FMHA261

F

ORT MILES

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION

“...To Protect And Preserve...”

ISSUE 001.01 DECEMBER, 2004

YESTERDAY

TODAY

AND TOMORROW

IN THIS ISSUE

CREATING THEU-858 DIORAMA

pg. 8

FORT MILES &TWO GERMANSUBMARINES

pg. 3

FORT MILES:LEGACY FROM

THE PAST &A PLAN FORTHE FUTURE

pg. 5

GET INVOLVED

HELP RESTORE

FORT MILES

FORT MILES TO

BE SITE OF

MAJOR WWII

REENACTMENTS

FORT MILES

ADDED TO

THE NATIONAL

REGISTRY OF

HISTORIC

PLACES

CONTENTS

1

MISSION STATEMENT OF THE FORT MILESHISTORICAL ASSOCIATION .....................................................................2

FORT MILES & TWO GERMAN SUBMARINES:THE STORY OF U-853 & U-858

..........................................................3

FORT MILES:LEGACY FROM THE PAST & A PLAN FOR THE FUTURE

...................5

CREATING THE U-858 DIORAMAHISTORY IN GLUE AND PLASTIC

.........................................................8

THE FOUNDING OF THE FMHA9

MY FONDEST MEMORIES OF FORT MILESTHE 2004 TOUR SEASON

...............................................................10

FINDING WHAT DOESN’T EXISTPLOTTING THE LOST BUILDINGS OF MILES

.....................................12

By Dr. Gary Wray, President FMHA

By Lee Jennings, DNREC .......................................................

By Ted George, FMHA Secretary ......

By David Main, Co-Founder FMHA ............................................................

By Nate Davidson, Americorps

By Mike Rogers, DNREC .....................................

FMHABOARD OFDIRECTORS

Dr. Gary WrayPresident

Ted GeorgeSecretary

Steve HyleTreasurer

David MainCo-Founder

Bob FredrickCo-Founder

Joe JohnsonMember

Frances RichmannMember

MEMBERSHIPBECOME A MEMBER OF THE FORT MILES HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP IS ONLY

$10.00! YOU CAN BECOME A PART OF THE RESTORATION PROJECT OF ONE OF AMERICA’S MOSTPOWERFUL SEACOAST FORTIFICATIONS. SIMPLY DETACH AND RETURN THE LOWER HALF OF THIS PAGE

ALONG WITH YOUR CHECK MADE PAYABLE TO:

FORT MILES HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION120 EAST WILD RABBIT RUN

LEWES, DE 19958CUT HERE

NAME

ADDRESS

PHONE E-MAIL

FMHA DEC, 2004

Cover Photo byMike Rogers

Revision 001 - January 2005

MISSION STATEMENT

2FMHA DEC, 2004

The Fort Miles HistoricalA s s o c i a t i o n i s anonprofit group that hasa s i t s m i s s i o n t opreserve, protect anddefend all aspects ofFort Miles working withcommunity and statestakeholders and otherinterested parties. TheFMHA also has its goalto work as an activepartner with the State ofDelaware to develop thehistorical potential forFort Miles.

A wave crashes against the base of Fire Control Tower #5at Gordon’s Pond, just south of Herring Point. Several

Fort Miles structures are threatened by the forces ofnature.

Photo byNate Davidson

The history of Fort Miles and the new Fort MilesMuseum that is planned is closely linked to the story of twoGerman World War II submarines, U-858 and U-853,sister boats launched in Bremen, Germany in 1943. Howthey became involved with the great fort in Lewes makesfor a very interesting story.

Of all of Germany’s forces in World War II, theGerman navy’s submarine arm came closest toAmerica’sshores. Most Americans do not know that during thewinter of 1941-1942, soon after the Japanese attack onPearl Harbor, Germany sent five submarines to attack theeast coast of the United States. This attack, code named

by the Germans, brought the war tothe general coast of America, and of course, also theDelaware coast. Ultimately this attack lasted six months,killed over 6000 sailors and sank almost 300 ships,making it far worse than the attack on Pearl Harbor. Yet few Americans know about this first threat tohomeland security in the 20th century. This is one of the stories that we will be telling in the new WWIImuseum inside the completed Battery 519.

If most American’s don’t know about the German submarine attack on the east coast in early 1942,fewerAmericans know that the German navy launched a final attack on the east coast of the United Statesin the closing days of WWII. Just a few months before Hitler was to take his life and the war ended, theGerman navy sent six boats from bases in Norway to attack our coast and to, hopefully repeat thesuccesses of . These two submarines, U-853 and U-858 were a part of that attack.The attack failed and one of the boats was destroyed (U-853, the last boat sunk in the war) and the othersurrendered at Fort Miles on May 14, 1945. This is their story.

These two U-boats were sisters, built as part of a six-boat contract by AG Weser in Bremen,Germany in 1943. They both were of a new model of Type IX boats, which was the long range Germansubmarine force attack, or . They had extended range (almost 12,000 miles) and werestreamlined to be able to drive faster than other submarines, thus better avoiding destruction by Alliedaircraft. With these new capabilities, they were labeled Type IXC/40 boats. Each was armed with two twin20mm anti-aircraft weapons made by Mauser to be able to fight offAllied air attacks. During WWII only 111Type IX submarines were launched by Germany (of the over 1162 German submarines accepted intoservice) but they sunk over 25% of all the Allied tonnage sunk during the war. They were, without a doubtthe most dangerous and effective of all of Germany’s stealth weapons of WWII.

Operation Drumbeat

Operation Drumbeat

frontboot

3FMHA DEC, 2004

Joe Johnson and Dr. Gary Wray with the Twin Mauser 20mm FlakCannon from U-853. It is currently being restored by Shore Electricfor display in Battery 519.

FORT MILES & TWO GERMAN

SUBMARINESTHE STORY OF U-853 AND U-858

By Dr. Gary Wray, President, FMHA

Continued on page 4

4FMHA DEC, 2004

U-858 was laid down on December 11, 1942and commissioned on September 30, 1943. Hercaptain was Kptlt. Thilo Bode for her entire warcareer and it was Bode who surrendered her to USforces at Fort Miles on May 14, 1945. After workingup trials in the Baltic Sea, she had two ratherunsuccessful war patrols before her 61 man crewarrived at the Fort Miles Base Brig (now the CapeHenlopen State Park Nature Center) forinternment. Other than practice, she never fired atorpedo in anger, nor did she sink a ship on her twopatrols. After her surrender she was visited bymany schoolchildren from southern SussexCounty, and then towed up the Delaware Bay toPhiladelphia where she participated in the lastVictory Bond drive of the war. Later she was takento New England where she was destroyed withseveral other German submarines in a US Navyexercise in the fall of 1947. Ted George, secretaryof the FMHA has done an excellent diorama of thesurrender of U-858 which is presently on display inthe Nature Center at Cape Henlopen State Park.We know quite a bit about the final trip of U-858 aswe interviewed crew member Karl Heinz Bahr in2001 and have his story. I will write about this in afuture article devoted to U-858.

The story of U-853 is a bit more exciting thanthat of U-858. She was laid down earlier than hersister ship, on August 21, 1942 and wascommissioned on June 25, 1943 under thecommand of Kptlt. Helmut Sommer. She went onthree war patrols and sank two ships for a total of5783 tons destroyed. On her second patrol on May14, 1944, she was attacked on the surface by threeBritish Swordfish aircraft and her captain at thattime (KrvKpt. Gunter Kuhnke, winner of theKnight’s Cross) engaged the enemy on the surfacewith her anti-aircraft weapons, including her twotwin 20mm Mauser cannons. Her gunners struckall three attackers and forced one of them to bejettisoned when it returned to its ship, the

. The FMHA presently has in itspossession one of the two twin 20mm cannonswhich is being restored to original condition by itsmembers. How we secured that cannon is anotherstory that we will tell at a later date, but Joe Johnsonand his team is working hard to restore the Mauser20mm back to it’s original condition so it can be puton permanent display inside Battery 519. The

EmpireMackendrick

Association is proud that we have secured anactual German navy weapon from the sister ship ofU-858 that surrendered at Lewes herself; the lastGerman navy craft destroyed in WWII. The story ofher demise is a sad one.

In early May, 1945 as Germany was aboutto surrender, the German naval high commandsent signals to all craft at sea that they were tocease combat operations on May 4, 1945.Evidently, U-853 was submerged at the time anddid not receive that transmission (or her radioequipment had been damaged in a previousattack) and continued to engage the enemy. OnMay 5, 1945, while submerged near the US coastin the shallow waters off of Rhode Island Sound,she spotted an enemy ship and commenced thelast German submarine attack of WWII. Early inthe evening of May 5, 1945, U-853 began toconduct what was to become a successful attackon the British ship carrying over 7000tons of coal. Launching at least one T-5 passive-acoustic homing torpedo, U-853 tore off 40 feet ofthe stern of the vessel at 5:42pm near Point Judith,Rhode Island, killing 12 men and leaving another34 sailors, including the captain, only minutes toreach the lifeboats. Racing to the protective coverof deeper water, the U-boat was discovered andattacked within two hours by several US Navyships that were nearby when the wasdestroyed. In a series of coordinated attacks thatlasted through the night and into the early morninghours of May 6, U-853’s fifty-five man crew werekilled in a blizzard of underwater attacks deliveredby three USN destroyer escorts, one Coast Guardfrigate, one destroyer and two USN blimps. The U-boat had evidently been trapped at the bottom andher crew had to endure 16 hours of at least 20separate attacks from both hedgehogs and depth-charges before she was finally destroyed. It hasbeen estimated that more than 400 different highexplosive weapons were dropped on her. Her finalresting place is beneath 130 feet of water, 6.8 mileseast of Block Island, RI. She is a popular scubadiving site to this day.

How one of her twin Mauser 20mm flakcannons got into the hands of the Fort MilesHistoricalAssociation is a story for another time.

Black Point

Black Point

5FMHA DEC, 2004

As I write this brief history of recentdevelopments at Fort Miles, I received notificationthat the fort has been placed on the NationalRegister of Historic Places. The massive effortresulting in this recognition is emblematic of theachievements of the last several years, melding theefforts of staff, volunteers, veterans, local businessand government. Since this project is gatheringmomentum, perhaps we should consider where westarted and in so doing, better appreciate theprogress made to date.

In October of 1995, I was asked to attend ameeting at Cape Henlopen State Park to discussthe future of programming. Since inception, thepark provided environmental education programsto the annual throngs visiting the beach and campgrounds. In recent years a strong sentiment arousein the local community to give some thought to theWorld War II heritage of Fort Miles, on which thepark was developed. I did not have a great deal ofready information, but some things were obvious.The plan I offered at the time was to restore whatwe could of the gun batteries and support facilities.I suggested that the underwater listening station berecreated. Finally, I thought it a good idea to bringback some of the heavy guns that defended ourcoast. The report was filed and two years wouldelapse before I knew if it resonated. I confess I wascontent with the status quo since Fort Delawarewas an all consuming force at the time.

In 1997 movement began again on theproject.At the direction of Cultural and Resources

Services Section manager, Jim O'Neill I began asearch for a 16 inch gun. That search took us to theNaval Surface Warfare Center in DahlgrenVirginia. Upon arrival we were shown at least 40 ofthese incredibly large weapons. The navy waspleased to give them to us if we could move them.The sheer mass of the artifact made acquisitionimpossible. Over 100 tons in weight and almost 70feet in length, the guns could only be shipped by railor water. We sadly set our sights lower. Fortunately,Bill Lewis, a Fort Delaware Society member, founda twelve inch gun for us back at Dahlgren. We hadbeen informed by the naval history center that nosuch gun existed, but after a quick run down rt. 301,we found 188l2, rusty but regal, formerly of theBattleship Wyoming, sitting on a piece of marshyground with a number of other forgotten weapons.

Over the ensuing years we planned to movethe 12 inch gun its mount, an eight inch gun restingclose buy, and a six inch gun from Dahlgren. Duringthis time we learned that a three inch gun wasavailable at Fort Howard Park in Baltimore County.The Delaware National Guard unit in New Castlemoved the gun for to its new home in Delaware.Hard work on the part of a seasonal employee, BobSteves resulted in the location of two 155 mm gunsatAnistonAlabama.

The winter and spring of 2000 and 2001were busy and exciting. The Fort Howard guncame first drawing a great deal of visitor interest.The six inch gun came next along with a mountdonated by the navy. A team of specialists wasrequired to move the 12 inch and the 8 inch. RobHoward of Anchorage Productions in Wilmingtondirected the preparation of the guns and mount formoving. The mount was partially disassembled forease of movement. Two 150 ton cranes werepositioned to pick the tube up and place it onspecial a 13 axle vehicle for transportation toDelaware. DelDOT supplied trucks and man power

FORT MILES:LEGACY FROM THE PAST, AND A PLAN FORTHE FUTURE

By Lee Jennings, State Historian,Delaware Parks & Recreation

6FMHA DEC, 2004

for the eight inch gun the 12 inch mount and other required equipment. In April the team convened on sitefor the move. Two full days of dawn to dusk work got it all moving. News helicopters followed the big gun asit made its way north. The park was crowded on delivery day, as hundreds watched the delivery. NavySeabees from the Wilmington area volunteered to assist as did a local Americorps team. At the end of theday we all drew a deep breath knowing that the real work was about to begin.

The delivery of the guns caused quite a stir in the community. People began to come forward withstories, pictures, and expertise. A welcome surprise came in the form of a call from Bill Manthorpe, aretired naval officer who was very familiar with the underwater listening station (SOSUS station) at Lewes.After a brief meeting, Bill mobilized the entire SOSUS community to assist in the recreation of the site. Iwas pleasantly surprised by the volume of email that I received including one from a Rear Admiral whoordered his staff to assist the project in any way possible.

Good fortune has smiled on this project. Bob Fredricks and David Main teamed with Dr. Gary Wrayto form a very active support organization. Mike Rogers and Nate Davidson, two young men with a deepinterest in the post agreed to assist the project and have accomplished a great deal in a short time. Aformal planning organization is meeting on a monthly basis insuring the orderly progress of the plan.

In several instances above, I have referred to the plan. What exactly is the plan?The Fort Miles historic area will include Battery 519, the cantonment buildings related to it, and fire

control tower 7. The battery exhibit plan breaks into three parts:

ShellRoom

PowderRoom

PowderRoom

ShellRoom

Gun Block 1Gun Block 2

Corridor

Store

Room

Store

Room

Work

Room

Muffler Gallery

WaterCoolerRoom

PowerRoom

De-HumidifierRoom

Motor

Generator

Room

Motor

Generator

Room

Officers

Latrine

Enlisted

Latrine

De-Humidifier

Room

The South Gun Room and itsassociated powder shot and support

rooms will return to their 1943appearance. Shot hoists, powder cans,tools and communications devices willstand ready for inspection. The twelveinch gun will rest in the gun pit. A bifolddoor will protect the gun room from theelements. Tracking and firing drills will

be the order of the day.

The Center Hall will containflexible exhibit space. Exhibit

themes include: The war in theAtlantic, Submarine warfare, The

Delaware home front, theDelaware River Pilots, and the

adversaries.The listening station: 15 comfortablehigh tech work stations will fill the north

gun room. The work stations will beconnected to underwater microphones on

the continental shelf. Computerassistance will allow visitors to listen forsea life or different types of shipping. In

addition, the array will be rented over theinternet to researchers around the world.

THE PLAN:

BATTERY 519

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

7FMHA DEC, 2004

The cantonment provides context and facilities forliving history. A recreation building containing pingpong tables, a pool table and a sampling ofpropaganda posters will offer visitors an interactiveexperience. Two barracks, a supply andadministration building and a mess hall will roundout the facility. Living history weekends will featurecontingents of World War II re-enactors as well asour own staff. Engaging program design will createa dynamic atmosphere in which visitors may learnwhile having fun.

Fire Control Tower 7: The use of period rangefinding instruments and methods will allow us touse this all important structure as a center piece forour school program offerings. We hope to offer theprograms to at least 6,000 school children per year.Similar programs will be offered in summer campsand to the public at large.

Thanks to an Americorps grant, Fort Mileswill be staffed through the winter and summer bytwo talented young men. Mike Harris and NateDavidson will offer year round programs, beavailable to gather oral histories, and will assist inthe recruiting of volunteers. The pair will also assistin the development of research and assist inbuilding restoration.

The new battle for Fort Miles has only just begun.Funds must be raised for the 10 million dollarprojected costs. Thousands of hours of volunteertime are needed to create the atmosphere of thewar years. As I look behind to what has beenaccomplished I am excited about the possibilities ofwhat can be accomplished. The most impressiveaspect of this project is that it is very much a“people's project” Public interest and demandspurred action. Public contribution of money, timeand talent resulted in greater than anticipatedprogress. Public excitement, due in large measureto the programs offered by volunteers this summer,has drawn support from both the government andprivate sectors.

Personally, I still pause and think how much fun Iam having creating this and shake my head. Can Ireally believe that I'm getting paid to do this?

Fire Control Tower 7 (foreground) was a spotting station for the minesbeneath the surface of the Delaware Bay. Fire Control Tower 12(background) was the Harbor Defense Observation Post. The SCR-582Radar Tower footings remain bolted to the very top of Tower 12.Photo by Mike Rogers

8FMHA DEC, 2004

CREATING THE U-858 DIORAMA

HISTORY IN GLUE AND PLASTIC

In December of 2003, Gary Wray, Presidentof FMHA and I discussed the possibility of creatinga scene that would reenact the surrender of theGerman Submarine U-858 at Fort Miles on May 14,1945. The challenge was to get a submarine modellarge enough to give the viewer accurate details ofthe boat. I called several companies, but all theavailable models were too small. Gary helped mefind two models of the same 125:1 scale. I neededto use two kits because there had to be two anti-aircraft platforms behind the conning tower wherethe flak guns were positioned. The front of this subis unique because its front deck is equipped withballast vents and is very narrow to allow quicksurface and dives. I used a Dremel cutting wheel toachieve this look. Actual photos from the DelawareArchives showed theAmerican soldiers on the deckwith the US flag furled on the ship’s flagpole. Alsoon the deck is the German sub’s crew luggagewaiting to be inspected.

The second step was to reproduce the pierand dock area as it looked in 1945. This was achallenge because a fire destroyed the entire pier in1972, and the state of Delaware has since rebuiltpart of it. However, the old pilings are still in thewater. I took pictures of the underside of the oldpier as well as the new pier. The old pier was widerand stronger, able to withstand truck traffic. Thisfact led me to calculate that I would need 110 1/8inch dowel rods for the diorama. The soldiers at theforefront of the diorama are larger than the men onthe sub to give the viewer depth perception. Themen on the submarine are to scale. The Archivespictures showed the pier to be of very dark wood.The pictures also indicated some rust and darkareas on the sub, and even the numbers “858” werehard to read. I painted the model accordingly.

In order to show the water, pier, andapproaching submarine, I calculated that the basefor the diorama needed to be 36 inches by 30inches in size.A local lumber yard cut birch plywoodfor the 1 ½ inch sides which were then stained.Duplicating the brackish brown water of the FortMiles region was quite an undertaking. It tookseveral painting experiments to get the rightcombination of green and brown that I hoped toachieve. The idea of adding the background of skyand clouds came after seeing some displays in amuseum of miniatures while vacationing in Victoria,British Columbia. The cover I needed, witheverything made was done byArchstreet Plastics inPhiladelphia, PA. Archstreet did a beautiful job.

The final step was installing the diorama atthe Nature Center at Cape Henlopen State Park onSeptember 25, 2004. It is the hope of all membersof the Fort Miles Historical Association that visitorsfrom Delaware and elsewhere can gain a greaterappreciation for Delaware’s important contributionduring World War II - capturing the first of twoGerman submarines.

U-858’s surrender is forever captured in this diorama created by FMHAmember Ted George. It is currently on display at the Cape Henlopen NatureCenter and will eventually find itself a permanent fixture in the Battery 519museum. Photo by Nate Davidson.

By Ted George, FMHA Secretary

9FMHA DEC, 2004

THE FOUNDING OF THE FMHA

By David Main, Co-Founder, FMHA

Here are a few reflections on the origins of awonderful community effort to save historiclandmarks and to build a first class museum inhonor of our World War II veterans. This effortculminated with the formation of the Fort MilesHistoricalAssociation.

When we heard that the World War II lookouttowers were in danger due to deterioration andneglect, Bob Frederick, the former Mayor of DeweyBeach, and I wanted to see what we could do tohelp. The Towers have always been an importantlandmark up and down the coast, and they alwaysintrigued me, since my father was a World War IIveteran and I had heard lots of stories aboutwartime in Lewes from my mother in law, who was ateenager there at the time.

Bob and I had been making the rounds aspart of our campaign for the Dewey Beach Towncouncil, and we thought that in the process of thatcampaign, we might be able to pull together somefriends and community leaders around this veryworthy cause.

So we went to see Lee Jennings at theDelaware Division of Parks and Recreation. He toldus that restoring the towers, and reopening severalof them, were part of a larger project to create aWorld War II museum at Fort Miles. This would bea museum where the old barracks would bereturned to their wartime condition, where therewould be underwater listening stations so thatvisitors could hear the sounds of ships going by,and where people could see how triangulationmethods were used to calculate the aiming ofweapons at enemy ships.

We also contacted Gary Wray, since he hadbeen prominently mentioned in an article on the

Towers in the Delaware News Journal. Next wetalked to a number of veterans here in the area, likeJack Lingo and learned that they would beenthusiastic supporters of the project. Finally, wetalked to community leaders like SteveMontgomery, the owner of the Starboard, SteveTaylor of Ann Marie's Restaurant, Jim Kiernan ofIrish Eyes and Coldwell Banker. We asked if theywould help us raise some money for the projectthrough a series of fundraisers. These and manyothers offered to help and did host fundraisers attheir restaurants over the following months.

Once we knew the project had a future, Iincorporated the Fort Miles Historical Association,Inc., a not-for-profit Delaware corporation, and weformed an initial Board of Directors comprised ofGary Wray, Lee Jennings (ex officio), BobFrederick, and myself. The Board has since beenexpanded to include a number of other communityleaders and World War II enthusiasts. We alsobegan the process of recruiting members at ourfundraisers, whose numbers grew to over 130 inthe following months.

We hope that one of the first towers to re-open will be one of the two on the eastern end ofDewey Beach. Not only will people of all ages beable to see what it was like to be on guard dutyduring World War II, but the view from up in thetowers is tremendous, and we believe it will be amajor tourist attraction for Dewey, Rehoboth, andBethany. Inside, we also hope to post the names ofWorld War veterans whose friends and relativeswould like to have them especially remembered inthat way. Visitors to that tower will be linked to theFort Miles museum as well for further informationand educational opportunities.

In the end, it was teamwork that made this happen.All parts of our community came together veteransand local residents, business leaders, governmentagencies and political leaders. They havedemonstrated how leadership and teamwork canunite our town to accomplish good things like this.

10FMHA DEC, 2004

MY FONDEST MEMORIES AT

FORT MILES

THE 2004 TOUR SEASON

A Memoir byNate Davidson

As I write this, the air is cooling and theleaves are beginning to change color and fall atCape Henlopen State Park. Surprising almost allwho where involved, our historic tours throughBattery 519 were a resounding success. The toursthat I, Nate Davidson and my colleague and bestfriend Mike Rogers put together this past summerwere, as I have been told numerous times, themost popular programs in of the state parks inDelaware. Not a bad first step for our grand longterm project here at Fort Miles. The following aremy musings and lighthearted tales of some of thememorable events that marked the historic firstyear of this program.

A week and a half before the tours began,Lee Jennings asked me, “So, what are you going toinclude in these tours?” My response: “I thoughtyou were going to tell me.”

The awesome power-point that Mike and Icreated almost ended our friendship because ofour differing working styles. However, ouradversity produced an amazing program thatparticipants raved about all summer long.

We had two great volunteers this pastsummer: Candace and Billy. Their help and inputwas invaluable. We couldn't have made the toursa success without their dedication.

After the tours Mike, Candace, Billy, andmyself would get together in the Nature Center todiscuss how things went. However, within minuteswe would begin joking and fooling around. I count

all

these times as among my favorites this pastsummer.

On Billy's last day of volunteering, he tookthe opportunity to “roast” me, making fun of habitsof mine during the tours. I can't remember the lasttime I laughed so hard.

Early in the summer we had a volunteer thatfooled around a lot. His two most infamousmoments are as follows: Once I was at the top ofthe observation tower waiting for a tour and talkingto a guest. I stated that my partner was at the baseof the tower waiting for the group. She responded,“Oh, you mean the guy asleep on the park bench?”Once in the gun park and during a tour, I turnedaround and he was doing pull-ups on the gun barrel.I stopped the tour and scolded him by saying,“You're not only embarrassing yourself, but thewhole Delaware parks system.” He wasn't aroundlong after this.

I talked to many veterans that served at FortMiles as well as many people that lived in the areaduring WWII. Many of their insights and anecdoteswere incorporated into the tour. Their expressionswhenever I mentioned the fish processing plantwere priceless.

I gave a private tour to one veteran thatserved at the fort during WWII. I told him about thegrand plan for Fort Miles and that we were doingthis to honor him and the other men that servedhere. After hearing this he got choked up andalmost started to cry.

A lot of people have come to the park foryears but did not grasp the history of this place.They would often ask about the structures theyhave seen. They were so relieved that finally

someone could tell them what it was they wereseeing. I can't count the times that I heard visitorsexclaim, “So what that is!”

There was this little blonde haired girl ofabout seven years of age on a tour. After statingthat the cantonment area is going to be completelyrestored to as it looked in 1944, she raised her handand asked, “Does that mean that you will make thisplace smell like rotting fish? If you do, no one willcome.”

This one elderly woman on a tour asked ifthere were any volunteer opportunities for womenat the fort. She concluded her inquiries byproclaiming, “I'll be the fort hooker. Every fort has ahooker! Those boys needed to do something withtheir free time.”

One of the Nature Center seasonalemployees told me that a couple years ago her andher friends found an unexploded rocket out in thedunes. She said she left it in her car all summer,used to throw it off of her back porch, and that it nowsits by her bed. She concluded by asking if sheshould get rid of it. I don't know if she has.

I gave a tour to a group of educators andadministrators from a Delaware school district that Ishall not name. As far as behavior goes, they werethe worst tour group I had all summer long. Theyjoked, talked, and made crude remarks concerningthe gun sizes and parts of the anatomy. At onepoint I stopped the tour and exclaimed, “You'reworse than your students!”

A gentleman drove all the way from NewYork City to specifically take our tour. He got losttrying to find where we were at and was really upset.He eventually found our tour group and was soimpressed on how he was treated that he stayed fora second tour and then wrote a glowing review onthe Coast Defense Study Group website.

Youngsters would get really excited insidethe battery, especially when the lights went out.However, I am sure that my hearing is permanentlydamaged because of all of their screaming.

that's

The bathroom in Battery 519 was frightening.Adults would laugh and kids would cry. The looks ontheir faces were priceless. One time a kid almostthrew up.

During one tour, Rick, who was restoring theguns, decided to play a practical joke. He turned offall the lights inside the battery and hid in a side room.As the tour was concluding, he jumped out of a sideroom and scared us all half to death.

Early in the summer the lights rarely everworked and it was very wet inside the battery, givingit a sinister atmosphere. I feel that for many, theatmosphere was part of the experience. It madepeople feel that they were someplace they shouldn'tbe.

Billy, one of the volunteers, heightened thisexperience. He would sneak away during a tourand turn off all the lights in the battery except the onein the room we were in. We then had to navigatedown the corridor with just a small flashlight.

was one selection of graffiti I was partial to. Also, the“Door to Hell” is located in a side room. However,someone crossed out the word “Hell” and replaced itwith “Spongebob Squarepants.” It continues toamuse me.

Our immensely popular night tours wouldtypically have 50-60 participants. As tour leadersMike and I had great chemistry together. We wouldoften throw in little inside jokes or be sarcastic to tryto make each other laugh. Mike once yelled, “It'll bea blast!” while I was talking about blowing theminefield. It was so corny and off the cuff that Ierupted into laughter and couldn't continue. To getMike laughing, I would usually use the word“represent” at inopportune times as a reference toour failed volunteer.

It is amazing to see how the audience feedsoff of your energy, just as you feed off of theirs.Having 50 people erupt into laughter or give a hugeovation at the end of the tour is the most incrediblefeeling imaginable. I can only imagine what thissummer will bring!

The echo of footsteps down darkened halls

11FMHA DEC, 2004

12FMHA DEC, 2004

For a year now, I have been one of the tourguides at Cape Henlopen. I've met hundreds ofamazing people, who all share a fascination forFort Miles. One of the most common questions Iam asked is, “how did you get involved in thisproject?” Well, here is the story….

In the spring of 2003, my best friend, NateDavidson and I were at Fowler Beach, DE when wenoticed a concrete structure in the waves. All wewere sure of was that it was World War II in origin,but we had no idea what purpose it had served. Weran home to get a camera and returned a short timelater to photograph it. The sky was looking prettyominous, and we found ourselves running up thebeach in a pouring rain to get back to the car. Laterthat evening we decided to jump on the internet andresearch it a little more.

Our research led us to Fort Saulisbury, aWorld War I era fort just outside of our home town ofMilford, DE. Fort Saulisbury is now privateproperty, and when we attempted to visit the site,we were not allowed to explore it. However, ourresearch revealed that the 12 inch guns that wereonce stationed at Fort Saulisbury were transferredto the much larger Fort Miles at the beginning ofWorld War II. We had no idea such a fort existed.With this, we turned our attention entirely to FortMiles.

Information on Fort Miles is pretty scarce onthe internet, and what few websites that do featureit do not have much information on it. We now

know that much of that information is inaccurate.Armed with a digital camera with the intention ofbuilding a definitive Fort Miles informationdatabase, Nate and I set out to Cape HenlopenState Park to set the record straight.

Nate had found a research thesis written byElizabeth Ross at the University of Delawarelibrary on the architecture of Fort Miles. It's a goodthing they don't charge late fees, because we keptthat book for the entirety of the summer.Apparently when we finally did return it, there hadbeen a waiting list on the book… oops. This bookserved as our starting source of information. Themaps contained in its pages pointed us to sites allover the park where buildings once stood. Startingfrom the very northern tip of the park, we began tobuild our own final definitive database.

At first, we really didn't know our way aroundthe park at all. Everything seemed so big… weknew we could easily get lost in such a large park.Using a program called CorelDraw, I was able topen a map that would guide our research throughthe park, and give us a method of plotting ourprogress. Little did we know how versatile this mapwould become.

As we began our actual field research, wenoticed that the database in the thesis was notentirely correct. Nate and I would spend hourspouring over a small plot of land searching for anytrace of what once stood there. These traceswould range anywhere from small shards ofscattered concrete to solid foundations and evensections of walls still nestled in the sand. Becauseof the varying range of evidence we werediscovering, we decided that as we plotted thesebuilding sites on our map, we would color codethem to illustrate the amount of rubble thatremained, or even if the building still stood.

FINDING WHAT DOESN’T EXISTPLOTTING THE LOST BUILDINGS OFFORT MILES

By Mike Rogers, DNREC

One fateful day Nate happened to be at theCape, and noticed a gentleman that looked familiarto him from a newspaper article he had read shortlybefore. It so happened that this was a one LeeJennings, who is heading up the restoration projectfor Delaware State Parks. Nate briefly mentionedwhat we had been up to, and we were able to get ameeting with Lee shortly thereafter. We showedhim our work and some of our photographs, andwith that we were welcomed as volunteers andofficially became part of the project.

As the summer dragged on, Nate and Ibecame very good at picking out concrete amongthe sand. We have proven the existence ofbuildings that were thought to have been goneforever, including a 3 inch magazine that had beenwritten off as non-extant.

We continued our research through thewinter braving single-digit temperatures; andalthough we froze to death on many days, we foundthat it was much easier to find lost buildings whenthe trees and shrubs were bare, but that we alsopreferred freezing to being eaten alive by ticks andmosquitoes in the summertime.

Phase 1 cataloging consisted of apreliminary visit to every site recorded on theArmy's Report of Completed Works (RCW)documents as having a building present andcataloging what remained of that building. Thesecategories were broken down into color codes.Orange depicts no physical evidence of the buildingthat once stood there. Green shows that of thebuilding that was once there, only a few shards ofconcrete and rubble remain today. A gray colorcode means that there is a solid foundation still inthe ground or a solid section of wall remaining,showing physical evidence of the building'sexistence. Finally, a black color code means thatthe building remains standing today. The maps wecreated and the information we had plotted so farbecame critical in getting Fort Miles added to theNational Registry of Historic Places in Fall of 2004.

Phase 1 was completed in March of 2004.Phase 2 will begin shortly with Nate and I revisitingeach site and re-evaluating its color code to fine

tune our research, and GPS plotting each buildingsite. This will culminate in a final report we willprepare which will be the final definitive database onwhat remains of Fort Miles.

To date we have taken some 1,100photographs of the remains of Fort Miles. We haveliterally visited the sites of every one of the over 700structures that once stood on the Cape and carefullycataloged what is left today. Still for as thorough aswe strive to be, Fort Miles occasionally gives up asecret or two. As recent as November of 2004, Natediscovered the foundation and wall remains of thecable test building near the fishing pier; a buildingthought to be entirely gone. I'm looking forward tobeginning our Phase 2 research. Perhaps moresecrets will be told!

As I have been writing this, I've been reflecting on ayear filled with new beginnings. I have beenfortunate to be a part of what will become thegreatest WWII museum in the country. I realize thatthe work we do today will tell a story to generationsto come, and to be a part of that gives my life ameaning like I've never known. I am looking forwardto the historic years of our future.

13FMHA DEC, 2004

Battery 519’s south gun block (above) will soon be home to a fully restored 12inch artillery gun. The battery will be the centerpiece of the finished museum,the huge gun no doubt one of its major attractions. Its barrel will be colossal,reaching some 30 feet out of the building toward the sky. The gun is scheduledto be mounted in the summer of 2005.Photo by Mike Rogers.

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“...And Preserve...”