Bill started his search in Savannah, Georgia, where the crew had “dropped
off” their airplane in 1945.
Bill found out that the plane was sold to the government of Venezuela.
The government then sold the airplane to Rutaca Airlines.
Rutaca is an airline carrier, flying with seventeen DC-3s.
Bill called the airline company and asked for construction numbers.
A staff member answered and she mentioned that one of the planes had construction
number 19000.
Bill then knew enough and informed the lady that he would be on his way shortly
to see the airplane.
Bill arrived in Ciudad Bolivar on the south bank of the Orinoco River on 7
September 1996.
A staff member showed Bill the airplane. Now the plane had registration number
YV-227C.
Bill walked directly to the tail section,
bent over and felt the aluminum skin.
Only Bill, his crew members and the ground crews, who made the repair,
knew that the plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Normandy.
Clearly he could feel the repair, where once was the damage.
Bill knew enough, this was HIS plane.
He was the radio operator on this airplane during World War Two.
The Executive Officer of the airline company, Molina Anaya, offered Bill
a ride in the plane.
Molina grabbed the stick and soon the airplane rolled to the runway.
The crew consisted of Molina Anaya, Pablo Mares and Juan Serrana. Bill stood
behind the pilots.
It became emotional for Bill and he fought his tears.
He wondered how often he had been standing behind the pilots during the war.
Then Molina offered Bill his seat and Bill flew the airplane for some fifteen
minutes.
Communications between the men was poor.
Bill did not speak any Spanish, the men only a few words of English.
The flight went on all right. Before landing Bill handed the stick to Molina.
After the landing Bill was asked to sign the plane’s logbook.
The airplane had flown some 14,052 hours, about three million miles.
How many engines, how many gallons of gasoline and oil had the plane been
used since, Bill wondered.
Bill is still in contact with Rutaca. The company still owes the airplane
for more than twenty years.
World War Two. The 436th Troop Carrier Group was activated in 1943.
During training in the United States each of the four squadrons (79th, 80th,
81st and 82nd Troop Carrier Squadron)
had lost one airplane. Eleven crew members were killed in these crashes.
On 26 December 1943 the Group flew via South-America to Ascension, halfway
the Atlantic Ocean,
where the Group arrived on 1 January 1944. Bill was present and was a crew
members of the 537.
The name “Blonde” was painted on the
nose. “Blonde” was the nickname for the pilot’s wife.
The following morning the airplanes took off for North Africa and then on
to England,
where they landed on 7 January 1944. A flight of some 11,000 miles had been
flown.
4 June 1944. Bill Elmendorf was briefed on the Group’s base, Membury
(Berkshire)
– also know as USAAF Station 466 –
on the forthcoming mission. It would be Bill’s first operational mission
over German occupied territory.
The ground crew was painting three white and two black stripes on every airplane.
The graffiti was painted near the tail section and on the top- and lower sides
of both wings.
D-Day, the invasion of Normandy would begin the following day.
The mission, however, was postponed by 24 hours due to poor weather.
On 5 June 1944 at approximately 2100 hrs the crews went to their planes.
The crew members for “Blonde” were:
Captain Gilbert G. Vogt (pilot),
1st Lt John Reardon (copilot),
1st Lt Harold Nemerofsky (navigator),
Sgt Bill Elmendorf (radio operator) and
T/Sgt Gus Brown (crew chief).
Captain Vogt had secretly taught each
man how to fly the airplane,
this in the event both pilots were wounded or killed
and not able to bring the airplane back to England.
Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division climbed on board and the plane
took off.
“Blonde” took her position in the serial and flew in southern direction
to Normandy,
passing between Jersey and Guernsey. They were heading for the fields near
Carentan.
Over Normandy the pilots could clearly see the signals the Pathfinders
had used to mark the drop- and landing zones.
It was 6 June 1944, approximately 0100 hrs. The 537 dropped the paratroopers
and headed back to England.
During the debriefing the airplanes were refueled for the next mission.
Twelve C-47s and twelve Horsa gliders with supplies for the 82nd Airborne
Division took off that same day.
After releasing the gliders over the landing zone, the 537 was hit in the
tail section.
Finally the Allies had landed in Western Europe. The invasion was successful.
The planes flew to Italy to participate in an operation near St Tropez on
the Cote D’Azur in Southern France.
Via Gibraltar and Africa the planes returned to England. Time of arrival was
24 August at 1515 hrs.
The 436th participated in Operation Market Garden in Holland on Sunday 17
September 1944.
“Blonde” dropped paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division on
DZ H, north of Eindhoven.
The next mission was to drop supplies for the encircled paratroopers of the
101st at Bastogne
and she towed two CG-4A Waco gliders to Hammiklen/Wesel on 24 March 1945.
Every day the planes flew supplies to the front lines and returned with wounded.
In 1945 the crews flew their planes back to the United States.
The 537 was turned over at Hunter Field near Savannah.
The plane was then flown to Davis Monthan AFB in Arizona.
“Mission accomplished”
Jan Bos
Permission to run this article received by Jan Bos
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