looking for RAF DC-2 pictures and others

Thanks von Perthes!

I’ve got it, many thanks.

Now, any info on the rest of the list anyone? 🙂

Col,

I’ve sent Bruce’s address to you in a Personnal Message (PM) so check your forum PM inbox. PM me back to let me know you’ve got it OK.

Geoff.

Moggy old chap, your name has grown by one G to Mogggy I see. Yep, I know there is another Moggy here, any relation? 🙂

Hello Everyone, first post here. I’m the one Col Gobbon mentioned who is doing the Iraq 1941 addon for EAW. I just wanted to thank everyone here for their help in tracking info about the RAF DC-2s in B Flight of No.31 Squadron.

Sifting through the other stiff I’ve turned up, I see that 31 sqn who did numrous trips between Shaibah and Habbaniya at the risk of interception by the Iraqi nationalists and the Luftwaffe and Italian AF dressed up as Iraqi nationalists, got an “Iraq 1941” battle honour.

Thanks again,

Mogggy

Likewise. Of all the stuff I’ve read about the DC-1/DC-2/DC-3 series I’d never learned the RAF (or that many other military forces outside the USA) had operated the DC-2.

Thanks for teaching this Gooney Bird fan some new stuff!

Thanks guys, again I’ve leaned something new from you anoraks:) I never knew that the RAF used any DC-2s but as has been mentioned earlier they did have a tendency to use anything that wasn’t nailed down or breathing. I sometimes get the impression that if it was nailed down they just took whatever it was nailed to as well.

Originally posted by von Perthes
Sorry

Hey, don’t worry! I just spend a half hour or so looking…:D And you put the pic up too! Grrr!:)

Flood.

Hi again!

I’ve posted my email address like I did to stop spammes finding it easily, just put an @ at (at) and a . at (dot) the rest is fine.

Thanks for you help.

Col Gibbon,

Bruce is not available by email I’m afraid. He is of course a very well known author of many books on things aeroplane. I will send you his address by email. Which is the correct email address, the one in your last post, or the one in your second post, one has an ‘l’ in it, the other doesn’t!!!

Geoff.

Hi von Perthes.

Thanks for the picture, and now we have a much better idea how they were painted. Is your friend Bruce Robertson, available via email? Because if he is I think he would be an excellent source of info for our project.

my email is wingspl(at)aol(dot)com 🙂

Sorry

The RAF operated whatever they could get hold of, at one time…
Those that I have found are variously listed as being either purchased in America or impressed in the Middle East – I am assuming from American airlines?
Those that I have found in the Air Britain RAF Registers…:-
AX755 ex NC-14268
AX767-769 (Possibly DC-3’s?) ex NC-13712, NC-14966, NC-14277.
DG468-479 EX NC14281, 82, 83, NC13718, NC14922, NC14275, NC14921, NC14924, NC13725, NC13711, NC14923, NC13714.
HK820-821 ex NC14290, NC14271
HK837 ex NC14950
HK847 ex NC14280
HK867 ex NC14278
The RAF also operated DC-3s too – before getting the C-47s.
The squadron you are looking for is almost certainly 31Sqn…

And while I was spending my time looking…:rolleyes:

Flood.

Col Gibbon,

Looking through Bruce Robertson’s ‘British military serials 1878-1987’ I’ve come up with 21 DC-2s used by the RAF, these were- AX755, AX767-769, DG468&469, HK820&821, HK837, HK847 & HK867. All were impressed/aquired in the Middle East or India. 31 sqdn seems to have been the main user, but a couple also served with 117 & 216 Sqdn.

The attached photo comes from AirBritain ‘Royal Air Force aircraft DA100-DZ999’ and shows DC-2 VP-APA, which was impressed as DG478. 31 sqdn was India Command’s first transport sqdn and flew a daily schedule into Habbaniya ‘during the trouble’. The photo came from Bruce Robertson. I can give you his address, if you like, via email.

Geoff.

I found this site which lists all the production batch of DC-2’s, and anong them are a number of ones which seem to have been used by the RAF.

Check out this link

http://www.wimparmentier.nl/produktielijst_dc2.html

Hi,
The DC-2 was operated by a lot of military units. Off the top of my head, the Royal Australian Air Force, Germans, Chinese, USAAC, USN, and Finns – who used it as a bomber. Few were bought by air forces (RAAF US) but there were plenty around, and with a war on, they got used!

I don’t have any Far Eastern references myself. I know that a new book ion the DC-2 is coming out from 4+ publishers – might be worth contacting them?

Unless your pic is reversed, it’s got the door on the wrong side – Some DC-3s (the civil pre-war version, NOT C-47) had a stbd passanger door, but I believe all DC-2s were a port door. Therefore I suspect a reversed picture!

Hope this helps,
Cheers

I can’t be sure, but somewhere at the back of my mind, I seem to remember a picture of an RAF DC2 in FlyPast maybe two years ago. It was in an article writen, if I remember correctly, by a navigator that finished his training in Canada and navigated a Lockheed Loadstar via the South Atlantic to Africa. I have been trying to find the issue in question, but so far come up with nothing. Does anyone else remember this picture?

The only picture we have been able to find so far of a DC2, is this one, which is at Habbaniya in May 1941. It’s not very clear, but suggests brown/green camo scheme. So I would question the information you have PhantomII.

To my knowledge the RAF only operated the C-47 Skytrain (which they called the Dakota), and the DC-2 was only operated by some airlines in the U.S. and possibly a couple by the military for whatever reason.

HI Steve Bond!

That would be great if you could send me those pictures you have, even the pre war ones because things I expect did not change very fast out there.

Have you got any serials, and squadron info about all the parties involved in the Iraq conflict? We are trying to make this as real as possible, so the more info the better.

My email is wingsp(at)aol(dot)com

Looking forward to seeing those pics! 🙂

Here are some links to threads on the subject on our forums.

http://mogggy.crosswinds.net/iraq/iraq.htm

http://oldsite.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=023558#000000

http://oldsite.simhq.com/simhq3/sims/boards/bbs/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=41;t=023586#000000

http://forums.frugalsworld.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=54473

I was not aware the RAF used DC-2’s, DC-3’s yes under the common miltery designation C-47.