The Glider Pilot Regiment units were largely attached to two Allied Groups, No 38 Group, Allied Expeditionary Air Force and No 46 Group, RAF Transport Command. These were vital parts of the initial assault on the Normandy beach head. On 6 June 1944, the Groups consisted of 15 Squadrons with a total of 478 serviceable transport aircraft and 1,120 assault gliders. 38 and 46 Group were to to deliver, and then supply, the British 6th Airborne Division by parachute and glider to Drop and Landing Zones in Normandy in support of British and Canadian amphibious landings. The Airborne Division protected the flank of the main landings.

The Air Observation Post Squadrons were attached to two further Groups, 83 and 84 Groups. These Groups also consisted of a number of reconnaissance and fighter-bomber units. The fighter-bombers worked in close co-operation with the Air Observation Forward Air Controllers (FAC) who would direct them on to targets. The Air Observation Squadrons also directed artillery and naval gunfire onto targets in the invasion area.

The major Army air actions are listed below:

Night 5 / 6 June 1944 - Operation TITANIC

A force of 40 Hudsons, Halifaxes and Stirlings dropped dummy parachutists, rifle fire simulators, Window and two SAS teams to simulate airborne landings away from the invasion area. 200 dummy parachutists were dropped near to the base of the Cotentin Peninsula, 50 more east of the River Dives, and 50 to the south west of Caen. 200 more dummy parachutists and the SAS teams were dropped at Yvetot, 30 miles south west of Dieppe. The SAS had orders to allow some of the enemy to escape to spread alarm by reporting landings by hundreds of parachutists. Two of the Stirlings were lost in this operation. The dummy parachutists were crude cloth representations of a human figure, a simple series of cloth bags and strips connected in a roughly cross-like shape to give the impression of a parachutist, certainly they were not accurate rubber figures suggested in some accounts. The dummies were equipped with a device that would prevent the enemy discovering that they were a deception. This was an explosive charge that destroyed the cloth figure by setting it on fire, which suggested that the man had burnt the parachute and lay hidden, ready for action or sabotage.

 

Night 5 / 6 June 1944 - Glider Operations

Engineers and paratroops were dropped over Normandy to carry out a variety of roles. Capturing strategic and tactical objectives, destroying enemy gun emplacements and setting up flarepaths that would guide the glider-towing aircraft were among the most important.

Operation TONGA - the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigade Groups dropped on early hours of D-Day with six primary objectives. The first was to seize and secure the Landing Zones for the subsequent glider deployments. The paratroops also had to seize the high ground at Ranville, destroy the enemy batteries at Merville and opposite Ouistreham and destroy the bridges over the River Dives. Glider-borne troops were to assist with the assault on the Merville battery and to seize the vital bridges over the River Orne and Canal de Caen at Benouville.

A total of 266 aircraft, largley Dakotas and Albemarles, were detailed to carry paratroops. Of these, 264 took off and 255 reported successful drops with 4,310 of 4,512 of the paratroops carried being delivered. Only seven aircraft were lost during the paratroop delivery part of this operation. They called for the transport aircraft to be followed by 98 glider and tug combinations, all of which took off. 74 gliders were successfully released of which 57 landed on or near their designated Landing Zones. Altogether 611 troops were carried by glider and 493 successfully went into action.

The first action took place at the now famous Pegasus Bridge. Shortly after midnight, Halifaxes towed six Horsa gliders containing a company of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry Regiment, a part of the 6th Airborne Division, across the Channel to the mouth of the Orne River. The mission was to seize and hold the key bridge across the Orne River and canal between Benouville and Ranville. These glider-borne troops, led by Major John Howard, were the first Allied troops to see action on D-Day. The small force took and held the bridge for 24 hrs. The bridge was preserved for allied use by this daring aerial coup de main.

 

D-Day - 6 June 1944

Operation MALLARD - in the evening the remainder of the 6th Airborne Division was delivered by 256 gliders, 246 of which landed on the correct zones. These gliders were towed by aircraft from 14 Squadrons of No 38 and 46 Groups.

 

D-Day - 6 June 1944

Operation ROB ROY - During the night of 6 / 7 June, re-supply operations were flown with supplies being dropped by parachute.

Seemingly airborne permanently over the beachheads were the Air Observation aircraft. These light aircraft directed fire from naval vessels off-shore initially, before they began directing artillery fire once the Regiments were established on land. The light aircraft of the Army were the first to operate as airborne FACs, directing fighter bombers onto targets.

 

By 30 June, Five Air Observation Post squadrons were now based in France. The close proximity of the German defensive forces meant the airfields were under almost constant attack.

Operation OVERLORD Army and Glider Pilot Regiment Units

Air Observation Posts:

652 Sqn Cobham, Surrey Auster IV
653 Sqn Penshurst, Kent Auster IV
658 Sqn Collyweston, Northants Auster IV
659 Sqn East Grinstead, Sussex Auster IV
662 Sqn Westley, Suffolk Auster IV
660 Sqn Westhanger, Kent
(Advanced Landing Ground) Auster IV
661 Sqn Fairchilds, Kent
(Advanced Landing Ground) Auster IV

 

Airspeed Horsa

Manufacturers: Airspeed, Christchurch
Accommodation: Up to 29 troops and a crew of 2
Dimensions: Span 88ft, Length 67ft
Gliding speed: 100 mph

The Horsa was the UK's first operational troop-carrying glider. The first aircraft flew in the autumn of 1941 and orders for 3,792 aircraft soon followed. The simple, all-wooden construction meant that large quantities of the aircraft could be made by a wide number of sub-contractors, and its use of wood did not further reduce the vital supplies of steel for other aircraft. A Horsa could carry 29 glider-borne troops and made its operational debut in November 1942 during the failed attack on a German heavy water plant in Norway. Due to the range the aircraft had to be towed by a Halifax, and each aircraft only carried 15 troops for this operation. More success was had during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, but its during the two major air assaults of 1944, Overlord and Market Garden that the Horsa acquitted itself, delivering many thousands of men to landing grounds on the continent. Three Horsas inserted the party which took the important Pegasus Bridge during the very first moments of the invasion.

 

General Aircraft Hamilcar

Manufacturers: General Aircraft Ltd, Hanworth, Middlesex
Accommodation: A load of up to seven tons and a crew of 2
Dimensions: Span 110ft, length 68ft, height 20ft 3in
Towing speed: 150 mph

Of all the gliders used by the allies in WWII, the General Aircraft Hamilcar was the largest. First flown in March 1942, the Hamilcar was used primarily to carry heavy freight (it could carry a 7-ton tank) and had a crew of 2. Just over 410 of these aircraft were built. Seventy Hamilcars were involved in the Normandy landings and each was towed by either a Sterling or a Halifax. Their contribution was vital to the overall effort.