Warbird's Return
SOUTH BUFFALO TWP, Armstrong County — A Western Pennsylvania man was instrumental in getting a World War II veteran back to Normandy for the 70th anniversary of D-Day.
John Lindsay, 200 Iron Bridge Road, was one of five-man crew who flew a vintage Douglas C-47 to France earlier this month to participate in the commemoration by dropping members of the Liberty Jump Team over the original D-Day drop zones.
Lindsay, a retired airline pilot, said he became involved in the project eight years ago through the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, N.Y.
“A gentleman had owned this craft and donated it to the National Warplane Museum,” Lindsay said.
“The C-47 is the military version of the civilian DC-3. He gave it to the museum because he couldn't sell it.
“Five years ago, we discovered through the Smithsonian archives that this was the lead aircraft in the second wave that delivered 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers over St. Mere-Eglise” on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
“This was a famous drop featured in the movie 'The Longest Day.' It was one of the few drops that was actually perfect, right in the drop zone,” Lindsay said.
The plane was designated W7/37, and today is known as Whiskey 7.
Lindsay said as the 70th anniversary of D-Day approached, the museum decided to fly Whiskey 7 back to France.
Dawn Schaible, director of planning and government affairs for the museum, said, “It was a five-man crew, four of whom were pilots. Three pilots were used in the flight.”
“At Christmas 2013, we decided we were definitely going to go,” said Lindsay, adding the museum started a fundraising campaign and restored Whiskey 7, which had been used as a civilian airliner, to its military configuration.
“We also had to do flight planning and handle the regulatory issues associated with flying an airplane to France,” he said.“It was a two-year project to get it ready to go back,” said Schaible. “That was between fundraising for the trip and work done on the plane. But the plane was airworthy from the get-go when the museum got it.”Lindsay said Whiskey 7 lifted off from Geneseo on May 15 on a flight that would follow the Blue Spruce Route used during World War II to ferry military aircraft from the United States to Europe following a route over Greenland and Iceland.Lindsay said the C-47 made the trip in stages, stopping at former Army Air Corps bases, now civilian airports, at Presque Isle, Maine; Goose Bay, Labrador; Narsarsuaq, Greenland; and Reykjavík, Iceland.“We spent a couple of days there,” said Lindsay of Iceland's capital city. “The airport is closed on Sundays. It would have cost $2,000 to open it so we could take off.“Wherever we landed, we got a good reception,” he said. “TV cameras and the press were always waiting.”Finally leaving Iceland, Whiskey 7 and her crew arrived in Prestwick, Scotland, May 20.“We had a huge reception,” Lindsay said. “There were hundreds of people hanging on the fence.”The plane was part of the D-Day 70th Anniversary Air Show at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, England.On Memorial Day, Lindsay said, Whiskey 7 flew over the American Cemetery at Cambridge.“There are 3,800 Americans buried there and a wall of the missing, mostly sailors lost in the North Atlantic,” he said.“We took off from Cambridge at 10:30 and circled the cemetery twice. I understand it was very emotional,” Lindsay said.The C-47 then flew to Ramstein Air Force Base in Miesenbach, Germany.Lindsay said once there, 60 airmen handwashed the plane with sponges and brushes.
It was a sign of respect, he said, because the 37th Airlift Squadron based in Ramstein is the successor to World War II's 37th Troop Carrier Squadron of which Whiskey 7 was a part.In fact, modern airmen tried to re-create a World War II photograph with members of the squadron posing on the C-47's wings.Whiskey 7 later flew with two C-130 military transports on a photo flight.From Ramstein, Lindsay said, they flew to Cherbourg, France.Lindsay said Whiskey 7 took part in the first of four days of staged parachute drops on June 1 over Angoville, France.There were two more drops on June 5 over Amfreville.“On the first drop, I flew and my son (Maj.) Stewart (Lindsay of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment) was the first one out of the plane over Amfreville,” Lindsay said.“On June 5, we had three World War II veterans on board,” Lindsay said. “One was Leslie Crews, the last living paratrooper to jump out of that plane on D-Day.”Whiskey 7 also carried two veteran pilots, Julian “Bud” Rice, a C-47 pilot who participated in the Normandy airdrops on D-Day, and Bill Prindible.“The two pilots took turns flying the airplane. It was very special,” said Lindsay.More drops for this year's celebration followed June 7 and 8.After one morning's drops, Lindsay said, he and his son and his daughter-in-law, Jennifer, rented a car and drove to the American cemetery above Omaha Beach.On June 6, Lindsay said, Whiskey 7 flew in formation with the C-130s again.“We did three passes over St. Mere-Eglise. We were 500 feet from the ground. The streets were choked with people waving,” he said. “People in France take the D-Day anniversary seriously. It's like the Fourth of July to us.”“We fly over Omaha Beach, then Utah Beach and the whole way up the coast,” said Lindsay. “From the air you can see stuff. There's a Liberty Ship that is sunk off the beach.”“Every day was special. There was always something cool going on. It was all about the airplane. They would see us with our ball caps on and know who we were,” Lindsay said.“I knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. “I feel honored to have been able to do it. It was all about honoring the vets.”On June 10th, Whiskey 7 flew from Cherbourg to Prestwick, Scotland, where, in preparation for the return flight over the Atlantic, the crew reloaded survival gear, extra radios and life rafts that had been removed before the flight to France.“We had wonderful weather the whole trip,” he said. “I can't help but feel there were people looking out for us.”“It was just amazing. We worked on that airplane for years getting it ready. There is always something that needs to be fixed,” he said. “But everything worked fine.“There's something about this plane. You realize it is a veteran of World War II. The closer we got to Normandy, the better it ran.”Schaible said Whiskey 7 will next be seen at the museum air show July 12 and 13.
