Mechanic

Stories about fighting in all theaters of WWII. I ask that these be stories directly from veterans and not previously published material.
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armydriver
Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Posts: 2595
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:10 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Mechanic

Post by armydriver »

" Man, we didn't have anything. Sparkplugs were the most needed items. I had some Chinese women that would sit all day with brass wire brushes cleaning spark plugs and putting them in a bucket. I would then go through them and pick out the best to be used over and over again. Magnetos were another problem too. We couldn't get parts, gasoline or oil and they expected those airplanes to be in the air on a moments notice. Hell, I have had airplanes running on all 12 cylinders when they left and come back running on 10 with holes all in the airplane.
We used to go out to the crash sites of the Japs the boys shot down and cut big pieces of aluminum and fabric from the ships to plug up the holes in our P-40's. Electrical wireing too and anything else we could salvzge off of the crashes. We didn't throw away anything."

These are the words of Master Sergeant Joe R. Mitchell, crew chief in the American Volunteer Group and later the 23rd Fighter Group in China. Joe is a unique and interesting individual and currently resides in Universal City, Texas not far from my home. He is a frequent rider in my CCKW and in my 43 GPW, before I sold it. That jeep is a whole story by itself, but for a different time, as this is about Joe.
Joe Mitchell is a Texan and joined the Army Air Corps in 1940 after working in the ship yards in Beaumont, Texas. He became an aircraft mechanic in the AAC and was at Kelly Field when the United States entered the war on December 7, 1941.
By early 1942 he was on his way to Java to help put together a ship load of P-40's that were being shpped there on the old U.S.S. Langly to fight the Japanese. Two incidents would change Joes life forever. One the Japanese sank the Langly and Java fell to Japanese forces. Joe was left stranded in India working on airplanes.
Then a request came from the CBI theater commander, General " Vinager Joe" Stillwell for an observation plane for him to fly in to observe operations on the ground. Joe said they only one airplane that could possibly be suitable and that was an old BT-9 but both wings had been damaged in a crash. Joe and his mechanics fitted the wings from a T-6 on it and Joe rigged up a .30 caliber stinger in the rear seat for the General in case they were attacked. He then convinced the ferry pilot of the airplane to let him ride as the gunner. They flew the hump without incident and landed in Kunming. Joe said they were not out of the airplane 5 minutes when General Chennault came striding up to them and wanted to know who they were and what they were doing there. When he was told the situation, he ordered the airplane reduced down to parts. His reasoning. The Japanese fighters all had radial engines on them. The Flying Tigers were all flying inline liquid cooled engines. His pilots did not look at markings, they shot at all round engine fighters and he was not going to be responsible for killing the Allied Theater Commander.
It did not take Joe long to convince the general to let him stay in China. After all he was an expert P-40 mechanic and they needed him and more like him to keep the AVG in the air. Joe stayed in China until December of 1944 before he came home. He retired from the Air Force in 1963. There will be more of Joe Mitchell's stories to come.
52 M38 Willy's
Former owner and restorer of CCKW353 " Betty Boop"

proud father of a career Army officer/Blackhawk pilot/ War in Iraq veteran
Retired high school history teacher at Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole CMH High School, Fort Sam Houston Texas
proud great grandson of four Confederate soldiers.
great great grandson of a War of 1812 veteran
great great great grandson of 2 American Revolutionary war veterans
armydriver
Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Posts: 2595
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 1:10 am
Location: San Antonio, Texas

Post by armydriver »

let me make a correction to my story. General Stillwell was the overall commander of American forces. Lord Louie Montbatten of England was the Allied Theater Commander. Sorry for my mistake. I got caught up in the story. :D
52 M38 Willy's
Former owner and restorer of CCKW353 " Betty Boop"

proud father of a career Army officer/Blackhawk pilot/ War in Iraq veteran
Retired high school history teacher at Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole CMH High School, Fort Sam Houston Texas
proud great grandson of four Confederate soldiers.
great great grandson of a War of 1812 veteran
great great great grandson of 2 American Revolutionary war veterans
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