The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Major John Howard & Pegasus Bridge (6/6/1944) - Jan. 28th, 2004

International Baccalaureate Extended Essay ^ | October 1998 | Alasdair McKay

[SAMWolf]

1986 Christa McAuliffe astronaut/teacher
1986 Ellison S Onizuka Hawaii, Major USAF/astronaut
1986 Francis R Scobee Washington, USAF/astronaut
1986 Gregory B. Jarvis Detroit Michigan, payload specialist/astronaut
1986 Dr Judith Arlene Resnik Akron OH, astronaut
1986 Michael J Smith Beaufort NC, Commander USN, astronaut
1986 Ronald E McNair Lake City SC, astronaut

"High Flight"

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

[SAMWolf]

Think "Spring is Coming"

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
Airspeed "Horsa"

This assault glider was used in many WWII airborne attacks, including the landing on Sicily and Normandy. The Horsa was a wooden high-wing aircraft, that was used on a large scale in the invasion of Sicily, Normandy and Germany. As well as troops, it could carry a jeep or a 6 lb gun --- the Mk.II had a hinged nose section. The Horsa was sturdy and manoeuvrable.

Development:
A.S.51 was developed in 1940 under specification X.26/40. A total of seven prototypes were constructed, of which two were built by Fairey and five by Airspeed. On September 12, 1940, first A.S.51 was towed into the air by a "Whitley" bomber. First military use of the gliders was British invasion of Sicily on July 10, 1943, in which 27 A.S.51 were used. Most famously, the Horas was use for the storming of the "Pegasus Bridge" Which signaled the invasion of Alied forces in Europe in June 1944.

With the success of Germany's glider borne troops during the invasion of France and the low countries, the Allies began looking at making there own versions. The most successful British type was the Airspeed Horsa and was built in large numbers.

Equipped with a large cargo door on the port side, jettisonable tail and a nose that swung upwards, the Horsa proved to be very capable. The type was used extensively during most airborne operations involving British paratroops and was responsible for airlifting nearly a quarter of air-supplied supplies during the Normandy invasion.

The Horsa was extremely maneuverable considering it was unpowered and rather large. Huge flaps powered by compressed air and wing mounted air brakes allowed the to stand on it's nose and swoop down quietly to a landing, although the troops carried probably didn't appreciate this much. A large numbers of the type were also used by the U.S. Army.

Taking a page from Hitler's book, America and Britain developed their own combat glider programs. The American 15-place, Waco CG-4A and British 30-place, Airspeed Horsa gliders were first used in a major invasion (Operation Husky) on July 9, 1943 - the start of the 38-day battle for Sicily. Other major operations where Allied gliders played a significant role were: Operation Thursday (Burma: March 1944); Operation Overlord (Normandy: June 1944); Operation Dragoon (Southern France: August 1944); Operation Market-Garden (Holland: September 1944); Operation Repulse (Bastogne: December 1944 - January 1945); and, on March 24, 1945, Operation Varsity (Rhine River Crossing). Six weeks after the successful conclusion of Varsity, Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies.

Operation Varsity was more costly to Allied airborne than the invasion of Normandy. By early evening of March 24, in eight short hours, our airborne forces had suffered 819 killed, 1,794 wounded and 580 missing in action. Over six dozen paradrop and glider-towing planes were shot down. Seventy glider pilots were killed and 114 wounded or injured. British and American glider-recovery teams found later that less than 25 percent of the gliders landed unscathed.

About 6,000 American glider pilots were trained. Almost 14,000 CG-4A's were built; about 3,600 were used in combat overseas.

Glider-rider and glider-pilot casualties were estimated at 40 percent for some missions. Specially trained glider-assault regiments were part of the U.S. 11th, 13th, 17th, 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. (British glider-assault teams were assigned to Air Landing Brigades, each equivalent in strength to a U.S. regiment.)

The 11th Airborne spearheaded Operation Gypsy Task Force, a glider-paradrop attack on Japanese installations on Luzon, the Philippines. In the China-Burma-India Theater were glider units-assigned to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Air Commando Groups - which flew British troops into battle behind the Japanese lines.

The Horsa was towed, with a hemp rope, behind the modified, four-engine Handley-Page Halifax bomber, the twin-engine Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle and the C-47.

Versions:
Hessell Tiltman designed the Airspeed Horsa to Specification X.26/40 as Britain's first major troop-carrying glider. Of all-wood construction, the Horsa was designed for dispersed production by companies outside the aircraft industry. Design and construction of first two prototypes (DG597 and DG603) at Salisbury Hall, London Colney, for assembly at Fairey's Great West Aerodrome and first flight on September 12, 1941, behind a Whitley tug; five more prototypes built and test-flown at Portsmouth .

Airspeed Horsa Mk I: Initial production version to carry 20-25 troops. 470 built by Airspeed at Christchurch, 300 by Austin Motor Co and 1,461 by Harris Lebus and Associates. First operation November 19, 1942 (two Horsas towed by Halifaxes) against Norwegian heavy water plant in Norway; first major deployment, invasion of Sicily, July 1943. Projected AS.52 to specification X.3/41 designed (but not built) to carry up to 8,000 Ibs (3,632 kg) of bombs. Powered version with two 375 hp Cheetah Xs also projected, along with AS.53 vehicle-carrying glider.

Airspeed Horsa Mk II: Version of AS.53 further developed in 1943 as AS.58 with hinged nose and reinforced floor to carry vehicles; twin nose wheels, and twin tow-rope attach-ment moved from underwing to nosewheel strut. 225 built by Airspeed at Christchurch; 65 by Austin Motor Co; 1,271 by Harris Lebus Group. Extensively used (some in USAAF markings) in D-Day landings and subsequent operations up to crossing of the Rhine in March 1945. A few to India for trials. Tugs included Stirling, Halifax, Albemarle, Whitley and, rarely, Dakota. Gross weight increased to 15,750 1 b (7,144 kg).

Specifications:
Type: Assault Glider
Origin: Airspeed
Models: Horsa Mk-I and Mk-II
First Flight: Prototype DG597: September 12, 1941
Service Delivery: May 1942
Number Produced: 3,644
Payload: 25 Troops or equivalent cargo.

Dimensions:
Wing span: 88 ft. (26.84m)
Length: 67 ft. (20.43m)
Height: 19 ft. 6 in. (5.9m)
Weights: Empty: 7,500 lb. (3402 kg) / Loaded: 15,250 lb. (6917 kg)

Performance :
Towing Speed: 127 mph (204 km/h)
Gliding Speed: 100 mph (161 km/h)

Armaments: None

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All information and photos Copyright of FiddlersGreen

[snippy_about_it]

There are millions of dead soviets who might take issue with this statement.

They may take issue but did they really know what was going on in their own country? I'm no expert but we had to go somewhere and I'm pretty sure since we were allied with the Brits it was going to be that part of Europe we would liberate first.

In my opinion the Soviets had already sealed their own fate early on.

1939
August 23 - Nonaggression Pact between Germany and Moscow signed in Moscow. A secret protocal drawn up by Hitler and Stalin partitions Poland between them.
September 17- USSR invades Poland with a million troops to "protect it's Byelorussian and Ukrainian population." The Poles, fighting the Nazis, are not expecting a "stab in the back." Blitzkrieg The Red Army suffers 3,000 killed, but captures 240,000 Polish soldiers and 15,400 officers.
The Polish Air Force scores its last kills: a Dornier bomber and a Soviet fighter.

September 17 - 25 - Thousands of Poles are slaughtered in eastern Poland by elements of Ukrainians, Byelorussians and Jews, encouraged by Soviet slogans such as: "For Poles, Pans and dogs--a dog's death!" In Karczowka, 24 Polish settlers are tied with barbed wire and are shot or drowned. In Luboml County, 500 Poles are murdered in a 3-day orgy by Ukrainians. A wounded priest in Brzezany County is placed near a road and is used by passing Soviet soldiers as target practice; a dozen bullets hit him before he dies at the end of the day.

September-November - The NKVD ships 15,400 Polish officers to prisons at Kozielsk, Ostashkov and Starobielsk in the USSR.

September 18 - In Grodno, a number of local Jews (some operating Soviet tanks) and Byelorussians attack the Polish administration and murder Poles. About 300,000 Jews (mostly political activists) flee the Nazis to eastern Poland where they greet the Soviets and vice-versa. The Wehrmacht and Red Army stage a joint parade in Brest Litovsk.

September 19 - Lavrenti Beria sets up a Directorate for Prisoners of War and establishes camps for 240,000 Polish POWs in Soviet custody; about 37,000 will be used as forced-labour.

September 20 - 21 - The Polish defenders of the city of Grodno kill some 800 Red Army soldiers and destroy ten tanks.

September 22 - A Polish regiment repels attacks by forty Soviet tanks and infantry units at the Battle of Kodziowce. Soviet losses amount to hundreds killed and twenty tanks destroyed.

Not to mention the Soviets were usually busy killing their own as history teaches us. < /rant >

[stand watie]

GM, snippy!

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning stand watie.

Free dixie bump!!! Wouldn't it be great if we really could?

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Johnny.

[stand watie]

YES, MA'AM it sure would.

fyi, i truly believe that my 13YO neice will live long enough to bask in dixie LIBERTY!

free dixie,sw

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Good rant. The Soviets were just as evil as the Nazi's. Too bad we couldn't have let the Nazi's finsih them off first. It would have been tougher and taken longer to win without the Germans being occupied in Russia but the Germans would have been defeated eventually.

[SAMWolf]

Morniing stand watie.

Free Dixie, but first we have to kill PC that is robbing the South of it's heritage

[stand watie]

so true!

i, for just one, am TRYING to do just that!

free the southland,sw

[SAMWolf]

I never bought into PC either. Ask Snippy, she's heard my rants about PC.

[stand watie]

understood!

here in the "belly of the beast" (near DC)it's really hard to be both SOUTHRON & employed!

i lost one good job over fighting for dixie liberty, but given the fact that 1/2 million rebels fell for the same TRUE CAUSE, my tiny sacrifice looks SMALL!

free dixie,sw

[PAR35]

daughter, who took over the café and obtained an order to close the museum

How French of her.

[PAR35]

March 24, 1945, Operation Varsity (Rhine River Crossing).

Of course, by the time Montgomery had gotten everything in place for Varsity, the Americans had crossed the Rhine in two widely separated places - Remagen, near Bonn, via the rail bridge there, and in the Mainz area near Frankfurt via boat.

[SAMWolf]

i lost one good job over fighting for dixie liberty

Sounds like discrimination. Oops forgot, you can be descriminated against for supporting the wrong causes.

[SAMWolf]

Probably didn't want to be reminded what losers the french were and PO'd that the family lost all the business the Nazis were giving the restuarant.

[stand watie]

yep, you can!

free the southland,sw

[SAMWolf]

Yep. Patton beat Montgomery to the punch again, just like in Sicily. :-)

[SAMWolf]

It's tough working in an office full of Liberals or people who just don't care what's going on.