Douglas C-47A-65-DL “Skytrain,” 42-100533, Honeybun III, 80th TCS/436th TCG, 7D-B

Douglas C-47A-65-DL “Skytrain,” 42-100533, Honeybun III, 80th TCS/436th TCG, 7D-B, based at Membury, Berkshire, England, March 1944 to February 1945, and at “Airstrip A-55,” Villeroche, France, about 5 miles northeast of Melun and 23 miles south of Paris from February to May 1945.

Honeybun III at Melun. France in May 1945

This aircraft enjoyed a distinguished history with the 80th Troop Carrier Squadron of the 436th Troop Carrier Group in the ETO and the MTO during WWII. In January 1944 the Squadron deployed to England under the command of Major (later Lt. Col.) Clarence L. Schmid (pictured left) and after initial training at Bottesford was transferred to Membury on 3 March 1944, where it continued training for D-Day. Records indicate that Maj. Schmid led the 80th TCS in Honeybun III during the first parachute drops over Normandy, when the Squadron dropped a “stick” (1/502) of the 101st Airborne Division at 0102 on 6 June. “The Squadron maintained perfect formation for the entire trip and received a warm welcome from the ground personnel when they returned to Membury at 0255, 6 June.”

Honeybun III's fuselage mission board late in the war

The Squadron participated in the invasion of Southern France on 15 July 1944, flying from Voltone Airfield, Tarquinia Italy, about 90 kilometers north of Rome and towing twelve CG-4A gliders to the invasion area. It also participated in three paratroop and glider missions in the Eindhoven area during Operation Market Garden; re-supply of the surrounded 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge; and glider tows and paratrooper drops for the 17th Airborne Division near Wesel, Germany on 24 February 1945 during Operation Varsity, the crossing of the Rhine River. The Squadron also flew innumerable cargo and medical evacuation missions, which are reflected on Honeybun III’s impressive fuselage mission board. The 80th TCS was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its wartime operations. Honeybun III soldiered on after the War, taking part in the Berlin Airlift before being scrapped in 1950.

Vought OS2U-1 Kingfisher aboard USS Arizona, September 6, 1941

In the Autumn of 1941 USS Arizona (BB-39) based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii had three Vought OS2U-1 Kingfishers assigned to it from the First Section of Observation Squadron One, VO-1. They were 1-O-1, BuNo. 1595, 1-O-2, BuNo. 1596, and 1-O-3, BuNo. 1597.

On September 6, 1941 two of the aircraft, 1-O-1 and 1-O-3, were photographed during a morning aircraft launch and recovery exercise.

1-O-1 taxies on Arizona's port side waiting for the recovery hook on the aircraft crane. The pilot was Lt.Crd. Welton D. Rowley, CO of VO-1. Rear-seat man, RM2 E.L. Higley, prepares to go out on the plane's wing to hook up the aircraft to the battleship's crane for recovery.

Some of the hazards in this "routine" seagoing evolution are evident as the rear seat man of 1-O-3 struggles to get the lifting hook from the shipboard crane steady before attaching it to the lifting ring on the aircraft behind the pilot's seat.

The pilot of 1-O-3 on September 6, 1941 was Ensign Lawrence A. Williams, (AV) USNR, who was killed in action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The rear seat man was RM3 Glenn H. Land, USN, who survived Pearl Harbor and the Pacific War, and is one of 23 Arizona survivors still alive in 2009.