J.Needham

S/Sgt. John Needham

Hi Bill,

I will try to do my best and give you my tour in The 60th Field Maint. Sqd. at Rhein Main and Dreux.

I arrived at Rhein Main in January of 1955 after that 9 day trip over there on The S.S. General Maurice Rose Troop Ship. It was a cold trip on that North Atlantic. But it was a nice sight going up through The English Channel and seeing those White Cliffs Of Dover.

After getting off that ship in Bremerhaven, Germany we boarded a train that took us to Frankfurt where we were taken to Rhein Main Air Force Base. I could see that I was going to like it here. After we got checked in with all the paper work and everything, I was assigned to Aero Repair in The 60th Field Maint. Sqdn.

A few months later in April, one of those C-119's had a hard landing or a right landing gear failure or something down in Athens, Greece. Anyways, we had to get it back up with air bags on that right side so we could get those large Jack Stands under it. Then we had to remove that right landing gear and the big 28 cylinder R-4360 engine.

On our trip down to Athens, Greece from Rhein Main, that C-119 was loaded to the brim with all of our crew and tools, air compresser, jack stands and that"BIG 4360 ENGINE"! It was a long ride down but a good one. We flew over those Swiss Alps at 17000 feet and to me it was exciting. In fact, it was the very first time that I had ever flown in an airplane, much less ever being in one.

But when we landed down at Athens, Greece it was a "Scary One'! Having never landed before, I didn't know that they put those propellers into reverse to help the darn thing slow down. It began to shudder and I thought that it was going to come apart. Apparently the engine stand that was on wheels and had that BIG 4360 on it hadn't got tied down good before we left Rhein Main. It started coming forward a little bit at a time and if that pilot hadn't taken those props out of reverse, I swear that we would all be in that Mediterranean Sea.

It took 18 days to get it repaired so it could be flown out of there and back up to good ole Rhein Main. I made an extra $300 TDY pay down there and bought a used 1948 Chevrolet Sedan from a pair of twins that were rotating back to the States. I drove that sucker all over Germany and France until I sold it and got a motorbike from a M/Sgt that was coming back home in 1957.

I began to like Germany more and more every day and was looking forward to my 3 years over there. But it was to good to be true. In September of 1955 we all moved down to Dreux Air Force Base in France. Before I actually went down to stay, I drove some of those trucks from Motor Pool down to Dreux Air Base. A couple of my buddies and I would then take the Base C-47 Goony Bird back to Rhein Maine and make another trip with more trucks. One of the guys name was Airman 1st class Gibbons I think.

Dreux was a mudhole compaired to Rhein Main. But after a couple of years it began to take shape. It couldn't compare to Rhein Main and Germany though.

Ths is a photo of my Motorbike that I bought from a M/Sgt who was rotating back home in 1957. It replaced the 1948 Chevrolet that I bought from the TDY pay that I made from that trip down to Athens, Greece in April of 1955 when I was stationed at good ole "Rhein Main"!

That road in the picture has a Story all of its own. One morning when I was leaving here to go back to the Base at Dreux before daylight, it had been raining the night before. But, un-be-known to me, it had got down to freezing before morning and Poor ole Me didn't know it. I jumped on to that Bike and started peddling to get the engine started, and all at once that damn Motorbike slid right out from under me on that frozen ice and it broke the Cranks right off and the the little round ball bearings were all over the road. I don't remember how I got to the Base on time, but it was one hell of an experience. ha ha.

Since I have been out of the Air Force, I have found your nice 12th Troop Carrier Squadron Site. Through this wonderful site with all the letters and memories of all of us who served over there I have made contact with Charles Lundsford who was a Radio Operator in The 12th. He found me through Classmates.Com which has tuned out to be a good look-up tool for me. He contacted me and we have been corresponding ever since. We have found 2 of our buddies who were in the 12th as Flight Engineers. Chuck has flown many times with both of them. They were Clyde Rowe and John Traficante with whom I went through Basic with and Tech. School with.

After making contact with Chuck Lundsford, he asked if I had remembered the formation collision that happened on August 11,1955 involving the two 10th Sq. C-119's. They were #53-3222 and #53-7841. I told him that I remembered it. Not so much as for the crash, but for the Water Bottle that was supposed to be attached to the forward bulkhead in the Cargo Department. It WAS NOT in the aircraft when it crashed! It was in another C-119. I don't remember

which one, but every time that it came into our hangar for those 100 hour Periodic Inspections, it had The Triple Duces ( 222 ) Water Bottle in it. To this day---every time that I see those three numbers 222, whether it is the winning lottery numbers or 222 on my watch or a clock, I Always THINK OF THAT AIRPLANE. Spooky, isn't it?

When I first got to Rhein Main Air Force Base I bought a nice German 35mm camera at the Base BX. I only paid $29.00 for it and still have it today. It used to stop those props on those Twin-Fan-Spam-Cans. It was and still is a good camera to this day. I took a lot of pictures overseas with it.

Thanks, and hope that this is ok.

S/Sgt John Needham