Top Photo: U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph, from the collection of The National World War II Museum
Perhaps no aircraft of World War II has been as durable or long-lived as the C-47 Skytrain. Utilizing Douglas Aircraft Company’s DC-3 civilian airliner airframe, it remains one of the most successful aircraft ever built. The DC-3 was the first aircraft to make civilian passenger travel reliable and profitable with the C-47 proving equally trustworthy in military service. A twin-engine, low-winged monoplane, the airframe included a light, all-metal alloy construction with fabric-covered control surfaces. It was operated by a crew of three: pilot and copilot in the cockpit, and a radio operator seated in a separate compartment behind.
The DC-3 entered service in 1936, and the US Army quickly assessed the design’s utility. The airframe required several modifications before its use for military service, including more powerful R-1830 Pratt and Whitney engines, a stronger rear fuselage, installation of large cargo doors on the port side of the fuselage, and a reinforced cabin floor for heavy cargo. Built in both Long Beach, California, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, some 11,000 airframes rolled off assembly lines and served in every theater of the war and with all branches of the US military. The first Army C-47s arrived in 1941 and eventually filled a variety of missions like cargo and troop transportation, casualty evacuation, and glider tug.
One of the more visible missions of the Skytrain was that of troop carrier for airborne operations. First large-scale use of C-47s for these missions occurred in 1943 over Sicily during Operation Husky; this was quickly followed by Operation Avalanche, landing troops off the Italian coast at Salerno. Able to carry 28 paratroopers, C-47s became the mainstay for airborne drops and were used in this role extensively for Operations Overlord, Dragoon, Market Garden, and Varsity. During the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, more than 1,000 C-47s transported US paratroopers into enemy territory. This famous assault was soon followed by the failed Market Garden operation that included more than 1,400 C-47s. Another 836 were used in Operation Varsity in March 1945.
The Skytrain also saw extensive service in all theaters as a cargo carrier. However, in a unique use of airpower, C-47s, along with Curtiss C-46 Commandos, provided a lifeline of supplies to China by flying over the Himalaya Mountains at altitudes reaching as high as 17,000 feet. With the Asian nation cut off from surface supply routes, airlift was the only option. In this mission, crews flew over “the Hump” from bases in India, braving finicky weather patterns, the occasional Japanese interceptor, and dangerous mountain ranges. Operating in this hazardous environment, “Hump” mission routes were also referred to as the “aluminum trail,” in reference to the number of aircraft crashing in this remote area.
Military use of the airframe continued well into the 1960s as C-47s were used as close air support platforms carrying three gatling guns pointed out port side windows. As a testament to the design’s durability, many DC-3 and C-47s are still in operation today, frequently in remote regions of the world. Often fitted with newer engines, the aircraft’s basic design remains fundamentally the same and is a testament to the plane’s durability and utility.
-
Gift of Vincent Yannetti, from the collection of The National World War II Museum
-
Gift of Robert Millett, from the collection of The National World War II Museum
-
U.S. Navy Official photograph, Gift of Charles Ives, from the collection of The National World War II Museum
-
The National WWII Museum’s C-47, serial number 42-93096, hangs proudly above the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. Anonymous donor, 2006.181
The National WWII Museum’s C-47, serial number 42-93096, was built at the Douglas Aircraft Manufacturing plant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. “096” was delivered to the US Army on April 8, 1944, at which time it was assigned to the 806th Army Air Force Base Unit at Baer Field, Indiana. The following month “096” was assigned to the 8th Air Force and transferred to the European theater of operations. Immediately after arriving in England on May 28, 1944, the aircraft was transferred to the 9th Air Force. One week after arriving in England, “096” carried pathfinders from the 82nd Airborne Division into the Normandy Invasion. The plane then dropped pathfinders from the 101st Airborne Division into Holland during Operation Market Garden. “096” also flew with the rest of its group to drop supplies to the 101st in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. During this mission “096” sustained minor damage from German ground fire, but the plane was repaired and placed back in service in a matter of days. The plane’s final combat mission occurred on March 24, 1945, when it dropped paratroopers from the 17th Airborne Division across the Rhine River during Operation Varsity.
After the war, “096” participated in the Berlin Airlift before being transferred to the Finnish Air Force. After decades of service as both a military and civilian transport plane, and a reprisal of its participation in Market Garden for the movie A Bridge Too Far, “096” became a part of The National World War II Museum’s collection in 2006. It is on permanent exhibit in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.
Purchase made possible by an anonymous donor, The National WWII Museum Inc., 2006.181
John Curatola, PhD
John Curatola is the Samual Zemurray-Stone Senior Historian at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.
