Co. G, 501 PIR
Pfc Walter A. Simmons, paratrooper of the 3/501st PIR’s G Company, took off from station 474 in Welford, UK in the C-47 42-24077 to drop over DZ-C as part of Operation Albany during the Normandy invasion. Their target time was 0120. Their plane was the last of five waves to cross the Cotentin, over air defenses now on full alert. To complicate matters, there were heavy clouds at 1500 feet, gone unreported due to the strict radio silence. Some pilots decided to pull up and find their DZs with the Eureka-Rebecca system, others went low to obtain a visual of their DZs, and a rare few stayed the course through the cloud bank. While approaching DZ-C, flak hit the last three planes, including the 42-24077. The plane crashed in the Norman countryside, killing all aboard.
Private Simmons was returned from overseas for burial at home on 8 May 1948.
Pfc Walter A. Simmons, paratrooper of the 3/501st PIR’s G Company, took off from station 474 in Welford, UK in the C-47 42-24077 to drop over DZ-C as part of Operation Albany during the Normandy invasion. Their target time was 0120. Their plane was the last of five waves to cross the Cotentin, over air defenses now on full alert. To complicate matters, there were heavy clouds at 1500 feet, gone unreported due to the strict radio silence. Some pilots decided to pull up and find their DZs with the Eureka-Rebecca system, others went low to obtain a visual of their DZs, and a rare few stayed the course through the cloud bank. While approaching DZ-C, flak hit the last three planes, including the 42-24077. The plane crashed in the Norman countryside, killing all aboard.
Private Simmons was returned from overseas for burial at home on 8 May 1948.
Co. G, 501 PIR
Pfc Walter A. Simmons, paratrooper of the 3/501st PIR’s G Company, took off from station 474 in Welford, UK in the C-47 42-24077 to drop over DZ-C as part of Operation Albany during the Normandy invasion. Their target time was 0120. Their plane was the last of five waves to cross the Cotentin, over air defenses now on full alert. To complicate matters, there were heavy clouds at 1500 feet, gone unreported due to the strict radio silence. Some pilots decided to pull up and find their DZs with the Eureka-Rebecca system, others went low to obtain a visual of their DZs, and a rare few stayed the course through the cloud bank. While approaching DZ-C, flak hit the last three planes, including the 42-24077. The plane crashed in the Norman countryside, killing all aboard.
Private Simmons was returned from overseas for burial at home on 8 May 1948.
Pfc Walter A. Simmons, paratrooper of the 3/501st PIR’s G Company, took off from station 474 in Welford, UK in the C-47 42-24077 to drop over DZ-C as part of Operation Albany during the Normandy invasion. Their target time was 0120. Their plane was the last of five waves to cross the Cotentin, over air defenses now on full alert. To complicate matters, there were heavy clouds at 1500 feet, gone unreported due to the strict radio silence. Some pilots decided to pull up and find their DZs with the Eureka-Rebecca system, others went low to obtain a visual of their DZs, and a rare few stayed the course through the cloud bank. While approaching DZ-C, flak hit the last three planes, including the 42-24077. The plane crashed in the Norman countryside, killing all aboard.
Private Simmons was returned from overseas for burial at home on 8 May 1948.
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