Fall 2010 The Battery Newsletter, The Fort Miles Historical Association

8/8/2019 Fall 2010 The Battery Newsletter, The Fort Miles Historical Association

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FALL 2010

FOR

TMILES

HISTORICALASSOCIATION

The Fort Miles Historical Association is a nonprogroup that has its mission to preserve, proteand defend all aspects of Fort Miles working wcommunity and state stakeholders and othinterested parties. The FMHA also has its goto work as an active partner with the State Delaware to develop the historical potential Fort Miles.


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Welcome to the Fall, 2010 edition

of the Fort Miles HistoricalAssociation Newsletter. There ismuch to report about the work ofFMHA since our last Newsletter.We had a very successful April 24event and our August 7th event,celebrating the surrender of U-858,was also very well attended. Asalways, many thanks to our hardworking FMHA Board for makingboth days go well. As you can seefrom FMHA Board member JohnRoberts photos, lots of work hasbeen done over the last six monthsby John and his elves workingevery Thursday and Friday in theBattery. Without their hard workwe would be years away fromwhere we are in preparing thebunker for our future museum. Weowe these guys big kudos for allthey have done!

Speaking of our museum, we havestarted the first stages of planning

with the Verner Johnson Architectsof Boston to help us with the designof the museum. VJ is recognizedas the premier museum architectsin the country and they have justfinished the US Army Museum atFort Benning. We had one planningmeeting with both VJ and the PRDInteractive group from Arlington,VA to help us with our vision.More meetings are planned forthis fall to come up with whatthe museum might look like in its

final form. At this point what weare thinking is that the northernend of the museum would actuallybe the entrance, the first 200 (theBattery is over 420 from end toend!) would be dedicated to tellingthe story of Delawarein WWII with suchthemes such as: thewar on the homefront; the Germansubmarine attack onthe East Coast; Lewesat War; Fort Miles1940-1991; Fort Milesand the Cold Warand other topics on arotating basis.

The second 200 ofthe bunker would beactually what theBattery looked like in1943 with 12 shells in the shellroom, powder in the powder room,

and a plotting board and towermodels showing how the three teamsof the fort (the towers, the plottingroom, and the guns) worked in aunified way. Both Verner Johnsonand PRD will help us formulatethe action plans which we willtake out to public in a fundraisingcampaign, helped by Mike Rawland his Horizon PhilanthropicServices group during the next yearto raise the necessary monies forour museum to come alive. Over

the next year we will be coming toboth our FMHA membership andour general community to opentheir hearts (and pocketbooks) tohelp us raise the funds to make themuseum the best WWII museum

inside a WWIIfacility in thecountry. We havecome a long waybut we still a longway to go!

As I previouslymentioned, ourApril 24 eventwas very wellattended. The daywas dedicatedto the memoryof Lee Jenningsand his immensecontribution to the

Fort Miles effort. Linda JenningsLees wife, attended with other

1 Fort Miles Historical AssociationSeasonal Newsletter Fall 2010

Board of Directors

President

Dr. Gary Wray

Secretary

Ted George

Treasurer

Merlin Beil

Board Members

Bev Dalecki

Dan Lyons

Bob Frederick

Joe Kosaveach

Joe Johnson

Ray QuillenBob Fellows

Brian Lindsay

Jack Goins

John Roberts

From the Desk of the President

By Dr. Gary Wray


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members of his family as we allcelebrated his life and his effortsto make the Fort Miles Museumcome alive. It was a touching andmemorable ceremony. FMHAhosted a reception in Lees honor inthe Orientation Building at the endof the day.

At our August 7th event wefocused on the surrender ofU-858 and we were joined by Dr.William Carter, a Sussex Countynative and a survivor of the ill-fated Convoy PQ17 that was sodecimated by German Luftwaffeand submarines as itmade its way aroundNorway to Russiawith war supplies. Dr.Carters duty stationwas on a 3/50cal gun

on the convoy and werecreated that eventof firing that same3/50cal gun underDr. Carters commandduring the day.

The culminating activityduring the August event was thePaver Induction Ceremony in the southpowder room where we recognized thefirst sixty inductees in our Fort MilesWall of Honor. The ceremony wasvery touching where members ofthe almost 100 person audiencegave testimony to each of theirloved ones who sacrificed so much

in defense of our country. Weare now in the second phase ofthe Paver Campaign and we areincluding a Paver Application withthis Newsletter. We would hopethat if you support our museumand our plans, you would purchasea paver for a loved one for our Wallof Honor. The next Paver Induction

will be at our November 6, 2010Open House inside Battery 519, 10-

4pm with the Paver Induction at2pm. FMHA will have food (EttaKosaveachs famous chili) anddrink during the day. Of course,your contribution to the museum

and/or the Wall of Honor PaverCampaign is tax deductible.

Finally, as Ray Bivens mentionedin his article, we are putting thefinal touches on a video on FortMiles, thanks to a grant from theDelaware Department of Tourism.The video is produced by Sharon

Fort Miles Historical Association 2Seasonal Newsletter Fall 2010

Baker of Teleduction in Wilmingtonand is going to be used both at theFort as an introduction to Fort Milesfor tours, but its main purpose wilbe with Delaware schools as anoverview of the Fort for Delawareyoungsters in elementary, middleand high school. We are excitedabout the video and it will be shown

for the first time at our Open Houseon November 6 at 11am and thenall through the day.

So, as I previously mentioned, weare well on our way to completingthe vision of our museum insideBattery 519. We welcome JimHall, the new Park Historian, ashe works with us along with RayBivens, Tim Resch, Mike RogersPat Cooper and Paul Fairclothand many others to make Lees

vision come alive over the nextseveral years. We have come along way but we have a long wayto go yet to finish the job. Asalways, thanks for your valuableand continuing support.

News From the Publicity Committee

By Bob FellowsMany hours by all have resulted inlarge increases in attendance to all2010 Fort events.

Fort Miles Battery Tours arescheduled for Saturday, September

4th and 11th, October 9th, November13th and 27th and December 11th at2 PM. Tour cost is $5.00 for age 8and over.

Tours by Lantern Light are schedulefor Saturday, September 4th and18th at 7 PM. October 2nd and 30that 6 PM. Tour cost is $5.00 for ages

10 and over. Pre -registration forall tours is required. Call 302-645-6852 or 302-644-5007.

Dont forget to mark your calendarfor the Battery 519 open house onNovember 6th. See our websitefor more details at http://wwwfortmilesha.org

We always welcome new thoughtson how to get the word out to morepeople so if you have any goodideas, we would love to hear them

Many thanks to the FMHAPublicity Committee: BobFredrick, Bev Dalecki, BrianLindsay, Jack Goins, Merlin Beil,Dan Lyons, Steve Hyle, Dr. GaryWray and Mike Rogers for keepingFort Miles on the front page.

Late newsletter addition:

Sadly, we were recently informedthat Dr. Carter passed away onSeptember 11, 2010. His familyhas asked that FMHA furnish the

Honor Guard for his Ceremony ofLife on September 18, 2010 at theCarter Partnership Building, DelTech in Georgetown.


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3 Fort Miles Historical AssociationSeasonal Newsletter Fall 2010

Bits From the Bunker BustersBy John Roberts and Joe

Kosaveach

Weve been busy over the springand summer. Our big project wasthe electrical upgrades to Battery519.

When Battery 519 was originallybuilt, the electrical utilities ranunder the floor and down thecorridor in the cable chase, a 10inch by 28 inch channel in the eastwall of the corridor. Our plan wasto run our modern power needs inthe original pathways. This wouldallow us to install everything weneed for our present and futurepower needs and meet moderncode, and at the same time, have itcompletely out of sight.

In the design of this upgrade, wealso built all new covers for thecable chase, patterned after theblueprints and the existing covers inBattery Smith. Wewere also ableto use somecreativity and hidethe emergencylighting, a majordetractor in anyhistoric restoration,

and conceal LEDlighting in thecable chase covers.Out of sight, andfar exceed code requirements foremergency lighting. It also makes forgreat lighting during lantern tours.

This process took place over about 4 months, and hats off to theFMHA for allowing us to purchasematerials under their auspices.

Included were over 11,000 feet ofwire and 1500 feet of conduit, andquite a few sore muscles frompulling on ropes threaded throughthese long wiring runs. We nowhave power in the gun pit for ourup and coming sound system.

We passed our electrical inspectionon the first pass, and this meanswe can cover our new conduitswith concrete in the generatorroom, completely concealing thesemodern upgrades from the publicview.

In addition, we harvested a pairof original panel boards from oneof the abandoned bunkers. Werestored them, both in appearanceand electrically, and installed them

in their original locations. Theanchors were stillin the walls, andstill useable. Oneof them actuallyoperates some ofour lights, and thegoal, when we getmore resources,is to restore theoriginal part of theelectrical systemwith period correct

fixtures andcabling wherever it is visible to thepublic.

Weve also been painting, and nowall of that greenis gone! We stillhave work to do,but were gettingclose to havingall surfacesspecified forpaint covered.

The southpowder andshell roomsare painted in a

gray that closely approximates theoriginal concrete surfaces averagecolor. The gun rooms and thecorridors immediately behind themwill remain unpainted with theiroriginal surfaces. A thanks goesout to the Park for buying us thematerials for this project!

Thanks to Fred, all of Battery 519sconcrete access covers are restoredThese provide access to the originalbelow-floor conduits used for theoriginal communications systemand power system. These had tobe demolished in order to removethem due to extreme rust, andFred straightened out and restoredthe original steel frames and recastthem with new concrete. They lookgreat, and now the original phonesin the gun room are connected tothe outside through the originalconduits. This restoration alsoallowed us to run modern powerwiring to the gun pit, the motor/generator room and the southcorridor where the searchlight isparked, completely concealed.

All in all, a lot of work for very fewdollars withan amazingresults! Themost rewardingcomments arefrom those whovisit every coupleof months, andare astoundedhow fast thingsare improvingthe quality of the

effort, and theirdesire to come back again just to seethe results of a dedicated, passionateand talented volunteer effort.

So, hats off to Harry, Steve, TomJack, Fred, Joe K and everyone elsewho worked on this fairly involvedand labor intensive project. And thecorridor covers look great, givingthe corridor a far more finishedappearance.

Also, a big shout out to the Parkstaff for clearing all the rubbleaway from the demolition of theold generator/LORAN beacon shedoutside 519. Outside as well, theplace looks so much better nowwith all that debris out of the way


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April 2010 event

Lee Jennings Memor

August 2010 event& Paver Ceremony

Dr. William Carter


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ORDER YOUR ENGRAVED PAVERFor the Wall of Honor at the Fort Miles Museum

LEWES, DELAWARE

Now you can support the new Fort Miles museum, receive a tax deduction and have

your name or that of a loved one honored on a handsome brick paver. Each engraved

paver will be prominently displayed in Battery 519, Americas rst WWII museum at

an actual military site.

More than 10,000 visitors each year will see your paver, and we will send a tribute

card to whoever you designate, telling them of this special honor.

The tax-deductible cost for each paver is just $200, including delivery and installation

in a well-lighted entrance area. This rst phase of the wall of Honor will accomodate

just 500 pavers and orders are being accepted on a rst-come basis. Be sure to reserve

your paver now by returning the form below.

About Fort Miles

Americas rst on-site WWII museum is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, where massive armament wa

secretly installed during WWII to turn back possible invations by German naval forces and protect the key port of Philadelphia.

Prominently displayed at the museum is one of Battery 519s two 12 inch cannons, large enough to propel a shell 17 miles, as well a

searchlights powerful enough to light the beach of Cape May, NJ. Visitors can also climb a coastal tower and tour an actual cantonmen

where soldiers lived and worked - an active city of 2,500 men and women. The coastal towers along the Delaware shoreline were th

eyes of Fort Miles - strategically placed to triangulate readings if enemy ships were located. Your donation to the Wall of Hono

helps support the Fort Miles museum.

Engraving Instructions

LIMIT 3 LINES OF 16 CHARACTERS PER LINE- spaces, punctuation & symbols count as characters

2

name phone

street city

state zip email

Send orders to: FMHA Wall of Hon

c/o Horizon Philanthropic Services

P.O. Box 802

Lewes, DE 19958

Questions? Call 302.644.0107

YES, I want to purchase a paver at the Fort Miles Museum. All donations are tax deductible. Enclosed is my check made payable to: the F

Miles Historical Association.

$_______ for _____ paver(s)


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New BeginningsBy Ray Bivens, Chief ofProgramming, DE State Parks

I still vividly remember myfirst time exploring Battery 519.It was seven years ago; I hadrecently started as the Chief ofInterpretation for Delaware StateParks. My guides hair was a little

out of control and it had nothing todue with the humidity levels of thebunker. He was giving quite thesales pitch on what was possiblein the future for this abandonedstructure that was ridden withtrash, graffiti, and plenty of signsof rodents, raccoon, and snakes.I was a bit skeptical but I stayedclose, intently listening, mainlybecause my guide, Lee Jennings,was carrying the only flashlight.Lee was predicting this historic site

would be bigger than Fort Delawareone day; I had my doubts that dayabout Lees vision but never again.I still wonder if those flashlightbatteries would have died, could wehave found our way out?

Later that year Lee, Jim ONeill,and I met with two young guys whoon their own were mapping outFort Miles and all of the associatedstructures. We didnt tell them atour first meeting, but many of themaps they had created were betterthan anything we had at the time.We soon convinced Nate Davidsonto become an AmeriCorps memberand the other young man, MikeRogers, signedon as a volunteerresearcher andtour guide. Someof the first toursoffered of thebattery had

over 100 payingcustomers. Itwas my job to sitMike and Natedown over dinnerand let themknow that they couldnt take thatmany people on a tour and stillgive a quality experience.Over the years the Fort Miles wehave today took shape thanks to

the passion and energy of manyvolunteers and park staff. Thatpassion is present now more thanever. You maynot know thatCape Henlopen hasmore volunteerhours of serviceeach year than any

other park in thestate. This yearpark volunteerslogged over 29,000hours, which is theequivalent of 15full-time positions.Without strongcommitment fromour Friends, thepark would be amuch different place. Thank youfor all you do!

Since March there have been manyoccasions when I wish Lee couldhave been with me at Fort Miles likehe used to be. The August specialevent was incredibly successful!The paver campaign is off to atremendous start and the ceremonywas very moving. We have a bid inhand from Verner Johnson to startformal museum and site planning.But my favorite moment occurredalmost by accident. At our Augustspecial event we had a film crewhelping to create a promotionalvideo for school kids and teachers.The film is being funded by a grantpursued by Dr. Wray and Lee and

written by KimJohnson. Apair of youngre-enactors ledby John Kellyand I grabbedan Azimuth

instrument andclimbed Tower7 to recreate amember of thecoast artillerysearching for

German ships. I believe we gotsome great shots and cant waitto see the final product. On theway home it dawned on me thatit may have been 65 years sincean Azimuth instrument was last

peering out a fire control tower slit

I would like to introduce theFMHA members toJim Hall, DelawareState Parks new ParkHistorian. Many of youmay know Jim fromhis work at the Indian

River Life SavingStation and DelawareSeashore State ParkFor the past five yearshe has served as thePark Interpretermanaging the museumpark environmentaleducation programsand special eventshosted at the site

After spending several years inMinnesota, Jim returned to our

park system. He had previouslyserved as a seasonal employee atPort Penn, Fort Delaware, andCape Henlopen. Jim is a creativeproblem solver with a strong workethic; I look forward to Septemberwhen Jim will start full-time in thePark Historian position. I especiallylook forward to seeing him put hisfingerprints on Delaware StatePark History programs.

In closing, on behalf of all divisionstaff, I would like to thank theFMHA board and membershipfor their support of DelawareState Parks. Without your groupI believe that there would be noannual special events at FortMiles, no restored 12 inch gunand we would probably still beviewing the bunker by light of theflashlight. We still have much toaccomplish but I look forward tomany more milestones resulting

from our successful partnership!

About Ray: Ray Bivens is the Chiefof Programming for DelawareState Parks. He is responsiblefor management of DelawaresState Parks Archeology, CulturaResources, Exhibits, Interpretationand Recreation programs. SinceMarch, Ray has served as thetemporary FMHA liaison forDelaware State Parks.

Fort Miles Historical Association 6Seasonal Newsletter Fall 2010


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Another Summer DownBy Mike Rogers

Fort Miles, DE State Parks

Another summer down anotherexcellent season for Fort Miles.Unfortunately I was not aroundfor most of it, as I was at BasicCombat Training with the USArmy for most of the summerseason. However, being away forthe summer gave me a view that Ihave not experienced in the 6 yearsthat I have been with the project.

When my family came to pick meup at Fort Jackson, South Carolinaneither my wife nor my motherrecognized me. I had lost 40 poundsand 6 inches from my waist. Iwatched my transformation occur

in the mirror every day, so I didntreally notice just how drastic thechange was. However, for myfamily, it was quite a shock.

Fort Miles had quite a similarimpact on me when I returned10 weeks later. For so long Ihave been on the site every dayand watching the transformation.Being away from it for some timeunderscored the amazing progress

and the speed at which it is beingachieved by our dedicated crew ofvolunteers. To John Roberts, FredNoll, Harry Winn, Tom Anderson,and the rest of the crew workingdiligently to bring Battery 519 backto life, I say thank you and great

job! Take some time to read overJohns article in this newsletter to

learn more about what the crewhas been up to.

Uncle Sam also had me busyduring the August special event.However, I have had nothing butpositive feedback from our re-enactors and Tim Resch, who didsuch an awesome job filling in forme while I was away. Again, I saythank you to the re-enactors andthe association for making thatevent a success.

As I get back into the swing of thingsthe Fort Miles project continues tomake amazing progress. Its kindof like jumping on a train that isntstopping at your station. Crews areworking on and around Battery 519to clean up the years of overgrowth.The electrical system inside of thebuilding is nearly complete andthe panels on the cable chase arefinished and installed.

While the work moves on, sodoes the publicity. The Fort andthe efforts of its volunteers havereceived some awesome coveragein local papers. A productioncompany is currently workingon a short documentary to helpeducate people about the historyof Fort Miles. A draft of that

documentary is available on theassociations website. The Forthas also attracted the attention othe Ladies Auxiliary of the VFWIn late August Gary Wray and Ihad the pleasure of escorting theNational President of the LadiesAuxiliary of the VFW, CortinaBarnes through Tower 7 and Battery519. Ms. Barnes also visited Tower3 at Delaware Seashore State ParkThe tour went very well, and sheand her crew seemed thoroughly

impressed with the history of FortMiles and the plans to restore it.

As the summer season of 2010comes to a close and vacationersventure back to their home basesthe restoration of Fort Miles willcontinue to surge ahead, ensuringanother pleasing shock of progressfor our visitors next year.

Front entrance Looking towards the north gunroom Looking towards the south gunro

Some photos before and during restoration (2003 and 2010)


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General 261st Coast Artillery (life member) $1,000.

Colonel , 261st Coast Artillery $500.

Major, 261st Coast Artillery $250.

Captain, 261st Coast Artillery $100.

Small Business $75.

Dual/Family $20.

Individual $15.

Student $10.

Name: _______________________________________

Address: ___________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________

City: _________________, State__________ Zip: ________________

Phone: (___) _______________

Email: _____________________Please check one:

Help us preserve, restore and protect this remarkable site--become a member of theFort Miles Historical Association simply by lling out the form below and mailing it with

your check to the address listed below.

Enclosed is my check in the amount of: $__________

Make Checks payable to:

Fort Miles Historical AssociationDr. Gary Wray, President120 E. Wild Rabbit Run

Lewes, DE 19958

We are also seeking volunteers to learn how to give battery tours, and/or run our Sperry

searchlight. Our goal is to have a substantial group of members that can assist the FortMiles staff with tours and other related programs. Volunteers will receive all the training

and informative materials needed. So, if youve taken a battery tour and feel it might be

something you would like to help with, ll out this bottom form, and mail it to Dr. Gary Wray atthe address just above. If you would like further information, please call Dr. Wray at302-645-0753.

Yes, I would like to become a volunteer!

Name

Address

Phone

Email

Cut along this line if only mailing one application

NEW!

!


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Fort Miles Historic Association120 East Wild Rabbit RunLewes, DE 19958

FOR

TMILES

TORICALASSOCIATION

Documents

Fall 2010 The Battery Newsletter, The Fort Miles Historical Association