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Post by radovic on Nov 14, 2007 12:26:49 GMT -5
Bosnia to gift D-Day aircraft to French museum 14 November 2007 | 10:31 -> 17:00 | Source: DPA SARAJEVO -- Bosnia-Herzegovina is to present to France an historic aircraft involved in the D-Day Normandy landings. (Beta) Bosnia's state presidency had during its session Monday voted to present the Douglas C-47 air transporter to the D-Day Museum in Merville-Franceville in Normandy, spokesman Jovan Maric told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. The decision is further evidence of friendly ties between Bosnia, France and the United States, where the plane was built, Jovac said. The Douglas C-47 is viewed by military historians as having played an invaluable role in events that changed the course of the Second World War. Codenamed Dakota 43-15073, this particular aircraft was built in Long Beach, California in January 1944 and was used to transport troops on D-Day as well as in drills prior to the landings. The plane was also involved in the invasion of Normandy, where it was used to transport food and injured troops, as well as in several subsequent operations in the European theatre. Just before the end of the war, the plane was sold to the then Czechoslovakian air fleet for civil purposes, where it stayed until 1960. It was then bought by the French air force before being sold again in 1973 to the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) and parked in a JNA air force base near Sarajevo. Ironically, the plane will be readied for its trip to France by German troops, as the Rajlovac military base has been under the control of international peacekeeping troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina since the end of the country's 1992-1995 war.
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