Robert Pene
A History of the Surname PENE
The following information is from the writings of Renato Barinotto who resides in Bosconero and who's ancestors include some PENE's. Renato did some extensive research which cronicles the dominant role of the PENE family in the formation of the original town of Bosconero.
Between 1500 and 1600, during one of the many Spanish invasions of Piemonte, and there were many during a period of two
hundred years, we find that three brothers of Spanish nobility were in the service of the Lord of Rivarolo.
At that time noble families followed the "Salica" law of heredity according to which the first born son would inherit the
title and all the property of the deceased father while the other siblings would inherit nothing. Consequently these sons had
to fend for themselves which often meant a military or religious career.
The three young men which I mentioned before, chose to join one of many Spanish armies of that time and probably came to
Italy as a result of an invasion. How they came to be in the service of the Lord of Rivarolo is a mystery which can only be
resolved by a lost manuscript. We do know that they rendered notable service to the Count or Marchese whom we can surmise was
either eliminating a dangerous enemy or suppressing rebellions that were common during those turbulent and violent
times.
It is certain that they served well because the Count and Marchese. who controlled all the lands of Rivarolo which incuded
the area of present day Bosconero, gave the three brothers the land around the Gerulfa Forest which corresponds to present
day Bosconero. With this land grant the lords rid themselves of a heavily forested area that didn't yield any crops and was
only used as a refuge for bandits.
The family name of those three brothers was "De Pennes", I believe that I found their family crest in an old ancestral home.
From that moment on, we enter into the reign of supposition even though it is very near the truth.
The ancient Inhabitants of Bosconero who resided in the region known as "Lotti" were probably independent farmers of the
lands near the river, but were not from the Gerulfa forest that was ruled by the De Pennes. There was undoubtably
communication and trade between them. The De Pennes were in a position to offer armed protection to the farmers of the
"Lotti" area and the farmers were willing and capable of clearing the dense forest. This seems to support the fact that the
descendants of the De Pennes were the owners of most of the area of present day Bosconero at the beginning of 1800.
This would also explain the dependence of Bosconero on Rivarolo for centuries until 1694 in which the Comune of Bosconero
separated and became autonomous and independent Bosconero still remained dependent to a certain extent on Rivarolo especially
as regarded the choice of Pastor for the parish. And even now, the Bosconeresi gravitate more to Rivarolo than to other
nearby towns such as Feletto or San Benigno.
Local pronunciation modified the name De Pennes. First the "De" was dropped and then one of the "n,s" was dropped because
Canavese dialect at that time tended to suppress the double consonants. The "s" became less and less pronounced and was
finally dropped from the written form of the name, resulting in the name PENE. The current name Pene is found only in
Bosconero or those whose ancestors came from Bosconero
The first time that I found this name was in a book of contracts from 1700 kept by my ancestor who was a notary.
It is known that about 1630 a Count of Bosconero was present in the Court of Sabauda di Torino. Although his name is unknown
he was probably a descendant of the De Pennes. The coat of arms that I found at the grandparent's home probably came from
him. It has the characteristics of a coat of arms between 1500-1600.
This Count of Bosconero is cited by Gramegna, a historic novelist who writes in scrupulas detail including names and dates
about Piemonte in his book "Corte Gioconda" in regards to a strange episode that caused a lot of gossip in that court. He
tells the story of how the wife of this Count became affectionate with a deer and became pregnant. She gave birth to a son
who had a buckskin forehead. We know that deer lived in the forests that surrounded this at that time.
At the beginning of 1800 a certain Pene, ( possibly Dotoré Giovanni Battista PENE ) was a supplier to Napoleon's Army which indicates a substantial
patrimony at his disposal. I found a Napoleonic sword in the attic of one of my relatives home and since it wasn't sharpened
it makes me think that it was a sample that was not used in battle.
At his death, he left seven sons and two daughters. Each son inherited a house in the country and a farm with 100 cultivated
"giomate" ( 3854 square meters per giomata ) beyond the woods. Each daughter was given a dowry of 5,000 lire ( several
million at today's rate ). He was very wealthy and for all practical purposes was the "PADRONE" or main landowner and
resident of the town. Subsequently the Pene's grew.
One of the Pene's, Vubertino, was honored by King Carlo Alberto in 1837. The Pene's often intermarried with the Vayra family
and with them formed what could be called the "elite" of the town. History answers a lot of questions including why Bosconero
was so dependent on Rivarolo and why the Pene's are only found in Bosconero or are from Bosconero. This may be of interest to
the Pene's of Los Angeles, California USA.
My stint in the US Navy 1943 thru 1947
On March 14, 1944, at age 16 and 9 months, with excelerated credits for my diploma, and with my father and mother's consent, I enlisted in the US Navy's Combat Air Crewmen program as Aviation Machinist/Seaman 2class while still in my Jr year of high school.
I along with 35 other enlistees from So. California left from the "Union Train Terminal" in Los Angeles, California for Boot Camp (10 weeks) at the "US Navy Training Facility", Memphis, Tennessee.
USNTC Memphis, TN (Boot Camp)
USNidcard USNTCmemphisTN MeSecondRow - TopLeft
After completeing Boot Camp, I was transfered to the "US Navy Training Facility" Norman, Oklahoma for training as Aviation Machinist Mate. After 26 weeks of intensive training and the completion of classes, I had my first pay grade change to Aviation machinist Mate Seaman 1c and a transfer to NAS Jacksonville, FL. for Combat Gunnery Training.
NAS Jacksonville, FL Gunnery School
NASjacksonvilleFLGunSch USNAMMSchool-NormanOK NAS Hollywood, FL GunSch
NAS Banana River, FL
Upon completion of gunnery school at NAS Jacksonville, FL and various locations, My next assignment was NAS Banana River, FL. Upon arrival and prior to crew placement, I was assigned PBM beaching duty (see photo below) beaching aircraft doing the "Banana River Bounce", taking off on the Banana River and landing on the Atlantic and vice versa.
Beach crew pulling on the bow line, after floating and attaching landing gear, then hosing down a twin-engine PBM-3 patrol bomber seaplane after it was hauled up a ramp at the Naval Air Station in Banana River, FL
Our plane preparing to beach while at "Banana River".
Top Row Left: Me, Lee Pletke, Jack Raines - Bottom Row Left: (Can't remember his name), Jim Hansen and Kelly Lambert,
The folowing was contributed by Bob Woerner (former shipmate VPB-2 OTU- (Later ATU) 3) drexel@litenet.netIn Memorium - ATU-3 VP-2,
May all our departed shipmates rest in peace.
"...Dec. 5, 1945, 6 aircraft and 27 men disappeared and the cause has never been established..."
Eternal Father, Strong to Save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its' own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.
Lord, guard and guide the men who fly
Through the great spaces in the sky.
Be with them always in the air,
In dark'ning storms or sunlight fair.
O, Hear us when we lift our prayer,
For those in peril in the air.
But when at length our course is run,
Our work for home and country done,
Of all the souls that flew and sailed,
Let not one life in thee be failed,
But hear from heaven our sailors cry,
And grant eternal life on high.
In December 1945 we were all getting ready to go home for Christmas. For most of us in the Combat Aircrewman Training Program at NAS Banana River, Florida, we hadn't been home since we started the program in Sept. 1944. The war was over, most of the flying had stopped, and in 1946 we would all be getting orders to transistion to the separation center nearest our home as "ship's company" until we had enough points to get discharged.
Fred Zywicki and I had trained together since boot camp at Jax in Sept. '44. Then on to Norman, Okla. for AOM "A" School and Radar School. Gunnery School was next at Yellow Water, then on to Banana River after a TDY at NAS Melbourne, Florida. We were in the same crew, CAC 88-I and flew many patrols together during the 3 months of Operational Training.. We were the 2 ordnance waist gunners and doubled also in the upper deck...Fred was looking forward to getting home to the Chicago he had left 16 months before.
On Dec. 5th, I was assigned to the Beaching crew, cursing the PBM-3s that still didn't have wheels. Other members of the crew were assigned to other "non-flying" duties. But some stayed on standby, including Fred.------------ I was lucky.
Somewhat to the south, on that day, at NAS Ft. Lauderdale, 5 TBM Avenger Torpedo Bombers were warming up to take their last training hop. The Navy and Marine Combat Aircrewman needed one more flight to qualify for their wings. And the pilots, except for the flight leader, needed one more navigational training flight to finish. One Marine missed the flight. This was the famous "Flight 19", a composite training flight of both Navy and Marine Corps airmen, that would become the subject of every "Devils Triangle" story on TV and books for decades to come. After flying eastward and then northward for some hours, they became lost. They reported trouble with their compasses and couldn't orient directions correctly. As nightfall approached they were almost out of gas.----And then all Florida East coast bases lost radio contact with them.
At NAS Banana River, Florida, two PBMs were alerted to take off on a Search and Rescue operation down to North of the Bahamas to fly a "box" pattern. Their long range meant that they could fly all night if necessary. They were fully gassed. They passed all pre-flight checks. The crew on PBM No. 59225 was made up of our crew and other volunteers. Curiously, there were 5 pilots, and 8 crewmen. We seldom flew with 13, and never with 5 pilots.
Both PBMs took off and headed off in different directions. Radar had them both plotted. ---------Suddenly, PBM 59225 disappeared from the radar. A merchant ship, the SS Gaines Mills, reported seeing a massive explosion high in the sky, which then gravitated down to the ocean and continued to burn with flames 100 feet high.
A large search and rescue mission was already being formed by sea for the 5 TBMs. In the morning, the USS Solomons CVE-67 approached the approximate site of the crash and found only a small oil slick, no debris, no survivors. The plane and crew had apparently vaporized.----------The other PBM and the search vessels and aircraft continued their search for the TBMs for several days with no results.
On this day, Dec. 5, 1945, 6 aircraft and 27 men disappeared and the cause has never been established. They joined the many other aircrewmen who also disappeared in flight in this area known as "The Devil's Triangle", some were other PBMs from Banana River. The Navy convened a Board of Inquiry, which is available on Microfiche, but little was found to add to the facts.
Alfred Zywicki, S1/c (AOM)(CA), USNR, would not be going home for Christmas.In Memorium: Those to be rescued:
Flight 19: Fox-Tare
TBM Avengers
Fox-Tare 3
Pilot J T Bossi Ens/USNR/MIA
A H Thelander S1/c/USNR/MIA
B E Baluk Jr S1/c/USNR/MIA
Fox-Tare 28
Pilot C C Taylor Lt/USNR/MIA
G F Devlin AOM3/c/USNR/MIA
W R Parpart ARM3/c/USNR/MIA
Fox-Tare 36
Pilot E J Powers Capt/USMC/MIA
H Q Thompson Sgt/USMCR/MIA
G R Paonessa Sgt/USMC/MIA
Fox-Tare 81
Pilot F J Gerber 2ndLt/USMCR/MIA
W E Lightfoot Pfc/USMCR/MIA
Fox-Tare 117
Pilot G W Stivers Capt/USMC/MIA
R P Gruebel Pvt/USMCR/MIA
R F Gullivan Sgt/USMC/MIAAt NAS Banana River, two PBM-5s were being prepared to join the search, after being diverted from a regularly scheduled night navigation training flight. A flight mech checked out one of the planes, PBM-5 BuNo 59225, filled it with enough fuel for a 12-hour flight and, as he later testified before the Board, "I found it to be A-1. I spent about an hour in the aircraft . . . and there was no indication of any gas fumes. There was no discrepancy in any of the equipment and, when we started up the engines, they operated normally."
According to the pilot of the other PBM, "About 1830, operations called and the operations duty officer in regard to the five TBMs whose last position was reported as approximately 130 miles east of New Smyrna with about 20 minutes of fuel remaining. We received this position and were told to conduct a square search. We were instructed to conduct radar and visual search and to stand by on 4805 kc, the reported frequency on which the TBMs were operating. At the time we were briefed, Ltjg Jeffrey, in Training 49, was to make the second plane in the search. No other planes were included."
Were any plans made for a joint conduct of the search mission? "Yes, I was to proceed to the last reported position of the TBMs and conduct a square search. Lt. Jeffrey was to proceed to New Smyrna and track eastward to intercept the presumed track of the TBMs and then was to conduct an expanding square search at the last reported position of the TBMs."
What were the weather and sea conditions when you arrived in the vicinity of 29 degrees north, 79 degrees west? ". . .the ceiling was approximately 800 to 1200 feet overcast, occasional showers, estimated wind, west southwest about 25 30 knots. The air was very turbulent. The sea was very rough."
At 1927, PBM-5, BuNo 59225, was airborne from Banana River with 3 aviators aboard and a crew of 10. At 1930, the aircraft radioed an "out" report to its home base and was not heard from again.In Memorium: The would be rescuers aboard PBM RP-49:
The PPC Walter G Jeffery Lt/USNR/MIA
Pilot Harry G Cone Lt/USNR/MIA
Pilot Charles D Arceneaux Ens/USNR/MIA
Pilot Roger M Allen Ens/USNR/MIA
Pilot Lloyd A Eliason Ens/USNR/MIA
Alfred J Zywicki S1/c(AOM)(CA)/USNR/MIA
James F Osterheld AOM3/c/USNR/MIA
John T Menendez AOM/USNR/MIA
Philip B Neeman S1/c/USNR/MIA
James F Jordan ARM3/c/USNR /MIA
Robert C Cameron ARM3/c/USNR/MIA
Wiley D Cargill S1/c/USNR/MIA
Donald E Peterson AMM1/c/USNR/MIA
NAS Chincoteague, VA
VX-2
Experimental Squadron Two
Air Development Squadron 2
Drone Controller / Guided Missile Development
Part of Task Group 1.6
TG 1.6 had three different functions: drone plane and drone boat control, aerial photography.
TE (Task Element) 1.6.14 was Air Development Squadron 2 (VX-2)
After transfering to VX-2, I was assigned to aircraft maintainence of Grumman F6F Hellcats (radio controled target drones) and their mother planes the Grumman F7F Tigercats. Our squadron VX-2 was preparing F6F and Culver Cadet drone aircraft used as targets for the fleet, both air to air and sea to air gunnery training.
In May 1946, participating in Operation Crossroads, the Shangri-La prepared the drones that flew through the cloud created by the atomic bomb "Able and Baker Tests" at Bikini Atoll, South Pacific calle "Operation Crossroads" and the "Shangri-La Log Book"
The Shangri-La and ships of the support group were under way and radio-controlled F6F's left the decks of the Shangri-La to tranverse pre-established routes under the guidence of mother planes, while Army B-29's and drone B-17's were flown from airfields at Roi.
The personel who were not on duty mustered on the flight deck, over the PA system we were told to cover our eyes with our hands when given a pre-arranged signal. Then on another pre-arranged signal we were to remove our hands. The brilliant flash was something to see.
PBM patrol planes approched the lagoon from windward twenty minutes after the blast , sampling the air for radioactivity, while the Shangri-La drones followed leeward in the atomic cloud collecting samples of radioactive particles for labortory study. The Shangri-La was involved in both ABLE and BAKER tests.
Test Able was an air drop on July 1, 1946; atomic weapons researchers also wanted to try something new with Operation Crossroads -- an underwater detonation. The target ships which weren't sunk during Test Able were assembled for Test Baker, which took place on July 25, 1946.
F7F (Tigercat) mother plane Me and my F7F F6F (Hellcat) radio controled drone
Bikini "Able and Baker Tests"
Flight Crew ( me, second from left ) but can't remember this commendation
Drone Controller / Guided Missile Development Part of Task Group 1.6
TG 1.6 had three functions: drone plane and drone boat control, aerial photography, and seaplane transportation.
TE (Task Element) 1.6.14 was Air Development Squadron 2 (VX-2)
NAS Chincoteague, VA
Shangri-La CV38 at Sea Shangri-La CV38 Panama Canal
F6F Remote Control Takeoff F6F Remote Control Landing
Task Group 1.6 (Navy Air Group)
TG 1.6 had three different functions: drone plane and drone boat control, aerial photography, and seaplane transportation. TG 1.6 was composed of four task units [TU]:
TU 1.6.1 (Drone Carrier Unit)
[Task Element] TE 1.6.11
USS Shangri-La (CV-38)
[Task Element] TE 1.6.12
USS Charles P. Cecil (DD-835)
USS Furse (DD-882)
USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883)
USS Turner (DD-834)
[Task Element] 1.6.13
(Navy Field Recovery Subunit, Naval Air Base Roi-Namur, Kwajalein)
[Task Element] TE 1.6.14
TU 1.6.2 (Photo Carrier Unit)
USS Saidor (CVE-117)
Plane guard destroyers from TE 1.6.12 were assigned.
TU 1.6.3 (Seaplane Unit, Naval Air Base Ebeye Island, Kwajalein)
Patrol Seaplane Squadron 32 (VPB-32)
Air-Rescue Squadron 4 (VH-4)
Carrier Aircraft Service Unit (Fleet) 34 (CASU(F)-34)
TU 1.6.4 (Seaplane Tender, Bikini)
USS Orca (AVP-49)
Shangri-La (CV 38) carried drone aircraft and operated off Roi Island, Kwajalein, where an airfield was used for landing and experimenting with drone planes. Between tests, USS.Saidor operated from Bikini Lagoon with drone boat control and photographic unit personnel on board. Except on ABLE and BAKER days, Orca was stationed at Bikini as a terminal and service unit for transport seaplanes. The ship maintained seaplane runways and furnished overhaul servicing required for all planes on turn-around service.
Upon her return, SHANGRI-LA (CV 38) began normal operations out of San Diego, primarily engaged in pilot carrier landing qualifications.
HONORABLY DISCHARGED - OCTOBER 21, 1947
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