The Douglas C-47, Skytrain aircraft, 42-92847, named, That's All Brother, was a military version of the civilian DC-3. It led a formation of 800 other C-47s from which approximately 13,000 U.S. paratroopers jumped into Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, beginning of the liberation of France in the last two years of World War II. It was the lead aircraft of Mission Albany, the US airborne paratrooper drop on the eve of D-Day, flying behind the C-47 pathfinders, the only planes that were ahead of them.  That's All Brother, was flown by John Munnerlyn Donalson, commander of the 438th Troop Carrier Group, and the 87th Troop Carrier Squadron. Four hundred thirty seven C-47 aircraft dropped 6,600 paratroopers behind enemy lines on the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord, the long awaited invasion of France by the Allied nations 6 June 1944. That's All, Brother, actually flew two missions for the D-Day invasion. In the evening of June 5th,1944, it towed a glider carrying men of the 82nd Airborne Division as part of "Mission Albany ". The airplane continued to have an impressive combat record after, D-Day when it, later, participated in "Operation Market Garden", the paratrooper drop as part of the attempted, but failed, invasion of The Netherlands. Also, it took part in the relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and Operation Varsity.                                                                                                                                                        After the war, That's All Brother was returned to the United States and sold to civilian owners, eventually falling victim to neglect until it was found  years later in an Oshkosh, Wisconsin, boneyard in 2015, facing imminent disassembly to be converted into a modern turbine aircraft. It has since been restored and is part of the Commemorative Air Force.[2]

The C-47's name, That's All Brother, painted on its nose, was chosen by Army Air Force Lt. Col. John M. Donalson, commander of the 87th Troop Carrier Squadron, who flew the plane during the operation, as, "a message to Adolf Hitler" that Nazi Germany's days were numbered. After the plane was successfully discovered and found, it was purchased, restored to perfection, and, finally, flown again in 2018. Since then, it has been exhibited at air shows all over the U.S. Recently, after further refitting, it has flown across the Atlantic with other historic aircraft that took part in the Normandy  invasion, to commemorate its 75th anniversary.                                                                                                                                                                                            Mission: Normandy

Over 75 years ago, on June 6, 1944, That’s All, Brother, led the main airborne invasion of Normandy. Piloted by Lt. Col John Donalson, in the plane that led over 800 C-47s that dropped over 13,000 paratroopers into a battle that changed the course of mankind. Seventy five years later, the members of the Commemorative Air Force, at San Marcos Regional Airport, San Marcos, Texas, were able to locate, purchase, save, and restore this great historic airplane back to the skies over Normandy for the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Nearly Lost Forever

After serving on and surviving D-Day, Operations Dragoon, Market Garden, Repulse, and Varsity, the airplane was returned to the United States and, like so many others, it was sold to the civilian market in 1945. During the course of many owners over the next several decades, the historical significance of the airplane was lost, and it was eventually sold to be scrapped. Fortunately, two historians from the United States Air Force discovered that this historic airplane was lying in a boneyard in Wisconsin. They notified the Commemorative Air Force, which was able to purchase the plane, and,  through a large group of donors and volunteers, to restore the plane to flying status.

That’s All, Brother, has now been restored to its original 1944 condition, including its D-Day paint scheme, along with a thorough historic interior restoration. The CAF maintains it's airplanes to be artifacts of living history, and you can experience the airplane first hand by touring and even going on a flight.