I grew up in the 1950’s and 60’s, a catapult shot from an Eighth Air Force base in East Anglia which, a decade earlier, had resonated to the sound of B-17 and B-26 engines. The colourful ebb and flow of British civil airlines of the sixties and seventies provided further inspiration to collect photos, documents, artefacts and experiences. This site expands some of these short stories and tall tales – it’s more than rumour, less than history…….it’s miscellavia…..
December 2025 will see the ninetieth anniversary of the first flight of the Douglas DST, the initial iteration of the DC-3. Miscellavia is currently heavily biased towards the Douglas C-47 Dakota, the DC-3 and its Russian comrade, the Li-2. This is, perhaps, predictable given that my first flight was in an Irish-registered DC-3, my father flew in RAF Dakotas during WW2 and I worked briefly for a C-47 freight operation in the seventies. While my flying log includes several flights in British C-47 freighters, I was also fortunate enough to fly in the Goldtimer Foundation’s excellent Li-2, HA-LIX.
The site’s brief history of 233 Squadron focuses on a typical RAF Transport Command Dakota squadron during its most famous era, the ‘big three’ airborne operations in Europe: ‘Overlord’, ‘Market Garden’ and ‘Varsity’. The individual histories of several 233 Squadron Dakotas have been compiled to reflect those with a long and distinguished career and, in several cases, a personal connection. KG403 has just distinguished itself by emerging from the Basler facility as a ‘new’ BT-67 bound for a South American owner which will operate it in a continent it has not visited previously: Antarctica.
The recent addition of the history of ex-RAF Dakota FZ647 is to highlight an ex-512 Squadron aircraft which has led an amazingly varied life and now sits, largely neglected, alongside a highway in South Africa. I may aim for a similar retirement….
Another featured C-47 which lives on a roadside is Salamanca’s ex-Spanish Air Force T3 744-28 which flew D-Day missions from Aldermaston with the USAAF’s 73rd TCS. Although resident in an auto scrapyard, this veteran has recently been repainted to look very smart in Spanish Air Force colours.
The arrival of the D-Day Squadron in Europe during 2019‘s 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord stimulated the section detailing the individual histories of eight C-47s which visited Prestwick and, subsequently, Duxford and Caen. Five turbulent years later, the arrival of three transatlantic visitors at Prestwick is documented by the photo section D-Day Squadron 2024.
A separate thread details the life histories of several C-47 Dakotas which have had interesting careers in British civil aviation. At present, all these also have a personal connection for the author and two are currently still operational on different continents.
The section on Channel Airways links historical C-47 operations with the chronicle of an important East Anglian independent operator. Another, less well-known, independent freight operator is detailed in the section on Sagittair and its uniquely innovative founder, Stephen Quinto.
Remaining in East Anglia, the history of Earls Colne airfield from 1943 to the present day follows USAAF heavy and medium bomber operations during WW2, RAF Halifax missions and the Rhine Crossing airborne invasion of Germany. The post-war ‘swords to plough shares’ evolution charts the Essex airfield’s progress to become today’s successful flight training, air ambulance and light aviation centre.
The ex-RAF and French Aeronavale Lancaster NX611/ G-ASXX used to live just up the road from Earls Colne at Lavenham, another ex-USAAF airbase. The rather muddy photo I took has prompted a short history of this remarkable aircraft from her delivery to the RAF right at the end of WW2. Since her presence amazed Suffolk locals in 1969, the ex-Historic Aircraft Preservation Society bomber has moved around Britain but now has a welcoming home with the Lincolnshire Aircraft Heritage Centre at East Kirkby.
Further Miscellavia threads detail the stories of two ex-Biafran Airlift veterans, Douglas freighters DC-6 PH-TRA and DC-7 PH-DSL. There is more Spanish content in the form of Texan trainers at Santander Airport and the excellent Malaga Air Museum’s C-47 EC-CPO.
The recent addition of the history of ex-RAF Dakota FZ647 is to highlight an ex-512 Squadron aircraft which has led an amazingly varied life and now sits, largely neglected, alongside a highway in South Africa. I may aim for a similar retirement….
Another featured C-47 which lives on a roadside is Salamanca’s ex-Spanish Air Force T3 744-28 which flew D-Day missions from Aldermaston with the USAAF’s 73rd TCS. Although resident in an auto scrapyard, this veteran has recently been repainted to look very smart in Spanish Air Force colours.
The arrival of the D-Day Squadron in Europe during 2019‘s 75th anniversary of Operation Overlord stimulated the section detailing the individual histories of eight C-47s which visited Prestwick and, subsequently, Duxford and Caen. Five turbulent years later, the arrival of three transatlantic visitors at Prestwick is documented by the photo section D-Day Squadron 2024.
A separate thread details the life histories of several C-47 Dakotas which have had interesting careers in British civil aviation. At present, all these also have a personal connection for the author and two are currently still operational on different continents.
The section on Channel Airways links historical C-47 operations with the chronicle of an important East Anglian independent operator. Another, less well-known, independent freight operator is detailed in the section on Sagittair and its uniquely innovative founder, Stephen Quinto.
Remaining in East Anglia, the history of Earls Colne airfield from 1943 to the present day follows USAAF heavy and medium bomber operations during WW2, RAF Halifax missions and the Rhine Crossing airborne invasion of Germany. The post-war ‘swords to plough shares’ evolution charts the Essex airfield’s progress to become today’s successful flight training, air ambulance and light aviation centre.
The ex-RAF and French Aeronavale Lancaster NX611/ G-ASXX used to live just up the road from Earls Colne at Lavenham, another ex-USAAF airbase. The rather muddy photo I took has prompted a short history of this remarkable aircraft from her delivery to the RAF right at the end of WW2. Since her presence amazed Suffolk locals in 1969, the ex-Historic Aircraft Preservation Society bomber has moved around Britain but now has a welcoming home with the Lincolnshire Aircraft Heritage Centre at East Kirkby.
Further Miscellavia threads detail the stories of two ex-Biafran Airlift veterans, Douglas freighters DC-6 PH-TRA and DC-7 PH-DSL. There is more Spanish content in the form of Texan trainers at Santander Airport and the excellent Malaga Air Museum’s C-47 EC-CPO.
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