From the S&S archives: Gen. LeMay Tours EATS Bases In Berlin, Bremen

WIESBADEN, Oct. 27 — Lt. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, 43-year-old chief of the Air Force. in Europe, today made an informal eight-hour tour of the EATS bases in Bremen and Berlin, the two northernmost fields under his command.

Piloting his personal C47 over the 750-mile circuit, LeMay's look-see was the first he has made of distant USAFE installations since he arrived for duty last Monday.

He ate meat loaf in the EM mess at the Bremen Air Base and spent most of his day examining facilities available to the GIs. He had given advance notice that he wanted no fanfare, formations or special activities on his behalf. He was, he said, "just interested," and at the end of the day he commented:

"Things look good."

Alternately chewing on an unlit pipe or cigar, the former B17 and B29 boss of two theaters acquired expert briefing from commanding officers and gathered such miscellany as the fact that the 134th Airways and Air Communications Det. at Bremen had a surplus of both officers and EM, and that the Special Services library at Tempelhof owned, according to the German girl in charge, 2,173 books.

He was briefed at Bremen by Col. Fred T. Crimmins, Jr., CO, while looking over the base installations serving the 52 officers and 250 EM of the 303rd Sta. Complement Sq. of EATS.

At Templehof, where he was met by Lt. Col. William H. De Lacy, chief of operations, he visited the officers' bachelor quarters at Columbia House, walked through the "Twilight Hour" EM nightclub, in the company of M: Sgt. Robert J. Munro, club president, and went through recreation and living facilities of the 12th Tp. Carrier Sq.

Other units at the field, which has 463 EM and 92 officers operating the EATS terminal, include the 199th Sta. Complement Sq., the 2025th Labor Supervision Co. and the 1119th MP Sv. Co.

"Too long," was his terse comment to the answer of an officer, who told him it would take 10 days or longer to outfit his men in full field equipment. While inspecting a supply room, he also warned against illegal possession of trophy weapons or newly-bought Czechoslovakian rifles which were not under squadron guard.

He was particularly impressed with the new basketball gymnasium built by the EATS unit at Berlin.