Douglas Dakota Mk.II

The Douglas DC-3 was born of the intense competition for modern commercial aircraft that characterized the post World War I era. It was the direct descendant of the DC-1, which first flew in 1933. With one 12-passenger sample flying, which was a record-breaking success, the DC-1 was quickly made obsolete and replaced by a more powerful version with greater seating capacity, the 14-passenger DC-2, of which 193 were built. Then, in 1934, American Airlines asked Douglas for a larger version of the DC-2 that would permit sleeping accommodations for transcontinental flights, Douglas responded with the 24 passenger (16 as a "sleeper" craft) DST (Douglas Sleeper Transport), the 24-passenger version of which was designated DC-3.

The DC-3 is given most of the credit for an almost 600% increase in airline passenger traffic between 1936 and 1941. Recognizing its great potential as a military transport, the United States Army specified a number of changes needed to make the aircraft acceptable for military use, including more powerful engines, the removal of airline seating in favor of utility seats along the walls, a stronger rear fuselage and floor, and the addition of large loading doors. A large order was placed in 1940 for the military DC-3, which was designated C-47 and became known as "Skytrain," a name it would soon be asked to live up to.

There were three primary missions for which these aircraft had been intended when first procured (cargo, casualty evacuation and personnel transports). However, their employment by the USAAF's Troop Carrier Command from mid-1942, and the RAF's Transport Command, was to provide two new roles, arguably the most important of their deployment in World War II, as carriers of airborne troops. The first major usage in this capacity came with the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, when C-47s dropped something approaching 4,000 paratroops. RAF Dakotas of Nos. 31 and 194 Squadrons were highly active in the support of Brigadier Orde Wingate's Chindits, who infiltrated the Japanese lines in Burma in an effort to halt their advance during the winter of 1942-3, their only means of supply being from the air. Ironically, Wingate (by then a major general) died on 24 March 1944 when a Dakota in which he was a passenger crashed into cloud camouflaged jungle-clad mountains.

The other important role originated with the C-53 Skytrooper version, built in comparatively small numbers as the C-53B/-53C/-53D. Seven C-53s supplied to the RAF were redesigned Dakota Mk.II. These were more nearly akin to the original DC-3 civil transport, without a reinforced floor or double door for cargo, and the majority had fixed metal seats to accommodate 28 fully-equipped paratroops. More importantly, they were provided with a towing cleat so that they could serve as a glider tug, a feature soon to become standard with all C-47s, and it is in this capacity that they served conspicuously in both USAAF and RAF service during such operations as the first airborne invasion of Burma on 5 March 1944 and the D-Day invasion of Normandy some three months later. In this latter operation more than 1,000 Allied C-47s were involved, carrying paratroops and towing gliders laden with paratroops and supplies. In the initial stage of this invasion 17,262 US paratroops of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and 7,162 men of the British 6th Airborne Division were carried across the English Channel in the greatest airlift of assault forces up to that time. Not all, of course, were carried in or towed by C-47s, but these aircraft played a most significant role in helping to secure this first vital foothold on European soil. In less than 60 hours C-47s alone airlifted more than 60,000 paratroops and their equipment to Normandy.

The Douglas C-47 was one of the prime people movers of WWII where, in one form or another, it was manufactured by belligerents on both sides, after first having been licensed to Mitsui before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and to the Russians, who manufactured it under license as the Lisunov Li-2. During the war, Mitsui built their own version, via contract with the Showa and Nakajima companies, which built about 485 "Tabbys" (the code name given to the aircraft by the Allies) as the Showa L2D.

Known as "Dakota" (British designation), R4D (U.S. Navy), "Skytrooper" and "Gooney Bird," the Douglas C-47 (USAAF) went through many modifications during its long service life, largely with respect to engine power ratings, but also with structural modifications for specific tasks like reconnaissance and navigation training. It was even tested as a floatplane, and as an engineless glider, a task it performed well, but too late in the war to matter. By war's end, 10,692 of the DC-3/C-47 aircraft had been built, with 2,000 Li-2s by the Soviets, and 485 Showa L2Ds by the Japanese, for a total of about 13,177. From its pioneering of military airlifts over the hump, to its perfecting of the technique during the Berlin Airlift, the C-47 has been prized for its versatility and dependability, factors that explain its remarkable longevity as an active carrier worldwide.