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ANOTHER SUBJECT-- Scuttlebutt In General
Not everyone experienced the same thing Two examples of how the truth
was often lost There is no direct connection between this partial page
and the book GREEN LIGHT it just fits here Differing views just
can't be ignored and in our effort to be objective we quote the following
parts of Letters to the Editor from the November 2000 issue of THE
MARAUDER THUNDER The Marauder pilot's newsletter Two B 26 pilots were
writing in response to earlier editorial comment in Thunder about the Troop
Carrier D Day flights
I wanted to comment on the item in the last issue of Thunder which
took Stephen Ambrose to task about his statements in the book D Day June
6 1944 about the ineptness of the C 47 crews that flew the airborne troops
of the 82nd and 101st into Normandy on D Day I believe it has been documented
elsewhere that the C 47 guys did goof badly and scattered the paratroopers
all over the terrain and not in the areas they were targeted to land in
Frankly I am surprised that this fiasco did not get wider publicity
1 recall listening to Calais German propaganda broadcast while enroute
to second D Day mission and heard about the reckless way the parachutists
and gliders had been dumped in and around the channel that morning I put
it down to propaganda but did observe what looked like a mess down there
Shortly after D Day we were on pass in London when we encountered
some Airborne troops who spotted our 9th Air Force patches and wanted
to fight us on the spot After calming them down we found that they took
us to be the transport pilots who had carried them into combat After telling
them that we were in fact bomber crews they proceeded to unload re the
quality of the pilots According to stories we heard they were mostly airline
pilots on temporary duty who had never seen flak before and when the stuff
started burning all around they rang the bells and got rid of their loads
and or tows
The Thunder editor printed the full letters from his members with the
firm reminder to all that the statements were not documented nor were they
likely to be Many of the Troop Carrier Group Commanders were Reserve Officers
who had been called back to active duty from airline careers and all had
flown in the Troop Carrier campaigns in Africa Sicily Italy and southern
France The great majority of the First Pilots had 1,000 hours or more the
co pilots 500 or more and the senior enlisted crew members were all experienced
veterans of the earlier campaigns
REPORTED DROP LOCATIONS OF THE 101 ST AIRBORNE DIVISION MAP
From Warren II courtesy USAF Historical Research Center These locations
were recorded as accurately as possible under the circumstances but veterans
of both the 101 st and the 82 nd Divisions are often heard to say that
there is much room for error here The 101 st was carried in flights that
crossed the French coast when the fog was very thick and the clouds were
low This meant that their delivery was probably less precise than the following
flights The result was a scattered pattern very much like the one shown
here even though it might not be exact
We must also remember that many of these young 101 st paratroopers were
going into combat for the first time The 82 nd Division had combat experience
with Troop Carrier in Sicily and Italy but this was the first actual combat
for the 101 st A number were dropped away from their Drop Zones and in
the dark and the fog they may not have had any real idea of how near or
far off they were 21
REPORTED DROP LOCATIONS OF THE 82 nd AIRBORNE DIVISION MAP
Provided by the 508 th PIR 82 nd Airborne Division There appears to be
a better drop pattern here The 82 nd was carried by C 47s of the 52 nd
Troop Carrier Wing They had a long history together and were comfortable
with each other There is no way to undo or redo any of this but it is interesting
to speculate how things might have turned out at the end of a near perfect
flight to France had the weather been better
ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS ISSUED TO D DAY FLIGHT CREWS AT SALTBY ARMY
AIRFIELD England 6 June 1944 MAP
DEDICATED TROOP CARRIERS WHO MADE THINGS HAPPEN
Crew Chief Bing Wood now deceased is the author of the following diary
entries and this is the C 47 he is describing It is now restored and on
display in The Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base Delaware.
BING S DIARY The Chronicles of C 47 42 92841
Please note this is only one part of Bing's Diary It also covers his experiences
in the invasions of North Africa Sicily Italy Normandy Holland and Germany
This little bit of history features parts of T Sgt Bing Wood's personal
diary Bing was the Crew Chief or Aerial Engineer as he preferred of the
lead aircraft of the 314 th Troop Carrier Group The aircraft was assigned
to the 61 st Troop Carrier Squadron The Aircraft Commander was Maj C N
Smith and the pilot was 1 st Lt Thomas E Ed Yarbrough The navigator was
1 st Lt Tom Knuckles the radio operator was S Sgt Morris Rubin and the
loadmaster was Sgt R P Bodmer All were experienced combat crewmembers having
served in Africa Sicily and Italy The aircraft is now restored and on display
at The Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base Delaware
For those not familiar with the history of this C 47 it entered active
service with the 61 st Troop Carrier Squadron in World War II and Bing
Wood was it's first 61 st Squadron crew chief Bing kept a diary and this
is the first of a continuing series of entries from that diary It starts
a day ahead of the arrival of the new airplane ferried from the United
States by a replacement crew
The 314 th was stationed in the English Midlands near the small village
of Saltby which was not far from Grantham which was in turn not far from
Nottingham Base personnel made many friends in these nearby communities
St Peters Church in Saltby for example was well attended by Americans
Bing emphasizes right off the bat the special nature of this kind of
flying and of the long hours of training we all endured to learn to do
it And he emphasized again that the airplanes had to be flown in good visibility
in very tight formation so that troops and supplies would be dropped together
and in the right place
LET S GO said Eisenhower
And so we did This D Day Flight Starts At Saltby Army Airfield England
April 21 1944 Technical Sgt Bing Wood is speaking:
Had a brand new plane assigned to me this morning It was just flown over
from the States and is of the latest design That means we will be busy
for the next few days giving it a good preliminary check I'm lucky I have
such a good crew They really cooperate with me and know their jobs to perfection
April 25 1944
Have the plane flying first night we went out on a night training flight
only a few small oil leaks to correct The last few days I have been grounded
Squadron Group and Wing have been busy getting ready for the invasion The
main idea is to get everyone charged and ready to move out on the big day
May 5 6 1944
Planes are being added all around our squadron strength has been greatly
increased in the past few days New crew chiefs have been added as others
have been promoted and moved on Things are different more efficient Big
things in the works Now that the invasion is getting closer gambling is
reaching a new high The games are getting pretty rough and ten shillings
two dollars and pound notes four dollars fly around the table like confetti
Pots of over a hundred dollars are no longer a novelty
May 7 12 1944
We are just marking time while preparing for the invasion We have all the
planes in good shape and all the equipment is at hand ready for immediate
use Every day and every night we have Squadron or Group formation flights
Mistakes made during the Sicilian invasion have been analyzed and most
of them have been corrected All the planes have a new system of lights
and a new series of signals has been learned On the 12 th we had a night
paradrop exercise so thorough that at first we thought it was the real
thing The whole field was a beehive of activity and for the first time
the crews were issued flak suits flak helmets and pieces of armor plate
We put the plate under the seats when there was room The drop went off
perfectly after a five hour flight The flak equipment in addition to the
Mae West floatation jacket was awkward to wear and heavy as the very devil
so when we landed I was exhausted Later on the actual drop all of this
heavy equipment seemed much lighter when we were being shot at
May 15 22 1944
The last week has been pretty rugged we've been working day and night
preparing for the invasion Night flights radio checks and mechanical work
have been tough My plane will lead the squadron so the radio men and the
radar men have been working on the plane almost all the time
May 30 1944
A heavy haze has settled over the field which will probably cancel all
flights for the day I am sitting in the cockpit waiting for the pilots
if there is to be a flight In front of me there are a couple thousand paratroopers
They have been here for four days and they are the ones we will drop in
the invasion We have moved all our equipment from the hangar and they are
using it as a barracks Straw filled mattresses cover the floor in orderly
rows to make bunks The hangar is completely encircled with a six foot barbed
wire fence patrolled by armed guards When the troopers go to the mess hall
and back armed guards ride in the back of each truck The paratroopers are
constantly exercising with regular sessions of calisthenics three times
a day These guys are going to be completely tired out or tough as hell
when the drop is made
Right now they are digging foxholes and I can state that they are the fastest
diggers I have ever seen This is the time for them to perfect their techniques
When they leave the plane they won't have time for any more thinking. Every
so often there is a dull boom. The plane shudders These guys are learning
to use a new explosive called C2 and from the sound of things and the shaking
plane I would say that it is pretty rugged stuff I'm happy I'm not a paratrooper
I could never stand the gaff After this war is over the lives of these
paratroopers will be painted in romantic terms and they will be credited
with leading romantic adventurous lives But from where I sit I can tell
you there is nothing romantic about the routines they are performing out
there in front of me
Just looking at these guys running around in their small caged area
does things to me As far as I can see it is just damned hard strenuous
work Each drop of sweat is wrung out of the body and each muscle is tortured
to make for more endurance There is nothing romantic about any of it but
it is still necessary The better their physical condition when the leave
England the better their chances of survival when they drop into France
Before the invasion of Sicily and Italy I wasn't too scared but this time
I don't feel so optimistic This invasion is going to be rough
June 4 1944
All these days have been spent in intensive prep for the invasion The whole
camp has been restricted again so this time we know that we are face to
face with the real thing This isn't more practice we're all sure that we
will take off for the real invasion in a few days
June 5 1944
Our instincts were right rush orders came to load the planes for the big
jump Special orders came to paint the wings and fuselage with alternate
black and white stripes for identification purposes
The whole field is a madhouse everyone has a job to do Our whole squadron
was ordered down to the flight line swinging paintbrushes and having a
real picnic The crew chiefs and the engineering clerks are having a hard
time keeping things running smoothly In the middle of all of this activity
the pilots crew chiefs and radio operators were called into a briefing
session The powers that be have finally realized that the crew chiefs need
to know as much about the jump as the rest of the crew As we left for the
briefing the assistants were told to do everything necessary to finish
the work
The briefing room buzzed with excitement as we all looked at the different
maps on the walls The room quieted when Col Clayton Stiles our Group Commander
took the platform He opened the session by recalling that we had done magnificent
jobs in the airborne invasions of both Sicily and Italy He praised our
spirit of cooperation in following all his orders and told us that we now
faced the biggest job of them all Then the real business of the briefing
got under way The first drop zone was identified as Saint Mere Eglise a
small town on the Cherbourg peninsula of France The pilots were then given
the specified routes to follow charted for the least amount of flak based
on the known locations of German anti aircraft batteries
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