Commando 44-77516

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77516

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 32912

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1448

FATE: Written off

  December 1944 to March 1945

  44-77516 - USAAF (USA)

5 December 1944

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Buffalo, NY

21 January 1945

Assigned to the 8^th Air Force.

February 1945

Assigned to the 9^th Air Force, 52^nd Troop Carrier Wing, 313^th Troop Carrier Group, 49^th Troop Carrier Squadron based at Grevillers-Achiet (B-54), France.

Marked "H2-S".

24 March 1945

Went missing over Germany during Operation Varsity. [MACR 13361]

The Commando was carrying paratroopers as part of Operation Varsity, flying as Chalk 3. It was shot down by flak and crashed east of the Rhine river. There were an unknown number of fatalities.

Condemned, missing in action.