A special fly pass will happen on Saturday 14 September over RMC Campus between 1330 and 1400 hrs weather depending.
Note that this event is organized by the RMC Alumni Association and is not an affiliated with RMC, or as a military event.
A Brief History of Dakota FZ692
The C47A-5DK Dakota above us today was built in 1943 by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Oklahoma City, OK as Construction Number 12295 and sent to the Royal Air Force Transport Command 233 Squadron based at Blakehill Farm in Wiltshire England under the US Lend Lease Program in 1944.
On the night of June 5, 1944 as part of Operation Tonga in support of the D-Day Invasion FZ692 flown by a Canadian crew was one of the last of thirty 233 Squadron aircraft to take-off at 23:16 hours to drop units of the British 6th Airborne Division at Drop Zone K near Escoville at 01:00 hours to help secure the eastern flank of the invasion area. On the night of June 6, 1944 as part of Operation Rob Roy in support of the D-Day Invasion FZ692 was one of twenty-one 233 Squadron aircraft that flew a re-supply mission to drop supplies to the British 6th Airborne Division east of the River Orne.
In September 1944 FZ692 was transferred to the newly formed Royal Canadian Air Force 437 Squadron also based at RAF Blakehill Farm in Wiltshire, England after having completed 16 operational missions with RAF 233 Squadron. FZ692 then flew another 208 operational missions with RCAF 437 Squadron including Operation Varsity – The Rhine Crossing, the largest airborne operation of the war where on March 24, 1945 FZ692 successfully towed a Horsa Glider with 5 members of the Royal Ulster Rifles, a MB jeep, and a six-pound anti-tank gun to the assigned landing zone.
During World War II, FZ692 transported 298 wounded personnel to medical aid, repatriated 456 POWs, carried over 5,100 passengers including Barnes Wallace and many other dignitaries and VIPs, as well as, transported over 400,000 pounds of supplies and cargo in support of the war effort.
After FZ692 returned to service in Canada in 1946 it served with several military units in several different RCAF transport support, and search and rescue roles, including 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron until it was retired from Squadron service in September 1971.
In March 1975 FZ692 returned to government service with the Canadian Department of Energy, Mines, and Resources as C-GRSB and was modified to conduct environmental, energy surveys, and remote sensing until the program was defunded in 2009.
In May 2014 the Minister of the Environment the Honourable Leona Aglukkag approved the transfer of FZ692 to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on the understanding that the museum would restore and operate FZ692 in her 1944 RCAF 437 Squadron wartime markings. After a 5-year restoration in 2019 the CWH re-dedicated C-GRSB as the RCAF 437 “Husky” Squadron WW II FZ692 and now proudly display and operate this aircraft on passenger flights and other taskings throughout Canada.
Thank you to Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum and Canso Investment Counsel Ltd for making this fly pass happen.