George's Gooney Birds and Gliders

George's Gooneybirds & Gliders

(USA)

The Douglas C-47 was the military adaptation of the civilian Douglas DST/DC-3. The 'GooneyBird' was one of the most successful aircraft ever built, and was praised (and rightly so!) by Eisenhower amongst the most important instruments of victory in WWII.   More than 13,300 of the DC-3's (in all its various forms) were built -- including Japanese and Soviet production. Of course, the C-47 was also used for many tasks other than transport.   There was an HC-47 rescue aircraft, an RC-47 recce aircraft, TC-47 trainer, and an EC-47.   The AC-47 was a gunship version of the C-47, used as late as the the Viet- nam war.    Armament was pointed through the left window & the AC-47 sprayed it's targets with gunfire in a lethal, lefthand turn.
        The C-47 was used in all the theaters of operation during the Second World War.   The Army Air Corps took the standard Douglas airliner, strengthened the lower fuselage and installed larger cargo doors.   The C-47 had a cargo capacity of only 6,000 Lbs. (example: two jeeps, or three aircraft engines, or 28 fully armed troops, or 14 stretchers and three attendants), but the "Gooney Birds" and their pilots were the indespensable, unsung heroes of World War II...

Care to HEAR the sweet rumble of a C-47?

        When George Field ceased operations as an Advanced Training School in the Summer of '44, it began training pilots for the Gooney Birds and for Gliders as well... many senior citizens of near-by Lawrenceville, say they remember the C-47's and the glider planes better than any other aircraft from George Field!

(photos from the SNAFU - George Field, IL)

**Mr. Herbert Marks, TCC, USAAF ret., happily shared this bit of a memory:**
" I was 19 years old and had just graduated and received my pilot's wings at Pecos, Texas. I had a 30 day furlough, so I went home (Los Angeles, California) to see my Mom & Dad and the rest of my family. When my 30 days were up (this part is very vague in my memory), I went to downtown L.A. and boarded a train that would take me as close as possible to Scotts Bluff, NE and then hopped a bus on to Scotts Bluff. On my arrival, I went to report to my new CO and was told to “get on one of the C-47's, as the whole outfit, planes, personnel, records , everything, was going to a new C-47 transition base named George Field, and this was the last chance to load. I threw my B4 bag and myself onto one of the planes and off we went. On arrival at George Field I remember being led to our barracks; tar paper shacks, with a pot bellied stove in the middle of the shack for heat. (Sorry to say, of the other groups there before me, at the same time of my arrival, or after, I have no clear recollection.) This was July of 1944; I do remember there was a squadron C4GA glider pilots also assigned to the base. Some of these guys were seasoned combat glider pilots. One of the guys in the group was a popular motion picture actor of the times, Jackie Coogan. After a while on the base, he and I became friendly and spent some fun nights in the officers club. The best times (of course) were in Vincennes, Indiana. Chicago, Illinois was another fun place, because I had family living there. After graduation and many great memories of George Field, we went to Baer Field, Indiana for assignments. I was lucky to be assigned to Troop Carrier Command and ultimately ended up in the 5th Air Force, 403rd Troop Carrier Group, 65th Troop Carrier Squadron. Later in the South Pacific, the 5th Air Force was retired and we were transferred to the 13th Air Force." *Herbert Marks* *TCC, USAAF, ret.* *March 15, 2000* Thanks Herb!

WANTED!
I am now accepting photos, postcards, poetry, drawings, journal entries, war-time memories and any other scannable memorabilia, for addition to the Official George Field Website! Click HERE for submission details... remember, this is YOUR website! What do YOU want to see on it? Any and all comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks fellas!

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