SALTBY AIRFIELD Leicestershire USAAF Station 538    Click For MAP

This was the point of departure of Turf Sport on D Day Normandy and a typical Troop Carrier base in England Saltby airfield is located just east of the small Leicestershire village of the same name On December 18th 1943 it became USAAF station 538 allocated to the 9th Air Force Troop carrying Command and in February 1944 the 314th TCG moved to prepare for the invasion of mainland Europe The unit was already an experienced fighting force having already seen action in North Africa and the Sicilian and Italian landings On June 5th 1944 the eve of D Day 1007 men of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment loaded with ammunition and equipment were readied for the impending invasion Their destination was to be Drop Zone N north east of Ranville The campaign was to begin in the early hours of the following day as they arrived over mainland Europe in their C 47s And after the initial insertion into France the 314th completed many supply missions from Saltby 33
A British system of letter number codes to identify the Groups and Squadrons of all aircraft flying over England

THE VIEW FROM THE COCKPIT
To the thousands of Troop Carriers the first hint of the big day was the rigid closing of the airbases by security personnel No one could enter and no one could leave These restrictions were absolute Then on May 30 1944 the troops of the 82 nd Airborne Division moved onto our airfield and they set up camp for themselves behind barbed wire D Day was originally scheduled for June 5 In preparation for this mission all Allied airplanes had 24 inch white and black stripes painted at the wing roots and at the rear of the fuselage a crude rush job at the last minute These stripes were planned to identify allied planes quickly The lessons of Sicily had been learned well

The weatherman predicted atrocious weather on the 5th and although the crews were prepared to go General Eisenhower ordered a 24 hour delay Thus we left our base late on the 5th of June and dropped the paratroops of the 82 nd Airborne Division in early morning of June 6 1944

OFF TO FLATBUSH

On D Day the airplanes of each segment of the American airborne invasion force flew their assigned routes to the Troop Carrier Command departure point code named FLATBUSH and then they flew out over the waters of the English Channel as they headed south for the coast of France The unlighted C 47's soon came in sight of the English islands Alderney and Guernsey which were held by the German armies Here the crews saw their first flak but it fell short as they had been told it would

After crossing the coast of the Cotentin Peninsula the various Troop Carrier Groups took up courses for their respective Drop Zones The whole crossing took five hours and there were patches of low clouds and fog which were changing throughout that time This broke up many of the formations but others were able to fly on as briefed The lead aircraft of the 314 th Troop Carrier Group carried the Headquarters and Headquarters Company of the 508 th Parachute Infantry Regiment

A Pilot from the 32 nd Troop Carrier Squadron tells us how it was.The narrator is Harvey Cohen The airplane is 43 30715

" As we walked into the briefing room there was an undercurrent of nervous chatter throughout the room as the crews looked at the large map and observed the course Could that be our Drop Zone We had guessed wrong thought it would be Calais How long would we be over land How much ack ack did they have Will we drop at night or during the day How long would the flight be A thousand questions were flying around the room The briefing answered them all First we were introduced to the Commanding Officer of the American Airborne troops and he explained his Battalion's particular mission and then the general strategy for the invasion armies

Two great armies were to strike in France and the men we were to carry were to spearhead the attack We were all amazed at the immensity of our own part in the invasion Troop Carrier planes would be dropping airborne troops for five whole hours The briefing continued about how we were to form the navigational aids along our course the weather forecast for the route the disposition of enemy troops and their antiaircraft defenses the alternate airports for use in emergency ditching procedure methods of escape and evasion in case we were shot down and even the clothing and equipment we should carry Nothing was left to chance as we filed out of the briefing room

THAT OLD DEVIL WEATHER

We were ready to go but because of weather conditions the mission was postponed for 24 hours All of us congregated at the Officers Club to discuss this latest development Generally we felt let down The boys made wisecracks that Heinrich had not had enough time to prepare for our coming and that was the reason for the postponement Yet despite the apparent jolly attitude of the men we all felt worried because of the delay What if the news leaked out These thoughts pervaded the atmosphere all the next day until the time came when we reported to the planes This time we were going The troopers in our plane chalk No 41 were relaxing in the cabin when we boarded the plane They asked me how high they would be dropped from the speed the plane would be flying and how many planes would be behind us I tried to reassure them by telling them I would slow the plane to 100 mph and that there were no planes directly behind us so they had no worries on that score I went over the ditching procedures again and wished them Godspeed and told them I d treat for a drink in Paris

I made a final check with my crew chief T Sgt Blake E Craig of Elkton Michigan and my radio operator Sgt Robert M Freeman of Bellaire Ohio I put on my parachute harness and Mae West life preserver and took my place We started our engines and followed our lead plane to the takeoff position It is hard to describe the feelings I had as I taxied my plane past our operations and jerked my thumb up to the men standing there

Within a few minutes we were gathering speed as we moved down the runway and then we were airborne and moving into position on the right wing of our element After circling while we formed we started on our course sixty airplanes in two serials carrying 950 men to France It was easy flying as we followed the course marked by plainly visible beacons like a highway across the face of England We left the land and started across the Channel to France At this point I went back and put on my flak suit Below us we saw the first ship and I felt once more the greatness of this combined operation At this point we also saw the first planes coming back They appeared scattered and I became apprehensive They must have met a great deal of ack ack

TWENTY MINUTES TO GO

Soon we were turning towards land on the last leg before the run in to the Drop Zone I sent my crew chief to the rear of the plane to give a 20 minute warning to the paratroopers Then I adjusted my flak helmet At this time we noticed the Island of Guernsey on our right our first glimpse of enemy territory I felt a hard knot in my stomach similar to the feeling one has before the opening kickoff in a football game I closed in tightly on my lead plane observing that a bank of clouds lay over the Cherbourg Peninsula where we would cross the coast

Glancing at my instrument panel I checked all my instruments carefully remarking to my co pilot that we would have to lose 1,200 feet before reaching the Drop Zone to get down to the drop altitude of 700 feet Soon we were over the coast heading toward the cloud layer and some scattered fire coming from the right It was then our flight plunged into the clouds and I was pressed to follow my element leader who made a diving right turn The next few minutes seemed to fly by My element leader and I had become separated from the main formation and I was chasing him through the clouds

We had given our troopers the warning red light when I sighted large amber T identifying the Drop Zone about 4 miles to our left The lead plane must have seen it because he turned toward it and within a few seconds was dropping his troops I chopped the throttles and gave the troopers the GO signal Then I followed him as he dove to the deck and headed toward the coast He was turning wildly to evade machine gun fire coming up from both sides Following him I was caught in the crossfire and although I kicked and turned the plane violently I was caught in it for what seemed like an hour I felt the ship get hit and then smelled smoke and I yelled for the crew chief to check the damage and to the co pilot to check the instruments By this time we were over the water and headed for England I stayed above the water for some time paralleling the land especially when we watched the strong flak and machine gun fire coming from what should have been Cherbourg

CHECK THE DAMAGE

Within a few minutes we started climbing to 3000 feet and I turned the plane over to the copilot in order to check the damage We had received a 20mm burst just behind the cargo door and the rear cargo section had approximately 30 bullet holes This had been the crew chief's station at the time of the drop but luckily Craig had just moved forward Returning to the cockpit I noticed several other groups heading towards France and then passed two large glider trains Again I was impressed with the large part the Troop Carrier Command was playing in the invasion

The planning for D Day in retrospect seems incredible The airborne segment alone which is the only part being considered here was awesome All the thousands of men and machines had to be moved about many from the USA and all of them had to be at assigned locations at specific times In the case of Troop Carrier with its function of dropping paratroops this involved working backwards from the time of the planned paratroop drop in our case at 0214 on the 6th of June

The route of each unit had to be plotted and the number of miles had to be accurately determined so that calculations at prescribed air speeds C 47's carrying paratroops at 140 miles per hour could be made Still working backwards each of the Groups which came from three different Wing areas in England had to be over checkpoints at specific times so that there would not be several Groups flying through an airspace at the same time And working still further back the takeoff times and the assembly times had to be determined for each squadron of each group

Before all these events could take place there had to be the fueling and last minute maintenance of hundreds of airplanes All the aircrews had to be briefed on the details e g flying in V of Vs drop speed of 110 mph return speed of 150 mph no evasive action over the Drop Zone and the scope of the entire mission They also had to be fed At the same time the paratroops had to leave their own barracks areas and had to be moved to various Troop Carrier bases These men too had to be fed and provided with facilities for personal needs so that they could assemble equipment and arrange the loading of the airplanes including the parapacks on the underside of the plane All of these matters and concerns were planned with great accuracy

The planning and logistics of the D Day invasion were incredible and good The problems of the resupply mission on June 7 1944 D 1 were caused not by the planning but by the weather The officers who commanded the paratroops were aware of the problems of Troop Carrier aircrews and very soon after D Day wrote letters of appreciation to the Commanding General of Troop

Carrier Command Excerpts of these letters appear later here

The Co pilot D Day 1944 4 30

The original story came from a D Day Co pilot of the 62 nd Troop Carrier Squadron 314 th Troop Carrier Group who chose to keep his identity to himself as he wrote it This undoubtedly added a bit of interest and I left it that way until the end then I tell you who it is And it isn't hard to see that the mystery writer was not only an experienced Troop Carrier pilot but also a vital American with a fine sense of humor I left that in too This by the way is the only narrative view of the D Day flights by a Co pilot that I know of It is also unique in its candid descriptions of the human side of everyday life in a Troop Carrier Squadron The original report was in two parts the following one about the Co pilot and his experiences and feelings and the other about the flight of Captain Charles Cartwright and his crew on the same mission Both are interesting but since Cartwright's flight has already been documented earlier in the Intelligence Report it has not been repeated

Our Co pilot starts his story at the end of a weeklong stay at an Army Air Forces rest home in southern England He and two pilots from the 32 nd Troop Carrier Squadron and one from the 50th Troop Carrier Squadron were waiting for transportation back to Saltby They talked about the upcoming invasion They had not been moved from the Mediterranean to England for nothing and even the newest pilots had eleven hundred hours of flying time 700 of it overseas They also had two invasions for experience and the never ending night training formations since March They were ready and able willing too although no one looks forward to being shot at It was their duty and they would have missed it with mixed emotions had D Day occurred while they were in the rest area The same weather that could prevent the occasion of D Day was keeping the C 47 that would come for them on the ground at Saltby The long train ride back was boring but the Co pilot was going home to his friends and the only family he had known in the three years with the Army Air Forces

He thought about making a run to town but that would have to wait until the next day. No flying was scheduled and the guys on the flight line were busy putting on the pararacks and painting black and white stripes on the wings and fuselages. It was not a day to go down in history unless you count the promotion of the Co pilot to 1st Lt. He was invited to attend the promotion party for Major Wilson at the Senior Officers Mess No one noticed that the Co pilot was wearing borrowed silver bars but he enjoyed the meal and they do have a better supply of Scotch at Group. Great evening but he really had planned on going to town. Oh well the girls can wait another day. Damn June 3 rd arrived and so did the MPs they're all over the place. Everyone is restricted and will attend the briefing. They must be getting serious checking the roster and ID's when going into the briefing lines on the map going south and then east to that little peninsula.

Time course altitude

62 nd will lead the Group Col Stiles will fly lead ship to Drop Zone N and the 314 th will be followed by the 313 th Group from Folkingham It's called the Cotentin Peninsula a part of Normandy and it's all laid out on a sand table The Co pilot never saw one of these before but he's heard about them Here's the route past the Channel Islands Guernsey and Jersey Germans there Remember that Granddad had cows by that name Must be where his cows came from Ah Ha The Initial Point is on the shoreline and there's our Drop Zone Nearest town is Ste Mere Eglise. Never heard of it.

The crews returned to squadron operations and in checking the aircraft assignments the Copilot was just a little miffed to see that Ray Roush Operations Officer had him in the right seat of 074 with Glenn Grimes as Pilot Vic Palumbo Navigator Billy Hensley Crew Chief and Emanuel Wodinsky Radio Operator The Co pilot was wondering why Ray assigned him to fly right seat considering he was a brand new First Lieutenant Two Second Lieutenants were assigned as pilots Three others had not made First Pilot until after he had way back in Kairoun Must have done something that teed off his good friend Ray Roush It was true that he arrived at operations a little late some days He did take advantage of their friendship not a few times but on a regular basis he tested the friendship to the limit He knew it would do no good to complain Ray Roush would not change the assignment and Major Tappan would back Ray all the way and he and Grimes were flying Tap's right wing.