Floyd C. Peacock, U.S. Army Air Corp.

FLOYD C. PEACOCK

Corporal 2nd Class
Army Air Corp
1943-1946

My induction into military service began on June 19, 1943 at Fort McPherson at Atlanta, GA. Went through much testing and evaluation to determine what duty I could perform best. My desire for pilot training failed due to poor vision and coordination. However, I was pleased to be accepted for aviation mechanic training and was transferred to Shepherd Air Force Base at Wichita Falls, TX for six weeks of basic army training. Then to Gulfport Field, MS where I entered Airplane Mechanics School and graduated March 19, 1944. Next was a short course of special training on B-24 and B-17 Bombers at Ford's Plant near Detroit, MI. This completed my training and I was transferred to Biggs Field at El Paso, TX where I was assigned to a maintenance crew on B-24 Bombers.

After six months of this duty, I was shipped to a staging area at Greensboro, NC in preparations for transfer to Miami Beach, FL for embarkation overseas. On Oct. 22, 1944 our flight in a C-46 army transport plane departed Miami Beach to a destination we didn't know. After many stops and layovers ,in about four weeks we arrived in Karachi, India. We had flown the regular Atlantic route to Trinidad, Natel, Accra, Kartoum, Aden and Karachi. After several days we were flown across India to our permanent base Asansol, India which is about one hundred and twenty miles northwest of Calcutta, India.

I was assigned to the 164th Liaison Squadron of First Air Commanders with the duty to maintain two L-5 planes that were used to evacuate wounded personnel from all over Burma. We would fly to Burma for six weeks of this duty and back to Asansol for two weeks to upgrade maintenance on the planes and then back to Burma. When the atom bomb was dropped we were preparing another mission to Burma but this stopped that action and the base was being demolished and we began waiting for transportation back to good ole USA. Unfortunately, I was one of about twenty mechanics with training on C-46 airplanes that was assigned the duty to go to Agra, India and prepare 100 C-46 planes for transfer to the Chinese government. Upon completion of this assignment we were transferred back to Karachi, India to await a ship back to the U.S. We boarded the USS General Stewart on Dec. 30, 1945 and headed home. After 28 days at sea, we arrived at Tacoma, Washington on Jan. 25, 1946 and three days later we boarded a troop train for Fort McPherson in Atlanta, GA where I received my honorable discharge on Feb. 4, 1946.

Decorations and Citations:

World War II Victory Metal American Service Medal
Asiatic Pacific Service Metal with 2 bronze stars Good Conduct Medal

Main Food in Burma:

K Ration – Identified on outside of package:
Breakfast: instant coffee, a can of ground up ham and eggs, candy bar, four cigarettes, sugar, hardtack and matches.
Lunch: a can of rubbery cheese, packet of lemonade powder, sugar, four cigarettes, crackers and candy wafers.
Dinner: a can of hash, candy bar, four more cigarettes, sugar, instant coffee and a package of crackers.

On one mission in Burma I was assigned the duty to go to a location near Mandalay to salvage air plane parts from one of our planes that had crashed. The area had been heavily bombed for over a month so the Japanese had abandoned the area. I picked up two rifles and a machine gun and loaded them into our plane with our salvaged parts and gear and tools and we took off. We could barely clear tree top level and were losing altitude so everything, parts, guns and tools and gear were dumped overboard.

On another mission in Burma I found a Japanese sniper rifle that was jammed and I took a chance to mail it home. It arrived with only the address label left of the wrapping. The rifle is still jammed.

While stationed in Agra, India I made a couple of visits to the Taj Mahal Memorial.

It took 28 days for the USS General Stewart to transport us from Karachi, India to the U.S. and I was seasick the entire time.

I had a rest leave of three days in Calcutta, India. Had a good fish sandwich with French fries at the Red Cross. Cows were sacred in India, along with monkeys and cobra snakes, and they roamed the filthy streets at will. People relieved themselves on the streets and sidewalks and dead bodies were collected daily.


(Floyd Peacock is the father of Cherie Beavers.)