Thread: Thought this was interesting.
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Old September 6th, 2007, 03:03 AM
Five-Zero-Nan Five-Zero-Nan is offline
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Default Re: Thought this was interesting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by T. A. Gardner View Post
The US did the same thing with L-4 Grasshoppers late in the war on a somewhat larger scale. There were at least two cases of using divisional aircraft to transport a battalion of infantry across major rivers, including the Rhine. One done by Third Army was joked about as Patton's airborne assault over the Rhine mocking Montgomery's massive crossing.
According to Edgar F. Raines' book, Eyes Of The Artillery: The Origins of Modern U.S. Army Aviation in World War II, (US Army Center of Military History, 2000) only one such operation was actually planned, and it was never carried out. This operation was conceived and organized by Third Army, but was cancelled due to the rare appearance of a significant number of German fighters over the newly established Rhine bridgehead.

I would be very interested in hearing about any such operations that Raines may have missed.

Five-Zero-Nan
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