Woodbury County

Kenneth Dowling

 



Former Sioux City Man With Coast Guard In Nazi Roundup
Kenneth Dowling On Hand at Discovery of Explosives Cache

Kenneth Dowling, 28, son of Mr. and Mrs. J.E. Dowling, Swanson Apartments, was present at the time of the discovery of the store of explosives and supplies which four Nazi saboteurs cached in the sands of Amagansett Bay on Long Island, east of New York City, when they were landed there from a submarine the night of June 13.

Young Dowling, who enlisted in the coast guard last November at San Francisco, has been stationed the last six weeks near the spot where the landing was made, his mother said Monday night. With other coast guard men, he was patrolling the bay when the Nazis sneaked ashore.

Later, the saboteurs were captured by the F.B.I.

In a letter to his parents, the coast guard man refers to the discovery casually, saying that radio and newspaper stories probably gave more graphic accounts of the discovery than he can.

Reporters for New York City newspapers and photographers for a newsreel service arrived at Amagansett Bay soon after the F.B.I. released the story of the arrest of the spies. Later, the newsreel service and two of the newspapers published pictures of young Dowling and a buddy patrolling the beach.

Kenneth enlisted at San Francisco last November. Before he was sent to Long Island he was stationed at San Diego, California, San Pedro, California, Port Townsend, Washington and San Francisco. He is a second class seaman.

Source: The Sioux City Journal, July 7, 1942 (photo included)