C-47 and C-53 in the Air Force
By Nils Mathisrud
As the war drew to a close in the spring of 1945, it was clear that there would be a great need for air transportation to rebuild the country. The Norwegian Aviation Board had been established to prepare for civilian scheduled flights in Norway after the war. The board purchased three C-53D Skytroopers which, together with the seven remaining Lodestar aircraft from the Stockholm route, would form the basis for passenger routes in Norway. In addition, in April 1945, the Air Force received seven C-47A Skytrains from American surplus stocks. As a common designation for both the C-47 and the C-53, it was decided to use the aircraft's British name, Dakota.
The C-47s underwent the necessary maintenance at Canadian Vickers in Montreal before being flown to Norway by Norwegian crews in May and June 1945.
In June, the Lodestar and Dakota aircraft were organized into a unit at Fornebu, which was named No. 20 Transport Squadron. The squadron was formally subordinate to the RAF, but had nothing to do with the RAF's existing No. 20 Squadron. The name was a continuation of the Luftwaffe's 20 Transportfliegergeschwader, which had been based at Fornebu during the war. The squadron flew regular routes between Norwegian cities and abroad. In addition, they carried out ad-hoc missions and VIP flights.
In February 1946, the squadron was disbanded and the Dakota aircraft were transferred to DNL. The Lodestar aircraft were retained by the Air Force and in August of the same year were assigned to the newly established 335 squadron at Gardermoen.
In 1950, the Lodestars were phased out and sold, and 335 Squadron received 10 C-47As as part of the American arms aid. Some of these aircraft had been used in the airlift to Berlin and were badly damaged and in need of maintenance before they could be put into service. In the coming years, the Dakotas were to carry out a large number of transport flights, both on fixed routes and occasional missions domestically and to large parts of Europe. In 1956, the Air Force received eight Fairchild C-119G Boxcar transport aircraft, while six of the Dakotas were transferred to the Danish Air Force. The C-119s were assigned codes from BW-A to BW-H and the Dakotas that already had codes in this series were assigned new codes. In 1969, the Boxcars were again replaced by six Lockheed C-130E/H Hercules, but the four remaining Dakotas were still in service. They were gradually used less for regular transport missions and more for VIP flights and calibration of Tacan, GCA and radar systems at Norwegian air bases. In March 1973, the last two Dakotas were decommissioned and replaced by two Dassault DA-20 Falcons. These two were the VIP aircraft BW-K and the calibration aircraft BW-L. Together with BW-M and BW-N, BW-K was sold in 1974, while BW-L was preserved for museum purposes and is currently on display in the Norwegian Armed Forces' aircraft collection at Gardermoen.
In addition, the Air Force Technical School at Kjevik had a Dakota. However, this was only used as instructional material and was never in the air in Air Force service.