Exeter Airfield, England: (L-R): 1LT Alex Bobuck, Jumpmaster of Plane/Stick#1 checks the equipment of CPL Ray Calandrella as part of events staged on the afternoon of June 5, 1944 for filming by the Signal Corps.

The stick of paratroopers in Plane#1 included

SGT John A. Taormina (POW till April 1945)
T/5 William H. Atlee (KIA D-Day)
CPT Stanley E. Morgan (3rd BN Surgeon; POW till June 8, 1944)
1LT Alex Bobuck (POW till June 8, 1944)
LTC Robert Lee Wolverton (3rd BN CO; KIA D-Day)
PFC Donald C. Ross (POW till April 1945)
Joseph Gorenc (escaped from POW train)
Charles D. Riley
Harry H. Howard (POW till June 8, 1944)
SSG William Pauli (Communications; POW till June 8, 1944)
PVT Anthony M. Wincenciak, Jr. (KIA Normandy)
SGT Thomas E. Newell (Medic; POW till June 8, 1944)
SGT Alexander Nagy
PVT Jesse R. Cross
CPL Ray Calandrella (POW till August 1944; escaped)
PVT John A. Rinehart (KIA D-Day)
T/5 Jack W. Harrison (Communications; KIA D-Day)

Although the June 5, 1944 publicity photos were taken beside Plane/Stick#2 (C47 #315087, the Lady Lillian), these HQ, 3rd Battalion Currahees actually flew in Plane/Stick#1 (C47 #292717, the Stoy Hora) for the Normandy jump.

Additional publicity photos, both outside and inside of Plane#2 are on pages 23, 37, and 38 of the book, MAGNEVILLE Ce Jour La . . . 6 Juin 1944 by Philippe R. Nekrassoff and in the book American Warriors: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers prior to Normandy by Michel De Trez.

A few seconds of the Signal Corps film footage of 1LT Bobuck and his stick can be seen in Episode 11 We Stand Alone Together of the Band of Brothers HBO mini-series. More of the footage can be seen on the tape, Les Guerriers de la Nuit (Warriors of the Night).

Ward Smith's D-Day Notebook Ward Smith was a BBC "News of the World" Special War Correspondent with the American Forces and flew on Plane#1 with the HQ, 3rd Battalion Currahees on D-Day. His article, "I Saw Them Jump To Destiny" This Was How the Second Front Began was printed in the Currahee Scrapbook 506th PIR 20 July 1942 - 4 July 1945 . The following are copies of three pages from Ward Smith's D-Day notebook. These pages were signed by the Currahees of Stick#1 before they took off for Normandy. pages from Ray Calandrella (HQ, 3rd BN, 506th PIR, 1942-1945) submitted by Robert R. Webb, Jr. [son of the late Robert R. Webb, Sr. (SSG, HQ, 3rd BN, 506th PIR, 1942-1945 and author of Freedom Found)]