Charles, my dad was stationed on "South Seymour Island" of the Galapagos which is now called Baltra. 
 
I've checked his notes and various lists and photographs but can't find your name.   However, I suspect your paths must have crossed at some time during those days.
 
 

In his memoirs, this is what my dad wrote about Galapagos.  He always pronounced it Gal  a  pay  gos  so I assumed that everyone there pronounced it that way.  Later I learned that an Army general pronounced it that way so all his command did likewise.  My dad never referred to Galapagos as “The Rock” although I’ve learned that others did.  He said that the particular island they were on was “South Seymour” island.  In trying to research those days, I learned (through the Internet) about the Navy base on the island, now called Baltra.  My dad never mentioned the Navy base.  When I asked him about it, he said that the Navy was on the other end of the island and they rarely had contact.
 
     Most of our stay on the Galapagos was uneventful.  However a few things did happen.  The main island we were on was rather arid.  It didn't rain the entire time we were there.  There were large saguaros Cactus growing there and some small scrubby trees.  There was also a herd of goats on the island. There were both land and sea iguanas, seals and penguins on the island.  We also caught a baby ocelot and raised it, but always had to be careful around it if you didn't want to get bit or scratched.  He eventually went back wild.
 
     On some of the other islands there were wild cattle, wild dogs and tortoises.  We were not supposed to bother them but we did kill a couple of the cattle and ate them, a little tough but tasty.  We also caught a couple of wild dog pups and brought them to our camp and raised them.  They were good to us, but if we had any visitors we had to keep them penned until the dogs got used to them.  When we left Galapagos we took the dogs with us to Panama and gave them to the veterinarian. 
 
     All of our fresh water was shipped in by barge from another island.  It was for cooking and drinking.  We bathed in salt water and used a cheap shampoo for soap most of the time.  We tried to save enough fresh water to shave with. This was also the only outpost we were on where a U.S.O. troupe came to entertain us.  They spent most of one day with us. 
 
     The radar we had used two water-cooled transmitter tubes.  The water needed to be pure or the tubes would get hot and we would have to lower our power output.  The water they shipped us wasn't pure enough so we requested a small still, didn't get it, so we requested permission to build a still.  We already had all the material except copper tubing for the worm.  There was one man with us from West Virginia who said he had seen a still once -- actually there wasn't anything he didn't know about a still.  We built a six-gallon cooker, got copper tubing from the motor pool, used a field kitchen burner for heat and started distilling water.  It worked fine and we went back to full power.  After some thought we decided that if we could find something to make a mash out of we could make moonshine, so we knocked down one of the cactus, peeled it and ground up the pulp, added some water and sugar and let it ferment.  After a few days we drained the liquid off the mash, put it in the cooker and started distillation.  We got about a gallon and a half of moonshine from that batch.  It would burn in a cigarette lighter real well.  So we had to dilute it with water or grapefruit juice.  The mess sergeant took a quart of it on a ration run and brought back a hundred pounds of corn meal and a hundred pounds of sugar.  We were in business.  We colored it with burnt sugar and Lt. Weir would take it to the Officer's Club, where he and others would enjoy it.  Not the best in the world, but any port in a storm.
 
       Galapagos is the hottest place I have ever been.  Of course, we were right on the equator and it is supposed to be hot.  The hottest was 135 degrees in our orderly room.  I don't know how hot it was outside; however, at night we slept under blankets because of the Antarctic current coming by us as soon as the sun started going down the temperature dropped rather quickly.
 
       Finally after about ten months, we left Galapagos and returned to Hunter Field in Panama.  It was nice to be back to civilization again.
 
 
From Galapagos, my dad went back to Panama and Cape Mala.  In March, 1945, he was shipped back to the states.
 
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

My dad, Gordon Buck Sr., always complained that his luggage (footlocker) was lost in shipping from South America to his hometown after WWII.  This must have been a common problem.  What were the reasons and solutions?
 
Gordon Buck, Jr.
http://hornerbuck.com
 
 
 

I've just set up an album for my dad's WWII photos.  The first postings are from Galapagos.
 
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

My dad's photo album link is http://forum.armyairforces.com/albumphoto.asp?albumid=224&asortType=3&apage=1
 
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

Gordon,
 
You can find more information about your father's Signal Aircraft Warning Company by writing to the Air Force Historical Reseach Agency (www.afhra.maxwell.af.mil).  I just did this about 6 months ago and was rewarded by getting a reel of microfilm containing unit history reports for several signal AW companies.  The reports are arranged in unit numerical order, and I definitely recall seeing some correspondence about a signal AW company that was stationed on the Galapagos Islands.  Ask for microfilm reel A0442 (they cost $30).  Or I can search the microfilm again at the local library and send the pages referring to your father's company to you in a PDF format.  Keep in mind that a lot of the correspondence is not very legible.
 
Rick Ruhland
Been There and Done That

Many thanks!  I'm going to look into this right away!
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

ORIGINAL: RR1972

Gordon,

You can find more information about your father's Signal Aircraft Warning Company by writing to the Air Force Historical Reseach Agency (www.afhra.maxwell.af.mil).  I just did this about 6 months ago and was rewarded by getting a reel of microfilm containing unit history reports for several signal AW companies.  The reports are arranged in unit numerical order, and I definitely recall seeing some correspondence about a signal AW company that was stationed on the Galapagos Islands.  Ask for microfilm reel A0442 (they cost $30).  Or I can search the microfilm again at the local library and send the pages referring to your father's company to you in a PDF format.  Keep in mind that a lot of the correspondence is not very legible.

Rick Ruhland
Been There and Done That

 
 
I can't thank you enough, Rick.  I checked that website and emailed for more information.  I provided them with my dad's units of 516th and 554th and they sent me some abstracts from other microfilms.  I'll be ordering several of those microfilms.  In addition, I'm going to post, in a separate reply to this thread, some information summarized from the abstract they sent me.

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

My dad wrote, in part, “We arrived in Panama on the Atlantic side in May 1942 and proceeded through the canal to the Pacific side.  We disembarked and were transported by truck to Fort Clayton and placed in quarantine.  …. I was in the first operation platoon formed, the 516th Signal Air Warning Battalion, and we were sent to Taboga Island in the Bay of Panama to replace the platoon that was there.”
 
Then, sometime around mid-1944, “we left Galapagos and returned to Hunter Field in Panama.  …  After about two weeks of rest and getting physicals we were told that our platoon was being broken up and we each would go to separate outposts.”
 
Then, “I was sent to the Atlantic side of Panama, to the old French Canal, to help organize and teach in a radar school.  I was there about a month and then was transferred to Cape Mala as Radar Site Commander in June of 1944.”  A menu from Cape Mala indicates that this was Company D, 554th SAW.
 
I’ve be unable to find any substantial references to either the 516th or 554th until recently.  I’m hoping this is about to change.  I’ve ordered some microfilm that appears to have more information about these units.  The abstracts for those microfilms look promising.  I hope I’m not jumping the gun, but paraphasing from the abstracts:
 
Originally, the 516th left the US as the Signal Company Aircraft Warning Panama.  They arrived in the Canal Zone 30 May 1940 and established two aircraft warning stations:  one at Taboga Island and the other at Fort Sherman.  They were mostly a ground observer unit until after the war started.  The first six months of 1942 there were 26 stations added.  The company grew into (from?) the 559 Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion, activating 15 March 1942.  On 1 Dec 1942, it (the 559th?) was disbanded and activated into the 516 Signal Aircraft Warning regiment.
 
The 554th was organized 7 March 1942 to furnish aircraft warning service to the 6th Air Force in Panama. 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

My thanks again to Rick Ruhland  for alerting me to the historical microfilms.  I ordered three and two were directly useful.  Although I'm still reviewing them, here's what I've learned so far.
 
The Signal Company Aircraft Warning Panama unit was established in December 1939; it arrived in Panama May 30 to establish two warning stations.  Station 1 was at Fort Sherman (September), Station 2 was at Taboga (November).  Company headquarters was at Fort Clayton.
 
On March 15, 1942, the Signal Company Aircraft Warning Panama was activated as the 558th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion. The 558th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion was disbanded December 1, 1942 and all personnel were transferred in grade to the 516th Signal Aircraft Warning Regiment.  
 
The 516th Signal Aircraft Warning Regiment was activated by General Order 73 of the 6th Air Force at Fort Clayton on December 1, 1942 under command of Captain Robert Knapp. 
 
My dad arrived in Panama during May 1942.  In his memoirs, he wrote that he was part of the 516th but I suspect he was actually part of the 558th at that time.
 
On January 4, 1943, the three officers and 40 enlisted men of the 516th who were stationed on South Seymour Island (Galapagos) were transferred along with Station 201 to the 687th Signal Aircraft Warning Company.  The 687th took over all Aircraft Warning operations in the Galapagos Islands.  
 
In March of 1944, about the time my dad left Galapagos, the SAW platoons of the 516th were being broken up.
 
It seems to me that, sometime after June 1944, the 516th somehow became the 554th but I haven’t found that documentation – yet.
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

I finally found the link between the 516th and 554th:  On November 25, 1944, the 516th SAW Regiment was disbanded and re-activated as the 554th SAW Battalion.  At that time, the 554th operated twenty-two air warning stations.

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

Gordon....I'd appreciate any information you might stumble over regarding Rey Island, Panama.  It was an outpost that housed an emergency runway, plus dad said there was a Radar Unit on the Island with his Crash Boat crew.  There was a CO in charge of whatever command they called the Island, but not sure just what his purpose was.  The Crash Boat crew was independent and reported to someone back on the mainland, but maybe the Radar Crew belonged to this CO as well as his apparent oversight of the runway.
 
If a runway, did they have a Control Tower?  Who responded to a crash?  I know there was a small medical crew headed by a SSgt on the Island.  I have a photo of this guy and his medical vehicle.
 
I'm just curious about the Island and have only been able to find occasional tidbits, but nothing much as to what the investment was for the AC to have it there....although the runway was likely the purpose.  The rest were in support of it I'd guess.
 
Larry

Son of Cpl Charles Caldwell, Engineer Crewman, USAAF Crash Boat P-258, Rey Island, Panama (Pacific side)

I remember and have been looking for information about Rey Island.  Other than confirming that it was Station 43 I've not found much.  It turns out that the assignments of stations to AAF units must have varied quite a bit in those hectic days.  I'll keep looking ...
 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

Gordon....I was directed to a web page, and while wondering around I came across a Section titled: Radar WWII.  It reminded me about this string, so I thought there might be something of value there for you, maybe a lead.  www.skylighters.org/radar/index.html 

You can always hit the delete button

Larry

Son of Cpl Charles Caldwell, Engineer Crewman, USAAF Crash Boat P-258, Rey Island, Panama (Pacific side)

Thanks for remembering me and my quest.  I took a look at the site and article.  It is a good overview but no details about radar in and for the Panama Canal.  Please continue to keep me in mind ...

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

Gordon,
I have a photo of my dad (Thomas Sullivan) in basic training in Camp Wheeler Dec. 1941 - just curious as to whether you had any further info on Camp Wheeler.  He's listed as being in Co. C 7th Training Battalion, and eventually on to 692nd Signal Company (AWS) in 1942.  I know his separation and discharge papers show him as Radar Operator, Teletype Operator and he was in Ascension Islands from 42 to 44.  Unfortunately I'm not familiar with most terms, and unfortunately I do not have much more information on him.  I remember him mentioning Galapagos also, but have nothing to prove or show anything relating to it.  Thanks,
John Sullivan

I'll make another pass through my resources but don't think I have any specifics for you.  My dad didn't write about many details at Camp Wheeler but they must have been there at the same time.  Here's what he wrote:
 
After two or three days at Fort McPherson I was sent to Camp Wheeler at Macon, Georgia to begin my training as a soldier.  I was in a line company and was trained in radio and telephone along with infantry training.  We learned to march, fire our rifles and clean them.  We also learned how to run phone lines and operate a radio.  This went on for about thirteen weeks. 
 
The overcoat that was issued to me at Ft. McPherson was too large -- you couldn't find my hands.  A couple of days after arriving at Camp Wheeler, I took it to the supply room to exchange it.  Upon entering the supply room the Supply Sergeant. said, "Buck, what the hell are you doing here."  I told him to exchange my overcoat, and he said, “Your name is Buck, isn't it?"  I said, “Yes".  He then asked if I had a brother named Lamar and I again said, “Yes."  My older brother Lamar and I could pass for twins, and he had been in the 29th Infantry.  It happened that the supply sergeant, first sergeant and the company commander, a captain, were all in the 29th Infantry with my brother.  Thank goodness, they liked him.  I had it relatively easy.
 
I went to Macon on pass a few times, there wasn't much to see, but we were at least off the base for a while.  On December 5th I got my first weekend pass and went home.  I arrived home about midnight and enjoyed seeing everyone but had to leave early Sunday, December 7th, to meet my ride in Cullman.  We got to Columbus, Georgia after dark and stopped at a cafe to get a hamburger and MP's swarmed on us wanting to know why we were not on base.  We showed our passes and were told that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, and to eat our hamburgers and get back to Camp Wheeler, which we did. On the way we talked about the bombing and actually none of us knew what Pearl Harbor was except it was part of the U.S. military.  The next day we were told everything that we needed to know and listened to President Roosevelt speech on the radio, and war was declared on Japan and Germany.  We were uncertain as to our future, but not for long.
 
Our training at Camp Wheeler was over.  We turned in our rifles and other training equipment and awaited further orders.  A couple of days later we were loaded on a troop train and headed for Tampa, Florida to a new camp called Drew Field.  We were assigned to the Air Corp as  "Signal Air Warning Battalion".  I was assigned to 501 Signal AW Bn.  We had left good heated barracks with a latrine, army cots with mattresses and a nice mess hall at Camp Wheeler. 

Gordon (Jr)
http://www.hornerbuck.com

Thank you Gordon - appreciate reading the letter.  What a nice piece of history (memorabilia) to have - that's great ! 
john

Hi, I'm a first time poster looking for information on the Army Air Corps radar installations in the Caribbean.  My Grandfather was stationed on Trinidad as a radar operator from begining in 1942.

I realize that I'm hijacking this thread to an extent, but I have seen a lot of good information concerning the operations down there on this, and wonder if anyone has any information concerning how many installations there were, or, perhaps if anyone was stationed there.

Any information would be helpful.

Ozpa