Help Send Valiant Air Command’s Tico Belle Back to Normandy For D-Day Invasion 75th Anniversary

By  //  May 16, 2019

now accepting donations and support for mission

More than 73 years ago, on June 5th, 1944, at about 2300 hours she, along with hundreds like her at other airfields all over southern England, was at Station 469 – Ramsbury in the UK as members of the 82nd Airbourne Division boarded C-47s and gliders for the assault on Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.”

The Valiant Air Command’s  D-Day Veteran Tico Belle has been invited to participate in the Daks over Normandy event which will be held June 5, 2019, at Duxford England in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.

During this momentous occasion, the Tico Belle will join dozens of her fellow North American based C-47s to cross the Atlantic to England and then on to Normandy, retracing her flight 75 years later.

The trip will consist of flying the Tico Belle up the east coast then the longest portion of her journey across the North Atlantic with stops including Nova Scotia, Iceland and Ireland before her arrival in the United Kingdom.

“We are accepting donations and support from all those who would be interested in helping our Tico Belle retrace her historic flight into Normandy,” said the Valiant Air Command’s Executive Officer Bob Boswell.

“Tico Belle is a remarkable flying memorial to the men who flew her and flew into combat in her.”

The Valiant Air Command’s  D-Day Veteran Tico Belle has been invited to participate in the Daks over Normandy event which will be held June 5, 2019, at Duxford England in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion.

More than 73 years ago, on June 5th, 1944, at about 2300 hours she, along with hundreds like her at other airfields all over southern England, was at Station 469 – Ramsbury in the UK as members of the 82nd Airbourne Division boarded C-47s and gliders for the assault on Hitler’s “Fortress Europe.”

D-Day, “The Longest Day” was on.

At 0407 hours, on June 6th, 1944, at about 500 feet and in the face of determined flack from the defending German troops, the Tico Belle lined up on Landing Zone “O” near St Mere-Eglise and dropped these brave men into Normandy – and into history.

Tico Belle’s crew on that mission included 1st Lt Jay E Bloch, O-731802, Pilot, Oregon, 26;  2nd Lt Oscar B Hill, O-745093, Co-pilot, New York, 25; S/Sgt John A Quinn, 12203294, Crew Chief, New Jersey, 21; and Pfc J D Calhoun, 15353761, Radio Operator, Ohio, 20.

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Tico Belle went on to survive and serve a distinguished record of combat in the Liberation of Europe, including:

• Normandy: June 1944 – Operation Neptune (D-Day)
• Southern France: July 1944 – Operation Dragoon
• Holland: September 1944 – Operation Market-Garden
• Belgium: December 1944 – Relief of Bastogne (The Battle of the Bulge)
• Germany: March 1945 – Operation Varsity

After the war, she stayed in Europe and participated in the Berlin Airlift before passing to the Royal Norwegian Air Force and finally the Royal Danish Air Force. She came home to the Valiant Air Command in 1988 after serving as the VIP transport for the Danish AF.

“It is our honor to preserve and fly Tico Belle, C-47 42-100591, as a living monument to the men and women who served in World War II,” said Boswell.

CLICK HERE to make a donation to the Valiant Air Command’s effort to fund the Tico Belle’s trip back to Normandy.

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