Robert Bowles "Peck" Wilcox was born on April 20, 1917, in Macon County, the son of A. R. and Mary Bowles Wilcox. He married June Uhil on Jan 19, 1946.
Robert enlisted in the National Guard at Decatur in 1941. Training as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps, he graduated from the bombardier school at Childress, Texas, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant. Sent overseas in May 1943, he was a Bombardier in the 351st Bomb Group / 510th Bomb Squadron based in Polebrook, England.
He was on his 6th mission on 31 December 1943, onboard B-17 42-39823 "Iron Ass", with the Bordeaux airfield as the primary target. Due to dense cloud cover over the Bordeaux area, their group proceeded to Cognac, the secondary target. After bombs away, on the flight back, 42-39823 was hit by flak and its crew bailed out.
Wilcox, who had just a scratch over the left eye, landed in marshes near Saint-Martin ±10 km NNW of Saujon (Charentes-Maritimes), France. He hid all day on the 31st and walked to nearby Le Gua, reaching Saujon and stopping to rest at the former “Camp Romain” near Saint-Romain-de-Benet, 10km NNE of Saujon. He was helped there by farmers and the local mayor who managed to find him civilian clothes, food, some French money, and a map for directions to Saint-Simon-de-Pellouaille.
On 3 January 1944, in Jorignac, he met a young man, Frédéric, who took him to his home 4km away in Bénigousse, a hamlet of the municipality of Saint-Simon-de-Pellouaille. There, despite the risks of being arrested, Frédéric’s father, Edouard Nadeau, and his wife Leona sheltered, fed, and clothed him, giving him all comfort possible.
Robert Wilcox stayed with the Nadeau family until 11 September 1944. On that day, he was escorted by French FFI members to the American lines and came in contact in Bordeaux with Captain Austin, an American paratrooper who worked with the French Resistance. He left by car for Avignon with Capt. Austin on 13 September, arriving on the 15th. The next day, Austin took him to Salon-de-Provence where his return to England was arranged. He left Salon-de-Provence by air to Naples, Italy on the 17th, and flew from there on the 19th to Oran, Algeria, from where he traveled to Casablanca, Morocco. He left Casablanca by air on 20 September 1944 and landed the same day in England.
After his return to the United States, “Peck” was a bombardier instructor at Midland airfield in Texas.
“Peck” Wilcox and his wife June traveled to France in 1967. Bob made an emotional visit to “Papa and Mama” (that’s what he always called Edouard and Leona Nadeau) and their son Frédéric in Saint-Simon-de-Pellouaille. Robert Wilcox was a farmer and a retired rural mail carrier in the Blue Mound area. He was a member of the First Christian Church in Blue Mound, American Legion Zub Vandiver Post 257 in Stonington, and the VFW in Taylorville. He passed away in October 1999.
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.americanairmuseum.com