75th anniversary of D-Day an American Invasion in France

75th anniversary of D-Day an American Invasion at the airports of Caen and Cherbourg

We decided to visit the commemorations around D-Day in France, our main goal was the Daks over Normandy event and L-Birds back to Normandy.

There was more:

1,000 U.S. military personnel, stationed in Europe and from U.S.-based units with historical ties to D-Day, slated to participate in ceremonies, flyovers, parades and other events scheduled in the Normandy area from June 1-9 2019. But all those people needed transportation, and we tried to spot those planes.

Aéroport de Caen Carpiquet (June 7)

As a result of the visit of US President Trump to the area the day before (June 6) we saw C-17s a C-40B and C-37A landing at the airport of Caen. At the Aeroclub were four folded MV-22B Ospreys and two VH-60N helicopters of HMX-1 ready for transport to CONUS.

Aéroport de Cherbourg-Maupertus (June 9)

At Cherbourg a number of USAF C-130s was operating on this day to drop parachutists at several locations. Besides C-130s from Ramstein, Little Rock and Dyes, we saw a number of visiting military aircraft.

Ramstein C-130s

Ramstein’s air crews flew in large formations and dropped paratroopers, the latter a nod to the squadron’s historical D-Day ties.

The 37th Airlift Squadron draws its lineage from the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron. The carrier squadron dropped paratroopers outside of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, on D-Day, and participated in ensuing resupply airdrops.

The carrier squadron flew the C-47, a vintage plane scheduled to make a return to Normandy for the 75th anniversary. A fleet of restored American C-47s joined C-47s from Europe and America for the June 9 flyover and paratrooper drop.

Just like the C-47s in 1944, Ramstein’s C-130s are marked with a “W7.” The designation Whiskey 7 helped the paratroopers know what plane to go.

That’s All, Brother

This C-47A Skytrain 42-92847 rescued from an aviation boneyard in Wisconsin. Air Force historians in Alabama realized its significance, the restored C-47 troop carrier that served as a lead aircraft of the main invasion force joined other vintage planes at 75th anniversary ceremonies in June 2019.

Seventy-five years later, in a confluence of history and luck, that plane is again bound for the French coast for what could be the last great commemoration of the Allied battle to include D-Day veterans, many of whom are now in their 90s.

That’s All, Brother was at the tip of about 900 planes that made the flight across the English Channel to drop some 13,000 paratroopers in all.

Other Dakotas at Cherbourg Airport for the two parachute jumps in the vicinity of La Fiere near Sainte-Mère-Eglise.

Photos Rob Vogelaar