CHAPTER 33 DAKOTA DOWN

This picture of a Dakota DC3 aircraft shows the various roundels which decorated its wings and fuselage over the years of its service from 1954 until 1980 when it changed for the last time to become the Zimbabwe Air Force. During my service with the Rhodesian Air Force I saw all the changes that took place including the change to Zimbabwe. I was privileged to service these wonderful aircraft as a Cpl/Tec in 3Sqn  I jumped out of them as a Sgt PJI and later as the CO of the Parachute Training School I flew in them up to impossible heights and also just above the trees. I fired my rifle out of them and dropped grenades and bombs out of them. I was shot at on numerous occasions and the aircraft I was in was on occasion ventilated but it always brought me home. 

After two civilian Viscounts were shot down by ZIPRA terrorists, the Rhodesian Dakotas , had anti Strella/ SAM 7 exhaust shrouds fitted and were also painted with a special, anti-heat-seeking missile paint. These modifications did not affect the performance at all and must have worked because no Rhodesian Dakota/C47 aircraft were shot down with these heat-seeking missiles. Unfortunately, that is not to say we went through the Bush war unscathed.

May 31^st, 1977, a large quantity of enemy arms, ammunition, and equipment was discovered by the RLI and Selous Scouts near Mapai – across the border in Mozambique. Operation Aztec was launched to recover this valuable horde via our trusty old Dakota.

This meant the Dakota on Fire Force duty at Buffalo Range FAF7, flew into Mapai airstrip, loaded up the goodies, and flew them back to FAF7. On the third trip of the day, the Dakota, with Flt/Lt Jerry Lynch as the Skipper, Flt/Lt Bruce Collocott as 2^nd Pilot, and Sgt Russell Wantenaar as Engineer, landed after dark, with the aid of truck lights shining on the threshold and some Megablitz strobe lights marking the runway. Also on board for the inbound trip were a few demolition experts who would use their toys to destroy the terrorist base at Mapai. The Dakota flew in at tree top height which was not usual when flying over enemy country.  

After the Dakota was loaded up to the roof with the retrieved arms and ammunition, it was time to head for home. Jerry Lynch decided to execute a short take- off and applied full power on brakes. After brake- release he lifted off at 65kts with a quarter- flap selected. As the Dakota became airborne and was no more than ten feet into the air, machinegun fire hit the cockpit and an RPG7 hit the starboard engine which stopped abruptly.

Bruce Collocott was killed instantly and slumped sideways onto Jerry’s lap and the cockpit ignited in flames from burning hydraulic oil. Jerry had no option but to cut power to the port engine and dump the aircraft back onto the ground.

As soon as the aircraft came to rest, Jerry and Russell vacated and dashed for cover in the trees. The Dakota continued to burn aided by the large quantity of ammunition and explosives on board. It was a complete loss.

This Dakota was the one given to Rhodesia by General Smuts and was the first aircraft I’d flown in. It was a very sad day, deeply felt by all the staff of PTS, not only for the loss of a great aircraft but more importantly, for the loss of a great pilot and very good friend, Bruce Collocott.

There was another unfortunate incident during a resupply operation in the low veld. On this occasion, it is amazing that even some of the people on board this Dakota survived. A Dakota, skippered by Peter Barnett, took off from Buffalo Range on a resupply mission into Mozambique. Peter had at one time been the CO of 3 Sqn and was a very experienced Dakota captain who’d retired from the Rhodesian Air Force and joined the Volunteer Reserve.

They were resupplying food, water and ammunition to call signs deep in the sticks. The drop took place without incident and, on return to Buffalo Range, the four dispatchers from 3 Air Supply Platoon did their usual thing and crowded up the front of the aircraft to look out the windscreen. As per usual, the aircraft flew at very low altitude, so low, in fact, that the irrigation sprays from the wheat fields came into the door of the aircraft.

 Unfortunately, the aircraft hit a cable which rose over the nose of the Dakota and killed both pilots and one dispatcher instantly. The Dakota came to a grinding, shuddering halt straight ahead. Miraculously the three remaining dispatchers in the back walked off, unsettled, but uninjured. The aircraft was recovered, repaired, and flew again. It was a very sad day in PTS as we lost two of our superb 3 Sqn pilots and a 3 Air Supply Platoon dispatcher who were also our friends.

 On all the thousands of parachuting sorties done from Dakota Aircraft we were let down by mechanical failure during flight on only one occasion. This was during an early morning training jump over our DZ at Salisbury Airport’s 32 run-way.

 It was a Basic Static Line course final jump, at 500ft AGL, with full battle equipment. As soon as the last man left the aircraft and the bags were retrieved, the pilot opened the throttles and started our climb for the PJIs to do a demonstration free fall.  Spectators were assembled to witness their loved ones being presented with their Wings and we were keen to strut our stuff in front of an enthusiastic crowd of admirers. As the power increased there was a sudden, loud bang from the port engine and it began to make all sorts of strange and frightening noises. The engine was immediately feathered and it became very busy on the flight deck.

 When things calmed down up front I asked the Skipper if we should abandon him and his now, obviously, (at least to us,) unserviceable, aeroplane. His reply was unprintable, but he advised us to look outside first.  We looked. Hmmm! On wise reflection, we decided to stay with the broken Dakota. It was now flying pretty well on one engine, and was on finals to do an isometric (one engine) landing. We, on the other hand, were just a little too close to the hard stuff for our parachutes to work properly. We decided to forego the jump and check out how our pilot performed instead.

 After landing, the towing tractor dragged us, unceremoniously, backwards to the New Sarum 3 Sqn hard standings.  Despite the absence of the staff demo, the crowd were most pleased with the show. After all, it included a Dakota making a funny noise, then doing a one engine landing and finally being dragged backwards by a tractor! We made out it was all in a day’s work.

On another occasion, we returned to FAF7 Buffalo Range for a change-over of Fire Force. The Dakota was loaded with used parachutes and a number of troopies, for a flight back to New Sarum. Most of the men were sent home by road – a long, slow, and uncomfortable trip. This meant we, the lucky few on board, should arrive home sooner after a comparatively quick and comfortable flight. It was Friday and everyone was looking forward to a weekend enjoying the bright lights of Salisbury.

 With all aboard the pilots went through their elastic band wind-up procedure. But there was a problem. The port engine starter motor gave up the ghost, and, even after the Tech pulled off the odd inspection panel and applied a little persuasive encouragement with a blunt instrument, the engine still refused to start.

This is an unusual photograph showing a formation of 3 Dakota's dropping sticks of paratroops over a parched Rhodesian landscape. This was a training exercise before the drop heights were reduced to 500ft AGL. During the bush war we never dropped simultaneous sticks from 3 Dakota's flying in line abreast formation on any operational sortie as far as I can Remember

We all had thoughts of spending the weekend in the bar at FAF 7, drowning our sorrows, whilst we waited, most likely a long, boring time, for a spare starter motor to be flown down to us from New Sarum. How the tables had turned. Now we were the chumps and the troops on the road convoy had a good laugh at our expense.

However all was not lost! The clever Tech trotted off to a shed and returned with a long piece of 25mm diameter rope. He grabbed a ladder, and, with the words, “Oh ye of little faith,” proceeded to wrap one end of the rope around the propeller boss. The Tech instructed the pilot to manage the necessary starting procedure and told the troops, now standing outside the aircraft, to grab the rope.

The troops pulled together on the count of three, making sure to pull the rope in a straight line. On the first attempt the rope broke at the engine end. We began to think this was a fool’s errand. Nevertheless, the rope was soon fixed, and rewound. Once more, the pull was under way.  Yes! The engine sputtered and wheezed and started! It worked and we were soon on our flight home for the weekend, arriving at New Sarum many hours before the troops in the road convoy. Suckers! Our trusty Dakota was such a reliable work-horse, it would never let us down.

Considering our limited number of aircraft, the difficulty getting spare parts, the number of missions, and parachute training flights, rescue missions, and sorties undertaken, our Dakotas were involved in an extraordinarily small number of incidents. This is a testament to the quality, not only of the Dakota itself, but also to the outstanding men who fixed them, the men who flew them, and the men who flew in them.