On June 6th, 1944, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain called "That's All, Brother" led a formation of 800 aircraft during the D-Day liberation of France. Piloted by United States Army Air Force Lt. Col. John Donalson, the name "That's All Brother" was supposed to be a message to Adolf Hitler that his days were numbered.
As a part of Operation Overlord, as D-Day was called, 13,100 paratroopers of the 82nd and 101s Airborne Divisions were dropped behind enemy lines. They aimed to secure the French port of Cherbourg as a supply port from which the Allies could bring reinforcements. "That's all... Brother" was used again during Operations Dragoon, Operation Market Garden, Operation Repulse, and Operation Varsity.
Operation Dragoon took place on August 15th, 1944, when Allied forces landed on the beaches of the Côte d'Azur in a movie to liberate Southern France. Depicted in the film "A Bridge Too Far," Operation Market Garden was launched on September 17th, 1944. Its objective was to capture bridges across the Lower Rhine River and give the Allies an invasion route into Northern Germany. Operation Repulse That's All Brother was used again on December 16th, 1944, to resupply American troops in Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. The last mission involving That's All Brother occurred on March 24th, 1945, during Operation Varsity, when Allied forces invaded Germany.
That's All Brother was discovered in a Wisconsin aircraft boneyard
After the war, That's All Brother was flown back to the United States and decommissioned before being sold for civilian use. In the following years, That's All Brother was sold to 12 owners who kept the aircraft airworthy while unaware of its historical importance.
Photo: Alan Wilson | Flickr
After being transferred to the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Staff Sergeant Matthew Scales tracked down That's All Brother and learned that it had been sold to Basler Turbo Conversions of Oshkosh, Wisconsin. They aimed to modernize the aircraft by fitting it with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67R turboprop engines.
That's All Brother was sold to the CAF
Based at Wittman Regional Airport (OSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Basler had sent That's All Brother to its boneyard, where it was to wait until the new engines could be fitted. After discovering where the historical aircraft was, several organizations and private collectors offered to buy the plane from Basler. The aircraft was acquired by an organization that restores and flies vintage planes, primarily to exhibit at air shows called the "Commemorative Air Force" (CAF).
The CAF's goal was to restore the plane entirely so that it could participate in the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6th, 2019. While the organization's Minnesota Wing had enough volunteer workers to restore the plane, they needed the money. In 2015, the CAF launched a global crowdfunding Kickstarter campaign to raise $75,000 to remedy the situation. The campaign was hugely successful, raising $330,000, far more than the CAF had imagined.
The aircraft was repainted to show how it would have looked during D-Day
The initial assessment of the aircraft revealed extensive corrosion that required 1,600 hours of repair work. The Kickstarter funds were also used to rewire the entire plane. Once complete, it was repainted to replicate how it would have looked on D-Day, including the crudely hand-painted black stripes painted on the wings and fuselage the day before the invasion.
That's All Brother was handed over to the Central Texas Wing of the CAF, based in San Marcos, a suburb of Austin, Texas. They continued the restoration in Oshkosh while scouring the world for vintage Douglas C-47 parts. Once fully restored and airworthy, the plane took off from Wittman Regional Airport (OSH) for a short flight around the airport in January 2018.
The aircraft was then flown to San Marcos Regional Airport (HYI) as a flying museum. During the summer of 2018, the aircraft was the star of the World War II-themed Wings over Dallas Air Show. While at the show, the public was offered short flights for $249. Unsurprisingly, all seven of the flights were sold out.
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During the Normandy invasion, C-47s dropped over 50,000 paratroopers in France.
That's All Brother returns to England
To attend a ceremonial reenactment of the preparations for D-Day, That's All Brother traced the original route the plane had first used when flying from the United States to England. After several days of training in Oxford, Connecticut, That's All Brother flew to the following airfields:
- Presque Isle International Airport (PQI) in Maine
- Goose Bay Airport (YYR) in Labrador, Canada
- Narsarsuaq Airport (UAK0 in Greenland
- Reykjavík–Keflavík Airport (KEF) in Iceland
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport (PIK) in Scotland
- Duxford Aerodrome (QFO) in Cambridgeshire, England
That's All Brother took off from Duxford Aerodrome (QFO) on June 5th, 2019, with 18 paratroopers to reenact the invasion by jumping over the original drop zone. The following day, on June 6th, 2019, That's All Brother joined 12 other C-470s and flew over the US Cemetery in Normandy to close out the D-Day celebrations. That's All Brother then continued to Germany to commemorate the Berlin Airlift and then to Le Bourget Airport (LBG) for the 2019 Paris Air Show.
About the Douglas C-47
Developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner, the Douglas C-47 Skytrain had several modifications, including a rear cargo door, winch, astrodome, reinforced floor, and a glider hitch for towing. During the war, the C-47 acted as a cargo carrier, troop transport, and deployment aircraft for paratroopers.
Powerplant: | 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-90C Twin Wasps |
|---|---|
Thrust: | 1,200 hp (890 kW) each |
Maximum speed: | 224 mph (360 km/h, 195 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) |
Range: | 1,600 mi (2,600 km, 1,400 nmi) |
Ferry range: | 3,600 mi (5,800 km, 3,100 nmi) |
Service ceiling: | 26,400 ft (8,000 m) |
Time to altitude: | 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in 9 minutes 30 seconds |
Wing loading: | 26.3 lb/sq ft (128 kg/m2) |
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Nearly 670 flights were operated each day!
Besides D-Day and the numerous battles during the last year of World War II in Europe, the C-47 was extensively used in the Pacific war against the Japanese. During the campaign, the type was used to fly over "The Hump" between India and China. The experience gained while flying over the Himalayan Mountains was pivotal in the 1948–1949 Berlin Airlift.
