HEADQUARTERS
IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND (MAIN)

Public Relations Office
APO 133, U.S. Army
21 April 1945

Memorandum:

TO: commanding officer, 8th historical unit, APO 133, U.S. Army.
1 as requested by phone, following is a copy of a story published by the London edition of the stars and stripes on December 28th, 1944:

By Richard Wilbur

“WITH THE 434th troop carrier group, over drop zone in Belgium, December 24th (delayed by censorship) Christmas bundles from scores of C47 troop carrier planes have been plunged down by green, yellow and red parachutes and landed near a snow covered field, marked by colored smudges from smoke pots, to resupply an American unit surrounded by German forces below in the Bastogne area. GI’s are streaking across the snow, and from this plane, 500 feet above ground, we can see them beginning to collect the bundles dash tons of ammunition, K-rations and medical supplies dash the kind of Christmas present the German encircled GI’s really wanted.

(C-47s of the 9th troop carrier command taking off from England again yesterday dropped more supplies to trapped American soldiers in the Bastogne area in four days Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday and yesterday the C-47 have flown many sorties to re-supply the encircled ground troops with tons of 105-mm shells, small arms fire, .30 caliber machine guns, K rations and medical supplies.)

This is the second consecutive day that the unarmed troop carriers have roared across from England, spread deep into France and, with fighter support above, made the final run through flat concentrations in Belgium to drop a pair of bundles for the ground men, cut off from the American lines by van Rundstedt’s breakthrough for more than a week.

The C-47 I traveled in, piloted by Major Thomas Ricketts junior, of Richmond, Virginia, was fine so smoothly that it was possible to typewrite in the long cabin where 4 door loads, each filled with £200 of .30 caliber ammunition, were ready to be dropped.<

A Gale of winter wind blew into the ship as corporal Kenneth Kay, of Kansas City, Kansas, crew chief, opened the cargo door near the drop zone so that the door bundles could be shoved out, at the same time that six para packs, each loaded with 300 pounds of 75-mm ammunition, slung under the ship in special racks, could be released.

The serial supply missions for soldiers trapped in Belgium - first combat job given troop carrier command since the airborne landings in Holland - were planned as soon as the Germans broke through the 1st army sector, but bad weather grounded the C40 sevens until yesterday.

Lieutenant Colonel Joel L Crouch, of Riverside, California, open the aerial supply operation, without fighter escort, by landing paratroopers to direct other troop carrier planes to the drop zones.”

SOURCE: A0994A - 163