THE LEGEND OF THE DC 3 AND THE C 47  
From the 315 th Troup Carrier Group Newsletter

Wingspan 95 6 Ft
Engines Pratt Whitney Twin Wasp
Length 64.6 Ft R 1830 1200 hp
Height 18 3 Ft
Propellers Hamilton Standard 3E5U
Wing area 987 Sq Ft
Range 1500 miles
Top speed 232 mph
Cruising speed 175 mph
Crew 5
Cost 138.000
Load 3 tons or more or 18 fully equipped paratroopers

The military C 47 was an outgrowth of the DC 3 Douglas Commercial model 3 which was in turn an outgrowth of the DC 2 Most of the preliminary design work was done in the early 30s at the request of the airline industry Shortly after the war began scores of commercial DC 3s were hustled into the Army Navy and Marine air arms until a high level production of military versions could be obtained This was quickly done and the C 53 soon began making its appearance on the extending routes The C 53 was identical to the commercial airliner except for the substitution of bucket seats for the more luxurious reclining seats It was solely a personnel carrier no freight no heavy lifting Conversion of the DC 3 to a true cargo plane involved many changes First it called for a reinforced bottom and floor and a wide loading door capable of admitting heavy machinery and weapons

Also numerous changes in production were necessary if these planes were to be turned out in volume Hand riveting was replaced by automatic riveting wherever possible Fiber replaced aluminum in many parts of the aircraft interior Forging was used on certain parts instead of gas welding and flash welding was introduced extensively All this was accomplished with no loss of strength and frequently with greater ease of interchange or replacement of parts By September 1943 more than 2000 C 47s had been built at Douglas Long Beach CA plant By February of 1944 more than 2,500 C 47s were being flown by Air Transport Command alone

to say nothing of another couple of thousand by Troop Carrier and other Army units and by the Navy and Marines The interior of the plane was so rigged that litters could be installed quickly transforming it into what was in every sense a hospital plane Soon it was found that the C 47 was a fine glider tow plane because of its robust construction and if became the first plane ever to tow a glider across the Atlantic The C 47 was flown in troop carrier operations in all theaters but it is best known for its combat roles in North Africa Sicily Italy Normandy Holland and Germany These were the glamour missions the ones that earned medals but many other missions were flown carrying tons of critical freight wherever needed Return trips often carried the injured and the wounded

Many of the C 47s flown in the invasion of Normandy were from a special order known as the Urgent 400 These were extra planes that General Arnold requested the Douglas Company to produce over their full schedule specifically for Invasion needs These were given a top manufacturing priority over and above all other aircraft in production including fighters medium bombers and heavy bombers

A Change Of Scene

FIGHTER COVER
Our Little Friends Were There Too

The following is from the book PURSUE and DESTROY by now deceased Kit Carson of the 357th Fighter Group It is pertinent here because without proper fighter cover and tactical air cover we would have faced worse odds Everyone played a part

5 June 1944
"By noon of that day our little spot in East Anglia was rampant with rumors that D Day was at hand At 2 00PM the Colonel asked to see all three engineering officers They were told to paint eighteen inch black and white stripes on the Mustangs five on the wings and five on the fuselage Tell your men that this is to identify our group as the Yoxford Boys if they ask questions he said knowing that they would ask and also knowing that they would realize it was a very thin smoke screen for hiding the real reason"

"Paint guns appeared and things got busy Our squadron CO Major Broadhead was in the hangar holding up a piece of canvas masking tape while Frenchy Boudreaux the squadron painter was busy with the spray gun The stripes on the wings were trim but those on the empennage spoiled the profile Looks like a pregnant turtle opined Captain Willie Calvert Williams our Operations officer Rumors came and went out of the squadron like water from a burst pipe Hey I just heard in group Operations that the cloak and dagger boys Intelligence are in a big scramble and they're not talking etc."

BET ON D DAY
"By evening chow time you could get an even bet on D Day being the next morning the 6 th or the day after The officer's club looked like the Last Chance Saloon on Saturday night Every officer had either a shoulder holster or one on his hip with a .45 Colt in it or a carbine and the smoke filled room needed only the reclining figure of Lillian Russell or Goya's Duchess to complete the picture Carson was scheduled for a 0400 take off Captain Bill O'Brien a 363 rd Squadron old timer has vivid memories of this"

"The Briefing placed take off at 2 10AM June 6 th on an what turned out to be an uneventful mission The flights assembled over the field and then flew to the area of the Bay of Biscay to sweep for opposition This fine idea required a night take off and night formation work The weather was poor solid overcast to 7,000 feet The result was no one got into formation at low altitude while circling the field We got on top of the clouds and started looking for our respective flights and squadrons I couldn't find anyone who was supposed to be with me and about that time a P 51 came strolling by with his navigation lights on so I tacked on to him The two of us were joined by another lonesome P 51 so the guy in the lighted plane set course"

"As the 363 rd was the lead squadron I felt comfortable with whoever was leading. Well anyway away we go and finally the sun comes up and we are stooging around somewhere I slid in close trying to observe the guy in the lead trying to orient himself with what coastline we could see I felt sorry for him. Magellan couldn't have helped us After horsing around like this for six hours fifty minutes we are back at Leiston"

"All planes taxi back to dispersal and out steps Graham our leader and his wingmen Anderson and O'Brien How wonderful! A group leader without a group and a squadron leader without a squadron and two flight leaders without flights!"

"Although Graham and company stooged around for almost seven hours and found no enemy aircraft and no friendlies either the rest of the 363 rd and the 364 th were out somewhere in the same general area They saw nothing either but the early morning fiasco cost two aircraft and the life of one pilot. Roger Pageis was last seen at take off but nothing is known of him except group records list him as escapee"

Captain LeRoy Ruder's flight was patrolling in the Cherbourg area over 10/10th cloud when he called his element leader Mark Stepelton and said his engine was ailing. He then let down into the clouds saying he could see the ground and was going to crash land Stepelton followed him down but saw no sign of him and Ruder did not survive Willard Bierly his armorer remembers that early morning departure.

"Strapped in his cockpit he asked if he could borrow my knife as he had forgotten his This was a precaution to puncture his dinghy should it accidentally inflate in the cockpit. He never returned my knife."

EIGHT MISSIONS

The group flew a total of eight missions and except for the first all were in squadron strength One aborted due to icing the others were all bombing or strafing On the third mission Lt Irving Smith flew into heavy overcast and was never seen again. June with D Day in its first week was one of the most momentous times of World War II and brought with it briefly a different kind of war It had been a machine gun war but now there were a large number of bombs on the racks to be dumped on all kinds of rail road and airfield targets Glide bombing skip bombing and dive bombing all were tried sometimes with good results During two weeks prior to the 20th there were only two brief skirmishes with enemy aircraft with nine claims For all of June there were only twenty nine claims twenty of these in a big battle on the 29th During the month nine pilots were lost relatively light losses compared to other periods

The fighter groups contributed heavily to the success of D Day. They not only protected the Troop Carriers but many others throughout the war. Needless to say we were all very grateful to see P 51s and our own medium bombers flying around us rather than Me 109s




Medium bombers like B 25s and Marauders also helped soften up the defenses