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BERKELEY DAILY GAZETTE• «'Bystanders are examining the exterior of the Port Chicago Theateri surrounding vicinity and took a ^vith one entire wall nearly folded in two by the force of the concus-l ^ and property,iion. Explosion of the Navy ammunition depot last night devastated thehuge. ..v. ••• ■ -v.j.v.v.va .and as yet undetermined tollOne of the sailors injured in the Port Chicago explosion which took treated for minor facial injuries at the lives of hundreds and injured hundreds more is shown being near the scene of the disaster.an emergency first aid stationWitness TellsBlastHorrorsDawn Tour ShowsVast Desolation(Editor’s Note: The first eye-.witness account from the scene4-of the disastrous Port Chicago explosion of two ammunition ■ships Is presented in the following dispatch by United Press Staff Correspondent Williamm•Best.)By WILLIAM BESTI’. P. St^ff Corrrf.pondent; PORT CHICAGO. July 18.- Justbefore dawn this morning the NavyJet us in the mile-square Port Chicago Ammunition Depot, where! barely seven hours earlier two ammunition ships exploded, blast-ing out the lives of at least 250 officers and enlisted men and three civilians.The gate opened onto the barracks area, home of 1480 Negro enlisted men and 65 white officers. As we walked down the streets we stepped on broken glass, pieces of steel from the exploded ships and debris of all sorts - some piecesweighing 200 to 400 pounds.On either side were shattered barracks with gaping holes, as though hit by shells. From their windows, shades flapped miserablyCentral on JobPORT CHICAGO, July 18 (U.F)—Since 10:20 p.m. last night,Mrs. Mary Welborn has manned Port Chicago’s one operating telephone circuit without relief, attempting to handle thousands of calls from officials and relatives of residents of that area.Mrs. Welborn was en route to work when the first tremble^of the explosion that rocked the U. S. naval ammunition dump,killing at least 337 persons, wasfelt.A sailor pulled Mrs. Welborn to one side as a piece of ship plate hurtled through the air, but she suffered a cut over one eye.amere shambles- the roof caved in and rafters jutting out of the rubble.But the executive administrative officer who led our party of newsmen did not take us down into the port itself a block away.“We w'ouldn’t want to go there anyway,” he said. “It is a terrible thing and not anything you want to write about. Some of my officer buddies were down there. I don’t want to go down thgp? to see them.”The executive officer said that there were approximately 250 men on the dock at the time of the explosion plus the ship’s crew's.“I hffven’t seen any of them come back,” he said. “X was sit-■ ting at my desk when the explosion I came and was knocked out of my i chair across the room. I got up and was thrown down a second time by another blast.”All we could see from where! he took us were the searchlights playing in the .direction of the loading zone. !Photographat thein the wind A whole side was torn from the mess hall.The $250,000 recreation hall w'asIN BERKELEYFORMenforWOMENALLTUBESAUSTINSTUDIOSNOW“Vine PortraitureRATIONFREENoCertificate* tIT IS GOOD ANYTIMENO MATTER HOW 01D*The post office lias set October15th as the ’final date for mail-»in# Christmas packages to the boys overseas.
Newspaper Details
Berkeley Daily Gazette
Berkeley, California, US
Tue, Jul 18, 1944
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 31 May 2019
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