Day D: C-47 Aircraft And Their Bombings

Day D: C-47 aircraft and their bombings

C-47 on day D

Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3 plane, the C-47 served with all the allied Air Forces fighting the axis powers during World War II, and was produced with license in the Soviet Union. Known as Dakota in the British and Commonwealth service, the C-47 flew in all combat theaters. They carried paratroopers, merchandise and transport planners towed. They also flew in search and rescue missions, medical evacuation flights and special operations to insert and recover undercover agents and sabotage equipment, and support the activities of resistance combatants that operate behind enemy lines. (Nara)

The C-47 were the first to take off. Before 2.200 bombers will attack German positions near the French coast, before the naval bombardment of coastal batteries and boardwalks, and before the landing boats transported 130.000 men to make their way to the beaches, almost 1.000 C-47 of the US Air Force. UU. And the Royal Air Force Las Dakotas launched paratrooides in the dark to capture roads that would allow assault troops to advance inland land. Derived from Douglas DC-3, Skytrain C-47 was the most important transport of war. His pilots called him ‘Gooney Bird’, possibly because, as the Gooneys were once in the southern hemisphere, the C-47 could be seen everywhere.

The C-47 flew in all combat scenarios: in search and rescue missions, on medical evacuation flights and special operations to insert and recover undercover agents and sabotage equipment, and support the activities of resistance combatants behindof enemy lines.

Some even flew like rudimentary bombers.

Last: B-17 and a great week of bombing

"That’s all, brother" is justifiably famous as the C-47 that led the Normandy invasion on day D of 1944. But in this clip we learn what could have happened to the best known of all Skytroopers, and what happened. The plane was restored, makes appearances in aerial exhibitions and participated in the recreation that marked the 75th anniversary of the day last year.

After day D, the C-47 supported the advance of the allies towards Germany, including critical replenishment missions for US forces surrounded in Bastogne, Belgium, during the battle of the Ardenas. In March 1945, to prepare for the final assault on Nazi Germany from the West, almost 15 transported.000 soldiers through the RIN, along with almost 700 vehicles, more than 100 guns and other equipment.

The C-47 kept China in the war, air supplies, fuel, weapons and personnel from muddy airfields and bathed by the monsoon in India along the Himalayas mountain range to built-built bases. More than 80 percent of all the supplies that arrived in China flew through a section of the East of the Himalayas that the allied pilots called Hump, and most were delivered by C-47. In March 1944, transport led the release of Burma, inserting special operations forces, the first US air commands, behind the Japanese lines.

After the collapse of the axis in 1945, General Dwight Eisenhower attributed the victory to four weapons: La Bazuca, the Jeep, the Atomic Bomb and the C-47.