c46d

Apparently ground crew attaching a glider tow rope to USAAF Curtiss C-46D Commando (USAAF Ser. No. 44-77604; c/n 3300). This aircraft would be lost will the lives of all four crew on April 10, 1945, after a mid-air collision with a Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire (possibly RAF Ser. ML232) piloted by Group Captain Gordon Learmonth "Raffy" Raphael in the skies between Woodchurch and Dungeness, England. G/Capt. Raphael would also perish as a result of the collision.

First photo of the huge Curtiss C-46D. Not much used in Europe since they came late. 313TCG seems to have got theirs a few months before the end of the war. A great workhorse moving practically anything across the Hump to China from 1943 and onwards. Marred by a weak undercarriage it had many landing and take off accidents, but in Curtiss defence they flew often overloaded....but on the other hand so did the C-47.... Stig

Curtiss C-46D Commando (C-46D-10-CU), USAAF Ser. No. 44-77592 (c/n 32988). This aircraft is reportedly still extant in Korea. See: www.warbirdregistry.org/c46registry/c46-4477592.html