CHAPTER 1. PROLOGUE

I was lucky in my WW ll army overseas stationing, serving over 32
months at an interesting job on Grosvenor Square in London, living
in a comfortable apartment, eating regular meals at a good mess, and
being able to see many interesting places in the UK. Betty and I (Glenn)
had been married and together for about a year before being separated
when I was sent overseas.

PRE ARMY. After two years at UCLA, which then had only freshman
and sophomore engineering, in 1940 I had to go to UC Berkeley for
upper division classes. There, until he joined a fraternity, I first roomed
with John Locke, a friend from UCLA; he had gotten into upper division
Ordnance ROTC and urged me to apply. I did, and started it late, in the
spring semester. That allowed me to avoid the draft, finish my BS
degree in Electrical Engineering, and enter the Army as an officer.

Another friend from UCLA, Freer Gottfried, introduced me to Betty,
the love of my life, in the fall of 1940. He had married a UCLA Delta
Zeta (Norene); they came to Berkeley for the Cal-UCLA football game,
and wanted me to go with them afterwards to San Francisco. I didn’t
have a date, so they arranged a blind date with a Berkeley Delta Zeta
(Betty) for me.

Dec. 7, 1941 everyone awakened to the news of the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor, and I realized the decision to join the ROTC was a
good one. It did mean that I had to stay at Berkeley through the sum-
mer of 1942, after I had enough units to graduate, to finish my last
semester of ROTC, and then had to take an Officer Candidate School
(OCS) class in Aberdeen, Maryland to replace the required, but war
canceled, summer camp.

Betty & I got along well together and after many walks across the
campus holding hands, rare movie dates, bridge games at the DZ
house, dances in the gym, football and basketball games, Scabbard
and Blade dances, etc, we were married July 4, 1942 in Sacramento,
her home town. We had an apartment near the campus in Berkeley,
Betty worked days at the Virus Research Lab, and I worked swing
shift at the Oakland Army Depot while taking my ROTC and a
couple EE classes during the day. Except for Sundays, we communi-
cated by leaving notes.

DOMESTIC SERVICE. In the fall of 1942 Betty and I went by train
to the east coast (sleeping together in one Pullman berth); she was
able to stay with an aunt in New Jersey while I joined the enlisted
men taking the OCS class at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds.
I received my commission as a 2nd Lt. Nov. 28, 1942 and stayed at
Aberdeen taking two more courses in artillery and fire control
instruments. Betty was able to join me and we found a room with
kitchen privileges in Havre de Grace, a short bus ride away. We
can remember going by bus to dressy affairs at the Aberdeen Of-
ficers Club. Early in March 1943 I was assigned to an officer
replacement pool at Frankfort Arsenal in Philadelphia; there Betty
first found for us a tiny one room apartment a streetcar ride from
the Arsenal, then a room with kitchen privileges in a nicer area
near the Arsenal. While at the Arsenal my work included exper-
iments with an optical range finder in a 50 degree below zero cold
box, and a trip to Toronto to see the Bausch & Lomb plant. Betty
and I also had a trip to Chicago where I visited a plant making anti-
aircraft directors.

I was interviewed by Col. Reed at the Arsenal, and in late June of
1943 received overseas shipping orders and a promotion to 1st Lt.
In July Betty took a train home to stay with her parents and work
in a laboratory in Sacramento, and I sailed from New York to Scot-
land on the Queen Mary, converted to a troop transport. My first
“cruise” went well and I soon made my way to London by train
to join Col. Reed’s office.

THE LONDON OFFICE. I was stationed in London from July
1943 to March 1946. Our “boss” was Colonel “Froggie” F.F. Reed,
regular army, who wore two hats; one as Assistant Military At-
taché for Ordnance at the US Embassy, and one as head of the
Ordnance Technical Section of ETO Headquarters. I was assigned
to the theater headquarters, even when it moved to the continent,
but was always on detached service at the Military Attaché office.

There were four officers serving under Col. Reed in the Ordnance
Military Attaché office; W.J. “Bill” Durrenberger, Carl E. “Marty”
Martinson, Fred G. Brenner, and myself. Bill was three years older,
and always one rank above me; he came from the reserves but
joined the regular army during a program offered to some reservists
before the US entered W.W.II hostilities. Bill made a career of the
army, and retired as a Major General. We kept in touchthrough the
years, and saw him several times when he was passing through San
Francisco. In 1992 we visited Bill and his wife in Des Moines, where
he passed away in 2002. Bill’s specialty was tanks and heavy artillery.
As senior officer he ran the office when Col. Reed was away. We got
along well, and I shared an apartment in Portsea Hall with Bill for
my third and final residence in London.

Marty’s specialty was rockets; when the Swedes recovered a German
V2 type rocket from the water off their coast he arranged a trip to
Stockholm to inspect and report on it. He liked life in neutral Stock-
holm and tried to set up an office there; it was quite a while before
Col. Reed could get him back to London! Fred’s specialty was small
arms and ammunition. My specialty was light artillery, fire control
instruments, and anything electrical. We all had military specialties
of Foreign Liaison Intelligence Officer and were “legal spies” report-
ing on British weapons research and development.

In the fall of 1945, the four of us in the office were each awarded the
Bronze Star Medal for service, and Col. Reed was awarded the
Legion of Merit. The photo at the end of the Chapter was taken after
the award ceremony, and Col. Reed is flanked by Lucile Alston and
John Knowles, secretaries from his two offices.

The Colonel was a strict West Pointer and chewed me out once for
answering him “uh huh” instead of “Yes Sir!”; once was enough!

AIR RAIDS. I arrived in London in the summer of 1943, after de-
fenses and counterattacks had ended the terrible saturation bomb-
ing blitz by the Germans. The airplane raids I experienced were
sporadic and not heavy; more enticing to go up on the roof to see
the “show” than to go to an air raid shelter. Col. Reed had a suite
in the Dorchester Hotel on Park Lane across from Hyde Park, and
the roof there was an ideal spot to view the action. We would put
on our steel helmets in case there might be falling “flak” and
watch; the searchlights waving around looking for the planes; the
flash of antiaircraft artillery and their exploding shells; on some
occasions the planes would be close enough that the rocket bat-
tery near by in Hyde Park would simultaneously fire a barrage
of many rockets, what a fireworks display that was!

I could never see that a plane was hit, much less brought down.
One reason for this was that most of the guns were aimed by
radar tracking the planes and feeding data to primitive com-
puters which would predict where the plane would be when
the shell arrived. The German planes were throwing out “chaff”,
strips of aluminum cut near the frequency of the radar, so that
the radar would lock on the “chaff” and not the plane. I was able
to set up a test at an antiaircraft battery and get data from
which the target route could be plotted; it showed the radar
following a target with a plane like speed & route, then suddenly
the “target” stopped in midair while the shells presumably shot
the hell out of the chaff.

Once the building I was in was hit during an air raid; it was at
night at the multistory George Street apartment building I
stayed in after I first arrived in London; a magnesium incendiary
bomb hit and started a fire in the roof and at every floor until
it burned out on a concrete floor in the basement. I joined the
other residents in putting out the fires; they had buckets with
stirrup pumps, and knew how to use them. My first inclination
was to throw the bucket full of water at the fire, but soon learned
a mist from the stirrup pump cooled the fire and was more ef-
fective in putting it out. After the fires were out I got a bottle of
Portuguese port wine I had in my rooms and shared it with the
others who had fought the fires. A few weeks later I received a
letter of thanks for helping fight the fires from one of the other
residents, a British man then on his way to Iraq. He noted his
appreciation also for the wine.

BUZZ BOMBS. The buzz bombs were much different, really
frightful things that put everybody on edge. For one thing the
name didn’t fit them; as pilotless planes propelled by pulse
jet engines and flying at only about one or two thousand feet,
they didn’t “buzz”, they sounded more like a close by motor-
cycle without a muffler as they roared overhead. Then the
sound would quit, and soon you would hear the bomb explode.
They didn’t come as a surprise; the intelligence on them told
us just what they were; the location of the launching ramps on
the French coast was known; but the numbers of them that
could hit London was estimated way too high. That’s why when
I saw the first one streaking across the London sky I knew what
it was, and made my first and only visit to an air raid shelter. It
was soon obvious that the expected mass attack wasn’t material-
ising, so I left the shelter and went on to my room. They continued
for several months, interfering with our sleep, and making every-
one jumpy.

I suspect that Col. Reed was instrumental in getting the super-
secret (then) proximity fuse released for use by the antiaircraft
batteries on the coast near Dover as part of the buzz bomb de-
fense. Up to then it had been used only by the Navy so that any
duds would fall in the ocean and there was no chance of the
enemy finding them; our Air Force did NOT want the enemy
developing a similar fuse! An officer was required to convoy
shipments of the proximity fuse, and I had the assignment to
deliver the first shipment from a mid England supply depot
to the antiaircraft batteries on the coast near Dover. They were
there and ready when the first buzz bombs came on the way to
London. I never found out then how effective they were, but in
2005 read that radar and computers automatically aiming the
guns, and especially the arrival of proximity fuses, raised the
number of stopped bombs from 17% in the first week of June
‘44 to 74% in the last week of August ‘44. After the launching
sites on the French coast were captured, Col. Reed was honored
to accompany Winston Churchill on a flight over to inspect
them. The prime minister was a hero to Col. Reed, and he prized
a signed photograph of himself with Churchill taken on this trip.

To boost Londoners’ morale the massive Allied daylight air raids
heading for Germany were often routed above the city, filling
the sky with vapor trails.

FOG. We were told that we never would see a real London fog
because there wasn’t a normal amount of coal available to be
burned, and that was a major ingredient of a really dense black
London fog. We did see some fogs that were dense enough for
us! One night I came out from a movie with a friend to find a
dark fog had settled in; I had my flashlight, but he didn’t have
one, and had much farther to go, so I let him take the light.
Blackout street lighting didn’t help much, so I made my way
to my quarters by dragging one foot along the curb; I literally
could not see my hand in front of my face. An impending fog
was reason enough to let the civilian workers go home early
from the offices.

TRAVEL ABOUT ENGLAND & THE UK. Part of my job was
to visit testing sites, laboratories, research centers, etc. to
see and report on armament developments and tests. Most
travel was by the excellent train service; for trips closer to
London I would use a car and driver from the car pool.

A frequent trip was to Shoeburyness, on the north side of
the Thames estuary where there was a Royal Artillery testing
facility. The British officers there drank gin and water before
lunch, a custom that seemed strange to me then, but now I
like my gin neat over ice, which isn’t that much different.

Another place I visited quite often was Malvern, in the hills
overlooking the beautiful Severn Valley and Shakespeare
country. There was a research facility there that was working
on the British version of the proximity fuse, among other things.
Malvern was very pretty, with many wisteria covered walls, and
a small hotel I enjoyed.

Unfortunately, I picked up a hepatitis infection somewhere. I
was feeling bad; and Marty saw my eyeballs were yellow and
told me to go to the hospital immediately. I was very ill for
over three weeks, and while I was recovering I was sent to a
rest home at Preston Hall, a country estate well north of
London. Most of the others there were recovering from frost-
bite suffered in the Battle of the Bulge. A nearby estate had
tennis courts we were able to use; I remember the area as
very pretty rolling and green countryside. As part of my
recovery from hepatitis I was told to stay away from alcohol
for six months; I made it for about 3 months until VE Day,
and drank only moderately for a while after that.

I made four trips into Scotland, once to see some tests at
an ICI Chemicals site south of Glasgow. Twice I was able to
go by way of Edinburgh and spend a little time sight seeing
in that very interesting city. The ICI tests were on a recoilless
piece of artillery. The luncheon they put on for the spectators
at a local pub remains in my memory because on the table
was a pinch bottle of Haig & Haig scotch for every four diners.

There was at least one trip to Wales, again to see some artil-
lery firing demonstrations. I was able to see the Roman baths
at Bath, and Bristol University en route.

I went to the Dover and Folkstone area many times, going
through Canterbury on the way. Once I went to a radar facility
south of Folkstone and watched an allied air raid flying over
the continent. They were dropping chaff, so the screen was
turning black behind the lead planes, but we could see German
fighter planes heading up to intercept the bombers, and our
fighters going to meet them.

There was a major ordnance depot on the Salisbury plains
where vehicles and tanks covered large areas of rolling hills.
Near by was Stonehenge which was then open and unguarded
so one could see the megaliths at close range. Beyond Salisbury
is the very pretty Cornwall area; I stayed at a small Camborne
Hotel and went by bus and walking to see St. Ives.

After VE day I arranged to take a trip to the continent. I ac-
companied a British officer, and our mission was to interview
technical personnel who wanted to leave the German area to
be occupied by the Russians, . We left London in a small navi-
gation training prop plane and flew to Brussels; there they
found bearing metal in the engine oil, and sent another plane
to take us on to Frankfurt. I spent several nights in Wiesbaden
and remember an elegant hotel with spas in the basement and
a string quartet playing in the dining room.

We went by car across war ravaged Germany up to what was
then the boundary between Allied held and Russian held ter-
ritory; It was the Mulde River, beyond Leipzig. We stayed in a
village at the river which was crossed by a footbridge. Russian
soldiers on the bridge were anxious to buy wristwatches. Some
of the towns we drove through had been reduced to rubble and
the highway bulldozed clear. At a stop some German children
gathered near the car; when I asked them something from my
German phrase book, they answered in English, which they had
learned in school.

Returning to London from Frankfurt, my orders didn’t route
me through Paris, but I took a plane there anyway. I had no
problem and I got to see a little of Paris, including a Follies
Bergére show, before flying back to London.

AMUSEMENT. Movies were my main diversion, but I saw
other shows too. I attended some concerts in the beautiful
Albert Hall, and along with many Polish soldiers heard
Malczynski’s thrilling Chopin piano concert in Wigmore Hall.
The theater was there even during the war, and I saw many
plays. I saw one show at the Windmill Theater, which had a
semi nude show, and proudly advertised they had never
closed during the blitz.

There was a gymnasium available for exercise, and we
played basketball. The Queen’s Club tennis courts were
open to us, and I played some there. I played tennis many
Sunday mornings with the Military Attaché, General Tindall.
His son had been a ranked player in the US, and the General
was a good player too; I was non expert and even with my
youth couldn’t win from him.

VIPs & OTHERS. There was a constant stream of civilian
and military VIPs who came through the office, some stay-
ing for an extended time. One was Prof. Woodruff of MIT,
author of one of the main Electrical Engineering texts that
I studied at Cal. He was extremely nice and liked to play
poker, but wasn’t too good at it; once I won a 5 pound note
from him and since it was on paper like parchment and
about 6”x8”, I thanked him for my “diploma” in poker. (The
pound was pegged at $4.00 US during the war so things
were expensive in London!)

One time the VIPs were important enough that we had
General Lee’s private train for several days to show them
around. I was a 1st. Lt. at the time, and the lowest ranking
officer on the train; Bill Durrenberger was also there. I was
greatly impressed by the luxury of the General’s train.

When the UN organizational meetings were being held in
London there was a cocktail party for Eleanor Roosevelt, a
US delegate. Bill and I were invited to the party and met and
talked with Mrs. Roosevelt.

FOOD. The officers mess was a couple of blocks from the
office in the basement of the Grosvenor House Hotel on
Park Lane. It was very large, food was served cafeteria style,
and there was always plenty to eat. Every officer that was in,
or came through London, ate there at some time. There was
a bar on the balcony which mainly had only beer available,
but it was the kind of beer we were used to at home and not
the flat beer served in British pubs. Wartime rationing meant
that portions were small in restaurants, and we rarely got
enough to satisfy young men's appetites. One exception was
the Shanghai, a Chinese restaurant in Soho where we got
plenty to eat. They kept a reserved table on a slightly elevated
platform for the Chinese ambassador. The saying there was
that one would have one year of bad luck for every rice grain
left on the plate so we were careful to clean up all our food.
I got my fill of brussels sprouts in England, and ate a lot of
boiled cabbage too. Once I took a British officer to our mess
when cole slaw was on the menu; he had never heard of cabbage
being prepared that way and liked it. Milk and eggs came only
in powdered form and I never got used to that. A rare real egg
or glass of real milk was a treat!

COMING HOME. Col. Reed wanted me to stay in the army, but
even tho he made an annual trip to the US, he was reluctant to
let us go home after the war. So when I had sufficient “points”
I made a formal request to be released from active duty. My
orders finally arrived, and after a send off party I took a train
to Southampton and boarded a small Liberty transport ship
for the trip to Le Havre. I had planned to sleep all the way, but
an officer awakened me and said “Major Burke, you are senior
officer aboard, you are Commander of Troops”. I had never com-
manded anybody in the army, but it turned out that all I had to
do was appoint officers to do the work, and then eat with the
ship’s Captain.

A few days wait at Le Havre ended as I boarded a larger Vic-
tory transport ship for New York. It wasn’t as smooth a trip
as on the Queen Mary and I spent some time in the fresh air on
the deck at mid ship to ward off “mal de mer”. One day we
pushed our way through a light ice flow, but eventually
reached New York. I spent two days at the Pentagon in
Washington, D.C. where I stayed with a college friend,
Mervin Parker, before taking the long train ride home.

LETTERS. Betty and I wrote each other daily the almost
1000 days we were separated. Betty saved all of my letters,
and now over sixty years later I have read them and they
help me remember parts of that time that was bitter but
still sweet and interesting. Following are selected (and
excerpts from) those letters. Most letters have been copied
or excerpted, but retyped for fewer pages and better legi-
bility. The letters used a lot of phonetic shortcuts, such as
nite for night, thot for thought, and corrections have been
made. There are a serious absence of capitals, and no para-
graph separation, this has been corrected where the letters
have been retyped.