Friday 30 May 2014

#D-Day #Horsa Gliders #DDay70

Exploded Image of The Horsa Glider

The Horsa glider is infamous for its role in airborne operations in the Second World War. Gliders were very useful as they created very little noise after they had been released from their tug plane.It could carry up to 25 troops with their equipment MilitaryFactory.com. The first time they were used in any numbers was the invasion of Sicily in 1943, many were released by tug aircraft too soon and crashed into the sea armyflying.com. The most successful operation was the capture of the 2 bridges in Normandy in the early hours of the 6th June 1944 - D-Day.(Please see previous entry on this post). Over 600 gliders were used in Operation Market Garden landing troops near Arnhem, and 400 in Operation Husky when the Allies crossed the Rhine.ArmyFlying.com.

Please see the Assault Glider trust Website where they are restoring a Horsa, loads of pictures and content. Assaultglidertrust