Robert Harris was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1922. The years of the Great Depression were tough. It hit hard in 1929 and stayed rough for years. World War Two was a factor in the country’s recovery. By the time the US entered the war, things were beginning to improve. Harris’ father worked at several different jobs. He was a deputy sheriff in Knox County but the pay was not enough. He then went to work for a furniture store for 50 dollars per month. Before the war started, young Harris obtained a job in a machine shop. It doubled his previous salary that he had been paid at a clothing store. His father followed his son and became a crane operator in the machine shop. He also worked in the smelter plant where aluminum was melted so that it could be used in manufacturing. When the war came on, many people were either enlisting in the service or they were being drafted. Harris did not want to be drafted so he took the test for flight school for the Army Air Forces. He went to Nashville, Tennessee to determine where he was going to go. He then went to Montgomery, Alabama for basic training at the air force base located there. He then went to flight training in Camden, Arkansas. There was nothing there except a smelly paper plant and little else. He spent two months there and then it was off to two months of further training in Mississippi. Next was advanced training at Craig Field in Alabama. [Annotator’s Note: Craig Field is near Selma, Alabama] Following that training, he was commissioned 2nd lieutenant in the Army Air Corps. Some men received further promotions during that time but Harris was not. There was not that much glamour in transport duties so the men were not given much attention. Harris had training in a C-47 in Austin, TX. [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skymaster twin engine transport aircraft] That was his first experience with multi-engine aircraft. Everything prior had been with single engine aircraft. After spending some time in Texas for additional training, Harris had two or three weeks in Greenwood, Mississippi for flight training. Next was Fort Wayne, Indiana to be assigned to a specific crew. From there, he flew south to West Palm Beach, Florida to prepare to fly overseas. There were added tanks installed in the airplane, but it still required multiple stops to fly across the Atlantic. The destination would become Natal, Brazil. His responsibility would have been to transport troops from combat duty in Europe to the fight against Japan. The plane would change crews at that point and Harris would return to Natal. When he originally went overseas to Europe, the course was in reverse. He flew from Natal to Accession Island because fuel was an issue. There was nothing at Accession Island except fish. The fish filled the ocean around the island. The island had a high tidal surge. The runway filled the island. It ran uphill halfway and downhill the rest. You could not see the end of the runway as a result. Other planes were flying through at that time. A B-26 hit the hump and thought it was airborne so he pulled up his landing gear but immediately came back down on the runway. No one was hurt. [Annotator’s Note: the Martin B-26 Marauder was a twin engine medium bomber.] Since the transfer of men was not required for the invasion of Japan, Harris was sent back to the United States. He returned to West Palm Beach for a few days and then was given a leave of absence to return home for a few weeks. He returned to Knoxville. Afterward, he returned to Austin, Texas by train to be discharged. After a couple of weeks, he was given his release and he went home ending his active service.

Robert Harris was based in England for one year at a base called Barkston Heath near Grantham. [Annotator’s Note: the RAF—Royal Air Force of England made the airfield available to United States troop transports in late 1943] It was roughly 100 miles north of London. He was in the 53d Troop Carrier Squadron. He was part of the Eighth Air Force at a different base at first, but then became part of the Ninth Air Force at the second base. The transports carried anything that could be gotten aboard for long or short flights. Food or whiskey might be carried. One flight even went to North Ireland to pick up a supply of whiskey for the officers’ club. Harris was part of the crew on that flight. The club was open to officers like Harris so they had access at any time. It was kept pretty well stocked. He learned at that point that he did not like Scotch whiskey. Although he flew some flights, most of his assignments were as copilot. There was always a first pilot and copilot onboard. Most of the time, the pilot did the active flying. The copilot had limited opportunities to fly.

Robert Harris flew his first combat mission over France on D-Day. [Annotator’s Note: D-Day was on 6 June 1944 when Allied forces assaulted Normandy, France.] Preparations for the flights began early for the transports. They were headed over the English Channel before daylight. After dropping their paratroopers, a fast turn was made to return to England. The planes dropped down to treetop level to avoid experiencing friendly fire. Harris had to give the pilot an alert to avoid hitting a tree with his right wing. [Annotator’s Note: Harris chuckles at the memory. The experience with friendly fire had been disastrous during the invasion of Sicily. Paratrooper transport aircraft were fired upon by friendly allied shipping below. That resulted in cancellation of subsequent flights of previously planned glider assault troops for fear of additional friendly fire losses. For D-Day, a series of three white stripes were painted on aircraft wings and fuselage to aid the friendly gunners below in identifying friendly aircraft.] The planes flew in three ship elements where a lead plane had a plane on each side and one behind. Harris’ plane was the one on the right side of the leader. The preparations for D-Day started two or three days ahead of time, but no one knew exactly what was going on until briefings immediately prior to the invasion. Harris’ transport had 20 paratroopers aboard with all their equipment. They tried to carry all they would need on the ground, but it was tough on them. They had bags stuffed full of items between their legs. When they hit the ground, the bag was still with them. The weather was bad that morning. Many of the planes had difficulty staying together. Harris’ three ship element stayed together, but they were not able to stay together with the squadron leader. They joined another squadron and went in with them. The flight went out of the English Channel into the Atlantic. They were to fly between two islands which had a tremendous amount of artillery. If they flew between them, they could avoid their antiaircraft fire. [Annotator’s Note: the English Channel islands of Guernsey and Jersey had been captured by the Germans after the fall of France.] The transports flew clear of the island’s artillery range and into France. The paratroopers were dropped near the little town of Sainte-Mère-Église. All the other planes did the same thing. The paratroopers had a strap about four or five feet long attached to the parachute on their back. The strap is hooked onto a cable in the overhead of the plane. The strap slides along the cable until the trooper jumps from the aircraft. At that point, the strap pulls the parachute open for the paratrooper. [Annotator’s Note: the strap is also referred to as a ripcord.] It is important to keep the sequence of order for the jumpers. The first series of jumps was not much of a problem. It was rather routine. The second day was different. Supplies were carried to the men on the ground. Pods were mounted under the plane and other items were carried inside. The plane proceeded to the drop zone and released the supplies. The success in actually getting the supplies to the American troops was unknown. The transport aircraft did the best they could. The second day drops were done in daylight. The immediate turn for the flight back to England after the drop was done at treetop level. It caused the enemy to have more difficulty in shooting at the transports because of their close proximity to the ground level. Paratroopers normally like 500 feet of altitude for the jump. That is fairly low altitude, but it is not at treetop level. While skimming the treetops on the second day, Harris noticed a German with a big machine gun firing at them. Harris did not know if the gunner hit the plane very much. The Germans did the best they could to shoot down the supply planes. Many of the transports were lost during the action. One plane ditched in the English Channel after its engine was hit. Only one man out of that crew was seriously injured and subsequently died. The body was dropped overboard from the floating raft by the surviving crewmen because the duration that the raft would remain buoyant was unpredictable. The enemy flak on the second day was worse than on D-Day. Upon the return back to England, the crew chief inspected the transport plane and observed a dozen bullet holes in the airplane. The weather was so bad during the paratrooper drop on D-Day that the fliers had to depend on the advance group of paratroopers who went in early and set up radio transmissions to guide the following planes into the right spot. As a result, the transports hoped that their passengers got to the right spot, but they did not know. [Annotator’s Note: the early paratroopers were referred to as pathfinders. Paratroopers and gliders that followed were landed in a scattered fashion over Normandy generally as a result of heavy German antiaircraft fire and difficult weather conditions. This randomness caused the Germans great consternation concerning the objectives of the airborne troops.] The Germans had flooded lowlands in the area. Many paratroopers landed in water perhaps six feet deep. Some men drown as a result. The paratroopers onboard Harris’ plane were part of the 82nd Airborne Division. After the second day, additional supply missions were flown. All the paratrooper drops had apparently occurred at that point. About a week into the invasion, a landing area in France was prepared for the transports to garner German prisoners who had been captured. Most of the prisoners were wounded and needed medical attention back in England. Harris did not associate with them. There was a language barrier preventing communication. One incident involved a prisoner who came in contact with Harris. While Harris was attempting to secure a pallet that a German was bound to, the prisoner’s arm was caught up in the straps. The German let out a yell and Harris ended his effort.

After the D-Day related transport flights, Robert Harris was assigned to a mission that never transpired. His transport plane was to fly into France moving heavy equipment such as bulldozers. The destination was west of Paris with the goal of setting up a landing field. It was called off because of the rapid advance of American troops that negated the need for a support base in that location. General Patton pushed his way into the area and took over the location. [Annotator’s Note: General George S. Patton] The next job was to tow gliders into the combat zone in Holland. The idea was to expedite a crossing of the Rhine River. The gliders carried jeeps, artillery and other support ideas for the assault. There was a lot of enemy antiaircraft fire during this mission. [Annotator’s Note: Operation Market Garden in Holland occurred in September 1944. American and British airborne troops focused on the capture of major bridges to facilitate rapid advance of Allied armor across Holland (the Netherlands). The effort ultimately would lead to an Allied defeat resulting from strong German opposition which attacked the flanks of the Allied armor advance. Consequently, the airborne troops were cut off and had to seek their way west to return to friendly lines. The Allies experienced heavy losses during the course of this operation. With this Operation being British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery’s idea, he would shoulder some of the responsibility for the failure. Harris’ transport carried 82nd Airborne GIR-Glider Infantry Regiment troops into Nijmegen.] There was not much Luftwaffe defense in Holland because of Allied bomber attacks on support facilities for the German air force such as ball bearing manufacture plants. There was quite a bit of flak fire by the Germans. It was obvious when a round exploded near the transport aircraft. The plane would jerk when the round exploded. The crew of the transport wore flak jackets to protect them but they did not provide full protection. The gliders went into Holland just west of the Rhine River. The fight for Nijmegen centered on control of bridges for the armor thrust toward Germany. The British fight at Arnhem likewise was for a bridge at that location. Harris never saw or heard of damages to the transports because they mainly came in low to prevent the enemy from having enough time to fire upon them. The gliders went in low and came down fast even if they had to hit a tree to come to a stop. While flying supply missions over France, Harris was struck by the appearance of a glider which had come to a stop in the middle of a town or village square. It was tricky to land in that spot, but the aircraft damage appeared light. One of Harris’ best friends was a glider pilot. After towing the glider to Holland, it would release itself from the transport. At that juncture, Harris’ aircraft returned to England. That operation during Market Garden was the last major combat action that Harris participated in during the war.

After Operation Market Garden flights, Robert Harris continued flying transport and supply missions. He at times grew angered at the mishandling of supplies by offloading crews. He flew into Germany once with a friend who came from New Jersey as the pilot. On that flight, the plane flew into a makeshift airfield. There had been considerable rain so the makeshift field was muddy. It was studded with steel mallets with the mud all mixed up on it. [Annotator’s Note: steel pallets could have been used to prevent landing gear submersion into the soft mud.] The pilot set the plane down on the plates and continued on until there was a left turn to be made. As he made the turn left, the plane continued its forward progress straight ahead. Harris got a big laugh watching his friend fighting the aircraft for control of its path. During the siege of Bastogne, there was limited opportunity to provide transport of supplies to the surrounded town because of the weather problems. Paratroopers were used as ground troops during the Bulge. Harris and his fellow crewmen had been alerted to standby in case the weather cleared. Most of the missions at this time were into France, Holland, and Germany. One mission was into Belgium where they carried supplies into an established airfield. During that mission, a B-17 with two engines knocked out on one side came in and landed long and passed through a farmer’s cabbage patch. [Annotator’s Note: Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress four engine heavy bomber] Harris never heard of any injury sustained by the crew. It could get scary at times. During Harris’ training in Mississippi, the planes would operate at night. Because of the complications of darkened takeoff and landing operations, there were traffic problems. One plane landed on top of another plane preparing to takeoff. The plane on the bottom had crew fatalities, but the top plane did not experience as significant a set of injuries. Harris knew he wanted to be a pilot when he went to Brazil. He was assigned as first pilot not copilot. He felt the C-47 was a great airplane that was stable to fly and control as well as land. Some are still flying today. [Annotator’s Note: Douglas C-47 Skymaster transport aircraft] One of the flights in Brazil was hairy. He was designated as first pilot. To assure that pilots were competent, a check pilot flew the flight in the copilot seat. There had been heavy rains as there were every day in that location. The home base was covered with clouds. The various aircraft awaiting landing instructions were given a location in which to circle. Harris was in his location when he was told to proceed to his landing. He dropped through the clouds and saw a landmark that he knew was three or four miles from the runway. He told his check pilot the direction to land and, even though it was driving rain, he successfully brought the ship into the field. After the Germans were pushed out of Paris, Harris had a chance to visit the city for a short time. The nightclubs were all full, but the men tried to get in anyway. Finding a place to stay was difficult. They went with an enlisted man and used his place for the night. There was no time to go to USO clubs or shows in England. Entertainment in England was in Nottingham near their base in Grantham. The base was 25 miles east of Nottingham. They travelled by train to Nottingham. The train stopped eight times in 25 miles. There was a big dance hall in Nottingham. The service man would buy tickets separately from the women. They would meet inside. It was fun.

Robert Harris appreciated being an American much more after his experiences in the Second World War. He had thought about trying to get a job as a pilot, but, because of the large numbers of pilots available at the time, he changed his mind. He decided to return to the University of Tennessee and get a degree. Prior to entry into the service, Harris had attended the University for one year. He and his friend used to watch football games there when his high school played. They had no money so they would climb a tree to see the game from the outside. They did have one advantage. After the first half of the game, the gates were open for all to see the remainder of the game for free. As a result, they saw many second half games. [Annotator’s Note: Harris chuckles at the memory] The college education was supported by the GI Bill. He also used it later in life to help him. Lockheed was the company he would find employment with after graduation. The company stipulated that it was important to have a degree. It did not matter what the degree was in, but the necessity was to have a degree. The Second World War provided a big boost to the American economy during and after the conflict. The war changed the way that people look at one country trying to beat up others. The negative side of the war was the fatalities and casualties, both physical and mental, that resulted from the conflict. Some recent veterans have great difficulties in making their way through life. The National WWII Museum is a good idea. People profit from it.