Category Archives: Gliders in WW2

Gliders in WW2 buttonPosts and articles about the history of gliders in WW2 both before and after Operation Ladbroke. For details of gliders in Operation Ladbroke, see here.

Operation Dragoon – British Glider Chaos in Riviera Invasion

Gunners without guns, an LZ without defenders, impenetrable fog – the British glider assault in the invasion of the South of France went seriously awry. Operation Dragoon was the code name for the Allied invasion of the South of France … Continue reading

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Arnhem & Varsity Sketches by Glider Pilot Victor Miller

Victor Miller’s sketches show us something no photograph can – what it felt like to be in the front seat in a massed glider assault. Glider pilot Staff Sergeant Victor Miller fought in and survived three of the great glider … Continue reading

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A US glider trooper in Operation Varsity – John Kormann’s legacy

On the anniversary of Operation Varsity, an extraordinary gathering in a local restaurant in honour of US glider trooper John Kormann brought back memories, and evoked the sights and sounds of battle. Operation Varsity, the Allied airborne drop across the … Continue reading

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Unseen US document reveals impact of glider battle at Maleme

Glider troops of Germany’s airborne forces landed around Maleme Bridge in Crete in May 1941. They were decimated. The Germans decided never again to mount a major airborne assault. The Allies drew the opposite lesson, as a previously unseen American document shows. … Continue reading

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The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment – Book Review

‘The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment’ is an academic book in style, but it’s full of interesting nuggets of information about the personalities, politics and technology involved in developing Britain’s parachute and glider forces. Review of “The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment … Continue reading

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Ray Atkinson, Halifax Tug Pilot in Operation Varsity

Flying Officer Ray Atkinson towed a Hamilcar glider in Operation Varsity. The flak over the Rhine was apparently fearsome, but he never mentioned it – only the guilt he felt that he and his crew were going back for a hot … Continue reading

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Eben-Emael: The Glider Assault Myth is Born

The seizing of the fortress of Eben-Emael was an extraordinary coup. Germany’s best glider pilots gave Hitler much to crow about, and the Allies much to fear. Was this spectacular glider assault strategically necessary, or was it a barn-storming diversion and … Continue reading

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The Longest Weekend: D-Day Normandy 2004

Your correspondent dropped behind the lines on the weekend of D-Day 2004 to send back an eyewitness despatch from the struggle to organise and celebrate the anniversary of the greatest airborne operation in history.  NORMANDY, 4-7 JUNE 2004. 60 years … Continue reading

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Greatest Feats, Feats Forlorn: Jim Wallwork, Pegasus Bridge & Operation Ladbroke

The Horsa glider coup-de-main landings in Sicily and Normandy are umbilically linked. The one gave birth to the other. Glider pilot Jim Wallwork, justly remembered for his extraordinary feat at Pegasus Bridge, was also present in Sicily, although with somewhat different … Continue reading

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