D-Day paratroop Dakotas

Douglas C-47 Dakota aircraft at the start of the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe, dropping paratroops behind the landing beaches in the early hours on 6 June 1944.

RAF Transport Command Dakotas delivered the men of the British 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades (part of the 6th Airborne Division) over the Channel in 'Operation Tonga': my depiction shows 108 aircraft from the five squadrons of 46 Group heading for Drop Zone K, their task hampered by the weather and enemy flak.