Bob Wilcox 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, on board B-17 42-39823 "Iron Ass", with the Bordeaux airfield as 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. Missing Air Crew Report – MACR 1983.

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 at being arrested, Frédéric’s father, Edouard Nadeau and his wife Leona, sheltered, fed and clothed him, giving him all comfort possible. Bob 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 a 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, flew from there on the 19th to Oran, Algeria, from where he travelled to Casablanca, Morocco. He left Casablanca by air on 20 September 1944, and landed the same day in England. Escape & Evasion Report E&E 2239.

After his return to the United States, “Perk” was a bombardier instructor at Midland airfield in Texas.

“Peck” Wilcox and his wife June travelled to France in 1967. Bob made an emotional visit to “Papa and Mama” (that’s how 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 passed away in October 1999.

At the initiative of French researcher and friend of the Wilcox family, Bernard Ballanger, and with the help of the municipality of Saint-Simon-de-Pellouaille, a ceremony was organized there in honor of Peck Wilcox and the Nadeau family who sheltered him. It took place on Saturday 19 December 2015 in the presence of Ms Kari Wilcox Foster, grand-daughter of Bombardier Robert Wilcox. After a Mass at the local church and a wreath-laying at the locality’s Monument aux Morts, Ms Foster accompanied the group of local dignitaries and citizens and Mr Thomas Wolf, United States Consul in Bordeaux, to pay their respects at the cemetery where “Papa and Mama” are resting. Wreaths were laid and a plaque was placed at Papa and Mama’s gravesite. A similar plaque was inaugurated on the wall of the Nadeau’s wartime house in Bénigousse / Cravans the same day. The plaques in French read:

Ici

Edouard et Léone NADEAU

et leur fils Frédéric

ont sauvé de l’occupation

de l’Allemagne Nazie,

l’aviateur américain

Robert WILCOX

( 02.01.1944 – 09.09.1944)

Réalisé le 19.12.2015

(Translation : Here, Edouard and Léone NADEAU and their son Frédéric saved from the Nazi German occupier the American airman Robert WILCOX (2 January 1944-9 September 1944) – Inaugurated 19 December 2015.)



Awards: AM, POW, WWII Victory, EAME.