ARTHUR EARL, Class of

AIR TRANSPORT COMMAND, EL AOUINA AIR BASE, TUNISIA (TUNIS)

The job of Aircraft Engineering Officer in Tunis, one of the more scenic stations of the Air Transport
fs Command
fs North African Division, has fallen to Capt. Arthur W. Earl, of Dover, New Jersey. He is in charge of the repair and maintenance of all aircraft coming in to the base.

The City of Tunis lies along the Tunisian coast of the Mediteranean at the southern end of a picturesque bay, mountains and farmlands add to its beauty. Tunis is also the very center of history, for just over the hill lies the ancient city of Carthage, focal point of Hannibal
fs debarkation. Towns whose names made news in 1943 are sprinkled within walking distance of the air base. The famous Cap Bon Peninsula, where the Allies scored their first telling blow against Adolf Hitler
fs Nazi World, is less than eighty miles away; North African Division planes pass it, daily.

The North African Division under the command of Brig. Gen. James S. Stowell, is currently engaged in a two-fold program --- rushing vital war material to the China front while at the same time ferrying more than 40,000 veterans to the States each month. Casablanca, Division Headquarters, daily sends 1,300 men on their way home, some to be discharged and others redeployed to the Pacific.

Passengers coming into Tunis enjoy meals and the facilities of a newly erected air terminal while Captain Earl and his men are making sure that his aircraft are in tip-top shape. Given attention, especially, are those transports which have recently returned from duty in Italy and southern Europe. In many cases, engines have to be changed, worn-out parts renewed, hydraulic, electric and mechaical systems all have to be thoroughly checked. With his experience of 20 months over seas, at such bases as Accra, Marrakech and Cairo, Captain Earl is competently supervising this operation.

In February of last year, Captain Earl met two men, friends who formerly lived in Dover. Bob Terwilliger and Romolo Pannullo, two of his classmates from Teacher
fs College, were stationed with him for 16 months in Cairo. Entering the Army in February, 1942, he attended Air Corps School in California and South Carolina, graduated from Yale University after completing the Engineer Cadet course, and was stationed at the Curtis Wright factory in Buffalo, before coming overseas. He is the son of Mr. Arthur P. Earl, who lives at 37 Central Avenue, Dover, N.J. His wife, the former Betty Allen, lives with her parents in Newark.

Story by Private Robert A. Johnston
Public Relations Office
North African Division
Air Transport Command.

CERTIFIED PASSED BY FIELD PRESS CENSOR

(In handwritten note: Press release received Oct. 15 ?
f45)