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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| From D-Day to VE-Day in a C-47 |
| 2022-01-26 |
| [Warfare History Network] High over Normandy, France, eight paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division charged out the rear door of their C-47 Skytrain aircraft. They whooped and shouted as antiaircraft explosions rattled the plane. On the heels of the eighth paratrooper came Technical Sergeant Gerald Griffith. He didn’t jump; strapping himself into the seat by the door, he pulled a T-shaped handle, releasing the cargo strapped under the plane’s fuselage. His task complete, Griffith remained seated while the next eight-man group leaped out the door. From his perch, he had a perfect view of the D-Day airborne assault over Ste. Mère Èglise. Griffith never forgot what he saw: "Some of the paratroopers jumping out of their planes were hit by the prop wash from the plane in front of them, shooting them into the planes behind them, into their propellers." |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #1 ...More than 300 Gooney Birds are still flying, including 42-92847 That's All, Brother...which appears to have been the first C-47 over France on D-Day. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2022-01-26 18:51 |