Gliders

Sounds to me like Gliders were not the best ways of getting into combat. Was the only reason they used Gliders because they didn't have enough Paratrooper divisions? It seems to me like the Glider troops suffered the most accidental deaths even compared to the paratroops.
Would anyone else like to add anything about gliders...FEEL FREE PEOPLE HAVN'T BEEN VERY TALKATIVE HERE LATELY.

<FONT COLOR="#ff0000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Ron on 21 November 2000 at 09:55 PM</font>

 

Glider Infantry usually suffered heavy losses. This was usually do to:

1) Enemy Fire on the way down
2) Crap on the ground like Large sharp sticks to cut through the gliders
3) They weren't specially trained.

The glider troops were regular infantry. They had no special training, and they weren't even payed jump/hazard pay like the Airborne.

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"Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!"
- Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe (Guadalcanal, January 13, 1943)

 

Not to mention trees, rocks, roads, fences, ponds, soft groud/hard ground, and uneven ground. They were also hard to steer and then safely land. The parts were made from all over the US so werent top-quality or fit perfectly.

Thats my 2 cence worth

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Mussolini

"Blood alone moves the Wheels of history." Benito Mussolini.

"What the proletariat needs is a bath of blood." Benito Mussolini, speech in Milan, July 22, 1919

"Liberty is a duty, not a right"
--Benito Mussolini

 

But, has already been said, they did have the advantage of landing as a unit, armed and ready to go.
And you're partially wrong, 22nd Luftlande Division (Which supported the Fallschirmjäger in their heyday.) was specially trained for the task, and many recruits were taken in from them when the paratroop arm was expanded in 1942-43.

Regards from the Park,

Rich

 

I was referring to the U.S. Glider Infantry. I wasn't aware that Germany even had Glider Inf. Units.

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"Goddamn it, you'll never get the Purple Heart hiding in a foxhole! Follow me!"
- Captain Henry P. "Jim" Crowe (Guadalcanal, January 13, 1943)

 

They Did! The first gliders operations were mada by germans gliders over Holland and Belgium.

The idea was good and it's always used by modern armies, with Helicopters instead of gliders.

In Normandy, gliders were essential, because they didn't have enought planes for paratroopers, on the other hand operations like Pegasus Bridge needed a mean like the glider...

I am a fan of gliders operations!

Comet

 

the only reason Gliders were used were the lack of Dakota's and the need for light artillery guns/ AT guns and jeeps for the lightly armed units.

The Germans used gliders for the reason of getting somewhere undetected, since a glider can be unhooked from a plane before that plane is seeable or hearable by the enemy.
Gliders then silently arrive at their destination so that surprise is complete (see german attack on Eben Emael for isntance

 

I agree with Comet. The main advantage over Paratroop drops would be the ability to drop artillery and jeeps with the troops. I also believe paratroop casualty rates were high regardless of what country

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Tschuss

 

Pzjgr is wright I think, but he forgets the airborne tanks (also used in Normandy). The allies had the tetrach and it was used by the british troops

 

Good question, and I dont know the answer, but a couple of thoughts come to mind right away (1) Glider Infantry reguires no special training, if time is emportant (2) no extra, or special equipment would be required by the troops..... I think what it may have boiled down to, is when an operation was planed and it became apparent that the operation would not work unless three things could be accoumplished:surprise,cut off enemey retreat route,and maybe the most important one: seal off routes that could be used to reinforse the enemy.Under normal conditions paratroopers would be inserted behind the enemy postion, but if they were not availible for whatever reson, then normal Infantry could be tranfered to the "glidders", and without delay could be deployed. I think the use of glidders proved to be very risky at best, but if the need outweighted that risk, then they were used. However, the Glidder Infantry went by the wayside as did the "tank destroyer" units because as a whole, the cost ( in lives)was to much. I belive, on paper, it sounded like an easy way to supplament the airborne troops, but was done awy with as it became practical to do so.

 

Jackson you are wrong about Glider troops being regular infantry and not being specially trained, at least in the British Army, On of the most famous airbourne operations of WW II Operation Pegasus was undertaken by units of the 2nd Ox and Bucks a gliderbourne infantry batt.specially trained assault troops designed to capture a bridge, just as the mission called for. The first glider came to a stop less then 20 yards from the target, all the men inside were knocked out! Yet they recovered, and the vital bridge was in their hands within 4 minutes of touchdown. They then held it till the arrival of Commandos from Sword beach around midday when they were relieved. The bridge in question was prepared with explosives and would have been destroyed had a less rapid assault tactic been used. Gliders biggest weakness was that a suitable landing point had to be found very close to the objective, and as such were easy to defend against

 

Smoke & Otto...Good points...I stand corrected.

 

Thanks Otto.....Heres a couple of tid-bits from the "what its worth department".....Mr. "HEINZ" of pickle fame wanted to do his share in the war effort, so volenteered to convert one of his factorys to build U.S. Gliders for the Normandy invasion. I have heard somewhere tha the British Gliders were of a better design than the American ones.

 

The Gliders got troops in concerntration where they landed. This wasnt always good though. Many men drowned when their gliders landed in lakes or ponds. In Normandy, the hedgerows were higher then previously thought to be, giving them less room to land. Many times they would go through the hedgerow, if not clip it. The GLiders were easily riped apart and flipped over a lot.

 

The reasons for glider troops have all been outlined above. Some debate seems to exist though about how specialised these men were.

In the American divisions, the glider troops were all drawn from regular units or airborne regiments in training. They had no choice about being in the glider infantry and initially received no extra pay or recognition (like the right to wear jump insignia). This caused a lot of bitching. The pilots too were all guys who had been drafted wholesale from army aviation classes. They had joined up wanting to fly fighter planes and suddenly found themselves guiding unpowered aircraft into crash landings.

In the British army, the "Airlanding" units were also culled from regualr infantry (such as 7 KOSB at Arnhem). This was in response for the need to beef up the airborne divisions but without the need for jump training and more planes to drop them out of. Some units, like Major Howards D Coy, 6 Ox & Bucks received extra training for specific missions that was at least the equal of the specialist Ranger, Commando etc preparation. All these glider infantry got token extra pay.

The big difference between the British and American units was the pilots. British glider pilots were trained to fight as infantry, whereas their American colleagues were not, and were generally a hindrance once on the ground.

Somebody mentioned comparing the gliders themselves. The British Horsa could carry about 30 men, or a 75mm howitzer and a jeep to tow it. It was made of plywood and was much bigger and heavier than the main American glider, the Waco. That could carry about 18 men and was made from fabric stretched over a metal skeleton.

Statistically, more Wacos were recoverable for re-use after operations than the more brittle Horsas, which tended to smash up a lot. But I believe the Wacos had a much higher casualty rate, mainly due to the very inferior training the American pilots got. Early in the war, many of the clipped-wing pilots got their first Waco flight on the way to their first mission.

 

MART, as stated here by other, the lack of availability of Dakotas aside the real reason for the inception of glider troops was to get complete units on site ready to immediatly do battle, not scattered all over hells creation in dribs and drabs