Commando 44-77839

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

USAAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 44-77839

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 33235

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CU1771

FATE: Written off

  February 1945 to May 1945

  44-77839 - USAAF (USA)

6 February 1945

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

20 March 1945

Assigned to the Eighth Air Force.

Departed the USA for Europe.

Early 1945

Assigned to the Ninth Air Force, 52^nd Troop Carrier Wing, 349^th Troop Carrier Group, 313^th Troop Carrier Squadron based at Roye-Amy, France (A-73).

6 May 1945

Damaged beyond repair near Haslemere, Surrey, England in a CFIT (30/30 + 1 fatalities). [MACR 15646]

Crew:
1^st Lt Herbert R. Chickering, Pilot (pictured, right)
2^nd Lt John N. Boyce Jr., Copilot
... and three others

The Commando was conducting a repatriation flight, carrying 25 wounded soldiers back to the USA. The aircraft was probably inbound from France and was scheduled to land at RAF Greenham Common, UK for an intermediate stop. During descent, IMC conditions prevailed, with low visibility and a 6/8 cloud ceiling at 600 feet. Thirty miles from destination, the crew was already flying at low level, trying to remain visual with the ground, when it hit a 200ft-high Gee Tower located on Gibbet Hill near Haslemere, Surrey, UK. The right wing was torn off and the plane crashed in the surrounding forest. All occupants and someone manning the tower on the ground were killed. The tower was neither lit nor represented on charts.

8 May 1945

Condemned, non-battle damage.

Right: a view of Gibbet Hill today.
Photo credit: Chris Mac / Walking for Pleasure Team SE