D-Day Squadron Depart Oxford, CT May 19th

This coming May 19th the D-Day Squadron will depart from Waterbury-Oxford Airport just three miles north of Oxford, Connecticut on the first leg of their journey to Europe to take part in the Daks over Normandy event celebrating the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. As most readers will know by now from our previous reporting, the D-Day Squadron will consist of sixteen or so Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports, some of which actually participated in D-Day itself. They will join a number of other similar aircraft gathered from across Europe for this significant remembrance.  The American C-47s will participate in Daks Over Duxford (June 2-5) and Daks Over Normandy (June 5-9).

In the buildup to their May 19th departure, there will be a number of events taking place at and around Waterbury-Oxford Airport that the public can witness or take part in. While the details are still being finalized, we do know that the event will be open to the public starting from Tuesday May 14th. There will be a small entrance fee, of course, which will help subsidize the massive undertaking being made. On Saturday May 18th, the C-47s are planning to perform a massed flyover down the Hudson river which will circle around the statue of Liberty and then head back to Oxford.

On the journey to Europe, the D-Day Squadron will travel together on what is referred to as the Blue Spruce Route. This flight plan traverses the North Atlantic, allowing for fuel stops and guidance from ground-based navigational aids from points located along the route. Each staging site was selected due to its history as an active airfield during World War II. It is very likely that some of the aircraft will have flown to/from these locations during their service careers, and even during WWII itself.

The Squadron will depart from Oxford, Connecticut (KOXC); stop to refuel in Goose Bay Airport (CYYR) in Newfoundland, Canada; refuel at Narsarsuaq Airport (BGBW) in southern Greenland; refuel at Reykjavik Airport (BIRK) in Iceland; and refuel a final time at Prestwick Airport (EPIK) on the Western coast of Scotland.

The fleet will then make the next leg of this epic trip with a jaunt to Duxford Airfield (EGSU) north of London where they will position themselves with the entire international C-47 fleet for the final leg to Caen-Carpiquet Airport (LFRK) in Normandy, France as part of the Daks Over Normandy event on June 6, 2019.

Please join the D-Day Squadron to help secure necessary survival equipment and purchase the fuel that will get these aircraft and their crews safely to this extraordinary historic event. Make your donation today!

To stay up to speed with this event, visit the D-Day Squadron’s Facebook event page or their event page on their website.