Commando 42-101234

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-5-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 42-101234

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 30689

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1225

FATE: Written off

  October 1944 to March 1945

  42-101234 - USAAF (USA)

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21 October 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY.

Assigned to the 4^th Combat Cargo Group, 14^th Combat Cargo Squadron based at Bowman Field, KY.

Mid-November 1944

Ferried from Morrison Field, FL to Sylhet, Bengal, India.

Crew:
Capt. Charles E. Bickley, Pilot
2^nd Lt. Leonard D. Lange, Copilot
TSgt. Loren D. Hall, Crew Chief
Sgt. Raymond G. Giffune, Radio Operator

30 November 1944

Ferried through Karachi, Sindh, India.

Early December 1944

Arrived in Sylhet, Bengal, India with the 14^th Combat Cargo Squadron.

Transported reinforcements and supplies for Allied forces in Burma.

December 1944

Transported material and equipment for the Ledo Road.

Early January 1945

Moved to Agartala, Tripura, India with the 14^th Combat Cargo Squadron.

Late January 1945

Moved to Chittagong, Bengal, India with the 14^th Combat Cargo Squadron.

February 1945

Transported men, mules, and boats to support the Allied crossing of the Irrawaddy River, Burma.

21 March 1945

Destroyed 65 km east of Chittagong, Bengal, India in a midair explosion. [MACR 14264]

Crew:
1^st Lt. Robert E. Claudius
2^nd Lt. Lynwood "Lynie" Logan

[Several sources quote a midair collision with an L-5. The most sensible scenario is actually that the L-5 suffered an engine failure in the same area later in the day while searching for the Commando]

24 March 1945

Condemned for salvage.