02/28/2011. Remarks by Jack McKillop: "This aircraft was built as a Douglas Model DC-3A-360 ordered by the USAAF as a C-47-DL s/n 41-18662 and delivered on November 6, 1942 and issued to the 41st Troop Carrier Squadron (TCS), 317th Troop Carrier Group (TCG). The group moved to Australia, December 1942 to January 1943 with 52 new C-47s and was assigned to the Fifth Air Force. Upon arrival, the C-47s were transferred to the 374th TCG and the 317th TCG took the old, tired aircraft of the 374th. This aircraft was initially assigned to the 22rd TCS, 374th TCG and named 'Johnny Reb II'. It was later reassigned to the 33rd TCS also of the 374th TCG.

The Australian Directorate of Air Transport, which became part of the USAAF's Air Transport Command, was formed on January 28, 1942 to control the many transport aircraft operated by the RAAF and the USAAF's Fifth Air Force. Call signs starting with the letters 'VH' were assigned but many call signs were used multiple times and an individual aircraft may have had several codes. This aircraft was initially assigned call sign VHCGF. The 374th TCG operated from bases in Australian and Papua New Guinea and participated in the first airborne operation in the Pacific when they dropped paratroopers at Nadzab, New Guinea in September 1943.

This C-47 was transferred to the Australian Department of Civil Aviation on July 10, 1944 and was registered VH-AEP on October 9, 1944. It was leased to Australian National Airways (ANA) on October 13th until being registered by Trans Australian Airlines (TAA) on September 12, 1946. It was reregistered VH-SBK on April 13, 1961 on TAA's 'Sunbird Services'. In June 1961, it was used for JATO (Jet Assisted Take off) tests and was sold to Australian Aircraft Sales of Melbourne, Victoria on March 30, 1968. On September 22, 1968, it was sold to the Indonesian airline PT Seulawah Air Service of Djakarta and registered PK-RDC and named 'Dharma Putra'. It was used on charter services until being withdrawn from use and stored by 1980."