Oroville Mercury Register
June 18, 1945
Lt. Smallwood Dies In Crash of Plane
2nd Lt. W. C. Smallwood, 26, AAF, has been reported killed
in a plane crash that occurred last Monday near Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Lt. Smallwood was the son of Mrs. Smallwood Phipps of Fair Oaks,
formerly of Oroville, and the husband of Mrs. Beverly Smallwood
of Shawnee.
Wounded In Action
Pvt. Sam J. Brown, husband of Mrs. Gertrude P. Brown of Gridley
has been reported wounded in action in the Pacific regions, according
to an official announcement of the Office of War Information.
Finds War Is A Tough Life
Cpl. Terry D. Smith is home on furlough from Forney General Hospital
at Palm Springs, where he has been receiving hospital care since
January for wounds received at Tinnian where he was a gunner. He
with three others were the only survivors of this crew of twelve.
He entered the service in the spring of 1941 and took his training
at Camp Roberts then to the Marshall Islands, where he saw action
at Kwadjeline then on to Siapan and Tinnian. Cpl. Smith is the son
of Mrs. E. Jackson of Forbestown, where he attended school. Before
entering service he was employed at Bunker Hill and other mines
near La Porte. He is a nephew of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Reilly with
whom he has made his home since finishing school. He is entitled
to wear six gold bands, a pre-Pearl Harbor and three bronze stars.
Johnson Encounters Dust Storm In Mid Pacific
Mrs. W. W. Scott has received from her son-in-law, T/4 Howard Johnson,
an account of his regiment’s battle record in the Luzon campaign.
His regiment executed a daring maneuver in their advance to the
Zig Zag Pass and destroyed the greater part of the opposing Japanese
regiment ordered to defend the pass to the death. His regiment then
advanced through the Bataan peninsula and assisted in liberation
of that province. They continued a ruthless offensive through highly
organized and desperately defended Japanese positions in mountainous
country. Each individual Japanese soldier had to be routed out of
his cave and killed. The American losses were relatively light but
the Americans killed over 600 Japanese. The 149th regiment
is a part of the 38th Division, the avengers of Bataan.
Sgt. Johnson went to a rest camp for a period after the campaign.
Since then he has been engaged in further fighting on Luzon. Sgt.
Johnson has been overseas a year and a half. He was in New Guinea
for some time before the landing on Luzon. On his trip to New Guinea
his ship ran into a dust storm in mid-Pacific. It was shrouded in
thick choking volcanic dust thought to be from some island. He sent
a sample of the dust from the ship to his wife, Mrs. Wilma Johnson
of Sacramento as a memento.
Bacon Brings High Bid At Bond Auction
With a slab of bacon drawing a bid of $5000 while a 50-foot lot
worth 100 times as much, got a bid of only $2000., bonds to a total
of $33,431 were sold at the auction held Saturday evening. The bidding
was spirited for the most part, but Mayor Sedgwick, who bid $50
on a purebred puppy, donated by Henry B. Everett, ran into a slump
and was astonished when the auctioneer’s helper dumped the 15 pounds
of pedigree into his arms. “What’ll I feed ‘im?” the mayor asked.
Walter Fish considered himself lucky to get away with a ham for
$3100 in bonds. Gordon Hill, who got the slab of bacon, paid out
$100 to get a gallon of olive oil. An electric iron went o Lloyd
Extell for $1000. Other big bids were those of Roy Guault of $2000
for three quarts of whiskey and a carton of cigarettes, Clifford
Rhine of $1900 for two fifths of Old Taylor whiskey, Earl Kelly
of $200 for a case of tomatoes, and W. B. Henry of $800 for a gallon
of olive oil. A $300,000 subscription form the First National Bank
of Oroville raised the over-all total past $1,022,326. Of this amount
only $250,986.25 is in E bond subscriptions- 45% of the district’s
E bond allotment of $555,000.
Stu’s Notes; Clifford Rhine lost his son Arlin on Iwo Jima just
a few months before this Bond sale. This is all we know of Lt. Smallwood,
we do know if he died for his Country. We will try to find out if
he was from Butte County. I have found very few stories of wounded
Butte County Soldiers, I hope they both recovered.
The Oroville Veterans Memorial Park Committee again will have
an entry in the Light Parade tomorrow night, thanks to Bill Fox
and his committee.