Edgartown, its ears unconsciously expectant of the crash of bombs, had a thrilling experience Monday morn­ing when the quiet June air was blasted by what sounded like nothing less than a fleet of bombing planes. The sky proving as blue, and benig­nant as it should on a proper June day in Edgartown, the population, or a large part of it, followed the sound to the harborfront, and was rewarded by the sight of a fleet of menacing looking mosquito boats.

 

One of the victims of the Japanese surprise attack upon the Philippines on Dec. 7 was John H. Campbell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred P. Campbell of New Britain and Oak Bluffs. He had spent all of his summers at Oak Bluffs, except that of 1941, and he had many friends in the town and among the summer colony. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940, and would soon have qualified as a pilot after training in the fundamentals of aviation.

 

The Martha’s Vineyard Rod and Gun Club, more than 200 strong, will report, in case of emergency, as a shotgun brigade, according to a resolution adopted by the club on Wednesday night. The club discussed possibilities of an invasion with grim and practical earnestness before adopting the resolution, taking a report of the arms owned by its membership which consist of at least one shotgun to a man and a number of rifles. Given any sort of break, the club felt that its membership could add considerably to the unpleasant situation of an enemy should one appear.

 

Civilian Defense organizations of the Island responded to their first real call to duty about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon, when air raid signals were sounded the length of the coast, following the report of hostile planes off New York city, a tip which proved unfounded and which some reports say was planned by the government as a test of the air raid facilities of the northeastern coast.

 

Martha’s Vineyard’s share in the $50,000,000 war fund asked by Norman H. Davis, national chairman of the American Red Cross, is $4,250. Mr. Davis’ appeal was broadcast Monday night and alluded to the destruction wrought at Hawaii and other points attacked by the Japanese.

 

The death in action of John Gillespie Magee Jr. has been announced by the British Air Ministry. A pilot officer, he is reported unofficially to have been shot down while flying a Spitfire. His vivid personality and brilliant mind made an unforgettable impression on those who knew him during his two summers spent on Martha’s Vineyard. After leaving here in the fall of 1940, he suddenly decided not to enter Yale, to which he had been admitted, but to go to Canada to train for the British Air service. He was sent overseas a few months ago.

 

A prim feature of the regatta was the visit of one of the new mosquito boats, or P.T. boats so called, to the historic port of Edgartown, where fighting ships of many a generation have put in for one reason or another, yet never presented such a sight as this. Commanded by Capt. A.

Plans for the protection of property and persons on Martha’s Vineyard in the event of a war emergency have been pushed forward this week by the special committee appointed for this purpose by Governor Saltonstall. A meeting was held at the town hall in Tisbury on April 3, at which all the town chairmen were present, save one. H. M. Crist presided as coordinator. Others present were Dr. Francis C. Buckley of Oak Bluffs, Raymond V. Chipman of Tisbury, Francis A. Fos­ter of West Tisbury, Leonard C. Van­derhoop of Gay Head, and Richard L. Colter of Edartown. Ernest J.

The Vineyard had a faint fore­shadowing of the tumult of war this week, when windows were — rattled and houses were shaken by the firing of big guns at Camp Edwards on Cape Cod and by target practice by two warships offshore.

 

The six Martha’s Vineyard observa­tion posts will participate with the 700 similar posts scattered throughout New England in the communications test of the Air Defense Command which will be held this morning be­tween the hours of 10 a. m. and 12 noon. The test is being given for the purpose of instructing observers of the Aircraft Warning Service and setting up a well-working telephone circuit between each observation post and the army information center at Mitchel Field, New York, headquar­ters of the Air Defense Command.