A GI'S AIRFORCE DIARY - WORLD WAR II

Suddenly Al hollers, “Hey you guys, I found one of the signs but it would be better if you didn’t read it.” 

About two yards up the slope from where we were standing was one of the familiar signs that we were now able to read.  The sign read “Danger, Area Not Cleared of Mines.”  Immediately my thought, and I’m sure George and Al had the same thought, that ours was a miraculous run down the slopes through a mine field and we came through unscathed.  Was the area at one time cleared of mines and the signs not taken down, or was it actually a mine field that we ran through?  Back on the road again this time we accepted all the rides that were offered us and got into camp in time for supper.  That night we talked about our experience.  Was it pure luck?  You couldn’t convince me of that; I’m sure it was the hand of God that got us through safely.

In mid July we again received moving orders.  This time we were to leave Italy and proceed to Corsica and get ready to participate in the invasion of Southern France.  Another drastic but welcome change was that we were to get new aircraft.  Finally we would leave the old P-40’s behind and receive new P-47 Thunderbolts.  This move to new aircraft would be troublesome for awhile because many of our pilots have had little or no flying time with them.

We boarded L.S.T.’s on the afternoon of July 17, 1944, and left Italy near bedtime from the port of Civitavecchia.  Our stay in Italy was eight long months.  After an overnight trip we landed at Porto Vecchio, Corsica, and rode an early truck convoy to our air base at Ghisonaccia, arriving at the base at 1:00 P.M.  At Ghisonaccia we shared the airfield with the 310th Bomb Group.  The next few days were very busy ones; tents were set up and equipment was made ready for the new P-47’s.

From our first encounter with the natives we learned immediately how proud a people they are.  Corsica as a French province is part of France.  The Corsicans never referred to themselves as French but always as Corsicans.  We were in Corsica for one reason only, to get ready for and play a part in the invasion of southern France.  Our pilots were now busy day in and day out getting the feel of a new fighter plane and the ground crews were busy keeping the planes in flying order.  There was no let-up in flying.  We were in the middle of summer, and in contrast to last winter in Italy, when it rained almost constantly, here we had perfect flying weather everyday.  Our guys took advantage and flew from sun-up to sun-down on all kinds of missions to northern Italy.  They were also flying escort for the Twelfth Air Force’s B-25’s inside France and doing reconnaissance duty over southern France.  New pilots were always coming into the squadron; they were lucky to have seasoned combat pilots to train them.  There was no slack time while in Corsica; it was a seven-day operation.  Whatever diversion from work we found was confined to after-working hours or sometimes, if lucky, in-between flights.  There were no cities we could go to on pass; Corsica was not the best tour of duty we had; the island was not an inviting spot.  However, a good swimming hole, excellent food, and nightly movies made our five-week stay almost bearable.

Soon it was time for the group to move ahead- this time to the French mainland, southern France.   A-Group boarded a Liberty ship ride for the trip to the Riviera and went ashore on D-Day plus seven, August 22, l944.  From the beaches of the Riviera we rode by truck convoy to the airstrip at Le Luc.  On the days preceeding the invasion, pilots from the group’s three squadrons flew dawn-to-dusk missions, hitting and putting out of action the enemy's radar installations on the coast.  Our ground forces of the American Seventh Army waded ashore as an invasion force on Aug. 15th while getting full support from our planes.  From the Ghisonaccia airfield B-Party rode to the port of Calvi to board an LST and a reunion with the advance group at Le Luc.  Le Luc was already set up when we of the B-Wave arrived.  It had been a former German base and the field had been used by the Germans only a short time before our arrival.  We could see now how the war was turning in our favor; we had the Germans on the run.  Because our group flew in direct support of the ground troops, as they advanced, we did also.  Advancing was what the infantry was now doing, and doing it in such a fashion that it meant our moving up with them frequently.  We were at Le Luc only three days when we received moving orders again.