Troop Carrier Bases

TROOP CARRIER BASES SERVING THE 508TH

USAAF

The main element of the 508th was transferred from Nottingham to Folkingham and Saltby airfields to await the order to board their aircraft for the Invasion of Normandy. The two airfields are about 22 miles apart.

RAF Saltby Airfield was located approximately 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire about 17 mi SSE of Nottingham . Today the remains of the airfield are located on private property being used as agricultural fields and as a private glider airfield. [See "RAF Bases as they appear today"]

[Read Troop Carrier Aircraft Reposition Order] [Read Troop Carrier Mission Report]

9TH AIR FORCE

The 314th Troop Carrier Group at Saltby flew 60 C-47s to drop men of the 508th Regimental Headquarters and Second Battalion in Normandy on 6 Jun 1944. The aircraft comprised Serials 20 and 21. The Group also flew resupply and reinforcement missions on D+1. The 314th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for these operations.

RAF Station Folkingham (USAAF Station 484) is near Folkingham, Lincolnshire, about 31 miles SE of Nottingham in the Midlands area. In the early hours of 6 June, 72 C-47s of the 313th Troop Carrier Group left the station to drop paratroops of the 508th PIR's First and Third Battalions near Picauville France. The aircraft comprised Serials 22 and 23. The Group also carried out a re-supply mission on D+1 and was awarded its second Distinguished Unit Citation for its part in the invasion.

During the course of these operations, four C-47s were lost and many were damaged by light flak and ground fire.

Mission Boston was a parachute combat assault at night by the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division on June 6, 1944, part of the American airborne landings in Normandy. Boston was a component of Operation Neptune, the assault portion of the Allied invasion of France, Operation Overlord. 6,420 paratroopers jumped from nearly 370 C-47 Skytrain and C-53 Skytrooper troop carrier aircraft into an intended objective area of roughly 10 square miles (26 km2) located on either side of the Merderet River on the Cotentin Peninsula of France five hours ahead of the D-Day landings.

Paratrooper briefings were held at 1900 hrs, 5 June 44, aircraft departures began at 2115 hrs with 20 second spacing and arrival over DZ-N (49^o 24' 27" N- 01^o 22' 36"W) on the Cotentin Peninsula was slated for 0115 hrs the next morning, June 6, 1944. The lead aircraft was projected to return to RAF Folkingham at 0436 hrs and the last due to arrive at 0510 hrs...

The route to DZ-N was via code-named sites, K-Atlanta, F-Burbank, B-Cleveland, N-Dallas, D-Elko, G-Flatbush, L-Gallup, C-Hoboken, Peoria-Center Point (DZ). The return route was via Paducah-Spokane and returning to inbound flight path at L-Gallup, See Map

RAF Base (Station #)	Troop Carrier Group	TC Squadron	Squadron Code	Serial	Chalk #	#AC	C-47	C-53	508th Company	Take Off	Time on DZ N
Saltby (538)	314th TCG	62nd Squadron	E5	20	Chalk 1-9	9	16	2	Hq/2		0208
					Chalk 10-18	9	16	2	Co D		0208
		61st Squadron	Q9	20	Chalk 19-27	9	14	4	Co E		0208
					Chalk 28-36	9	14	4	Co F		0208
		32nd Squadron	S2	20	?

Saltby (538)	314th TCG			21	Chalk 1-9	24			Hq Hq	2338	0214

Folkingham (484)	313th TCG	49th Squadron	H2	22	Chalk 1 - 18	18	10	8	Hq/1 & Co A	2315 5 Jun 44	0222 to 0235 6 Jun 44
	Mission NEPTUNE-Boston 5-6 June 1944 Summary report				Chalk ?	13			Co A
		47th Squadron	N3	22	Chalk 19 - 36	18	17	1	3rd Bn
		29th Squadron	Z7	22	Chalk 37 - 54	18	18	-	3rd Bn
		48th Squadron	5X	22	Chalk 55 - 72	18	17	1	3rd Bn

Folkingham (484)	313th TCG	?	?	23	Chalk 52	36	?	?	Hq/3		0226

Cottesmore		508th Riggers
The two character code on the nose indicates which squadron the aircraft is assigned to. in this case "Q9" indicating the 61st Squadron of the 314th TCG. Perhaps most important is the tail number. Each C-47 had a manufacturer's serial number unique to that aircraft by year of manufacture. The full serial number located on a plate in the cabin would include a prefix, for example "42-", followed by a four, five or six digit serial number. That serial was painted on the vertical stabilizer (tail) of the aircraft as a quick identifier. Since all the aircraft were manufactured in the same 40's decade, the tail numbers began with the second digit of the entire serial number. As such, the serial number for aircraft 42-92841 would appear on the manufacturer's plate in the cockpit but the tail number was truncated to "292841". The large letter above the tail number was the radio call sign for the aircraft, i.e., "R", for "ROGER". This aircraft was nick-named the "Turf & Sport Special" and carried men of Company E in a stick led by Lt Eugene Hetland.
Operation Overlord, Mission NEPTUNE Summary Various elements of the mission planning are summarized including the TCG Wing, Group and Squadron, number and type of aircraft as well as estimated time of first aircraft departure, takeoff spacing, route and time of first aircraft return. (All entries made by Jim Blue, Co A and probably were used as briefing materials to lecture groups, school children etc. A number of errors, both factual and spelling can be noted) .						Operation Overlord, Mission NEPTUNE, overlay route map to DZ "N: (scale of 1:2,500,000) Note that the major checkpoints are named after U.S. cities and each point-to-point flight leg shows a compass heading and length in miles. These two items enabled navigators to calculate flight durations of each leg and predict times of arrival to ensure the course was maintained. The letter codes for each checkpoint e.g. DALLAS CODE :N" referred to ground transponder signals used as locator beacons. Overwater checkpoints GALLUP. HOBOKEN, PEORIA, PADUCAH and SPOKANE transponders were aboard submarines loitering at the surface.
The "chalk numbers" were numerals literally written on the aircraft with chalk so that paratroopers could easily locate the plane they were assigned to. If a trooper was assigned to "chalk number 16" he would be looking for that marking beside the cabin door. To find their planes, sometimes spread over a large area on the airfield, troops, or their drivers, were given a parking map of the airfield marked with the location of their aircraft. The position of each aircraft is symbolized as a "T". The chalk number and the last three digits of the C-47's tail number appear next to the "T". Note that some "T" symbols are unmarked and probably denoted aircraft other than troop transports or those not flying that day. Tail number 937 (on far right) is designated as a "spare" in the event of an aircraft failing to start, etc. (This is the official parking map from USAAF archives for the 440th at Exeter for June 5, 1944 for OPERATION NEPTUNE) When the serials of aircraft departed they joined up in a "V of V's", i.e., 3 aircraft flew in a "V" and each group of 3 formed a larger 'V'. Up to 45 aircraft comprised a serial with 6 elements of 9 aircraft each in a V.
	At least three aircraft were lost on D-Day by these two carrier groups. The 313th TCG lost aircraft 42-92868 over Sainte Mere Eglise. This aerial view, taken on 6 June 1944. shows the location of the crash (circled in the lower right corner) which is approximately four-tenths of a mile SE of the town center. This aircraft was Chalk Number 16, Serial 22, piloted by 1st Lt. William Robert Roycraft. All the crew members in the plane were killed in the crash. Aircraft 42-93002,was also lost in France when its engines both stopped. The aircraft was belly-landed about 1 mile south of "DZ "N", probably near Picauville (MACR 6008). In addition, aircraft 41-38698 sustained severe damage and was forced to ditch in the English Channel (MACR 6059).
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