The Chindit Assault Force
The next major glider operation was on March 5th, 1944 - the second Wingate Chindit operation named "Operation Thursday" in Burma. The operation involved gliders landing in jungle clearings under the cover of darkness about 150 miles behind the main Japanese line (the Burmese troops were known as "Chindits"). The LZ was codenamed "Broadway" and became the first target on the night followed by a glider landing at Chowringhee on the following day. The first wave consisted of 52 Waco gliders towed by 26 Dakotas from the 1st Air Commando unit and the second wave numbered 28 gliders. An additional 600 gliders arrived during the following week, bringing 9,000 total Chindit warriors and over 1,000 pack mules.
The Almighty Mule
The multi-faceted pack mule proved a Godsend in the harsh jungle terrain where vehicles were largely prohibited by the thick bush. Military pack mules could be saddled with up to 20% of its body weight - this becoming 200lbs of heavy guns, ammunition, radios, C-rations, medical supplies, and the like. The mules could also provide the troops with an emergency food source once their loads had been used or if food drops were behind schedule. Since mules became so vital to the war effort, replacement mules were required when original mules were lost in combat. This required flying in more mules by glider. The CG-4A could carry three mules of the animals and their handlers in makeshift bamboo stalls, the mules harnessed to the sides of the glider for safety. Sometimes, the mules were parachuted into areas where gliders could not land - an action typically not ending well for the poor animal as some could not take the jerking action of the opening parachute causing necks to break. Additional injuries could also occur upon landing with broken legs being a regular occurrence. To reduce the loss of mules during drops an inflatable dinghy was used to wrap the mules and attached to six parachutes. All of this effort was needed as each British column had 306 men with 57 mules and their handlers in tow. These hardy animals were known for their strength, endurance, and sure-footedness. Despite their hardiness mules were occasionally lost in the jungles, some being shot by the Japanese while others falling to their deaths along steep mountain trails.
Reassembly Setbacks
The American factories had done their part by producing and creating 2,100 Waco CG-4A gliders for shipment to England by February of 1944. The new problem became the number of untrained British civilians tasked with reassembling the aircraft and a fast measure was made to assemble the Wacos which completed the project with only five weeks remaining until D-Day.
Gliders Over Normandy
The most important vertical envelopment operation for Allied glider troops became the Normandy invasion of France on June 6th, 1944. The first gliders that landed at 12:16am were six British Horsas with 180 troops sent to capture the Orne Bridge. At 01:00am, two thousand British "pathfinders" jumped into France to mark glider LZs, blow up key bridges, and destroy the Merville gun battery. To the west, 13,000 American paratroopers 82nd and 101st airborne arrived by way of 1,087 Douglas C-47s. Between 3am and 5am, 5,000 warships and support vessels arrived off the coast of Normandy to shell the beaches and officially launch the invasion. At 03:35am, 55 gliders landed with the headquarters of the 6th British Airborne Division at Ranville. At 03:54am, 52 Waco gliders carrying 158 men, anti-tank guns, a baby bulldozer, a surgical unit, one radio JEEP, and one trailer with long-range communications equipment for contact with England to serve the 101st Airborne. 04:00am, 52 Wacos landed west of Saint-Mere-Eglise with the Headquarters of the 82nd Airborne.
More missions continued throughout the day with 517 CG-4A combat gliders participating in "Operation Neptune" involving an additional 3,937 glider troops. The gliders were forced to land in the small fields of the Normandy countryside, some less than 400 feet in length. Most of the Wacos crashed on landing but due to lessons learned over Sicily resulted in far fewer casualties, injuries, and equipment damage. Losses were unavoidable when under fire, however, and 44 glider pilots were killed and more than 20 men injured, many seriously - though the mission was labeled a complete success.
All of the gliders used for the Normandy assault were lost. After the action, U.S. Airborne High Command saw the hazards of glider landings, which proved equal to the dangers of paratrooper drops, which resulted in glider troops earning equal pay as their parachuting counterparts. These elements were also then granted the same equipment including jump boots and combat gear like the compact M1A1 carbine.
Additional Glider Operations
Glider missions continued in August of 1944 with missions over southern France. American forces surprised the Germans as 407 CG-4A combat gliders were used to quickly overrun enemy positions. However, the glider mission continued to be dangerous as 23 glider pilots were killed and 63 others were wounded. Next were drops over Holland with the Allies attempted to round the Germans by collecting three key bridges ("A Bridge Too Far"). Poor intelligence and a high level of ambition led to a partially successful operation ("Operation Market Garden") - this mission required more gliders than any other action during World War 2. Starting on September 17th, 1944, a large British and American force required 1,900 CG-4A combat gliders during the multi-day operation. The flat, open farmlands of Holland allowed the first 1,618 to land safely at their predestined LZs. A number of the gliders were released over Germany and all of the pilots and troops onboard were lost. During the operation, 40 glider pilots were killed, 37 wounded, and 65 went Missing-in-Action (MIA). The Americans objectives were successfully taken but the British failed to take the bridges at Arnhem to make the final cross into Germany proper.
On December 26, 1944, a small, unreported mission took place at the Ardennes during the "Battle of the Bulge". Before General Patton and his tanks arrived to help the beleaguered 101st Airborne, the Wacos arrived first - glider pilots in 61 CG-4As were the first to come to the aid of the surrounded 101st Airborne Division and delivered surgical teams to treat the wounded, artillery, ammunition, and much-needed fuel all the while under heavy enemy ground fire. Casualties for the "G-Men" was four glider pilots killed and eighteen wounded with all of the planes destroyed - however the replenishment/support mission was a success.
The Final Leg of the War
The next mission was Wesel, Germany on March 24th, 1945 - the first time gliders were used over Germany proper. 906 CG-4A American gliders crossed the Rhine River but the casualty rate proved high due to the stout German defense - 88 glider pilots were killed, 240 were wounded, and 31 went missing in the fighting. The losses made this the last large-scale use of gliders during World War 2. Less than two months later, on May 7, 1945, Germany signed the unconditional surrender at Allied headquarters in Reims, France ending the European portion of the conflict. However, Japan had not yet surrendered so gliders were transferred to the Pacific Theater for the invasion of the Philippines. The 11th Airborne Division assignment on June 21, 1945, was to attack the Japanese to help secure use of the Camalaniugan Airfield at Luzon. Gypsy Task Force would be transported by 54 C-47 Skytrains and 13 C-46 Commando aircraft as well as 6 Waco CG-4A Gliders which would land JEEPs and supplies for the force. Japanese resistance was rigid and the defense would hold until September 1945 when the enemy force became surrounded and was neutralized - noting the 11th Airborne Division's final combat operation of the war and also the last use of American gliders in combat during this far-reaching conflict.
Special Commendation
All American glider pilots were awarded the Air Medal for each combat flight they made. The citation accompanying the Air Medal for Normandy was worded as follows:
"The magnificent spirit and enthusiasm displayed by these Officers, combined with skill, courage and devotion to duty, is reflected in their brilliant operation of unarmed gliders of light construction at minimum altitudes and air speeds, in unfavorable weather conditions over water, and in the face of vigorous enemy opposition, with no possibility of employing evasive action, and in their successful negotiation of hazardous landings in hostile territory, to spearhead the Allied invasion of the continent. Their respective duty assignments were performed in such an admirable manner as to produce exceptional results in the greatest and most successful airborne operation in the history of world aviation."
The Few and the Proud
The U.S. Army Air Force trained about 7,200 American military glider pilots and all were volunteers. The powered pilots silver wings had a shield in the center while glider pilots wore these wings with the letter "G" embossed on them in the center. The proud glider pilots have never hesitated to tell those interested what the "G" in the wings stood for - "Guts".
Waco Glider Last Use, Total Production, and Its Builders
Last official American military use of Waco gliders was in the early 1950s and many were then scrapped or sold off as war surplus. Operators beyond the United States and Britain became Canada and Czechoslovakia. Despite over 14,970 units being produced, only about a dozen remain as museum showpieces around the world. Production was undertaken by Babcock, Cessna, Commonwealth Aircraft, Ford, G&A Aircraft, General Aircraft Corporation, Gibson Refrigerator, Laister-Kauffmann, National Aircraft Corporation, Northwestern Aeronautical Corporation, Pratt-Read, Ridgefield Mfg, Robertson Aircraft, Timm Aircraft, Ward Furniture Company, and of course Waco Aircraft Company.
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