THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 16, 1995 TAG: 9508150118
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
WHILE GUS BARLOW was fighting World War II in the South Pacific, his older brother, Gurley, was on the opposite side of the globe defending the port city of Cherbourg, France.
They regularly wrote back and forth between their war fronts - but as Gurley Barlow remembers it, he didn't lack for brotherhood during his time with the U.S. Army's 71st Coast Artillery Regiment, an anti-aircraft unit deployed overseas from Fort Story in Virginia Beach.
The 71st's mission was to protect the skies that surrounded the United States' European allies, Barlow says. Working side by side to achieve that common goal brought the unit's 1,200 soldiers as ``close as a family.''
``A strong bond - stronger than you could ever imagine - developed between the soldiers in the 71st Artillery during World War II,'' Barlow says. ``We were like brothers.''
And even though more than five decades have passed, the fraternal link among those soldiers remains strong because many of those men still make the unit's reunion every two years in Virginia Beach.
``We're getting older!'' says Barlow, 74. ``We sit around and visit and yak about all sorts of things.''
The former comrades are more apt to swap tales about retirement, golf and grandchildren than old war stories, he says. But most of them still have vivid memories of their days protecting the skies over Europe.
Before the war, Gurley Barlow's military experience consisted of the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps at Virginia Tech. After graduating with a degree in agriculture, he worked on the family farm in Isle of Wight County for several months before going in the Army as an officer. He was assigned to the 71st on Sept. 2, 1941, and by the time he was stationed at Cherbourg, he was a major.
Fifty years have passed since Barlow and his fellow soldiers stood guard over France's shoreline. But perhaps because it was his first European assignment, Barlow remembers with ease the long days and seemingly longer nights spent at Cherbourg.
Using special headphones, powerful searchlights and radar, Barlow and his fellow soldiers listened for and tracked fast-approaching German aircraft, including the V-1 drone bombs, headed toward Allied targets.
Once these aircraft were detected, the American defenses launched projectiles designed to strike and destroy moving targets from a 90mm anti-aircraft weapon resembling a cannon, Barlow says.
``Even if we didn't blow the V-1 bombs up, it was considered a kill if we intercepted it enough to prevent it from hitting its assigned target. The unit recorded a 90 percent kill rate of V-1 targets. That means we were successful in exploding or knocking off course 90 percent of the bombs.''
Barlow served five years active duty, then stayed in the Army Reserves for 30 more. He retired in 1973 as a colonel in the 71st Coast Artillery.
``I have fond memories of the time I spent in Europe during World War II. I did my job there and am proud of all that I accomplished.''
And he did it, he says, with the support of his brothers - one in the Pacific, and hundreds of them in France. MEMO: [For related stories see page 9 of THE ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN for this
date.]
ILLUSTRATION: Gurley and Barbara Barlow at home in Smithfield.
Gurley Barlow
Retired in 1973 as a colonel.
by CNB