D-Day with the veterans
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| Two Daks over the beaches of Normandy |
Hardly would I have imagined that I once would be part of a
historic re-enactment of what was - and still is - the largest land/air/sea
invasion to liberate Europe from the horrific grip of Nazi Germany! And there I
am: German by birth but now part of the British ‘invasion’ fleet of 23 Daks,
Harvards, Mustangs and two Beech 18s flying in close formation towards the
English coast and out over the Channel to Normandy.
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| Happy to be 'on the Beech' again |
With the weather preventing much activity on the 4th
of June, Wednesday the 5th dawned much brighter we were hoping to get
airborne! The air show was in full swing with over ten thousand
visitors streaming through the gates at Duxford.
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| hundreds and hundreds of spectators and aviators at Duxford |
Having been invited to act as a camera-ship for the air
display and the flight across to Normandy we were asked to take two veterans
for a sortie over the airfield. With
pleasure!
So suddenly I found myself sitting next to two gentlemen, veterans Harry Read (95) who once fought with the Parachute Regiment and John Corbett ( 83).
It was their first time being in a Beech 18 – and for me a first experience of flying in formation with other Dakotas. Twenty three of those lovely ‘old ladies’ had flown into Duxford and displayed their graceful beauty in the skies over Cambridgeshire. What a magic sight! see this video:
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| from left to right: John Corbett and Harry Read on board G-BKGM |
It was their first time being in a Beech 18 – and for me a first experience of flying in formation with other Dakotas. Twenty three of those lovely ‘old ladies’ had flown into Duxford and displayed their graceful beauty in the skies over Cambridgeshire. What a magic sight! see this video:
Both Harry and John were very chatty and seemed to enjoy
their flight with John clicking away on his camera.
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| on board our Beech18 with the two veterans (photo by Phil Dunnington) |
After a 45mins display and with my stomach getting increasingly
queasy and my bum roasted (our heating system couldn’t be turned off!) we
finally touched down with crowds cheering and waving. It was very emotional.
Phil and John later found that they were both Yorkshiremen
and had a good long chat whilst our pilots engaged with Harry. see this video of John and Phil chatting about good ol' Yorkshire:
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| John and Phil |
After a short lunch break we were getting ready for the big
moment: our flight in formation with all the Daks to Normandy.
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| paratroops boarding the Daks |
But juggling of
Heads of State movements and some other issues delayed our departure by two
precious hours. Meanwhile an impressive formation of 5 US Marines MC-130s and 6
Ospreys made a pass on their way from Lakenheath to Portsmouth to look after Mr
Trump.
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| waiting for clearance to take off for Normandy |
The atmosphere amongst the many thousands of visitors and aviators was electric as the 11 closely-grouped aircraft droned by.
After a spectacular climb-out, we routed via Chelmsford,
home of 16 Air Assault Brigade, overhead Southend Airport and Eastbourne, and
the formation got into its stride.
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| Three Daks in formation |
Harvards provided an escort, two Mustangs gave 'top cover',
and our Beech plus Nick Houghton's similar craft were off the left flank with
journalists to record it all for posterity. We had nearly 30 aircraft in the
stream.
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| buzzing with excitement |
There was no time to sit back and relax. No, instead I was
jumping up and down, turning right and left in the back of our aircraft
assuming my role as ‘video-photographer’. Constantly not only juggling
different equipment which ranged from my Canon EOS 80 to my i-pad, i-phone and
a GoPro but also nearly hanging out of our open ‘exit window’ in order not to
miss THE shot or recording - it was unbelievably exciting and exhausting.
After a short while the unmistakable skyline of London's
city appeared to our west as we crossed the Thames Estuary near Sheerness. see this video:
Then
the coastline with its iconic white cliffs where hundreds of people had
patiently waited for us to arrive. One of them was photographer and aviator Keith Brooks who spotted us from the ground:
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| The formation cover over Beachy Head (photo: Keith Brooks) |
We now set course for an increasingly grey French coast as
we cruised over the waters of the Channel. It must have been a spectacular
sight from all those boats to look up, but thinking back of the real D-Day 75
years ago, what a sight must it have been then with thousands of ships
underneath the hundreds of aircraft!
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| coasting in over France |
Passing abeam Le Havre we came into close formation with the
rest of the Daks as we approached the Drop Zone for the parachutists.
see this video of the Dakotas:
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| Passing the port of Le Havre |
But for
while nothing happened. Strange. Sitting in the back with no head-set to hear
what was going on in the front with ATC and other communication, I was left to
guess and wait patiently holding my camera in tight grip not to miss the shot
of the jump!
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| The parachutists are ready to jump! |
Finally the moment came:
the doors opened and dozens of parachutes fell out like flower seeds quickly
being dispersed by the wind and falling gently to the ground. Zooming in I
could see the khaki colour of their
special parachutes– a perfect disguise against the green fields of Normandy. See this rare video:
Dropping the para-troops over Normandy
Dropping the para-troops over Normandy
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| Dakotas dropping their parachutists over Normandy |
The notorious Pegasus Bridge, where the first assault
gliders had landed on D-Day, was jammed with people and vehicles, many in
period uniform and on contemporary motor-bikes.
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| Pegasus Bridge |
Two (or even three) passes later the jumpers were all 'out'
and the Dakotas recovered to nearby Caen (Carpiquet) airport. The double line
of these venerable aeroplanes, more than half of which had crossed the Atlantic
to take part, was impressive on the grass taxiway.
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| All aircraft lined up at Caen, Carpiquet |
Representative aircraft from USA, UK, France, Denmark,
Finland, Sweden (neutral at the time) and Hungary joined the festivities. Sadly
the Norwegian example suffered technical setbacks and had to remain at Duxford.
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| VIP parking at Caen next to the French president |
Our Beech was the last to land and kindly given a priority spot right next to President
Macron's two VIP Falcons and a line of police helicopters.
Climbing out of the Beech I was quite shaken. The flight had
been so emotional and exhilarating but also at times a bit frightening as we
came close in formation with other aircraft and I never knew what was to come
next.
This certainly had been one of the most memorable flights I have
experienced in our faithful ‘Betty the Beech’. A quick ‘relief’- and refuelling
break was most welcome and we were told to rush off to make way for more VIPs. Perfect!
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| The 'Beech' team at Caen |
All was going seemingly well until the Prime Minister of the
Czech Republic disrupted our planned take off followed by problems with our flight
plan as we had to cross a new TRA established to protect the Heads of State,
all gathered near Arromanches in readiness for the next day.
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| Aerial view of the remains of Mulberry harbour |
We finally departed into a beautiful sunset and headed back
towards the UK. Having had no time to re-fit our exit window in Caen and this
time flying at much higher altitude, it was getting freezing cold in the back
cabin.
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| view into the cockpit |
But who cares? Thinking back of what the soldiers and civilians had to
endure during those incredibly hard days and years made me feel extremely grateful for
the peace I had enjoyed in my life. Let’s hope it stays and may this day be a
reminder of the horrors of war and the precious gift of peace!!
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| G-BKGM at Carpiquet airport, France |
