders from the University Airport
until October 21, 1943, when the Harrisonburg Flight was designated
a detached unit.[44]

Less than two weeks after its initial meeting the local Squadron
scored a notable national first. In a mock air raid on the city of
Charlottesville, the first civilian raid in the United States in which
missiles were actually used, planes piloted by four C.A.P. members
dropped weighted streamers carrying messages which informed the
city's defenders of the damage each “bomb” had done. Forty of
the streamers fell from planes at various points over the city. After
the raid Civilian Defense Coordinator Seth Burnley stated that much
useful information had been gained from the practice. A rather sad
sequel came four days later when Civilian Defense headquarters
issued a plea that the forty streamers be returned by forgetful or
souvenir-hungry citizens.[45]

The flying activities of the Squadron continued throughout the
summer and fall of 1942. In mid-July spectators craned their necks
as Civil Air Patrol planes flew over the National Heroes' Day Parade,
lending a dash of air power to the local scene. The first real test of
the effectiveness of the unit in search and rescue work came when
an Army B-26 bomber exploded in mid-air above the farm of Mrs.
Kate Dabney in the Keswick area of the county. A Patrol plane
took off from the airport, located the wreckage, and directed Commander
Franke to the scene in his car. Both occupants of the Army
plane had been killed in the explosion, but the Squadron proved
its ability in locating the downed aircraft.[46]

Another important phase of the activity of the Squadron consisted
of observing local blackouts. Commenting on the blackout
of August 18, 1942, Commander Franke stated that the traffic
signals were especially prominent during the alert period of the

blackout.[47] Always vigilant during times of threatened trouble,
the Patrol stood by for any possible duty in connection with the
flood of October, 1942, until flying became impossible because the
local airfield was covered by water.[48] For the remainder of the
year the flying of the Patrol was limited, for the most part, to
training flights and occasional search missions.

One of the few members of the local Squadron to volunteer for
active duty with the Civil Air Patrol elsewhere was Lieutenant William
P. Kilgore, who served for one month with the First Patrol
Task Force, flying the anti-submarine patrol from Atlantic City,
New Jersey. Later he again volunteered for duty with a Tow
Target Squadron at Langley Field, Virginia.[49]

By no means all of the work of the Civil Air Patrol was in the
“wild blue yonder,” for the ground school classes early attracted
the attention and interest of the flying civilians. First aid classes
started in June, 1942, and by October fourteen of the members
had received certificates from F. W. Early, instructor.[50] In July
close order drill was initiated under James B. Ord, a United States
Marine Corps Reserve officer. When Ord was called to active duty,
he was replaced as drill master by Chief Specialist Bob Austin,
United States Navy, who was attached to the Naval R.O.T.C. unit
at the University. Classes in navigation, map reading, and communications
were conducted by Squadron officers.[51]

Plans for disaster relief also occupied the attention of the Squadron
officers. The unit completed arrangements early in August, 1942,
to cooperate with the University Hospital in flying doctors, nurses,
and medical supplies to the scenes of accidents. Another aspect of
the program of cooperation with the medical authorities involved
the development of a package in which blood plasma could be
dropped from a plane. It was felt that such a device would be of
use in mountainous areas.[52] Almost a year was required to develop
a suitable method, but on July 25, 1943, plasma bottles filled with
water were successfully dropped from planes with the aid of a
paper parachute.[53]

In the fall of 1942 a new phase of the Civil Air Patrol program
was initiated which was to occupy more and more of the attention
of local members. It was announced that each senior member of
the C.A.P. was to sponsor a Cadet, a junior or senior in high
school, with the idea of nurturing his or her interest in aviation.
On December 11, 1942, ten Lane High School students, the nucleus
of the Cadet Corps, met with the Squadron.[54] The membership
increased throughout the winter, and a number of Cadets were on
hand at the University Airport on February 21, 1943, during a
practice mission when three planes searched the county for two
targets outlined on open fields in lime.[55]

The Cadet program assumed a new meaning when the Civil Air
Patrol was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Office of Civilian
Defense to the Army Air Forces in April, 1943. More emphasis
was placed on the program in order to provide pre-Aviation Cadet
training for future Army and Navy flyers. During the summer of
1944 approximately forty-five boys and eight girls enlisted in the
C.A.P. Cadet program. Lieutenant William I. Nickles, instructor
at Lane High School and Squadron Training Officer, was largely
responsible for organizing and instructing the Cadets. Some of the
training paralleled that given in the Army, and future flyers were
permitted to omit certain phases of the Army training on the passage
of examinations during their military careers. Twenty C.A.P.
Cadets from Charlottesville thus became exempt from the service
course in International Morse Code.[56] The value of the training
offered was attested to by Seaman Second Class Ralph Britton, a
former member, who wrote Miss Marjorie Carver that no one
would know the real value of the experience until in the service.
“I know the C.A.P. did a lot for me,” Britton continued. “Everything
I learned there has been a help.”[57] Cadet interest was stimulated
by an offer of two hours of free flight instruction to the students
with the highest grades in their Cadet courses. After the
completion of the first of four fifty-hour periods of instruction, it
was announced in November, 1944, that Bill Austin and Bobby
Kirby had topped their classes.[58]

Meanwhile the membership of the Squadron was far from stable.
Some members were drafted, and others moved from the city. On
the death of C. B. (“Pat”) Lewis early in 1943, the unit voted to
designate itself the Lewis Squadron in his memory.[59] When Lieutenant
Franke moved from Charlottesville in January, 1944, his
place as commanding officer was taken by Lieutenant Loyd W.
Charlie, manager of the University Airport.[60] Among other
changes in officer personnel was the replacing of Dr. Eidelman as
supply officer by Henry C. Miller. When Lieutenant Kaulback went
into the service, his place as Intelligence and Personnel officer was
taken by Clinton N. Wood.[61]

After Lieutenant Charlie took command of the Squadron, attention
was directed almost exclusively to the Cadet program. The
training of the high school students during 1944 was the last major
contribution of the Lewis Squadron. With the tide of battle turning
in favor of the Allies, this aerial group, like many another home
defense organization, had answered its purpose. Lieutenant Nickles
took over as commander of the Squadron on March 19, 1945,
merely to officiate at the last meeting of the organization less than
three months later.[62] Lieutenant Colonel Allan C. Perkinson, Wing
Commander for the State, visited Charlottesville on June 5, 1945,

to stimulate interest in the C.A.P.[63] It was evident, however, that
the demand which had created the enthusiastic response to the program
for more than three years was now lacking. The Lewis
Squadron officers met at Lane High School on June 7, and the
decision was reached that the Charlottesville C.A.P. unit should
become inactive.[64]

Thus were folded the wings of an organization which had been
as active within its realm as any in the city or county in preparing
for home front emergencies. Fortunately, as in the happy instances
of the local companies of the Virginia State Guard and Virginia
Reserve Militia, such contingencies had never arisen, but effective
war services had been rendered nevertheless.