On the airfield at Barkston-Heath (USAAF Station AAF-483) near the city of Grantham in Lincolnshire, 72 Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports from the 61st Troop Carrier Group sat waiting. Soon they would carry 1,230 paratroopers from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Normandy as a part of Mission Boston, the code name of the operation to move the 82nd Airborne Division to France on D-Day. Just seven miles away on the airfield at Fulbeck (USAAF Station AAF-488), 45 C-47s of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group were preparing to load the regimental headquarters and the 1st […]
Impossible Target – Why did so many paratroopers miss the drop zone on D-Day?
On the airfield at Barkston-Heath (USAAF Station AAF-483) near the city of Grantham in Lincolnshire, 72 Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports from the 61st Troop Carrier Group sat waiting. Soon they would carry 1,230 paratroopers from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment to Normandy as a part of Mission Boston, the code name of the operation to move the 82nd Airborne Division to France on D-Day. Just seven miles away on the airfield at Fulbeck (USAAF Station AAF-488), 45 C-47s of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group were preparing to load the regimental headquarters and the 1st […]
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Today the numbers involved in Operation Overlord are unthinkable: 6,000 bombers, more than 5,000 fighters, some 1,600 transport aircraft, and 2,500 gliders. All crammed into scores of airfields throughout Britain, but mainly in southern England. All were serviced, armed, and assigned aircrews, eager to take off on the day called “D.” In June 1944, the European War had dramatically reversed from four years previously. When Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht conquered Western Europe in 10 weeks, Nazi Germany seemed unstoppable. But since the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the growing Allied bomber offensive, with German defeats in the Mediterranean and Russia, […]
Aerial Assault – The day Fortress Europe fell
Today the numbers involved in Operation Overlord are unthinkable: 6,000 bombers, more than 5,000 fighters, some 1,600 transport aircraft, and 2,500 gliders. All crammed into scores of airfields throughout Britain, but mainly in southern England. All were serviced, armed, and assigned aircrews, eager to take off on the day called “D.” In June 1944, the European War had dramatically reversed from four years previously. When Adolf Hitler’s Wehrmacht conquered Western Europe in 10 weeks, Nazi Germany seemed unstoppable. But since the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the growing Allied bomber offensive, with German defeats in the Mediterranean and Russia, […]
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They must have been a sight for sore eyes to the soldiers on the beach as wave after wave of fighters, bombers, and paratrooper-stuffed transports, some towing gliders, passed overhead, all of them adorned with black and white painted stripes. The invasion was on, and many of the fighter pilots expecting a Luftwaffe slugfest were disappointed by the dismal numbers that showed up. But there were still plenty of targets both on the ground and in the air for those lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. Follow along with these “little friends” about the […]
Little friends Over the Beach – The fighters get down and dirty
They must have been a sight for sore eyes to the soldiers on the beach as wave after wave of fighters, bombers, and paratrooper-stuffed transports, some towing gliders, passed overhead, all of them adorned with black and white painted stripes. The invasion was on, and many of the fighter pilots expecting a Luftwaffe slugfest were disappointed by the dismal numbers that showed up. But there were still plenty of targets both on the ground and in the air for those lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time. Follow along with these “little friends” about the […]
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In his memoir, Lt. Col. Richard E. Turner recalled D-Day for the Ninth Air Force’s 354th Fighter Group at Maidstone, Kent. He described the “Pioneer Mustangs’” rare D-Day missions: night escort of troop carrier aircraft and gliders. Since the 25th of May, the group had been informed that it was on a six-hour alert status, and it had been assigned two officers from General Patton’s Third Army to stay with us and set up liaison procedures. Our flying hadn’t changed much except that more dive-bombing, fighter sweeps, and strafing missions were being thrown in with our normal escort duties. “It […]
Pilot’s View D-Day from the Cockpit
In his memoir, Lt. Col. Richard E. Turner recalled D-Day for the Ninth Air Force’s 354th Fighter Group at Maidstone, Kent. He described the “Pioneer Mustangs’” rare D-Day missions: night escort of troop carrier aircraft and gliders. Since the 25th of May, the group had been informed that it was on a six-hour alert status, and it had been assigned two officers from General Patton’s Third Army to stay with us and set up liaison procedures. Our flying hadn’t changed much except that more dive-bombing, fighter sweeps, and strafing missions were being thrown in with our normal escort duties. “It […]
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During the National WW II Glider Pilots Association’s 41st reunion in Oklahoma City in October 2011, glider pilots George L. Williams of Idaho and Norman C. Wilmeth of Oklahoma shared memories of their D-Day glider missions with the author. Mission elmira Normandy D-Day Flight Officer George L. Williams flew seven glider missions during World War II. Fresh out of high school when he enlisted, he was excited to be a part of the war. He had the opportunity to fly both the large British Airspeed Horsa glider and the relatively smaller American Waco CG-4A Hadrian glider. The wooden Horsa’s fuselage […]
Silent Missions – The glider gang behind the lines
During the National WW II Glider Pilots Association’s 41st reunion in Oklahoma City in October 2011, glider pilots George L. Williams of Idaho and Norman C. Wilmeth of Oklahoma shared memories of their D-Day glider missions with the author. Mission elmira Normandy D-Day Flight Officer George L. Williams flew seven glider missions during World War II. Fresh out of high school when he enlisted, he was excited to be a part of the war. He had the opportunity to fly both the large British Airspeed Horsa glider and the relatively smaller American Waco CG-4A Hadrian glider. The wooden Horsa’s fuselage […]
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As the long-lived Thunderbolt group in the ETO, the 56th FG certainly sported some of the most varied camouflage plus squadron and individual markings in England. Upon arrival at Kings Cliffe in January 1943, its first combat-ready P-47C models bore a factory-standard olive drab over neutral gray livery. As the Thunderbolt was the first and only radial-engined U.S. fighter in the ETO at the time, its similarity to an Fw 190 quickly forced visual augmentation with 24-inch white nose cowl bands and later matching bands on the horizontal and vertical tails. A further enhancement was a second star cockade added […]
56th FG Jugs: War Paint
As the long-lived Thunderbolt group in the ETO, the 56th FG certainly sported some of the most varied camouflage plus squadron and individual markings in England. Upon arrival at Kings Cliffe in January 1943, its first combat-ready P-47C models bore a factory-standard olive drab over neutral gray livery. As the Thunderbolt was the first and only radial-engined U.S. fighter in the ETO at the time, its similarity to an Fw 190 quickly forced visual augmentation with 24-inch white nose cowl bands and later matching bands on the horizontal and vertical tails. A further enhancement was a second star cockade added […]
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The backbone of the initial Allied assault against Erwin Rommel’s Atlantic Wall was the unsung heroes of the AAF’s Troop Carrier Command. Evolving from the pre-war Air Service & Ferrying Command, a specific need for the Army’s expanding parachute units led to the division of the now AAF’s transport units into the more commonly recognized Air Transport Command and new Troop Carrier Groups (TCGs). Dedicated to the mission of delivering airborne combat troops, gliders, and equipment directly to the battlefield, the first Troop Carrier Command was established in June 1942. The first two operational units were reorganized from existing Southwest […]
The Glorious Gooney
The backbone of the initial Allied assault against Erwin Rommel’s Atlantic Wall was the unsung heroes of the AAF’s Troop Carrier Command. Evolving from the pre-war Air Service & Ferrying Command, a specific need for the Army’s expanding parachute units led to the division of the now AAF’s transport units into the more commonly recognized Air Transport Command and new Troop Carrier Groups (TCGs). Dedicated to the mission of delivering airborne combat troops, gliders, and equipment directly to the battlefield, the first Troop Carrier Command was established in June 1942. The first two operational units were reorganized from existing Southwest […]
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The Ground Crew Chief, his mechanics and armorers are true unsung heroes of the aerial D-Day invasion. The complexity of their job—and the battle environment in which they had to perform to keep the aircraft airborne—were immensely challenging. Keeping any multi-cylinder radial engine like a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 or Merlin V-12 combat-ready was a feat in itself, not to mention all the other key aircraft systems. Dealing with battle damage created yet another set of problems. In addition, there was a good chance that a year or two prior, the crew in this photo were just kids on a […]
Keeping ’Em Flying
The Ground Crew Chief, his mechanics and armorers are true unsung heroes of the aerial D-Day invasion. The complexity of their job—and the battle environment in which they had to perform to keep the aircraft airborne—were immensely challenging. Keeping any multi-cylinder radial engine like a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 or Merlin V-12 combat-ready was a feat in itself, not to mention all the other key aircraft systems. Dealing with battle damage created yet another set of problems. In addition, there was a good chance that a year or two prior, the crew in this photo were just kids on a […]
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