A little piece of that DDay history was flying the skies around Hamilton on Thursday.

A 1943 C47 Douglas Dakota airplane that helped turn the tide of the war, took off from its home at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, and CHCH News reporter Adam Atkinson was on board.

This picture is of the same plane during World War II.
Mike Tabone said, “This exact plane participated 80 years ago in the moment that turned the tide of the war around.”

Tabone is a volunteer at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and knows just about everything about this plane.

“On the 5th of June at 11:20 p.m. This aircraft took off with a flight crew of four people and between 18 and 22 paratroopers on a mission called “Operation Tonga” and the role was to prepare the Normandy Beaches for, this one in particular was preparing Gold Beach for the invasion that was going to take place later that day,” Tabone said.

Steve Thompson was one of 11 passengers on Thursday’s flight from Hamilton to Toronto and back, passing over HMCS Haida on the way.

“…very emotional. Thinking about the soldiers or aircrew who would have been on DDay itself, trying to reflect on that. Awesome, emotional, overwhelming at the moment,” Thompson said.

Mary Leunissen’s father was a “big gunner” during the Second World War. He was on her mind during the hour long flight.

“It was fantastic. I did it in honour of my father James Leonard Martin who was in the army in World War II, and in honour for all the servicemen who were there throughout this operation.”

Despite being 81 years old the C47 Douglas Dakota takes flight roughly 50 times a year and continues to be a big draw at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum for its role on DDay, and afterward as a medivac aircraft bringing wounded soldiers from Germany to the UK.

“When we did the restoration on the aircraft we found handwritten messages in pencil of the wall of the airplane. There’s a lot of history behind those signatures,” Tabone said.