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Posted on 01/28/2004 12:00:23 AM PST by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.
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From 1942 onwards the Allied Forces realised that an attack would have to be made on mainland Europe in order to stop the Nazi advance. Over the course of the next two years, victories were achieved in North Africa and Southern Italy but France; with its expansive coastline and locality to Britain was always going to be the main battleground that would establish the outcome of the Second World War. In Spring 1943, General Frederick Morgan, the man entrusted to plan the Allied invasion, made his choice as to where the invasion would take place. This would have been an extremely difficult decision as the factors affecting the location were almost infinite. It needed to be easily accessible from the sea but difficult for the Germans to access by land.  Morgan realised that transporting thousands of men, arms and supplies across the channel would be a major logistical problem and that the shorter the water crossing the better. As the geography of the English Channel shows, this would lead him to believe that the nearer he could get to Calais, the greater the chance of success. However, he also was aware that the further east he planned the invasion the stronger would be the German opposition. He would need to find a stretch of northern French coastline, which was not more than a hundred miles from Britain and was poorly defended. General Morgan was not overwhelmed with options.  The Orne River Bridge The deciding factor in choosing the exact location of the invasion was the formation, two years earlier, of the British Airborne Forces. If troops could be glider-landed or parachuted inland, then they could prevent German reinforcements from arriving at the invasion beaches where the main body of troops would disembark. With this extra string to the Allied Forces' bow, a site was chosen with Airborne soldiers in mind. The invasion beaches were to be on the Normandy coastline, just west of the mouth of the Orne river. By landing here, the invasion army would have the protection of the Orne and the adjacent Caen Canal on their west flank. General Morgan knew that, once the Germans realised that this was the real invasion, it would not take them long to launch a counteroffensive. Using Intelligence reports Morgan would know the size of the German forces in the Caen area and could thus start formulating the number of troops needed for the invasion. At this time, there were two airborne divisions, 1st and 6th (they were numbered this way to confuse German intelligence). 1st Airborne were fighting in Southern Italy and so 6th Airborne Division, commanded by General Richard "Windy" Gale were the force chosen to lead the airborne assault. The chief role of 6th Airborne would be to capture and hold the bridges over the Orne and Caen Canal. These two bridges were a kilometre apart between the towns of Bénouville and Ranville. They were the only crossing points between Caen and the coast. If these bridges could be taken and held, then the Germans would find it hard to counterattack in large enough numbers to push the invasion army back into the sea.  Early 6th Airborne Patch By January 1944 a plan had been formulated at COSSAC, (Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander) for a full scale invasion of France via the Normandy beaches for June that year. This plan was still highly top secret (the word Bigot was used, meaning top top secret). However, at this stage General Gale was let in on the plan, his briefing was to capture intact the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne, to blow the bridges over the River Dives and to destroy the Merville Battery. The latter two operations would pose few logistical problems for Gale. Paratroopers would be used to destroy the Merville Battery and bridges at Dives, however the problem of taking the other two bridges intact would prove the cause of many sleepless nights for Gale. Paratroopers could not be expected to land at night, near the coast, in high winds and then regroup in order to fight such a vital battle. Gale remembered the German attacks at Fort Eben Emael in Belgium (1940) and in particular the Corinth Canal in Greece (1941) where the German airborne had been used not as paratroopers but glider troopers. A plan was constructed where six gliders, three per bridge, would be landed on the farm land adjacent to the bridges and the bridges would be taken in a "coup de main" attack.  Reconnaisance photo showing the two bridges With the plan now consolidated, Gale's attentions now turned to discovering which company in his division was the strongest. In April 1944, 6th Airborne carried out several exercises, designed by Gale to determine which unit would be the most suited to the operation. The central feature of this series of operations was a three-day exercise named Operation Deadstick. Although the soldiers did not know it at the time they were carrying out an almost exact replica of what they would be doing in Normandy two months later. The operation was an unequivocal success and one company in particular impressed General Gale. D Company, 2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, under the leadership of Major John Howard achieved the aim of capturing two bridges intact after a glider landing. Gale nicknamed D Company "the Bridge Prangers" and so a group of men had been found who would lead the invasion. After the success of Deadstick, Howard was let in on the plan. He recalls the feelings of pride and honour at leading the invasion force, "I was so excited, but the problem was that I couldn't tell anyone not even Brian Priday my second-in-command." However Priday and the others soon began to catch on as the exercises took on a rather similar nature from this point on and D Company were given special privileges. Howard had only to ask for transport and trucks would be laid on to take them anywhere in Britain. Moreover, after Howard had put his company through a gruelling exercise (sometimes up to five days long), D Company would be allowed the next day off to recover, a practice unheard of in the British Army. Howard said, "that a soldier likes nothing better than to lie in bed when others are on duty."  Major John Howard This sympathy towards the soldiers in his company goes some of the way to explaining why Howard's D Company were chosen ahead of the others. Howard had been a regular soldier and had risen through the ranks, he understood the mentality of the soldier. By giving them days off after very tough exercises he maintained the level of morale that would be needed in the coming months. His soldiers had sat in Britain for two years while the war went on over the sea. Boredom was a big problem among soldiers in Britain and keeping morale high was essential. Howard's masterstroke in keeping his troops active, happy and fit was his own passion for sport. D Company would engage in a great amount of sport, every morning would see the company undertake a five-mile cross-country run before breakfast.The day would be spent on exercise, a route march would follow, then after dinner all the troops would have to either do another cross-country run or play football until bed time. The men had no free time to sit around and get bored. Howard also insisted that every single man do all this sport, even his platoon officers and he, himself took part. This invoked a feeling of unity in the company. Everybody felt tired and everybody got blisters, thus the team spirit and morale within D Company was superb as well as the all round fitness. It was these qualities which convinced Gale to pick them as the Coup de Main force on D Day.  At the end of April, D Company was enlarged from four platoons to six (one for each glider) and in addition were assigned a troop of thirty Royal Engineers ( five per glider). They were now ready for their final training before the real thing. All the exercises held over the next month bore a resemblance, capturing two bridges intact was always the scenario and so the men began to realise the importance of what they were doing. The final exercise in mid-May was held just outside Exeter on two bridges with roughly a kilometre in between. Howard had arranged this personally and had scoured Britain for a place as similar to Normandy as possible. D Company practised taking these bridges by day and by night for four straight days until they had mastered the art. In late May, Howard moved D Company to RAF Station Tarrant Rushton where he would brief his men about what they were to do. The invasion was scheduled for just two weeks away and so Howard let his men in on the fact that they would be the elite force at the spearhead of the Allied Invasion of Europe. The men were elated, having sat back in Britain for so long they were finally going to get their chance and not only that, they were going to lead the force. Lieutenant Tod Sweeney said, "We were really proud and excited to be chosen to make the first foothold in Europe. It was like being selected for the national rugger team, or walking out to open the innings for England at Lords." This new information doubled the already strong sense of camaraderie in the company. They had done as much training as they possibly could and were arguably one of the fittest companies in the British Army, however they would not even get their chance to start the invasion if the glider pilots could not land in the right place.  Horsa Glider It was therefore necessary for the glider pilots to know every second of their descent in to Normandy baring in mind that this operation would be taking place in the early hours of the morning under the cover of darkness. The problem was, though, for obvious reasons the pilots could not fly practice missions in France. A brilliant scheme was devised to allow the pilots to experience what it would be like to fly the mission; a scale model was made and using a cine camera, a film was made of a pilots' eye view. A model of a glider cockpit was then made and so the pilots could feel what it would be like to fly the mission. In addition to this virtual training, the pilots selected to fly on D Day flew forty three training fights together in the months leading up to the big day. These flights took place by day or by night and in every weather condition that nature threw at them, sometimes the pilots even flew blindfolded. They needed to know exactly when to turn and at what height, they could not rely on geographical signs. Their only instruments were a compass, altimeter and a stopwatch. Their aim was to land within thirty metres of the bridge and try and pierce the barbed wire with the glider's nose. Everybody knew that it was going to be hard and that is why the training was relentless.
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Air Power |
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
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 >
fyi, i truly believe that my 13YO neice will live long enough to bask in dixie LIBERTY!
free dixie,sw
i, for just one, am TRYING to do just that!
free the southland,sw
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
How French of her.
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.
Sounds like discrimination. Oops forgot, you can be descriminated against for supporting the wrong causes.
free the southland,sw
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