The Curtiss Commando Page
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313th Troop Carrier Group

  July 1942 to June 1955

  United States of America

TYPE: USAAF & USAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Daniel Field, GA (1942), Bowman Field, KY (1942), Florence AAF, SC (1942), Laurinburg-Maxton AAB, NC (1942-1943), Oujda Airfield, French Morocco (1943), Kairouan Airfield, Tunisia (1943),
Sciacca Airfield, Sicily, Italy (1943), Trapani Milo Airfield, Sicily, Italy (1943-1944), RAF Folkingham (AAF-484), England (1944-1945), Grevillers-Achiet Airfield (B-54), France (1945), Baer Field, IN (1945-1946), Tulln AB, Austria (1946-1947), Langley Field, VA (1947), Bergstrom AFB, TX (1947-1948), RAF Fassberg, Germany (1948-1949), Mitchel AFB, NY (1952-1953), Sewart AFB, TN (1953-1955)

FORMER NAME: 313th Transport Group

OTHER NAMES: 313th Troop Carrier Group (1942-1948), 313th Troop Carrier Group, Heavy (1948-1949), 313th Troop Carrier Group, Special (1949), 313th Troop Carrier Group (1952-1955)

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 313th Tactical Airlift Group (after reconstituted in 1978)

Commandos operated, squadron or station unknown:

  • Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando: 44-77474

The 313th TCG was the redesignation of the 313th Transport Group activated four month earlier. It trained at Bowman Field, KY under Air Transport Command on Douglas C-47's and C-53's. In April 1943, it deployed to North Africa to conduct combat missions from Oujda Airfield in French Morocco. It performed troop carrier and transport airlift of supplies to ground forces advancing through Algeria into Tunisia as part of the 12th Air Force. it also evacuated wounded from the battle area.

The 313th then participated in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, in July 1943. Although blown far off course on the first airdrops on the island by strong winds, the group managed to drop its paratroops near Avola, where they were able to assist British forces in seizing that town. Two days after the beginning of the operation, on 11 July 1943, the Group led the stream of troop carrier units of the 52nd Troop Carrier Wing bringing reinforcements, planning to drop paratroops near Gela. However, attacks in the Gela area by enemy aircraft had sunk two ships and forced other ships in the invasion force to disperse. An hour later, the first 313th TCG aircraft approached the drop zone. While they were able to successfully make their drops on Farello Airfield, ships of the assault force mistook the aircraft for another enemy attack and antiaircraft units ashore began a heavy fire on the group's C-47's as they departed. Of the 144 planes of the 52nd Wing that participated in the mission, 23 were shot down and an additional 37 were heavily damaged.

The group then moved to Sicily for Operation Avalanche, the invasion of Italy, where it dropped paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division south of Salerno, Italy on the night of 13 September 1943 and flew in reinforcements the following night.

In February 1944, the 313th TCG moved to RAF Folkingham, England and started training for the assault of mainland Europe. On D-Day, the group dropped paratroopers near Picauville, Normandy and dropped reinforcements the following day. On 17 September, the 313th participated in Operation Market Garden, dropping paratroopers near Arnhem and Nijmegen, Netherlands. In February 1945, it moved to Grevillers-Achiet Airfield, France, where it began converting to the Commando in preparation for Operation Varsity. On 24 March 1945, it dropped elements of the 17th Airborne Division near Wesel, Germany. The group continued to operate from Achiet during 1945, performing transportation of personnel and supplies within Europe. It evacuated wounded and former prisoners of war and brought gasoline, ammunition to forward areas. After German surrender, it continued to transport medical equipment and other supplies. The group started returning to the USA in September 1945 and was subsequently deactivated.

The group was reactivated in 1948 at Tulln AB, Austria, with two of its squadrons based in Naples Capodichino, Italy and Berlin Tempelhof AB, Germany. It was part of the occupation forces and served with the European Air Transport Service with C-47 aircraft. In June 1947, the group was moved back to the USA. In July 1947, it trained on the Fairchild C-82 Packet towig gliders at Bergstrom Field, TX. In July 1948, the Group deployed its 48th Squadron to Rhein-Main AB, Germany to reinforce the USAF in Europe during the Berlin Airlift. On that occasion, it transitioned to the Douglas C-54 Skymaster, flying food, medicine and coal into Berlin. The group was inactivated in September 1949.

The group was reactivated at Mitchel AFB, NY on 1 February 1953. It replaced the 514th Troop Carrier Group, a reserve unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War. The 514th was in the process of converting from C-46 Commandos to Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars, and the 313th took over its personnel and equipment. From 1953, the group trained with C-119s at Sewart until inactivated in June 1955.

The 313th Troop Carrier Group was composed of three troop carrier squadrons, which were equipped at some point with Commandos: