Flights in a historic aircraft that played a key role in the Normandy landings during World War II will be part of the D-Day 80th anniversary event in Riverside.
He C-53 Skytrooper Restored, called the D-Day Doll, is a centerpiece of history on display at the Riverside Municipal Airport. The event hosted by the Inland Empire Wing of the Commemorative Air Force marks the 80th anniversary of the landing of the allied forces on June 6, 1944 on the beaches of France.
Commemorative flights will be offered Thursday and Saturday on the meticulously restored plane, built at the Douglas factory in Santa Monica, that transported paratroopers over France.
The aircraft was delivered to the Army on July 7, 1943 and assigned to the 434th Troop Carrier Group. He was stationed at bases in Nebraska and Indiana before arriving at Aldermaston from the Royal Air Force in England in March 1944.
The D-Day mission involved towing gliders with reinforcements for troops who landed earlier in the evening near Utah Beach in Normandy, one of the beaches raided by Allied troops. The aircraft flew three missions on D-Day and the next day, mostly under the cover of darkness.
Fully equipped, the plane carried about 18 paratroopers loaded with equipment and supplies.
“At that point, it was dark,” said Chris Clarke of the Inland Empire Wing. “They left very late to fly over France after midnight. So they were going to fly in total darkness, fall in darkness, land in darkness. When they jumped, in most cases, they were shot. And, you can’t answer. “You were just hoping to get to the ground and do what you had to do.”
Paratroopers did not always land at designated drop zones, meaning many had to first figure out where they were.
The plane was part of the Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the resupply of Bastogne and the crucial crossing of the Rhine River as the Allies approached the heart of Germany. The plane was also used to evacuate wounded servicemen to England.
During World War II thousands of women left their homes and entered the workforce to help the United States win the conflict. Known as the Rosies, or “Rosie the Riveter”, they were the hands that built the weaponry needed in the fight.
June 6 is a day of remembrance and tribute to the service members who landed in Normandy and fought to liberate Nazi-occupied Western Europe.
World War II veterans from the United States, Britain and Canada are in Normandy this week to mark 80 years since the daring operation that helped defeat Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
This story first appeared on Telemundo 52’s sister station NBCLA. Click here to read this story in English.
