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    Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted’
    Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted’
    Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted’
    Ebook145 pages1 hour

    Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted’

    By Major Michael H. Manion

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    This study examines the role of combat gliders in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II (WWII). This thesis compares and contrasts each country with respect to pre-WWII glider experience, glider and airborne doctrine, glider pilot training, and glider production while outlining each country’s major glider operations. The author then compares the glider operations in the China-Burma-India Theater to the operations in Europe to describe the unique challenges based on the terrain and mission. Next, this thesis presents an analysis of the glider’s precipitous decline following WWII. The study concludes with recommendations for glider operations in the future based on the experiences of the past.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLucknow Books
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786250681
    Gliders of World War II: ‘The Bastards No One Wanted’
    Author

    Major Michael H. Manion

    See Book Description

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      Book preview

      Gliders of World War II - Major Michael H. Manion

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2008 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      GLIDERS OF WORLD WAR II: THE BASTARDS NO ONE WANTED

      BY

      MICHAEL H. MANION

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR 7

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7

      ABSTRACT 8

      Chapter 1 — Introduction 9

      Background 9

      Significance of Topic 10

      Research Question and Methodology 10

      Overview and Organization 10

      Chapter 2 — German Gliders 13

      Early Beginnings 13

      Doctrine 14

      Pilots and Training 16

      Machines 17

      Capture of Fort Eben Emael 18

      Greece-Corinth Canal and Operation Merkur (Mercury) 19

      Back to the Future—Commando Raids 21

      Conclusions 22

      Chapter 3 — British Gliders 24

      Early Beginnings 24

      Doctrine 25

      Pilots and Training 26

      Machines 27

      Operation Freshman 30

      Operation Ladbrooke 30

      D-Day / Normandy 31

      Operation Market-Garden 32

      Operation Varsity—Rhine Crossing 33

      Conclusions 34

      Chapter 4 — United States’ Gliders 35

      Early Beginnings 35

      Doctrine 36

      Pilots and Training 38

      Machines 39

      Operation Husky / Ladbrooke 42

      Operations Chicago, Keokuk, Detroit, Elmira, Galveston, and Hackensack 43

      Operation Market-Garden 45

      Bastogne 46

      Operation Varsity—Rhine Crossing 46

      Conclusions 47

      Chapter 5 — Gliders in China-Burma-India 49

      Background 49

      Wingate’s Vision 50

      Pilots and Training 50

      Machines 51

      Operation Thursday 52

      Conclusions 53

      Chapter 6 — Where Did the Gliders Go? 55

      Introduction 55

      Rapid Drawdown 55

      The Decline of the Glider 57

      The Army-Air Force Split 58

      Post-War Army Vision 59

      Post-War Air Force Vision 60

      Conclusion 61

      Chapter 7 — The Future of Gliders 63

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 65

      BIBLIOGRAPHY 66

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      Major Michael H. Manion graduated from University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance. He was an ROTC distinguished graduate and received a regular commission in 1995. Following Undergraduate Navigator and Electronic Warfare Training at Randolph AFB, NAS Pensacola, and Corry Station, he was assigned to the 41st and 43rd Electronic Combat Squadrons at Davis-Monthan AFB and served as an instructor EC-130 Mission Crew Commander. Next, Major Manion moved to Air Force Special Operations Command where he has been an evaluator electronic warfare officer in the MC-130H. He has been assigned to the 7th Special Operations Squadron at RAF Mildenhall, England and the 15th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida. In 2003, he was an outstanding graduate from USAF Weapons School and returned to the 14th Weapons Squadron as an instructor in 2005. Major Manion is a senior electronic warfare officer with over 2,300 flying hours including over 550 combat hours with deployments to Operation(s) Allied Force, Joint Forge, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. In June 2007, he was a graduate from the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Major Manion holds a Masters of Business Administration from TUI University.

      Upon graduation from the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Major Manion was assigned to the Strategy Division, 612th Air Operations Center, 12th Air Force at Davis-Monthan AFB. He and his wife, Sara, have three children, Kristen, Emily, and Carter.

      ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

      I would like to thank the faculty and staff at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies for their continued dedication and inspiration in developing future strategists. I would also like to express my appreciation to several key people who contributed to the completion of my thesis. First, I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to my faculty advisor, Colonel (Ret.) Dennis M. Drew, for guiding my research and writing while providing sage counsel and generous patience. Colonel Drew’s critical comments helped guide the research effort. Next, I would equally like to thank Dr. Richard R. Muller for encouraging me to consider the glider’s role in World War II. Dr. Muller’s wealth of knowledge, keen insights, and approachability has truly made this an enjoyable year of professional education. Both Professor Drew and Dr. Muller personify the very best in military education as both teachers and mentors.

      To my classmates of SAASS XVII, thank you for your support, encouragement, and patience. You are the very best in the Air Force and I am truly humbled even to have my name mentioned alongside yours. I look forward to our continued service together.

      Most importantly, I would like to thank my wife, Sara, and daughters, Kristen, Emily, and my son, Carter, for their patience and understanding as I completed this project. Without their love and support, this paper and my year of study would not have been possible. I am truly blessed.

      ABSTRACT

      This study examines the role of combat gliders in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States during World War II (WWII). This thesis compares and contrasts each country with respect to pre-WWII glider experience, glider and airborne doctrine, glider pilot training, and glider production while outlining each country’s major glider operations. The author then compares the glider operations in the China-Burma-India Theater to the operations in Europe to describe the unique challenges based on the terrain and mission. Next, this thesis presents an analysis of the glider’s precipitous decline following WWII. The study concludes with recommendations for glider operations in the future based on the experiences of the past.

      Chapter 1 — Introduction

      "I’ll tell you straight out: If you’ve got to go into combat, don’t go by glider. Walk, crawl, parachute, swim, float—anything. But don’t go by glider.

      …Riding in one of those Waco gliders was like attending a rock concert while locked in the bass drum.

      …The field was scattered with gliders on their noses, on their sides, on their backs. It was a scene from hell, but the 101st seemed pleased that it was a successful glider operation."

      Walter Cronkite

      Background

      The story of the glider has few antecedents and even fewer remainders. Its complete combat application and employment is contained in a mere five-year history of World War II. Unlike many weapons used in World War II, the military glider had no wartime predecessor. The slow, crawling British tanks that surprised the Germans at Cambrai in World War I were the forerunners of the fast-moving, powerful Sherman, Churchill, Tiger, and Stalin tanks of World War II. Artillery, with its devastating effects in the first war, required few modifications for improvement in the second war. Airpower, with its sophisticated fighters and bombers of World War II, evolved directly from the dog-fighting Spads, Fokkers, and de Havilands of World War I.{1} The story of the glider is different.

      The glider had never flown in combat before World War II. The first gliders used in combat were simply a by-product of the fragile, sports sailplane used in the decades preceding the second war. As many countries dreamed of the possibilities of transforming the sailplane into a weapon of war, it was Germany and the Soviet Union who took the first actions to make it an actuality. The possibility became reality on 10 May 1940, when the world awakened to the startling news that a small German force used simple gliders as weapons to quickly seize the key Belgian Fort Eben Emael. The combat application of the glider was born.

      The German success at Eben Emael proved that the glider had the ability to deliver men and machinery with devastating tactical surprise. Military leaders on both sides of the Atlantic began to take notice in the potential of the glider. Gliders might now influence both the tactical and operational conduct of war—creating another tool to meet the desired objectives. The mobility of gliders demonstrated that rivers were no longer formidable barriers to armies. Troops were no longer susceptible to the dangers of crossing on footbridges or defenseless assault boats as gliders could form an air bridge over the rivers. Gliders, loaded with supplies, simplified logistical problems of supplying ground operations by accurately delivering their loads directly to the front. Visionaries even speculated that gliders could transport tanks

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