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Bastogne Supply Drop:
Color photos taken by Major Joseph Antrim, C47 pilot, 437th Troop Carrier Group on Dec 23, 1944, while on the way to Bastogne to drop supplies to the surrounded U.S troops.
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Color photos taken by Major Joseph Antrim, C47 pilot, 437th Troop Carrier Group on Dec 23, 1944, while on the way to Bastogne to drop supplies to the surrounded U.S troops.
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Due to severe weather conditions, the scheduled resupply airdrops had been delayed & aircraft grounded since the German offensive began on 16 Dec. There was now a critical lack of ammo, food, gas, & medical supplies.
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On Dec 23 clear skies meant the drops could be attempted. But with a solid cloud over the area & a small window of area to drop onto, the only way for the C47s to accurately drop their supplies into the hands of the Allies was with the aid of Pathfinders.
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Pathfinders were specially trained to jump into enemy territory to mark landing & drop zones for aircraft.
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These men would have to brave enemy fire & jump with pinpoint accuracy within the perimeter to set up the Eureka beacons that would emit a signal for the aircraft to home in on. The waiting C47's would then fly towards the signal & drop their supplies.
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The pathfinders for the 23rd drop were all from the 506th PIR. They included 3 members of Easy Co, Red Wright, Carl Fenstermaker, and Lavon Reese. Also members of the Demolitions Platoon, aka the Filthy 13, including Jake McNiece and Jack Agnew.
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As a safeguard they would fly 2 sticks in separate planes. If the 1st stick landed in German lines it would send up a black smoke grenade. If it landed in U.S lines it would send up orange smoke. Then the 2nd stick would know if it was ok to jump.
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The pilot of the 1st plane was Lt Col Joel Crouch. He was a pathfinder veteran, having been involved in the Troop Carrier Command's side of the pathfinder training from almost the beginning, & leading the fleet on DDay
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At 06.45am, planes carrying the 2 sticks took off & headed for Belgium. As they did so, other C47s loaded with supplies got ready. As soon as they got the signal they would head for the besieged town.
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As they neared Bastogne, the men stood up to hook up their static lines. Suddenly a bang went through the fuselage & a round from German antiaircraft fire flew between 2 of the men, who stood just inches apart. There was an 88mm gun directly in their flight path....
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As the anti-aircraft fire continued to fly up at the aircraft, & with no other way to defend the plane, pilot Lt Col Crouch nosed the C47 down to treetop height & scattered the Germans as he flew over them. He then pulled back up to jump altitude & levelled off the plane
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At 09.35 Stick 1 jumped. Discovering they were behind U.S lines, they threw orange smoke grenades & Stick 2 then jumped. They all landed in the fields on the outskirts of Bastogne.
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While still under enemy fire, they got to work placing the bright orange panels out on the snow to be visable to the supply planes.
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Jack Agnew climbed on top of a pile of bricks (pictured) & set up his Eureka unit, knowing the extra height would aid in sending a clearer signal to the Rebecca receiving sets on the C47s that were approaching the area, waiting for the signal to guide them to the DZ.
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Radio Operator on one of the C47's, Don Bolce, recalled "When the weather finally cleared on Dec 23rd, the 437th Troop Carrier Group took off from Ramsbury, England for Bastogne. We had 4 squadrons, each with 18 planes, for a total of 72 C47s"
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"Under the planes in racks we had parapacks, which could be released from the pilot's compartment, and parabundles inside the plane. These we pushed out the open door with static lines in place to open the chutes"
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Within 30 minutes of the Pathfinders landing, the planes were almost over Bastogne, "As we neared Bastogne we could see snow everywhere. We removed the door as we prepared to push the parabundles out over the DZ. I could see German half-tracks with 88mm guns."
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"They began shooting their deadly flak directly at our plane, but thankfully their range was short"
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The Pathfinders waited til the last minute to turn on Eureka sets, in case they gave their position away to the German radio operators. Only when hearing the approaching C47 engines did they switch on the beacon. The pilots then knew exactly where to drop the supply bundles.
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At 11.50 hundreds of colored parachute canopies floated down from the sky over Bastogne. By the afternoon, 241 C47s had delivered 144 tons of supplies to the American troops on the ground.
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