Larry Linderman
On Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, at 1 p.m. in the DesertView Theater, Tim Tarris will talk about D-Day Doll, a C-53D Skytrooper that he helped crew to Europe for the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift in 2019.
The C-53 Skytrooper is a specialized troop transport variant of the DC-3. Only 380 aircraft were produced in all, because the C-47 was found to be more versatile.
C-53 N45366 was assigned to the 434th Troop Carrier Group and stationed at various locations before arriving at Royal Air Force Aldermaston, UK, in March 1944. Aircraft 830 was assigned to the 72nd Squadron (CU).
The group’s D-Day mission was to tow gliders carrying reinforcements to 101st Division troops who had been dropped earlier in the night near Utah Beach. At 01:19 on June 6, 1944, 52 of the group’s planes, each towing a Waco glider, took off from RAF Aldermaston Airfield for Normandy. Aircraft 830 flew three missions on D-Day and the next day.
While in Europe, C-53 N45366 D-Day Doll participated in the D-Day invasion, Market Garden in Holland, the re-supply of Bastogne and the crossing of the Rhine. She also flew various support missions and wounded evacuations to England.
A resident of Tucson, Tim received a BA from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio, and an MBA from Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, N.M. He is a graduate of USAF Squadron Officer School, Air Command and Staff College, and Air War College. He is a retired Air Force Colonel and pilot who flew the F-111, A-7, F-16, and KC-135. As an airline captain, he flew B-727s, DC-8s, and B-747s for United Parcel Service.
So, mark your calendars now for Thursday, Jan. 9, at 1 p.m. in the DesertView Theater.