We’ve been learning about Hendricks’ Archie Buseth and his experiences as an Army Air Corps pilot during WWII. Last week we learned how he trained to fly C-47 transports and then was assigned to the 92nd Troop Carrier Squadron of the 439th Troop Carrier Group (TCG). The 439th TCG then practiced parachute drops of airborne troops over western Nebraska for several months before deploying to England in mid-February 1944.

Archie appreciated his squadron’s barracks in England and their ability to see a bit of the English countryside during their off-duty time.

He recalled, “It’s beautiful, that English countryside — these small farms and all these stone fences and stuff like that and then, of course, the pubs all along the road.”

Archie’s unit had work to do. He described how the air crews of the 439th TCG did a lot of flying, “We did some flying around there at night because (there was) a lot of fog over there — a lot of instrument flying.”

Archie described their flight uniform, “We had just officer’s pants, shirts, and then we had the A-2 jackets and our regular flight caps.” He added, laughing, “When we went to town, then we put the visors on.”

They never wore parachutes, but carried a pistol during combat missions.

The 439th TCG relocated to the Royal Air Force airfield at Upottery, England on April 26th and began final, pre-invasion preparations.

Archie recalled, “We were quarantined for several days before D-Day. Nobody could leave the base.”

Archie remembered they got the final word of their invasion drop about a day in advance. He reflected on that last day of waiting, “Pretty quiet bunch of boys, yeah.”

The 439th TCG’s invasion assignment was to drop paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division behind the Normandy beaches at midnight of June 6 along with ammunition and supplies in containers attached to the aircraft bellies.

The paratroopers loaded on the aircraft the evening of June 5. Archie described the paratroopers who climbed aboard his aircraft for the flight to Normandy that fateful night.

“We saw them when they were on board. They were loaded. Had a big pack. Must have been a 40 pound pack, anyway. Quiet bunch after they got on the plane.”

The air controller cleared each aircraft to taxi to the runway and take off. The pilots then formed their aircraft into groups of three aircraft flying in V-shaped wedges. Archie recalled his V wedge was part of a formation of at least 30 aircraft as they left England.

“We went over part of England and then the channel. I couldn’t say how far inland we went. There were a few bad drops that night. It was black. We dropped at midnight into Normandy.”

Archie also recalled that the German troops on the ground tried to disrupt the drops with heavy, anti-aircraft fire. He explained, “It was like the Fourth of July coming up at you. I had a friend (a pilot and his aircraft) go down ahead of me.”

Despite all the ground fire coming up at them, the transport pilots had to fly straight and level over the drop zone until their paratroopers had jumped.

Archie added, “We’d throttle back on the right engine a little bit so they (the paratroopers jumping) wouldn’t hit all that prop wash and had to slow down a little.”

Once the crew chief signaled their paratroopers were all out, Archie dove to gain speed, “hitting the deck” in pilot talk, and turned toward the coast for the return trip to their airfield.

Flying that night drop with anti-aircraft rounds exploding around them and smaller caliber tracer rounds rising from the ground was a scary experience.

Archie recalled, “When we hit the deck, I was sitting in the pilot’s seat and the other guy (co-pilot) over there and by the time we pulled out, we were both sitting like this” (demonstrating how they leaned toward each other and away from the outside of the aircraft). He laughed, explaining, “Being next to each other with all that stuff coming up, see, we thought that would help.”

Archie described how the aircrews of the 439th TCG flew additional missions in support of the Normandy invasion.

“A couple days later we went in with provisions and flew out wounded. The engineers made landing strips on the beaches out of these big, steel mats, you know? That’s what we did then for quite a few days.”

Archie described how the invasion beaches were still a big mess, “Lots of dead equipment.”

Archie explained how troops would bring the wounded soldiers to the aircraft on litters and load them through the aircraft’s big doors. The C-47s could carry 12 or 13 litters with patients. He also described the medical support they had for these medevac flights.

“Nurses would fly out with us and then come back. I remember one flight with one of the nurses standing behind. I was pilot that day and we had an awful crosswind coming in. We had to come in like this (showing how the aircraft was angled into the crosswind). After it was over she said, ‘Ooh, that was good!'”

The 439th TCG received the Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions in support of the Normandy invasion on June 6th and 7th, 1944. But the war was not over and Archie and the other men of the 439th TCG would be called on again and again to fly in support of the war effort.

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