RETURN OF THE "STEALTH" GLIDER, Great read.
http://www.combatreform.org/gliders.htm
i am just keeping a brief content here
The mighty Rhine River. 1945.
On the morning of March 24, 1945, an enormous air armada crossed the Rhein River near Wesel in western Germany. The column, two-and-a-half hours long, consisted of more than 1,500 IX Troop Carrier Command airplanes and gliders. To their left were about 1,200 RAF airplanes and gliders. The entire assemblage was supported by 880 U.S. and RAF fighters. This was Operation VARSITY, the Airborne support for the U.S. Ninth and British Second Armies' crossing of the Rhein.
Varsity was unique not only in magnitude. Three weeks before D-Day, Maj. Gen. William M. Miley, commander of the Army's 17th Airborne Division, briefed the glider operations officers of the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing's five groups on the impending operation. His 194th Glider Infantry Regiment needed one more infantry company to carry out its assignment. He asked for one of the troop carrier groups to provide that company, to be made up of glider pilots after they had landed in their designated zones. It would be an all-officer company, maybe the first in the history of modern warfare. Capt. Charles O. Gordon, glider operations officer of the 435th Troop Carrier Group, accepted this unusual assignment. He was to become commander of the provisional company. Personnel of the 194th Regiment trained his glider pilots for two weeks in infantry tactics and weapons.
The vast majority of the glider pilots were second lieutenants or flight officers. None had ever expected to serve as infantry, but they accepted that duty enthusiastically. These men were organized into four platoons, one for each of the group's squadrons. Most squad leaders were second lieutenants. They were to assist the 17th Airborne Division in securing a designated area northeast of Wesel, establish roadblocks, and make contact with British forces northeast of the town. For the first time, each of the 435th's C-47s would be towing two gliders; and, for the first time, their landing zones would not have been secured by Paratroopers.
When the 435th's 144 gliders, loaded with airborne infantry and equipment, cut loose over the landing area, they came under heavy ground fire with substantial casualties among the infantry and glider crews. Once on the ground, they continued to be hit by sniper and mortar fire that had to be subdued before they could move to their assigned area of two crossroads--one that would earn the name "Burp Gun Corner." There they cleared several houses, taking a large number of prisoners before digging in for the night.
Several times, small groups of German Soldiers attempted to infiltrate their defensive positions but were driven off in a series of firefights. The defenders knew that German troops, retreating ahead of British forces, would attempt to overrun their position, probably supported by armor and mobile guns. The ground held by the glider pilots was at the top of a ridge, the country sloping away toward Wesel, the direction from which an enemy attack would come. The reverse slope would allow enemy forces to advance almost to the 435th's area before coming under fire.
About midnight, the first attack by a German tank, supported by a large number of infantry, hit the crossroad defended by the 75th Platoon. They came under heavy fire and retreated. Thirty minutes later, a German tank and approximately 200 German infantry, supported by two 20mm flak guns, attacked the position defended by the 77th Platoon. As soon as the enemy troops were in close range, the glider pilots of that platoon, where the attack was concentrated, opened fire. Small-arms fire took a heavy toll on enemy infantry during the hour-long battle.
Flight Officers Chester Deshurley and Albert Hurley held their positions, firing their machine guns until the tank came within fifteen yards of them, as did Flight Officer Robert Campbell, armed with a tommy gun [Thompson SMG]. At that point, Flight Officer Elbert Jella severely damaged the tank with his bazooka. The retreating tank ran over one of its flak guns; the other was captured by the glider pilots.
At daybreak, the glider pilots defeated several smaller attacks and joined up with British forces coming out of Wesel. Their job was done with the professionalism of veteran infantry troops. They soon were relieved from further duty as ground Soldiers. Overall, they suffered 31 casualties in the operation, killed a large number of enemy troops, and captured several hundred prisoners.
"The Battle of Burp Gun Corner," a unique event in Air Force history, was covered by Stars and Stripes but then slipped into obscurity. In March 1995, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman learned from retired Maj. Charles Gordon of the heroic actions of these glider pilots turned infantry and directed that appropriate awards be made to those who took part in the fighting. At the 435th Troop Carrier Reunion in October 1995, Flight Officers Jella, Deshurley, Campbell, and Hurley each were awarded the Silver Star. All others who fought in the battle were awarded the Bronze Star, but many of those more than 280 men had died before their heroism was recognized.
The Glider.
Most of us think of gliders being towed by C-47 "Gooney Birds" watching the film A Bridge Too Far or The Longest Day. In Operation Burma, a glider is "snatched" from the ground by a low-flying C-47 and towed back to base. In these films, the glider is shown to be a stunning success. You then may ask why we are not using gliders today?
The military use of gliders was a German innovation. It was both an irony and a classic illustration of the maxim "necessity is the mother of invention" that in the years following the end of World War I, when the Treaty of Versailles prohibited Germany from having a powered air force, young Germans threw themselves into the new sport of gliding. Encouraged by a military establishment that yearned for a return to military greatness, these young men became skilled pilots.
When Hitler needed them, they were ready. So it was that at dawn on May 10, 1940 nine gliders containing 78 German Paratroopers landed on the grassed-over roof of a massive fort at Eben Emael on the Belgian border. The surprise attack was a complete success. Anti-aircraft gunners were quickly overpowered, the gun emplacements were blown up, and within hours the 850 or so defenders, prisoners in their own fort, had surrendered.
Oh dear God, you know thats written by Mike Sparks and his buddies don"t you? There no way in Hell Gliders will be used again. He wrote an article for Armor Magazine in the 90s' proposing a glider that could be used to transport a couple of m1 tanks inside
What we need is a fixed-wing glider that will hold a M113A4 Super Gavin light tank, and a squad of commandos made entirely of non-metallic material that will be carried sticking out the aft end of a C-130
Wasn't the CG-4 dangerously unsafe but pressed into service because it was the only thing available? Somewhere in my brain I remember reading something about them not being too kind to pilots on landing. Something about how the nose hinged and weight balance or smth.
I have seen some surviving WWII gliders and they are the cheapest, most dangerous looking things I have ever seen. I have owned bicycles that were more air worthy. (They were seemingly made from the same parts anyways) Those glider pilots and infantry were crazy. And they did not even get hazard pay.
Years ago (1985) at Ft. Campbell I was talking to a WWII vet of 327th GIR at the Pratt Museum and we got to talking about the Gliders. He said he was courtmartialed and given a choice between 10 years hard labor or volunteer for the Glider Infantry. Said if he had to do it again he might'a taken the prison time. He came by the platoon and we gave him some beers while he waited for the bus.Originally Posted by kevlar308
The US used Horsas too. They were better.
The biggest problem with Gliders is the LZ. Once committed there's no go round and if some other guy lands in front of your landing path your hosed. and if you look at pictures of the landing fields at Normandy or Holland dudes landed going in every direction wherever they could.
What was the logic behind an "all officer" unit?
Gliders were used as they could deliver whole squads armed and ready for combat (putting aside vertigo and broken bones on landing) while paratroopers get spread over a large area. Also german paratroopers initially jumped without rifles, these being dropped seperately.
While this was fixed later, mortars and larger quantities of ammo were still dropped seperately.
Plus they could deliver vehicles and guns, which German or Allied planes could not air drop in WW2.
(The Soviets had experimented with air dropped tanks before 1941 but I don't think they ever used them.)
Today, Helicopters have that role, and they have the added advantage of being able to get out again as well.
I for one welcome the new and innovative stealth assault glider concept and using M113 Gavins to win a war as quickly as possible.
Some US, Israeli, Swiss, Taiwanese or any other MP.net Member in a army that still uses M113 should troll reality and paint "GAVIN" in huge white letters on the side of a M113
I suggest that funds are first routed to the innovative M113 Amfigavin! An amphibious Gavin with a 90mm full pressure gun in a huge turret in order to replace the AAV7A1 (and Abrams)
Don't you worry, this has already been taken care of. The Aris Gator AmphiGavin is available, ready for battle, and based on the highly-reliable M113 Gavin. Every child knows it's superior to the faulty M2 Bradley and the multi-million $$$ deathtrap called Stryker!!!!1I suggest that funds are first routed to the innovative M113 Amfigavin! An amphibious Gavin with a 90mm full pressure gun in a huge turret in order to replace the AAV7A1 (and Abrams)
Now I think about it... we could put all varieties of M113 Gavin in ISO standardized shipping containers and call those BATTLEBOXES. These will replace everything else in out faulty backwards thinking military!
This idea is so awesome, let me throw in a random quote by Napoleon Bonaparte: "Strategy is the art of making use of time and space. I am less concerned about the latter than the former. Space we can recover, lost time never."
Artistic Impression of the XM-1113 Super Gavin in Action
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