CECIL H. TAYLOR

559th Bomb Squadron, 387th Bomb Group,
9th Air Force, U.S. Army Air Corps

Interview by Johnnie Faye Taylor

Cecil is the son of Charlie Monroe and Maxa Mae Mauldin Taylor. He was born in Electra, Texas and raised in Ft. Worth, Texas.



In June 1940, Cecil graduated from high school at the age of 16. Since he was too young to get a job, he worked for awhile at Ashburn's Ice Cream Shop in Fort Worth. His 17th birthday was in December of that year. Cecil moved to San Diego, California in 1941 where he lived with his oldest brother. Still unable to get a "real" job because of his age, Cecil went to work for the Army-Navy YMCA.



Later in 1941 Cecil finally got a job at Rhore Air Craft in San Diego. His job was in the Tool Crib passing out tools. Cecil went back to Ft. Worth at the end of 1941 and went to work for Consolidated Vultee Aircraft. There he worked in the tool and die department making templates for aircraft parts.



Cecil's job at Convair was considered essential to the war effort so his draft board status was 3A which means he was deferred. Eventually Cecil convinced the draft board that someone else could do his job, and he could go into the military. That was about February of 1943. They finally changed his status to 1A.



He tried to join the Army Air Corps so he could become a pilot. Cecil failed the color blindness part of the exam. He learned that he was color blind when some greens and reds were shown to him.



They then drafted Cecil. He asked to be put in the Signal Corp. They refused his request and he went into the Army Air Corp instead. Cecil entered as a private. He doesn't remember his monthly pay but it seems like it was about $21.00. They did give him three meals a day and clothes that didn't fit.



Cecil was inducted at Camp Wolters in Mineral Wells, Texas on February 11, 1943. He then went to Wichita Falls, Texas for his Basic Training at Sheppard Army Air Field. The Barracks there were thrown up in a hurry and were covered with tar paper. From Sheppard Army Air Field, he went to Kingman Army Air Field at Kingman, Arizona for Gunnery Training. He reported there on April 18, 1943. That training lasted for about 2 months. At the end of Gunnery School, Cecil received 1 PFC stripe.



From Kingman, he went to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for Radio School. Cecil started school in Sioux Falls about June 1st. That school lasted about 6 months. They lived in Barracks. He saw his first major snow while at Sioux Falls. At the end of Radio School, Cecil got his Sargeant Stripes. This was about the middle of December, 1943.



Cecil was given leave and went home for a visit of about 2-3 weeks before his next assignment. It was nice to be home for Christmas.



After his leave, Cecil reported to Kearns Army Air Field, Utah which is just outside Salt Lake City. This was a "staging area" where they were assigned to crews for Crew Training. This took about 2 weeks. Next stop was Barksdale Army Air Field at Shrevesport, Louisiana where he met the rest of his crew. Their crew consisted of:

Pilot: 1st Lt. Eugene W.Hogwood

Co-Pilot: 2nd Lt. Phillip Reid

Navigator/Bombadier: 2nd Lt. Grover C.Edmondson, Jr.

Flight Engineer: Sgt. Robert A. Quinn

Radio Operator: Sgt. Cecil H. Taylor

Gunner: Sgt. Floyd S. Sholts



Flight Training on the B-26A short wing aircraft was done at Lake Charles, Louisiana. The B-26A was sometimes called the widow maker because it was not aerodymatically efficient. Cecil's crew were at Lake Charles about 3-4 months. They lived in Barracks while there. Their orders for overseas duty came through while they were at Lake Charles. According to records that he has, He was placed on flying pay on March 13, 1944.



They left Lake Charles and went by train to Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah, Georgia where they picked up a new B-26 which they flew to England. The crew was in Savannah about a week or 10 days.



En route to England they made several stops. The first stop was in Bangor, Maine. Next stop was in Goose Bay, Newfoundland then on to Greenland, Iceland and finally they arrived in Prestwick, Scotland. The trip over took place over a period of 7-10 days. Part of the time en route was spent weathered in at one or more stops.



From Prestwick, Scotland they went to Northern Ireland near Belfast for additional training. In Ireland, They purchased bicycles from some of the guys leaving. They used the bicycles while there and then sold them to other newcomers when they left. They were there about 2 weeks. It was while in Ireland that Cecil saw his first double decker bus.



They were now ready to go to England. The small town of Chipping Unger, County Essex was their new location. They were housed in barracks and had concrete runways. They trained some more while at this location.



In Early August they moved to Stony Cross, England. Their first mission was from Stony Cross on August 4, 1944. They flew a total of 9 missions in August of 1944.



The Crew moved over to France to a location known as A15 next. This was near Maupertuis, France not very far from Cherbourg. At the A15, they had runways of perforated metal laid over grass pastures. We flew several missions from this location. Among them were two missions to Brest on the same day.



Next move was to A39. We flew more missions from this field. The living conditions were not very good. Again it was tents and perforated metal runways.



Cecil doesn't remember what their location was when they used a bombed out German runway. He remembers it being patched and bumpy.



By November of 1944, they had flown enough missions to qualify for R & R. They had a total of 2 weeks leave. They first went to Paris and London for a few days then traveled to Southport, England for a week. Some of their leave time was spent on travel but they still had the week in England. It was while Cecil was in Southport that he met a girl named Winnie. They spent some time together that week and thought they were in love. They later decided that it was not love---they just enjoyed dating during that time and writing an occasional letter for several months after that.



A71 was the field they moved to next on the list of locations. The bombing missions became more intensive. They spent Christmas at A71. It was a busy Christmas Season. They flew two missions on Christmas Eve and another one on Christmas Day. There was no real celebration of the Christmas Season there. The only thing Cecil remembers in the way of celebrating was that he attended Midnight Mass with Bob Quinn. He doesn't remember receiving any gifts, Christmas cards or correspondence from home. It seems that the other guys didn't receive anything either so it was okay. They were on the move so much and everything so temporary that they just didn't think about gifts, etc. Anyway, they were all young and not experienced in letter writing so their letters home were few and far between. Also, there was not much to tell. All of their work was classified so they couldn't write home about that. Their trips into town were few and far between so they couldn't write about sights they were seeing very often.



On their first thirty missions, Cecil's position on the crew was radio operator and gunner. He manned the two waist guns that were located behind the bomb bay on B-26's. The guns were 50 caliber machine guns. Bob Quinn had the two turret guns. Floyd Sholts had the tail gun position. All the guns were 50 caliber machine guns.



They encountered some changes along the way. Their regular crew did not always fly together. As the war intensified, planes were lost for several reasons. Some of them were shot down and some went into the English Channel. Others were disabled for various reasons. Their regular crew was sometimes assigned to other planes. They rarely flew together as a team after the first 30 missions. Crews were made up daily from the available guys for whichever airplanes were flyable on that day.



On the other missions, Cecil was assigned the Navigator position on the crew. Their beginning navigator crewman was put on another crew. After he took over the navigator position, another man was added to their crew to handle the radio operator position and the two waist guns.



Their living quarters at A71 were tents. The runways were perforated metal. Chow lines were long and the weather cold and miserable that winter. They settled down into somewhat of a "camp" routine. Guys played cards in the afternoons and nights when not occupied with duty. Tent mates visited and became pretty well adjusted to each other.



Another activity they started at A71 was developing their own film. Many of the pictures included in this article were developed by them. A darkroom was set up in the tent.



Guys would come up with a chicken or eggs that had been traded for at a local farm. These would be cooked over open fires near their tents. Any contributions to their meals were appreciated. The powdered eggs, potatoes, milk, and C-Rations got old in a hurry.





After all their missions, they went through debriefing sessions. In these sessions, they told what they had seen on missions including sightings of enemy planes, flack, damage they may have caused with their bombs, etc. Sometimes they couldn't see the damage from their bombs but other times, especially when they hit fuel tanks and railroad supply yards, they could see it. Bombs on fuel tanks and railroad supply yards always caused explosions that were easily spotted from the air.



Always after debriefing, a shot of cognac was offered to them. Most of the guys took a shot. Only once did Cecil participate. It was after a really wild mission, he thought he would try it. Cecil flew a total of 62 missions. Of them 59 were completed missions and 3 were aborted missions.



Some of the missions were more "hair raising" than others. On one mission they encountered enemy fire. When they got back to the airfield, they found shrapnel under the seat Cecil was sitting in. It just wasn't his time to die.



Many times the airplane had damage when they returned from their bombing missions. The planes were patched up and flown again as soon as possible. They didn't have a special plane assigned to their crew. Whatever plane was available on a given day was the one they used.



One of the aborted missions was on Oct. 7, 1944. This was due to the right engine cutting out on the plane.



The next aborted mission was on Nov. 4, 1944. They had plane trouble and belly landed on the pasture next to the runway. The landing gear got stuck in a half up and half down position. They couldn't get it all the way up or down. This landing was a little frightening. The plane was flown by "Pappy" Liggett" that day.



The last aborted mission that Cecil was on they had to abort due to icing on the plane.



Cecil was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for the flight made on March 13, 1945. The orders for the award are in the awards section of this article.



At the end of the war, They left the continent and went back to England to await their orders for returning home. Their orders came through. They were transported back to the States on an LST. This was a very slow ship and it took 3 long weeks to get from England to Newport News, Virginia.



Cecil traveled by train from Newport News to San Antonio, Texas. He was discharged in San Antonio on July 11, 1945.



He later went to Texas Wesleyan College on the GI Bill. Cecil also took flying lessons and got his pilot's license on the GI Bill.



Cecil's work career included thirty one years with the Federal Aviation Administration. His flying lessons paid off during his career with the FAA. Many of his business trips were completed in one day and he could return home to his family on nights that he would otherwise have had to spend in motels. Cecil was Airways Facilities Sector Manager of the Memphis. Tenn. Sector at the time of his retirement.



He married Johnnie Faye Raffield, a Laurens County native, and has now made his home in Dublin, Laurens County, Georgia. Cecil and Johnnie Faye have four children. They are David B. Taylor, Janet Taylor Ramsey, Johnny Tarpley and Wendy Tarpley Spivey. Cecil is a member of the First Baptist Church and the Townsend Sunday School Class. Three years ago, He received his 50 year certificate from the Grand Lodge of Texas where his Masonic membership remained during his career moves and his retirement years. Cecil is also an active member of the Dublin Lions Club.



I