Glider infantry
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Glider infantry (sometimes referred to as Airlanding infantry) were a short-lived innovation in military tactics, used during World War II.
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[edit] Early history
During their rearmament prior to the War, the Germans formed large numbers of gliding clubs and schools, to train future pilots for their Luftwaffe. Later, when they were planning for their invasion of France, they were faced with the problem of the Belgian fort of Eben Emael which dominated the River Meuse. Someone (according to some reports, Adolf Hitler himself) pointed out that the top of the fort was a flat grassy expanse on which gliders could land.
Eight DFS 230 gliders, carrying 85 Pioneers under Leutnant Rudolf Witzig, landed on the roof of the fort in the early hours of May 10, 1940. There had been no declaration of war, and they achieved surprise. Using the new shaped charges, they disabled the fort's guns and trapped the garrison inside. The assault cost only 21 casualties.
In the aftermath of this episode, the Allies formed their own glider forces, as part of their airborne forces. Before they could see action, the Germans had made their largest airborne operation, the attack on Crete. Their glider troops and paratroops suffered heavy casualties, and the Germans decided that this mode of warfare was too costly.
In 1942, Winston Churchill decreed the formation of a British glider force of 5000 gliders. American plans were on a similarly grand scale.
[edit] Tactics and uses
Compared with paratroops, alongside whom they would operate, gliders had advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages were that troops landed from gliders would be ready for action almost instantly, whereas paratroops were often scattered, and required some time to collect their heavy weapons. Gliders could carry larger and heavier equipment (such as anti-tank guns or jeeps, or even light tanks) than could be dropped by parachute. They arrived silently, and could therefore be used in surprise attacks. Finally, the troops did not require lengthy parachute training.
The disadvantages were that troops in gliders were even more vulnerable than paratroopers while in the air. Especially for large-scale landings, wide unobstructed area were required and these might well be inconveniently placed. And, while the troops would not require much extra training, the pilots of the gliders would.
In both the British and American armies, there was a sense that the glider infantry were poor cousins to the more glamorous paratroopers. In the British Army, whereas paratroops were volunteers, airlanding units were line infantry units converted without any option. In the US Army, glider troops did not receive the extra pay awarded to paratroopers.
In one respect the armies differed. The British Glider Pilot Regiment were not only trained aircrew, but also well-trained infantry, most of whom would have been junior or senior NCO's in other units. By comparison, the American glider crews were treated on the same basis as non-combatant drivers.
The Allied gliders used were mass produced. Three aircraft dominated, the American Waco CG-4A which could carry 13 passengers, the British Airspeed Horsa, which could carry 25 passengers, and the British General Aircraft Hamilcar, which could carry up to eight tons (8,000 kg) of equipment.
[edit] Later history
[edit] Sicily
The Allies first used gliders in the invasion of Sicily in 1943. This first experiment was disastrous. Poor planning and bad weather resulted in the gliders being scattered in the air. Several landed in the sea and 200 men drowned. Few gliders reached the intended landing zone, and only 73 men (from most of a brigade) reached the intended target, the Ponte Grande bridge south of Syracuse.
[edit] Normandy
With better intelligence and planning, the glider landings in The Battle of Normandy were far more successful. In particular, one coup de main force in six Horsa gliders seized vital bridges over the River Orne by surprise. The British 6 Airlanding Brigade were in action early on following concentrated landings, and prevented early German attempts to counter-attack the Allied landings. American landings were more scattered, but still more successful than many planners had hoped for.
[edit] Arnhem
In Operation Market Garden, the British 1 Airlanding Brigade were landed on the first day of the operation. The landings took place in daylight and were unopposed, but the only landing and drop zones thought suitable for such a large force were a considerable distance from the vital bridge which was the objective. No attempt was made to mount a coup de main attack by glider (although this was largely due to the haste with which the operation was mounted). A jeep-mounted reconnaissance squadron brought in by glider failed in the mission.
In the subsequent fighting, the airlanding brigade and the Glider Pilot Regiment suffered heavy casualties.
[edit] Rhine crossing
The last major operation involving gliders was the crossing of the Rhine in 1945. To avoid the long delay in relieving the airborne troops which had been a major cause of the failure of Operation Market Garden, the landings were made close to the German front line defences. The landings took place in daylight once again, and heavy German anti-aircraft fire took heavy toll of the vulnerable gliders. Most Allied casualties were incurred by the glider pilots.
[edit] Far East
The Chindits, a large force operating behind Japanese lines during the Burma Campaign, were initially flown into landing grounds which had been secured by advance guards landing by glider on March 5, 1944. This operation, although successful, also incurred heavy casualties. This was partly because the intended landing ground was changed at the last minute. Also, the distance flown and the loads towed by the tug aircraft were greater than anything met in Europe. Many gliders had to be released over enemy territory or mountains. Others crashed on landing on the unfamiliar landing zone. However, enough construction equipment was landed to make the landing ground fit for transport aircraft.
[edit] Later German operations
After the heavy losses at Crete the Germans made no more large-scale glider assaults. They did make several coup de main attacks against targets which were not protected by anti-aircraft guns. One of these was Unternehmen Eiche "Operation Oak" a landing on the Gran Sasso in Italy on September 12, 1943, in which the deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was rescued from house arrest.
Another was an attack (codenamed Operation Rösselsprung) on the headquarters of Marshal Tito in Yugoslavia in March 1944. Glider troops landed above Tito's headquarters. This was in the middle of a large concentration of Yugoslav partisans, and the glider troops once again suffered heavy casualties, while Tito escaped.
The last German glider attack was on the liberated Free French redoubt of the Vercors in July 1944. This attack from an unexpected direction drove the resistance fighters from the plateau, but the conduct of the operation was marred by the brutal behaviour of the glider troops.
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[edit] Post war
Even as thewar ended, helicopters were entering service. Initially capable of carrying only one or two men, they steadily became more capable. As they were far less vulnerable and more flexible (in the landing sites they could use) than gliders, they very quickly became the preferred vehicle for airborne operations.
The British Glider Pilot Regiment was subsumed into the Army Air Corps. The Airlanding brigades were disbanded, while the American Glider Infantry Regiments became paratroops or air cavalry.
