In his newly released book Dakota Squadrons in Action From D-Day to V.E. Day: Airborne, Support and Supply Operations in the Liberation of Europe, author Clive Bennett provides “a microscopic examination of No. 46 Group’s flight operations, day by day, squadron by squadron, often down to crew names and takeoff/landing times.”
RAF Transport Command’s 46 Group, formed in January 1944 and operating Douglas C-47 Dakotas from RAF Broadwell, Blakehill Farm, and Down Ampney, provided critical airborne support, resupply, and casualty evacuation during WWII’s final phase. From D-Day on June 6, 1944, its squadrons delivered troops, paratroopers, and gliders over France, with WAAF ‘Flying Nightingales’ nurses aiding wounded on return flights—though LACW Margaret Campbell died in an October 1944 crash. During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, they conducted daily resupplies, earning Flight Lieutenant David Lord a posthumous Victoria Cross for bravery under flak, and in March 1945’s Operation Varsity, they enabled the war’s last major airborne assault, significantly aiding the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The 304 page title is available in hardcover and Kindle formats.
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