| Patterson Field,Fairborn,Ohio. On Feb.17 1942,my dad along with his friend Bob Christian went down to the base to enlist.Dad passed his physical but Bob failed his,dad believes he had a heart murmur.There dad did his basic training,and joined the 45th AirDepot Group.And was assigned his A.S.N. 15110154.He remained there until may 4th of 42. Springfield,Ill. On May 5th,dad arrived at Springfield Il.There he applied for Aviation Cadets.On Aug.25th he passed the written test and became Air Corp unassigned attached to the 45th Air Depot. Brookley Field, Mobile Al. On Sept.5th Dad arrived in Mobile, he said basically they did nothing but camp out in the middle of the fairgrounds and go thru exercises.He finally got his orders on Dec. 3rd. Nashville Army Air Force Classification Center Nashville Tn. Dad arrived in Nashville on the 4th of Dec. Nashville was a classification center to determine whether to classify you as a pilot, navigator,bombardier etc.Unfortunately this is where Dad flunked out A.R.M.A.(Aptitude Reguarding Military Aviation)To this day he thinks it was because of his nerves.He had wanted to be a pilot. Keesler Field, Biloxi Ms. After a short furlough, he arrived in Biloxi on the 4th of Jan. 1943.Biloxi was a classification center.There he took some test,and it was determined he would attend photography school. Lowry Field, Denver Co. James A. Corbitt arrived at Lowry Field on the 11th of Feb. On the 15th he started photography school.On the 8th of May, Dad completed and graduated from the A.A.F.T.S. photography School. Peterson Field,Colorado Springs,Co. Directly upon graduation dad left for Peterson Field and arrived there later that day.This is where he joined the 6th Photo Reconnaissance Group.At Peterson he took more photography training,including off set printing.Upon completion, thirtyone enlisted men and two officers,including my Dad, were reassigned to the 9th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and transfered for oversea training. There they gave themselves the nickname the "31 CLUB". Camp Kearn's near Salt Lake City,Ut. On Sept.17th dad arrived at Camp Kearn's for overseas training.His squadron completed their training but they had no orders,so they went through their training again, however they still had no orders,so they started their overseas training again for the 3rd time.This time they only got about half way through when their orders came in. Newport News, Va. Dad took a train and he said it was a nice one. It had pullman cars and everything.He arrived in Newport News on approximately the 1st of Dec. There he boarded the "RMS Andes" Dad said she was a fast one. They went unescorted and arrived in Casablanca N. Africa in about five days. |
| Photo Gallery |
| His Story |
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| Casablanca N. Africa In North Africa,they had more training while waiting for their orders.This was where Dad thought that they were going to be reassigned to the infantry.They stayed a couple months, until they got their orders.They boarded a train. There were no pullmans on this one, just 40 and 8's.They had to take turns sleeping,there wasn't enough room on the floor.They lived off C and K rations and dad said it took the better half of two weeks to get toTunis,Tunisia. What made things worse, Dad said their car had one flat wheel,so they would always be woke up by a thump thump thump. In Tunis they got new orders and got on another train and went to Oran.There they boarded a ship, The "Chantilly" a French Ship taken over by the British. They joined a convoy and traveled through the Mediterranean Sea,Suez Canal and the Red Sea on their way to Bombay India,where they stayed a couple of days. |
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| Calcutta, India |
| Dad and the rest of the 31 Club arrived via train to Barrickpore Airfield near Calcutta in Feb. of 44. This is where the Headquarters for the 9th P.R.S. was located at the time. Once dad got settled in he was informed they didn't have a reproduction facility,so he was assigned to the flight line.On the flight line dad was one of the men responsible for the electrical and instrument up keep on the fourteen F-5's and two B-25's in their unit. Dad said he liked this assignment alot better then being inside on the presses anyway.They stayed there for about 9 months, then they traveled to northern India by rail to the Ledo road.There they took the Ledo road to Myitkyina Burma. |
| Myitkyina, Burma |
| The 9th.arrived in Myitkyina in Nov. of 44. In Jan. of 45, 9 Men from the 9th were thrown from a "Duck" which overturned in a stretch of the Irrawaddy River 15 to 20 miles above Myitkyina. Four of the men managed to reach shore however five of the men drowned. They were Clarence Jones, Bernard Duffy, Gerald Carmody, John Brady and Thomas Turner. Also on the last day on the month, two Pilots were killed when their AT-6 crashed in a field 7 miles N.E. of Barrackpore, India. The pilots were 1st Lts. Bert Frame and Millin Frances .Dad and the rest of the 9th continued to do their duties until new orders came in. They packed up and headed back to India * Source 8th Reconnaissance Group Activities 01/01/45 through 06/30/45 |
| Piardoba Airfield, North of Calcutta |
| Dad arrived in Piardoba in April of 45.Piardoba had been a B-29 base. In Pairdoba dad along with the rest of his unit continued to keep the F-5's in the sky doing what they did best,taking reconnaissance photo's and forwarding them on to the Bomber and Fighter Squadron's that needed them to do their job to the fullest.During this time they earned a leave and went to Srinagar. After the War ended in Aug.,dad and the rest of the 9th. stayed until Nov. Then they boarded a plane and flew to Karachi, Pakistan where the they boarded the "USS Meigs" a troop transporter and headed home. Dad arrived in NewYork on Dec.3rd, he was given an Honerable Discharge on Dec 8th at Fort George G. Meade Maryland and arrived at his dads house in Lynchburg, Va. on Dec. 9th, his 25th birthday. |
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| *I am not a WWII Historian, even though I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.The time line I have written is to the best of my dad's knowledge and my interpretation. Any corrections welcome. Please leave messages in Guest Book. |
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