i

Volume 8 Issue 89

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_i
Trcnsporf and
Asscrult Aircraff
of Wbrld llVar il
Military transport aircraft made a significant breakthrough
dwing World War II by delivering forces dfuect to the
battlefield from the air: the ultimate expression of mobile
warfare.
'We ought to have a corps of at least 5000 parachute troops.' Thus wrote
Winston Churchlll to his chief of staff on 22 lune 1940, the message in
effect givrng birth to the Britrsh airborne divrsion.
It has long been the dream of military men to transport larqe numbers
of soldiers by arr, and at least one Napoleonic print exists showing this
being achieved across the English Channel, each man under his rndr-
vtdual balloon, However, it was the Soviet Union that gave the dream
substance, and during the summer manoeuvres of 1936 a demonstration
drop of 1,200 men complete wrth 150 machine-gmns served to impress
the world,
Even so, Nazr Germany was swiftly capabie of imltatrng the idea and it
was her paratroops and a new method of transporting armed men, by
means of towed gliders, that first saw both methods in action in the
opening months of World War II, the lessons learned berng applied to
the larqe action in Crete,
Hitherto, transport aircraft had been used only as aerial troop carriers,
The most importantLuftwaffe transport of the war, theJunkers
Ju S2 ca:::::
German paratroops into actiontor their famed attackiin the L6w Col:.:::::
ScandinaviaandCrete. Easy tofly and of notably tough constructian. rea:;.,.
5,000 exampleswere produced before theend of thewar.
but now a new role awarted them, that of airJanding operattoris -:- .,'. :.- _:
soldiers were drsembarked directly under fire on to enemy ierr_:::-.- _r_,_
three methods were used on a scale hitherto only imagrned-,-.-:..--. :,:
UK, the USA and therr alhes invaded the contrnent of Europe ;: -:==
moving by arr not only men and arms, but also heavy equipn_.:- :,.:
vehicles, some (like the human loads) even being deposited b',' :-:.-
chute.
Although made as perfect as seemed possible, the susceptri:--- . :
error of these schemes was brought sharply home by the ,r,r:-:-=:
operation, while the aerial movement of armies had spawned a -,',-:._ _=
range of ancillary systems such as the reclaiming of gliders by the s:-::..-.
method, After almost 200 years the dream had become reality
In a scene typicalof aLuftwaffe airfield during the swift advances and retrea';
by theWehrmacht inWorldWar II,JunkersJu 52/3ms of the
Transportverband deliver stocks offuel, spares and other vital material to
combatunits close to the frontline.
-f\
 i,rnis c-46 Commando
=
In common with its more pro[flc con-
temporary, the Douglas C-47, the Cur-
tiss C-46 Commando was initially de-
veloped for the civil market, in the
shape of the CW-20 prototype which
first flew on 26 March 1940 on the pow-
er of two I 193, l-kw (1,600-hp) Wright
Cyclone 586-C14-BA2 engrnes, The
aircraft featured a hvin-finned tail unit
but thrs was soon changed to a large
single unit, In September 1940 a large
order was placed for a militarized ver-
sion which was to be designated C-46
and powered by the Pratt & Whitney
Double Wasp,
Quickly followrng the C-46 was the
main production version, the' C-464,
whrch featured double cargo doors
and a hydraulic winch, This allowed
the crew to load the aucraft without
qround assistance, Other main ver-
sions were the C-46D with revrsed
nose and doors for paratroop opera-
tions, and the C-46F which introduced
more powerful engines and blunted
wing tips. The C-46E sported a step-
ped windscreen,
In service the C-46 proved reliable
and able to carry much greater loads
than the C-47, and the large-diameter
cabin allowed awkward items to be North Africa but it was in Europe and of 3, 180 C-46s was built, and many of On account of its better performance
I
carried, The cabin floor was streng- the Far East that the aircraft was used these continued in US semce through- ataltitude than the C-47/53 Sl<ytrain, i
thened to allow the airlift of light vehi- extensively, its most famous route out Korea until the early days of the the Curtiss C-46 Commando was
cles and artillery. being over the 'Hump' between India Vietnam conflict. A handful continue rn extensivelyused by theUSAAF inthe t
The C-46 entered service in mrd- and China, This consisted of moun- small-scale civil freighting today, Pacific theatre and for the supply of
1942 and was used initially on local tainous passes and treacherous war mat6riel from Indiato China
duties. lts operations were soon ex- makeshift airfields, the cargoes often Specification over the 'hump'. Here Indian troops
tended to cover the South Atlantic consisting of ammunition and fuel. The Curtiss C-46 Commando embarkinaC-464.
routes supplying the Allied troops rn C-46 was used in most of the 'trucking' Type: paratroop and general transport
operations during the last tlvo years of Power-plant: two 149 i.4-kW (2, O0O-hp) Weishts: empty 13374 kg (29,48S lb);
Seen here flying above the Himalayas the Pacific war in the hands of the US Pratt & Whitney R-2800-43 1B-cylinder maximum take-off21773 kg (48,000 Ib)
(the famous 'hump' between India Army Air Force and the US Marine air-cooled radial piston engdnes Dimensions: span 32.92 m ( 108 ft 0 in);
and C hina), the Curtiss C -46 Corps (designated RSC-I), and the Performance: maximum speed ]enqth23.27 m(76 ft4 in)t heiqht6,Tl m
C omm ando was cap able of carrying end of hostilitres in the Far East spelt 425 lrrn/h (264 mph) at 3962 m (22 ft 0 in); wing area 126 16 m/
50 troops, comparedwith about2S the end of production for this hard- (13,000 ft); sewice cei[ng8412 m (1,358 sq ft)
bytheC-47. workrng beast of burden, A total of (27,600 ft); ranse 3701 kn (2,300miles) Armament:none
€ to,rgtas C-47 Skytrain
Probably the best known transpofi
aeropiane of all time, whether as an
airliner or mllitary transport, the Doug-
las C-47 Skytrain evolved from the DC-
3 aultner which rntroduced new levels
of speed and comfort to travel during
the late 1930s, First flown as a corrmer-
cial aircraft on 17 December 1935, the
C-47 was not ordered by the US Army
Air Corps until 1940, the airline interior
giving way to bucket seats along the
cabin sides, and Pratt & Whitney R-
1830 radials replacing the DC-3's
Wright Cyclones, Some 93 C-47s were
burlt before production swrtched to the
C-47A with 24-volt in place of 12-vo1t
electrical systemi a total of 4,931 C-
47As was built. High-altitude super-
chargers and R-t830-90 engines were
introduced in 3,241 C-478.aircraft (in-
cludlng i33 TC-478 trainers) intended
for use in South East Asia. Many other
variations were produced under sepa-
rate designations, of which the C-53
Skytrooper was the most important,
being in effect an airline standard air-
craft for military purposes. Wartime
military production of the C-47
Above : The C - 47 / D akota gained
alfection borne of familiarity among
Nlied troops theworld over,
alfectionately dubbed 'OId Bucket
!- typical of any one of a score of
=Eht in
z:teids Britain occupied by the
C-47s andC-53s of the US IXTroop
iasi.er Command in 1943-4. At peak
reached 10,048, plus an estimated
2,700 produced in the Soviet Uruon as
the Lisunov Li-2. It was also produced
in Japan as the i,2D. In the USAAF the
C-47 became the standard transport
and glder tug in service from 1942
onwards, being flown in large num-
bers in every arrborne forces opera-
tion during the war; furthermore, some
1,895 Dakotas served with 25 RAF
squadrons, the Dakota Mk I corres-
ponding to the C-47, the Dakota Mk II
to the C-53, the Dakota Mk III to the
C-47A and the Dakota Mk IV to the
Seats' and 'Gooney Bird'. Shown here
is a USAAF aircraft in South East Asia
that survived a suicide ramming by a
Japanesefighter.
strength the command in Britain
fielded 52 squadrons in 13 groups,
with almost 900 C-47 s/ 5 3s. This
picture was taken early in 1944.
Developed from theDC-Z andDC-3 airliners, theC-47 was the most important
transport in the Allied inventory by the time of the invasion of France.
C-47B. As late as 1961 the USAF still Performance: maximum speed
had over 1,000 C-47s on its inventory, 370 lcn/h(230 mph)at 2591 m
and the type was also used by the US (8,500 ft); climb to 3048 m (10,000 ft) rn
Navy as the R4D rn several variants, 9,6 minutes; service ceiling 7315 m
(24,000 ft); ranse 2575 knr (1,600 miles)
Specification Weishts: empty 8255 kg ( 18,200 lb);
Douglas C-4TSkytrain(Dakota Mk I) maximumtake-off I1793 kq (26,000 lb)
Type: three-crew 27-troop military Dimensions: span 29. I I m (95 ft 6 rn);
transport lensth 19,43 m (63 ft 9 in); height 5. lB m
Powerplant: two 894, B-kW ( 1, 200-hp) (17 ft O in); wingarea 91.69 mz
Pratt &Whitney R-i830-92 l4-cylinder (987 0 sq ft)
radial piston engrnes Armament:none
.::i,n,r,trril,;,.rt
A C -478 S kytrain, the
version Eisenhower theC-47 joined the
developed specifically for flights bazooka, jeep and atomic bombas
over the 'hump' to China. In the the Allied weapons that contributd
opinion oI General Dwight D . most to the victory in World War II.
 USA
ffiI
== Consolidated
\ rhilst rt is,most widely remembered
as one of the most important bombers
to see wartime service, the Consoli-
dated B-24 Liberator also saw exten-
sive use as a transport. Initial deliver-
ies were to the Brltish airline BOAC in
March 1941; desigrnated LB-304, the
irst six aircraft were later transferred
to RAF Ferry Command, along with
aircraft subsequently delivered from
the USA,
By June 1941, the US Air Corps Fer-
rying Command was receiving B-244
transports, these being similar in con-
fignlation to the LB-3OAs, and groing on
to see extensive wartime service
around the world.
From those initial models, Plans
were put rn hand to.produce a dedi-
cated transport variant, this taking
shape in.1942 as the C-87, a develop-
ment of the B-24D; 287 were ordered
by the USAAC,
Apart from use by the US Army and
US Navy (RY), this Consolidated C-87
version of the Liberator was also used
by the RAF which flew its Liberator
C.Mk VII transports for au trooping on
an extensive scale, The purpose ofthis
new mobility was at first the necessity
of moving men to India for operations
against the Japanese and the repatria-
tion of trme-expired troops; stx RAF
Liberators were eatmarked for the
work in company with Short Stirlings
and Douglas Dakotas, there beinet two
each of these latter types.
With room for 38 men and stores, the
capacious ex-bomber was the subject
for several experiments into the new
art of mass-transportation of troops, so
that huo were the subject of trials after
Both theUSAAF andRAF flew theB-24Liberator asVIP transports. The aircraftdepicted here, anLB-308 diverted
fromanRAF order toanearlyUSAAF contract,wasaVlP transportbased atBollingField,Washington, inthe
autumnof 1941.The prominentAmericanflagmarkingwas applied toemphasizeAmerica's neutrality at thattime.
the war to compare the advantages of
matting (on which the men could lie)
with those of conventional seats, But
the design was not without its prob-
lems, such as a weak nose wheel, so
swift had been the C-87's develoP-
ment.
Specification
Consolidated C-87 Liberator
Type: air trooping and cargo transport
Powerplant: four 894,8-kW ( 1,200-hp)
Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp R-1830-43
l4-cylinder air-cooled radial piston
englnes
Performance: maximum speed
435.5 krn/h (270 mph) at 6096 m
(20,000 ft), sewice cerling 9754 m
(32,000 ft); ranse 3683 km (2,290 miles)
Weights:empty 16783 kq (37,000 lb);
maxrmum take-off28123 kg (62,000 lb)
Dimensions: span 33.53 m ( I 10 ft 0 rn); Utilizing the aircraft's long range, command's routes between the UK,
lensth 20,45 m (67 ft I in); heis-ht 5,46 m RAF Transport Command used the Middle East and the Far East,
(17it I I in); wing area 97.55 m2 various versions of the C onsolidated these makeshift transports served
(1,050 sq ft) Liberator, converted for ttooping with the RAF'sNos 46 and 229
Armament:none and statf transport. Flying the Groups.

Waco CG-4A Hadrian

The only US glider to see combat ser-
vice, the Waco CG-4A (known to the
BritGh as the Hadrian and to the Amer-
icans as the Haig) was constructed
from steel tube and wood (covered
with fabric) with a large hinqed nose to
allow the loading and unloading of
light vehicles, although the type could
also be used for the transport of 15 fully
armed troops who travelled seated on
benches along the fuselagte walls,
Developed from the smaller XCG-3,
which seated only nine, the CG-4A, or
Jayhawk' as it was nicknamed, was
produced in large numbers at seveJal
plants, Beech, Boeing, Cessna and
Ford all berng involved, while the sub-
assemblies were the products of often
quite small cabinet-making firms.
Hadrians were first used in an op-
erarion by British and American air-
borne forces, when they were em-
ployed in the prehminary assaults of
1943 which led to the captue of Sicily
during that summer. A second claim to
history was made in July of the same
year when a British-operated Douqlas
Dakota towed one in stages from Mon-
rreal to England in a total flying time of T$ro years ofCG-4 production saw a bers was the CG-154, with span re- Smaller and lighter thanthe British
28 hows over the dlstance of 5633 km total of 12,393 delivered, and several duced to 18.95 m (62 ft 2 in), a revised glider, the American W aco
H ors a
(3,500 miles), A load of vaccines for the thousand of the type were in use in nose and cantrlever landing gear, Hadriancouldcarry 15 troops, a
USSR formed the carqo, 1944 and 1945, not only for the D-Day standardJeep or a75-mm howitzer
A number of expetiments were car- landings, but also for the Rhine cros- Specification and crew.Towed byC-46s and
red out to investigate the possibility of sing, Later, a vast number was taken to WacoCG-4A C-47s, H adrians took part in landings
producing a powered version, and to the Far East as a preliminary to the Tlpe:troop and supply ghder in Sicily, Burma, Normandy, Holland
ris end different engines (including planned rnvasion of Japan; had these Periormance: maximum towinq speed and in the Rhine crossing. A total of
re Frankhn four-cylinder horizontally- been used, 1t seems likely that some 201 km/h (125 mph) l2,393was delivered.
:-oposed tlpe) were tried out, a pair of would have been towed in side-bY- Weights: empty U19 kg(3,790 1b);
ergnnes being fltted to the wing struts, side pairs in the manner reported by maximum take-off 4082 kg (9,000 Ib) 3,85 m(]2 ft7.51n): wingarea83.6l m'
lrcre of these PG variants entered full observers of the D-Day assault, An im- Dimensions:span 25 50 m (83 ft B in); (900 sq ft)
!loduction, proved version built in limited num- length 14,73 m (48 ft 3,75 in); height Armament: none
Operqtion'Pegcrsus'
The landing of large airborne forces in advance of the main D-Day operation had
considerable advantages for the AIIies, spreading confusion among the German
defences and hampering attempts to deal with the main invasion force. But the
assault from the air was a bold gamble.

Allied preparations for the rnvasron of the contr- rl&,.lll:lVl,3

nent of Europe had begun, lt mlght be argued,
soon after the Nazi occupation, but a conve-
nient date somewhat iater may be chosen,
namely that in May 1943 when the Brrtish 6th
1S:ra.i'::i$l;:tll
Airborne Divrsion was formed, But at that trme :ii.!lKlral;;9
there was no chance of very complete training ::lelid:9lld
iprrl.l!rr&r.:
9ia;Slrellllll:

due to the fact that an indispensable part of the

organizatron, No. 38 Wrng of the RAF, was still
in Africa,
Trarnrng was at first slowed by a shortage of
arrcraft, but after a trme glider formations were
slowly increased in size until by November
1943 as many as 40 mrght be involved with thelr
tugs, while methods of marshalling them had
been perfected.
Four months earlier the idea of dropping
paratroops in front of the seaborne invaders in
the Caen-Bayeux area had been evaluated, but
it was considered that lightly-armed para-
troops would be unable to offer serious resist-
ance to lhe enemy's more powerful armour,
Landing zones for gliders were also picked out,
but subsequent photographs showed that
many poles had been set up as obstructrons at pass north east ofthe Channel Islands, Having Dropping from an RAF Dakota on exercise, a
these points and parachute troops were substi- reieased their gliders, the tugs of this force paratooper is having his chute extracted by static
tuted wherever possible, these choosing suit- were to round the eastern extremity of the line (attached to the aircraft) while another exits
able areas for their ghderborne reinforce- Cherbourg peninsula en route for their bases, the aircraft.
ments. A11 the aircraft for these operations were
Naturaliy, as May moved into June 1944 the found by Nos 38 and 46 Transport Groups, The Vice-Marshal Holhnghurst to oversee the path-
question of the weather was of paramount im- flrst of these had 10 squadrons (four with Ar- finder operation, At first all seemed to be going
iportance, Selection of this had to be something strong Whitworth Albemarles, another four well, But over the target, at exactly 00,20.
lcf a compromrse since conditions ideal for wlth Short Stirlings and two wrth the Handley though three of the aircraft made several rure
shrps might not be so for aircraft, and ln this way Page Halifax); five squadrons of Douglas Dako- of the DZ only one stick of men landed correci-
5 June was tentatively chosen, However, the tas made up No. 46.Group, the total number oi ly, Thrs was not all: the vrsual and radar
:crecast for 4 June was unfavourable and a alrcraft involved being 423, All these carried beacons for the lst Canadian Parachute Batta-
Celay of 24 hours was ordered, but condrtions the 'Gee' navigational aid (weIl-tried by Bom- lion were all either lost or damaged, wrth the
,';ere sufficiently questionable that the Nazl ber Command) together wlth 'Rebecca 2', the result that some oi the pathflnders landed r::
-:recasters discounted even 6 June as a prob- short-range homrng device which enabled areas overlapping adjacent zones, Neverthe-
date,
-leParatroops them to maintain communication via the 'Eure- less, there were suificient for the positions
ofthe 3rd and Sth Bngades were ka' beacons that had to be set up by the 22nd eventually to be consolidated,
:: Crop in the eariy hours of D-Day north east of Independent Parachute Company from the Meanwhile, just before 23.02 on the nrght oi -
laen, while others were to take the area in the pathfinder aircraft. In this way accurate homing June a force of six Airspeed Horsa and Halia::
.--:inity of Carentan; gliders meanwhile would on the three dropplng zones was expected, combinations had taken off and climbed to a::
- .o be directed to these areas, The flightpaths altrtude of about 1525 m (5 000 it) in patch,.-
::: the Caen paratroop aircraft crossed the Pathfinderdeparture - cloud, crossing the French coast aboui 0O i3
::glsh coast west of Newhaven, while that of The 22nd IPC took off in six Albemarles from
:= tugs skirted Le Havre almost as far as Harwell at exactly three minutes before mid- The glider troopswere important to the 6th
-.::en before taking a reciprocal course; for
-:-= Carentan force the route lay south west
night on and with the company as the
5 June, Airborne Division; it was primarily the gliders that
aircraft climbed rnto the clear, moon-lit sky carried any heavy equipment assigned to the
::= Weymouth before changing direction to were Squadron Leader Merrick DFC and Air operation.

,-:i il; ::i :!'ii,rjrl. !r--;. l

:::!r,'llii;.4 r::::=I!::l
1:=lil1ir -:r : :' it, li:::li:'.
i-)peration'Peqasus'

l)'47 Skytraims carry aut a massed paratroop drop.

8er:rgr despafcJtedfrom a singJe side daar in the
luselage, slicks af paratraops became exlended
::,,:er a long distance, compaunding problems of
assernbJy on the graund into tight fighting units.

nc,rrs on the foilowing day, therr number now

reduced to five, one having become lost The
trc directed to the bridge over the Caen Canal
randed successfully, Horsa PI'800 wrthrn yards
olthis feature. Here the erpected poles had not
-,'et been erected, but some of the landings
r,r're::e nonetheless rough; however, in a matter
li moments the men were out of the doors
already opened on the frnal run in, and were
rushrnlJ the brrdge, comrng under immecliate
flre as they did so
been the assault that the position
So swrll had
i ras soon taken, but the heavy weapons had.
now to be unloaded from the ghders as quickly
r. possjble srnce d coJn oraheck ',ry3s -na!lL
ab1e, When it came, it was led by three old
French tanks that had been captured earlier in
the war, and one of these was hit and set on fire
burning for rnore than an hour, though the
sound of the exploding ammunttion gave the
men storming the bridge over the Orne a few
hundred yards to the east the impression that a
-lo ongad battlc ,ryas rocinq welcome signal had come over the field radios,
Here too the gliders had landed accurately, one that announced victory at the bridgehead
ihe objective being taken and the posttion con- they were expected to reinforce and one that
solldated The sappers meanwhile made the enabled the men of the 7th Battalton thankfully
surprlsing discovery that neither of the brtdges to discard therr heavy assault boat equipment.
had been mrned by tire enemy. 'Ham and lam' came the code over the crack-
\4eanwhrle the erpected reinforcements ling radio, indicatrng that the bridge was held,
iiom the 7th LiEht Infantry Battalton of the Para- 'Ham and jam' the metallic voice announced as
chule Regimeni had not arrived; they had the men doubled towards therr colleagues'
drifted beyond the Cesiqnated DZ because of a position, 'llam and bloody jaml
srronger than forecast wind, and a number of
nen had been kriled in the air Thus it was that
ihe sound of the regimental cali echoed
through the nrght as a bugler sounded this as a
rallyrng note at regular intervals for the lorce of
Below: An early v'tartime photo shaws C-47-DL Above: Military equipment is laaded aboard C-17s
not more than 200 men, By 02. 15 thrs had Skytrain transports towing Hadrian giiders during at a 9th Traop Carrier Cammand base in 1944.
attracted only about 80 of the men, and the a training exercise in America. Glider pilots AlthouEh the C-47 was widely used as a troap
commander, unsure of therr position had to usually adopted a slightly higher position than transport and paratroop carrier, the difficulty af
until a chance flare plcked out the church
.r,ra.rt illustrated here so as ta avaid the discomfort loadingvehicles Isy sidedaors rnadesuch
at Ranville to serve as a landmark. But by then a caused by the tuEr s sJtpsfream. calgoes,less common.

.. .:::.:-. t-r r.. ! J. ..

 ii#zso
What was to become Nazi Germanys
chief troop glider for a substantial part
of the war years was designed before
]937, when the DFS 230 was demons-
traled to senior oificers who were rm-
pressed by the quick deployment of its
eiqht-man load when the glider land-
ed, having cast off from a Junkers Ju
5U3m aI i000m (3,280 ft), Thus a pro-
duction contract quickly followed,
small glider command beingformed in
the next year.
The DFS 2304-I initial production
model made history on 10 May 1940
when the fort of Eben-Emael on the
strategic perimeter of the Albert Canal
in Belgrum was captured in the early
hours of the mormnq with little resist-
ance after a gliderborne party of
assault engineers had landed on its
roof, Thrs was the first time rn history
that gliders had been used in action
and the sortie was sufficient to prove
that troops delivered to a target in this
way had distinct advantages over pa-
ratroops; both types shared the com-
mon factor of a silent approach, but all
the ghderborne troops were concen-
trated at a single point and wasted no
time in linking up.
However, the major action in which
the DFS 230 was deployed was cer-
tainly that carried out exactly a year
later when Crete was invaded, the
numbers involved being indicated by
the fact that the lead group alone was
made up of 53 of these arrcraft. On the
other hand, the losses sustained were
such that an operation of this type was
never again attempted,
One reason ior the enormous waste
of life and mat6riel had been the small
capacity of the DFS, and reports cur-
rent at the time spoke of trains of up to
m EHh- Go 242and Go
Capable of carryinq either 21 troops
and therr equipment or a mllitary vehi-
cle, the Gotha Go 242 wtlh its capa-
clous central pod and twin booms
offered obvious advantages over the
small DFS 230 in that irs capacity was
somethinq like three times greater.
Early models of both the freighter
(Go 242A-I) and troop (Go 242A-2)
vetsions appeared with rather crude
landing gears but 1942, the year when
ihe flrst examples were enterrng ser-
'nce, saw the introduction of a more
reflned landing gear with sprung oleo
-:gs at each srde (Go 2428-2). Addl
::nally, the Gotha was the subject of
:.rls of varrous rocker unts to assist
:a-ke-off and was developed as the Go
2428-2 and Go 2428-3 paratroop ver-
:-:ns with a large loading door at the
::ar, while the Go 242C version had a
:':l1and floats so that landings on water
',';:re possible,
Some I 500 Go 242were delivered
::: first operational use of these being
:-:Ce in the Middle East, but of this
.::a1 133 were convefied to Go 244
.- andard.
This was a powered ghder versron
,'.rth tricycle landing qear and two en-
ines mounted on forward extensions
:: the tail booms the fust examples of
-.'- .
type being delrvered lo operation-
=- ;::lts rn Crete and Greece in March
,:-2 Scme also formed the equipment
-- :=:sport Gesc,hrurader in the Middle
:=. ::d southern USSR, but on the
- r:-:r ront they proved vulnerable to
-: - =,::laft fire and were withdrawn,
a
Above: First assault glider used by
any air forcewas the DFS 230A, of
which this examplewas allocated tol
Gruppe, Luftlandgeschwader I for
the invasion otCrete in 1941.Though
smallin size, theDFS 230Acould
carry l0 troops and 275 kg(606 [b) of
military equipment.
sx gliders beinq towed by a sinqle
Junkers Ju 52l3m, although the usual
number was two or three. The DFS
2308-I was srmilar to the DFS 2304-1
but for a brakinq parachute and provi-
sion for defensive armament.
DFS gliders were also used in North
Africa, but probably the most lnterest-
ing operation rn which they were In-
volved was the rescue of the rmpris-
oned Mussolini from the Rifugio Hotel,
Abruzzt by a party dropped from 12
DFS 230C-1 ghders (each with three Performance: maxrmum towing speed The German eightman DFS 230A
braking rockets in the nose), the Italtan 210 km/h (i30 mph) glider featured in the first-ever
dicrator then berng flown out tn a Weights: empty 860 kg (1,896 lb); assault by glider- borne troops when
Fieseler Storch, A later version, the maximumtake-offZ100 kq(4 630 ib) 4 1 of these aircraft carried some 300
DFS 230F-I, had a capacity of 15 men Dimensions: span 20,87 (68 ft 5.7 in); member s of S turm- Abte i lung K och
but rt was not produced in numbers. Jengrhll.24m(36 lt l05in'): heighr into action against Fort Eben-Emael
2.74m(B ft ll9 rn).wingarea4l.3m and other key targets inBelgium on
Specification (444,56 sq ft) 1 0 May 1 940. The DFS 230A also
DFS 23OA-I participated in the costly invasion of
Type: troop ghder Crete.
244
:-l The Gotha Go 2448 was a powered
version of the Go 242 glider, the
example shown carrying the insigmia
of 4. Staffel, KGrzbV I 06, early in I 943
in the Mediterranean theatre. The
aircraft saw limited service in the
Balkans and among the Aegean is/ands
being replaced by Junkers Ju 52l3m or range 740 km (460 miles) 4.70 m ( 15 ft 5 in); winq area 64.4 m2
Messerschmitt Me 323 transports, Weights:empty 5100 kg (11,244 lb); (693,2 sq ft)
Although the engrrnes of most Go maximum take-off7800 kq (17, 196 lb) Armament: iour manually-operated
244s were of French oriqdn, some cap- Dimensions: span 24,50 m (BO ft 4. 6 in); 7. 92-mm (0,3 12'in) MG34 machine-
tured Soviet engines were tded, and lenqth 15.80 m (51 ft 10 in); heisht guns
plans were submitted for nose-
mounled single-eng)ne versions pow- Capable of lifting a standard ifever-usedfor assault, theGo 242
ered by the Argus As lOC or Junkers Kibelwagen or 2 I fully-armed was, however, employed on the
Jumo 2ll. Olher developments in. troops, the Gotha Go 242 was Eastern Front, the Balkans, Sicily and
cluded a pair desiqnated Go 245 which Germany's most-used glider, more theWestern Desert in suppott of the
would have had Argus pulsejets than I ,500 being produced. Seldom - Wehrmacht in the field.
mounted under the wings and a con-
ventional fuselage
Specification
Gotha 2448
Type: transport
Powerplant: two 850, i-kW (1,140-hp)
Gnome-Rh6ne 14N 14-cylinder air-
cooled radial piston engines
Performance: maxrmum speed
290 km/h (180 mph) at 3OO0 m (9 843 ft);
sewice ceiling 7500 m (24,607 ft);
 GERMANY

Heinkel He I I IH and He 11IZ

Originally built as a bomber and used
as a civil transpofl, the Siegfried and
Walter Giinther Heinkel He I I I design
is better known as a bomber, so it is
something of a surprise to learn that
wtth the development of the special
transport matters had come full circle,
The designation of thrs varrant was
He lllH-20/Rl, which was burlt from
the outset as a paratroop transport with
accommodation for i6 men, and as
such had a ventral jump hatch and ex-
ternal racks ior turo Bbo-t<g (1 764-lb)
supply containers, Similar to this type
was the He IllH-20/R2, the glider tug riA9r9till4l9rr?atrg
version, although it was also capable of
employment as a freighter. Armament
included an electrically-operated dor-
sal turret with a 13-mm (0,5l-in) MG131
machine-gmn.
The sufflx of these designations indi- motor, so that a span of 35 20 m (i 15 ft Specification O ne of the w ar's slrangesf
cated that the necessary chanqes 5,8 in) resulted, as did a loaded werght HeinkelHe l1lH-16,fr. expedients was the Heinkel He I I lZ
were carrred out by means of RLisl- of 28500 kq (62,832 lb). The task for this Type: ghder tuq and paratroop (Zwilling, or Twin), consistin| of two
sdlze, or standard equipment sets, and model was to tow the huge Messer- transport He 1 I ls joined together with a new
thrs is also true of the earlier He I I IH- schmitt Me 321 glider, or even three Powerplant: tlvo 1006,7-kW (1,350-hp) centre wing section and a fifth
I6/R2, which was fltted with boom{ype Golha Go 242s, alihough the maxrmum JunkersJumo 21 1F-2 12-cyhnder engine. The Z- I glider-tug saw
ghder{owing qear rn the rear of the speed possible when this was done liquid-cooled prston engrnes limited service behind the Eastqrn
fuselaqte, Other conversions were the was a mere 225krn/h (140 mph), Performance: maximum speed Front, capable of towing the huge
He IIIH-ll,rR2 glider tug, and the He Hisrorically the Hernkel transport is 400 km/h (249 mph) at 6000 m Me 32 I or three Go 242 gliders.
IIIH-23 for eight paratroops. of interest in that the type was re- (19,685 ft); sewiceceiling6T00 m
Yet probably the strangest version sponsible for one of the last paratroop (21,982 ft); range 1950 km(1,2l2miles)
of the basic He 1 11 design was that operations of the war. This took place Weights: empty BOB0 kq (19, 136 Ib); (942,9 sq ft)
which became known as the He lllZ- when aircraft ofTGr 30 based at Gross- maximum take-off 14000 kq (30,865 lb) Armament: one 13-mm (0, 5 I -in)
I, consisting of two He 1 1 lH airframes ostheim dropped men behind the Dimensions: span22.6a m (74 ft 1.8 in); MG I in electrically-operated dorsal
13
loined by a special centre section con- Allied lines in 1944 during the battle oi length 17 50 m (57 lt 5 in) herght 4,40 m turret, and one 20-mm MG FF cannon
taining a flfth Jumo liquid-cooled the Ardennes. (14 ft5.2 in): wrngareaBT.6 mz in nose

m iffir"rschmitt Me 32I and Me 323

Malong rts first flight in March 1941
behrnd a Junkers Ju 90 tug, the Mes-
serschmitt Me 321 (a massive welded
steel and wood glider with mixed ply
and fabrrc covering) had surprrsingly
only one prlot on board, a man of suf-
ficient stature to use the controls by
physical means alone since there was
no power assistance, although later
three crew members became the
accepted complement,
Desigmed to transpofi a company of
soldiers, or an anti-aircraft gmn, or a
tracked vehicle or the equivalent
werght of freight, the Me 32IA initial
version was supported on the ground
by a multi-wheel bogie at each side,
although in the later Me 32lB a more
conventional type with two larqe-
drameter wheels was adopted, Even
qnth a tow provided by means of three
Messerschmitt Bf I lOs or one Hernkel
He i112, there was often insulficient
power to [ft the huge glider off the
ground, so auxiliary rockets were pro-
vided. Trials were also made with
pulsejets to increase range after re-
lease from the tow,
This problem led to the evolution of
the similar Me 323D 'powered glider'
senes with sx piston engdnes and a
sultably-strengthened airframe,
although the prototype was fltted with
:n1y four motors, Structurally similar to
::e earlier design, all the powered
-,-ariarts retained the clamshell doors
-r ihe nose and revefied to the boqde
landhg grear, and in this form the type
-ras capable ofproviding transport for
: mrnimum of 130 troops and a crew
-,';-tich was now increased to five on the
Me 323D-6 variant which appeared in
le:ember 1942, The additional mem-
i:ers were a pair of engineers to look
:ier the problem of engine synchro-
:rarcn, while in the later Me 323E-I
;:rs1on with engines of increased
power thrs number was augmented by The six-engineMe 323 transport normally carriedup to about 120 troops,
a further pair of men to operate an thoughinemergencies about 200 could be crammed in.The aircraft herewas
extra two gun turrets, anMe 323E with a defensive armamentof six machine-guns and two 20-mm
Production was planned lo contmue cannon,
into i945, but it in fact ceased in the
spring of the previous year when less
than 200 examples had been delivered
of the powered type, a design which
(1ike its predecessor) was understand-
ably unpopular with those who had to
fly it and which proved devastatingly
lulnerable to flghter interceptron.
Specification
Messerschmitt Me 323D-6
Type: healry transport
Powerplant: six 850, I-kW (1,140-hp)
Gnome-Rh6ne I 4N 14-cylinder air-
cooled radial piston engdnes
Performance: maximum speed
2BS kn/h ( 177 mph) at sea level; range
1100 km (684 miles)
Weishts: empty 27330 kg (60,252 lb);
maximum take-off43000 kq (94,799 lb)
Dimensions:span 55.00 m (180 ft -1
5,4 in); lenqrth 28. 15 m (92 ft 4.3 in);
heightB.30 ml27 fi2 B in; wingarea
300 m'z(3,229.3 sq ft)
Armament: varied, but frequently
consisted of amaximum of 10 7,92-mm Born of desperation, the huge six- reinforcements behind the Eastern
(0.312-in) MG34 or 42 machrne-guns engine Messerschmitt Me 323 Front. When indeed they were used
aimed through the sides of the transportwas never intended for to support the doomed Axis torces in
fuselagre, and five of srmilar calibre in fr ont- Iine s ewice, be ing e m ploye d Tunisia in 1943 they were decimated
the nose and upper fuselaeie for movement ofsupplres and byAllied fighters over the sea.

--a:
 lron Anniq The Ju 52
in Action
SIow but extremely tough, the J unkers J u 5 2/ 3m was by far the most important
transport operated by the Luftwaffe, and when Germany first deployed her airborne
forces it was the old 'lron Annie' that carried them into action'
It had many names, the brg, comparativeiy
lumbering trr-motor monopiane with the corru-
gated skin: Tante Ju (Aunt Junkers), Iron Annie
or just Pava (turkey), but whatever it was cal-
led, rt rs certainly true that its story is insepar-
able from the hrstory of World War IL
A hiqh proportron of the 1,600 aircraft that
took part in the invasion of Poland in Operation
'Weiss' (white), when the first Nazi forces cros-
sed the frontier without the formahty of a dec-
laration of war on 1 September 1939, were
lunkers 52s, But these machines were em-
ployed entlreiy as troop carrters and, vulner-
able targets as they seemed to the defenders,
the sheer weight of their numbers ensured
success aqainst an arr force that could muster a
total of oniy 400 arrcraft of all types.
It was 1eft, therefore, until Operation'Weser-
iibung' (Weser crossing), the tnvasion of Den-
mark and Norway at the beginning of April in
the following year, to see the first proposed use
of the Junkers 52 (an inaccurate but accepted
generic term for the Ju 573m) as a carrier of
paratroops. Previously, thrs branch ofthe Nazi
armed forces had been the subject ofconsider-
able propaganda, a large number of photo-
graphs having been issued to show men in
training, Oddly enough, some countries where
these were circulated chose to believe that
:hey illustrated aircrew practising escape
-:_ -hri ar rac
-!!!qqvJ.
had been earmarked for the invasion, were
forced to land while it was stlll in Norwegian
hands. Thus the first operation of World War II
to see the successful use of paratroops drop-
ped from the Junkers 52 was the assault on
Stavanger-Sola Airport.
Further pioneer work for the Ju 52 followed a
little later when in the following month orders
were received to launch Operation'Gelb' (ye]-
low), the invasion of the Low Countries and
France, Itwas 04,34 onthe morningof Friday 10
May when 41 of the type started to take off,
each with a DFS 230 glider in tow, the first use
of troops delivered by this means in htstory.
That this attack was successful may be judged
from the fact that when the men from the surviv-
ing nine of the I I gliders that had set out finally
landed, they found that therr task of de-
mohshrng the outer fortlfications of the Belgian
fortress of Eben-Emael met llttle resistance, so
bewildered were the defenders,
junkers 52s used as glider tugs for sorties of
thrs type flew without any additional internal
load, and formated in the traditional 'vic' pat-
tern at about I75 km/h (109 mph) Their gliders
were at the end of a tow rope between 60 and
120 m (197 and 394 ft) in length. Released at an
altitude of perhaps 3000 m (9 843 ft) a DFS 230
was quite capable of coverrng about 55 km (34
miles) in the right conditions, before finally
touching down at about 65 kn/h (40 mph) for a
landing run that might be as short as 20 m

- re German use of paratroops in Scandina-

-,ra was most carefully planned, and on paper
seemed to illustrate the ideal operation of its
kind: first, Ju 52s of 5, and 6,KGrzbV I (the Sth
and 6th Sta-ffe1n of the Ist transport Geschwad'
er) were to drop men of t/FlR I to capture
Fornebu Airport at Oslo and these, once the
objectrve had been secured, were to be rein-
forced by more men asJunkers transports lrom
KGrzbV 103 landed to drsgorge troops from
IYIR 324
In the event, it was the weather which defe-
ated the first assault by paratroops: conditions
deteriorated so far that no air drop could be
made, Ieaving it to subsequent men to take the
airport where the Junkers aircraft, of whrch 573
(66 ft) To achieve this latter feat it was not
uncommon for barbed wire to be bound about
the landrng skid to act as a crude brake.
The military load that a Ju Sz-hauled ol!]]gh
occasions was a maxlmum of about 1065 kg
(2,348 lb) made up perhaps of a mortar with its
crew and ammunition, and a rifleman-pilot plus
one other and a handcart; or nine soldiers with
some 3,000 rounds of ammunition and a field
radio; or a machine-gun with its crew and The Luftwaffe's universal transportwas the thr*-
ammunition, and four riflemen with their engine Junkers Ju 52/ 3m, affectionately l<nown as
weapons and antt-tank grenades, TanteJu ('AuntieJunkers'). Such an aircraft, almost
Qulte rightly, the iunkers 52 has become certainly hit by Soviet ground fire, t's seen here
synonymous with German airborne assault op- moments before crashing in front of Wehrmacht
erations, since it was used for these almost to troops in the frozen hell ofStalingrad.

I
;
gI i""i."tt Ju 52l3m
I
The first version of what was to be- such numbers that all but a handful of The Ju 5?3m g9e entered production Tlpe: glider tug, parachute ard
t come one of the most famous transpofi the troop carriers enqaged in the first in1942, and for the first time the basic general transport
,| arrcraft in history made its maiden operations against Poland were of this design was fitted with a grlider-towingr Powe$lant: three 6 18, 9-kW (830-li.
flight in 1930 as a srnqle-engine design type, hook during manufacture, although a BMW 32T-2 9-cylinder air-coolei
1

krown as the Junkers Ju 52, and it was
cnly after the number of motors was
,ncreased that the suffix indicating the
modiflcation was added to tndicate the
52l3m,
=i-motor Ju
In 1934 the flrst military version
appeared as the Ju 5Z3m g3e, and
.r'iough these were intended as bom-
: :s rhey were pressed inio service as
=
r::p transpofis on the Nationalist side
:- -:-: Spanish Civil War for the move-
:,::: into Southern Spain of 10,000
r::ps rom Morocco, Five years after
:-= -s: Lufftvaffe variant had been in-
--:r:=d the was in servtce in
type
Probably the most important variant
was the Ju 52/3m g7e with its widened
doors to admlt 18 fully-equtpped
troops, but when this was followed on
the production lines by the Ju 52l3m
g8e there proved to be only small dif-
ferences such as 633.8-kW (850-hp)
BMW 1322 enqrnes as an alternative,
armament includingr a l3-mm (0,5l-in)
defensle gmn in the dorsal position
and unspatted wheels, The wheel
spats had usually been discarded on
earlier versrons tn sewice srnce they
tended to flll with mud and so add con-
siderably to maintenance problems.
large number had previously been
similarly equipped at station level,
With the fuselagre constructed about
four longterons with transverse chan-
nel-section frames under the patent
skinning, 'lron Annie' was of remark-
ably robust construction, Consequent-
ly, it was well suited to the hazardous
task of setting men down in concen-
trated groups in a wide variety of battle
areas, as well as dropping sticks of 12
paratroops.
Specification
Junkerslu 5?3m s?e
radial piston englnes
Performance: maximum speed
270 km/h (168 mph) at 2750 m
(9,022 ft); service ceilingr 5500 m
(18,045 ft); range 1280 lrn (795 rmles
Weights: empty 65 10 kq (14, 352 Ur.
':
maximum take-off 10500 kq (23 U3
Dimensions:span 29,25 m (95 ft
11.6 in) Iensth 18.90 m(62 ft0 r.
heiqht 450 m (14 ft 9.2 rn): wt-r;:::=
110,5 m'zt1,189.45 sq ft)
Armament: usually three 7.92-=::-
(0. 3 I 2-in) MG I 5 machrne-qu:s ::-: :-
the dorsal posliion and one a:
==-::.
srde, aimed through the w::-c:','.'.
Iron Annie: TheJu 52 in Action

Total productionof theJunkersJu 52/3m in

G ermany was 4,835, or roughly half that of the
Anterican DC-3/ C -47 series. Characterized by the
strange corrugated skinning, the ubiquitous
'AuntieJunkers'was simple to lly and robust,
although its warload - usually about 4 I 00 1<g
(9 ,000 [b)
- was puny in relation to the demands of
the Wehrmacht in the appalling situations existing
in Tunisia, and at Demyansk and Stalingrad. The
atcraft depictedhere, aJu 52/3m g7e, carries the
markings of Kampfgeschwader zur besonderen
Verwendung 1 - Special Operations Wing, later
Transportgeschwader I - the Luftwaffe's first
tasked transport wing, whose component units
took part in the invasions of Norway, Holland,
Belgium, France and Crete. The aircraft, of 2.
Staffel, KGzbV I, was based atMilos,Greece, in
M ay I 9 4 1 in re adines s for the airborne ass ault on
Crete.
Iron Annie: The Ju 52 in Action

Ea:ryJu 52l3ms served in the

Sp'anish Civil War , not only
r:Ji theGermanLegion
_*#
C.or:.dor but with the Spanish
)ti aion aJis t Air F or ce ; the
a;rc:raft shown here, with
|5ustbin' ventral gan position
ra:sed, carrred the insignia of
tteGrupo de Bombardeo
Nocturno I-G-22.

'.= of other transport types, and no-

=rclusion
m:-ere is this more true than durlng the invasion
:: lrele, a massive air operation which in-
;:--,'eci a veritable armada which included reduced to about 160 kn,/h (99 mph) before the oured containersofabout 136 kg (300 lb) each.
:-=ar.y 500 Junkers lu 5213m aircraft together signal was given for the men to lump. Thts they in these were such items as rifles, mortars,
-r;-': :nore than 80 DFS 230 gliders. did via the door on the port side, their canopies machine-guns and ammunition, Lrght anti-
ij:hough often regarded as a textbook berng deployed by static iines which pul1ed aircraft gmns, anti{ank guns and 7.5-cm (2,95-
'-:-ieriaking, Operatlon'Merkur' (Mercury) the bags away. in) infantry gtuns were meanwhiie dropped by
-*r
=s rn fact something less than rdeal, for Junk- Principal equipment of these men, who were other Ju 52s with the assistance of three or four
e:s -rarsports returning from the delivery of found by Luftwaffe units in nearly all cases parachutes per package.
-:e irsi wave (in which seven aircraft had been (army troops being used for airJanding opera- An important development of the Junkers
,:s.,) were hampered when ianding in heavy tions), consisted of a 9-mm (0.354-in) Luger design was the lu52/3m g7e with an autopilot
j-.:s'which obscured the pllots' vrew, A little prstol (with two additionai 8-round magazines), and three 7,92-mm (031-in) defensive guns,
'.:=r -}le second attack scheduled for 13,00, to although the men forming advance parties wider cabin doors and accommodation for 18
i:p parachute troops on Retimo and Herak-
-':r often carried grenades and sub-machine guns. fully-equlpped troops, but plans to replace the
'lron Annie' with the Ju 352 Herkules came to
was deiayed so that it continued late into Simultaneously with therr drop, the Junkers
-:e aftemoon and about a quarter of all the men transports would release four brightly col- little, and the elderly tri-motor was still ln action
i:pped became casualties.
Assar:lts such as this were carrred out by
:-i.ndual aircraft carrying 12 men each, so that Junkers Ju 5213m.ge cutaway drawing key
of I44 paratroops required a S/affel
=Kcmpanie
:: a dozen aircraft, The dropping technique Starboard navigatlon llght
-;;:s for the Junkers to approach in vics ol three Drooplng alleron section ol
Junkers 'double wing'
.:2.i0 kntr (149 mph) finally closing formation Ai eron hlnge fairings
:: a distance of some 55 m (180 ft) apart before Control inkage
UndeMing inspectlon
-:s:rg herght to 120 m (394 ft) Speed was then 6
panels
Cotrugatedwngskin
7 Aerialmast
I
Wing strut diagonal bracLng
I
Starboardoi fi lercap
10 House f lag mast
11 Starboardenginecowing
(NACA cowllng)
l2 Junkersmetaltwo-bade
propel er
l3 CentreBMW l32Arada
engine (in Townend ring)
14 Exhaust
15 Filterintakes
1 6 Englne bearers
1 7 Bulkhead
TB Centreoiltank
Tg Oilfillercap

The red collar patch on this Feldwebel's uniform

indicates that he is a parachute artilleryman. He
and his fellow paratoopers are probably near
Naruik during the operation to relieve German
forces there in early I 940.
Ju 52/ 3m g7e of Stab IV/TG I -
formerly KG zbV I - in markings
worn during the finalwinter of the
wan in this instance on the Courland
F ront. I n accotd ance with H itler's
or der s, units of the We hrmacht
fought to the deathwhen encircled
by the Soviet armies, and J u 5 2 / 3ms
were frequently called upon to
parachute supplies to the
surrounded troops.

when the end came in 1945 Of these many

were to be found wrth floats replacing their
wheeled landlng gear, their numbers being
sufficlent for the captured Fokker works in the
Netherlands to be given over to the production
ofpontoons suitable for the Junkers transports
used rn the hazardous taskofairJanding opera-
tions on suitable stretches of water, operations
that occasionally brought casualties (lost or
damaged) as high as 79 per cent.

zop
20 Flatwindscreen panels 54 Sinqle-seatcabln
21 Co-pilot'sseat arrangement i1 7
22 Radio-operator's jump- maxlmum)
seat 55 Upperfuselage ongeron
23 Pilot'sseat 56 Luggage rack
24 Controlcolumn 57 Ceiling lights
25 Rudderpedals 58 Aerial
26 Raised cockpitfloorlevel 59 lwo-seatrearbench
27 Controllinkage 60 Passengerentrydoor
2B Controllines 61 Underfloorcontrol lines
29 PortBMWT32Aradial 62 Entryvestlbule
engine (ln NACA cowling) 63 Entrystepsattachment
30 BulLhead 64 Toilet compartment
31 Englnebearers 65 Rearcabin bulkhead
32 Engineolltank 66 Cabinventi ation
33 Oi fillercap 67 Cargocompartment
34 Fuelfillercap 68 Luggage loadlng hatch
35 Malnwheel support strut 69 Baggage shelves
36 Malnwheelspat 70 Aftfuselageframes
37 Exhaust 71 lnspectlonwalkway
38 Port mainwheel 72 Lowerfuselagelongeron
39 Corrugatedwingskln 73 Fuselageconstruction
40 Multl-sparwlng structure 74 Controllines
41 Diagonal cross brace 75 Rearfuselageframe
members 76 Fin/fuse ageattachment
42 Pitothead 77 Tai skid spring
43 Portnavlgatlon llght 78 Tai skid
44 Droopingaileron sectionol 79 Porttailplane structure
Junkers'doub ewing' B0 Portelevator
45 Alleron hlnge fairings B'1 Lower rudder hinge
46 Trimtab 82 Contro llnkacle
47 Tabcontrol 83 Multl-spartailplane
48 Controlruns constructlon
49 lnner sectlon trai ing-edge 84 Elevatorcorrugated skin
flap 85 Finconstruction
50 Controllinkage BO Ruddercontrol linkaqe
51 Portwingfue tanks 87 Rudderpost
52 Fuse age/wingba land- BB Rudderstructure
socket attachment points Bg Corrugated skin
53 Centreaise 90 Rear navlgation liqht

@ Pilot Press Limited

1773
f Savoia-Vfarchetti S.M.8t Pipistrello
After ltaly's surrender to the Allies in
S eptember I 943, elements of the
Italian air force continued to sewe
alongside the Luftwaffe. This Savoia-
M archetti 5.M.8 I of the Gruppo
Trasporti'Terraciano', Republica
Sociale Italiana, carried Luftwaffe
markings on.the EasternFront in
1944.

Like the larger Junkers Ju 52/3m which

it resembled, the Savoia-Marchetti
S.M.8l Pipistrello (bat) had originally
been designed as a bomber, the work
of Alessandro Marchetti, and as such
had seen service in both the Spanish
and Abyssinian wars; also like the Ger-
man design it had its root in civrl avra-
tron, being based on the S.M.73, which
also had a f,xed landing gear arrange-
ment,
Dating as it did from 1935, the S. M B I
was already sufferingr a degree of
obsolescence when Italy entered
World War II, so that despite the
robust mixed construction which
proved capable of absorbing much
battle damage, it was rapidly replaced
as a bomber by the S,M,79, production
having ceased in March 1938 after 534
had been delivered; the 304 which re-
mained on the strength of the Regia
Aeronautica were convefied to troop
carriers (18 men) after withdrawal
from frontline squadriglie.
In this capacity, the S, M,B I was rele-
erated to service on the African and
Eastern fronts, where it proved suf-
ficiently useful for production to be re-
sumed in 1943 of the version which by
then had been designated S.M.8I/T.
However, rhe coming ol the armisrice
with the Allies in September 1943
meant that only about B0 of these addi-
tional aircraft were built, and only four
remalned in the south by this trme
although no less than two complete
transport unrts were still equipped
with the type rn the 'Sal6' Republic of
Italy (Fascist-controlled northern lta-
ly). An interestrngr historical fact is that
one transpod model of the S.M,BI was
Iater used as the personal transport of
Mussolini, a specimen that received
the rnappropriate name Taratuga (Ior-
toise),
A variety of different radial motors
was fitted including the 484,7-kW
(650-hp) or 507,1-kW (680-hp) Alfa
Romeo 125 RC.35 or 126 RC.34 respec-
tively, the 484,7-kW (650'hp) Gnome-
Rh6ne 14K o'r rhe 499,6-kW (670-hp)
Piaqsio P.X RC,35,
Specification
Savoia-Marchetti S.M.8 I/T Weights:empty 5800 kq (12,787 lb); The I talian S avoia-M archetti 5.M.8 I
Type: troop transport maximum take-off 10500 kq (23, 149 lb) 'Pipistrello' sewed both as a bomber
Powerplant: three 499. 6-kW (670-hp) Dimensions: span 24.00 m (78 ft 8.9 in); and a troop transport. In the latter
Pragqio P.X RC.35 9-cylinder air- length 17 BO m (58 ft 4.8 in); heisht role aircraft ofthe 37'Stormo took
cooled radial piston enqines 4 45 m (14 ft 7,2 in); winqarea 92 B0 m2 part in the 1 939 invasion of Albania;
Performance: maximum speed (998,9 sq ft) dubbed Lumace ('slugs') on account
340 km/h (211 mph) at i000 m Armament: five 7,7-mm (0.303-rn) of theirvery lowspeed, they also
(3,281 ft); servrce ceiling 7000 m Breda-SAFAT machrne-guns took partin the Axis evacuation of
(22,966 m); ranse 2000 km (1,243 miles) Tunisiain 1943.

>K Rirrp""d Horsa

It was December 1940 when the de-
sign staff of the Airspeed Company at
London Colney received Specificatron
X,26/40 calling for a type capable of
taking 25 soldiers with their equipment
ia a glider with a wing span greater
than that of a Wel[nqton bomber. Ab-
out 11 months later one of a parr of
Airspeed Horsa prototypes was towed
off from Fairey's Great West Aerod-
rome, later incorporated into lrondon
Airport, by an Armstrong Whrhrrorth
Whitley. Simultaneously, five more
were beinq put together at Portsmouth
to facilitate triai loading of military
vehicles.
Tfto types of glider were evolved,
the Horsa Mk I with a hinqed door-
ramp on the port side and towed by a
Y tow rope, and the Horsa Mk II with a
single cable and a hinged nose to
facilitate the loading of light gmns etc,
Being made almost entirely of wood,
the Horsa could be manufactured quite apparently to enemy action. A short capacity being greater than that of the Runway scene in Britain in 1944 as
simply by the furmture industry, the time later the type received its bapt- Hadrian, many Horsas went for use by Stirling Mk IVs start their take-offs
well-krown firm of Harris Lebus pro- ism of fire during the invasion of Sicily: US forces, although these continued to with Horsa gliders in tow -
ducing the majority, although the Au- of 137 Waco Hadrian and Horsa qliders be towed into actlon by British tugs, resplendent in their black and white
stin Motor Company produced a despatched, oniy 12 reached therr cor- Wheels, although able to be jettisoned, 'invasion stripes'. The Horsa Mk II
quantity. The parent flrm was re- rect landing zones, and 10 of these were largely retained in action, had a hinged nose for ease of loading.
sponsible for a mere 700, the only Hor- were Horsas. About a year later Horsas
sas built, assembled and tested on a were in use dunng the D-Day invasion, Specification Weights: empty 3402 kg (7,500 lb);
sngle site, The overall total was 3,633. and were employed in subsequent ac- Airspeed Horsa Mk II maximumtake-off6917 kg (15,250 lb)
One of the first uses of the Horsa was tions, including that at Arnhem when Type: troop and general transport Dimensions: span26,BZ m (BB ft 0 in);
when 30 were towed in daylight to about 600 were operated, glider IenEh20.42 m (67 ft O in); heislt 6.40 m
Nonh Africa from the UK, and of this On occasions such as these 20 men Performance: maximum towing speed (21 ft 0 in); wrng area 106 65 m'
total only three were lost, one alone per aircraft were carried. The Horsa's 161 km/h (100 mph) (1, i4B sq ft)

:774

ffi Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle
3ngnnally a Bristol design for a recon-
:-arssance bomber with Taurus motors,
re Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle
,vas transferred from its parent orQla-
:lzation. When the prototype flrst flew
:n 20 March 1940 it was something of a
:roneer in that not only did it incorpo-
:ate composite steel and wood con-
sluction, which would have facilitated
ride sub-contracting, but it also
boasted a tricycle landing qear, an
:rangement not hitherto used in the
UK on a production design.
Delivery of the flrst examples was
siow, not begrinning until October 194 l,
-:e first 42 Albemarle Mk I aircraft
Jcne being completed as bombers
and subsequently converted, the re-
::arning 558 Albemarles being pro-
irced as special transports and glider
:,igs, Manufacture was entirely sub-
l3nfracted outside the aircraft indus-
:-y, flna1 assembly being undertaken at
: plant set up at Gloucester by Hawker
Siddeley wlth the name of A,W,
:{awksley Ltd,
Before December 1944 when pro-
luction ceased, a total of247 had been
ielivered as tugs (Albemarle Mk V
and Albemarle Mk VI for the most
part), the first RAF squadron to receive
-ne type being No, 295 in January 1943,
h fell to another squadron, No. 297, to
-:se the type flrst in action, when in
July
i943 they towed gliders at lhe tnvasion
rf Sicily in company with those of No,
296,
An exarnple of the special transpofi
role of the Albemarle Mk II and Albe-
marle Mk VI took place during the D-
Day landings in June 1944: on this occa-
sion six Albemarles acted as path-
inders dropping men of the 22nd In-
Cependent Parachute Company,
However, the type acted chiefly as a
Transport and Assault Aircraft of World War II
glider tug, four Albemarle squadrons This Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle MkV of No. 297 Squadron was
taking Airspeed Horsas to France, employed in the invasion of Sicily inJuly 1943. A generally unpopular airczaft
while in September two squadrons among bothaircrew and passengers, itwas unusual among British'dest-EmeC
from No, 38 Group took the ghders of wartime aircraft in being fitted with a tricycle landing gear.
the lst Airborne Division to Arnhem.
But probably the most abiding mem-
ory of the type is the pall of smoke in
which they taxied on return, caused by
the overheatinq engines having to
supply high power at low speed,
Specification
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle
MKII
Type: glider-tug and special transport
Powerplant: two I 185,7-kW (1,590-hp)
Bristol Hercules XI 14-cylinder radial
air-cooled piston engines
Performance: maximum speed
4l2krt)/h(256 mph) at 3200 m
(10,500 ft); service cei[ng 5486 m
(18,000 ft); ranse 2I73 km (I,350 miles)
Weights: empty 10251 kq (22,600 1b);
maximum take-off 16556 kg (36,500 lb)
Dimensions: span23.47 m (77 ft 0 in);
length 18.26 m(59 fi I1 in): height
4.75 m(15 ft7 in); wingarea74 65 m'
(803,6 sq ft) The Albemarle, of largelywooden Squadron, RAF,, in J anuary I 943 and,
Armament: two 7, 7-mm (0, 303-in) construction, having failed to find as aglider tug towingHorsas, took
manually-operated Vickers'K' favour as a bomber, entered service part in the landings in Sicily,
machine-guns as a transportwithNo. 295 Normandy and Arnhem.

Armstrong Whitworth WhitleY

ihe first glider-tug and paratroop
:ainer had been an Armstrong Whit-
worth Whitley Mk II used bY No, i
Parachute Training School at Ringway
l the summer of 1940. The drops were
:eade from a platform in Place of the
:ear turret, although exit was later
nade via the ventral turet aperture,
and the aircraft made a strange slght
',nth its landing gear lowered to re-
Cuce speed on practice runs.
lrritral use of the type in airborne
action was when Whitley Mk V aircraft
xere used in the first British paratroop
action, the abortive operation 'Col-
cssus' of 10 February 1941 when an
attempt was made to destroY the
-..iaducts at Tragtno, Campaqna, which
had their rear turrets removed, leaving
the positron open, and Whitleys in this
conflgruration were a common siqht
over the Oxfordshire countrysrde and
elsewhere, the former being those
which operated with Airspeed Horsas
from Brize Norton wrth No. 21 Healry
Glider Conversion Unit.
In June 1943 the last Whitley from a
total of I,814 was delivered by the pa-
rent company, 1,466 being of the Whit-
ley Mk V model distinguished bY a
38.1-cm (1S-in) increase to the fuselage
length and strarght leading edqes to
the flns.
However, nol all airborne verslons
were used for their intended role, it The venerableWhitley, veteran of airborne landing at Bruneval on 27
beinq on record that the summer of ear Iy w ar time bombing missions, F ebruary 1 942, I 2 Whitleys from

rould have cut the supply of all water
:o southern ltaly.
The second paratroop action involv-
ng the Whitley was that led bY Winq
Commander P.C. Pickering against
Nazi radar installations at Bruneval on
:he night of 27/28 February 1942, the
atcraft rn this case being found by No,
-1 Squadron,
Used only for traimng was the Whit-
,ey glider-tug, For this use the aircraft
1943 saw some tugts pressed into ser-
vice to drop leaflets over the Low
Countries after a flight from Thruxtonl
Specification
Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V
Type: glider{ug trainer and paratroop
transport
Powerplant: two 853, B-kW ( 1, 145-hp)
Rolls-Royce Merlin X 12-cyhnder Vee
was employed trom 1941 as a troop
transport. I n Operation'B iting', the
liquid-cooled piston engines
Performance: maximum speed
357 Urn/h(222 mph) at 5lB2 m
(17,000 ft): service ceiling 5364 m
(17,600 ft); ranse 2655 km (1,650 miles)
Weights:empty 8768 kq (19,330 lb);
maximum take-off 15195 kq (33 500 Ib)
Thruxton dropped I 19 paratroops
round the German radar station.
Dimensions: span 25.60 m (84 ft 0 in);
lenqth 21 49 m (70 ft 6 in); height 4 57 rn
(15 ft 0 in); wrnq 114.45 mz (1,232 sq fl)
Armament: (as bomber) four 7.7-mm
(0,303-in) Browning machine-gnrns in a
power operated rear truret, and one
7.7-mm machine-Qun in a nose turret

AlthoughWhitleys
werenotused
o per ation ally as glider
tugs,manywere
convertedtotow
HorsaswithNo.2l
HeavyGlider
Conversion Unit at
BrizeNorton in 1943.
ffi b"n"r"l Aircraft Hamilcar
The General Aircraft Hamilca.r was the
largest and heaviest glider used by the
RAF, and the first capable of accom-
modating a 7{on tank, A total of 412 of
the Hamilcar Mk I was built after the
first flight of the prototype on 27 March
1942, all the tests being completed
within three weeks. This may in part
have been due to the prevrous con-
struction of a half-scale model for tests
at one-eighth of the loaded weight,
To facilitate the loading and rapid
unloading of heavy equipment, the
nose was hinged, this enabling vehr-
cles to be driven straight out im-
mediately on landing. Thrs feature
proved rnvaluable at the flrst use ofthe
type in support of the $th Airborne Di-
vision in Normandy at the beginning of
June 1944, when tugs were supplied by
units flying the Handley Page Halifax,
70 being used in the first action,
With an eye to re-use on the return
journey as well as rmproving take-off
from indifferent airfields, the powered
Hamilcar Mk X was evolved prrmarily
for the proposed invasion ofJapan, The
powerplant for thrs vadant consisted of
hvo 719.6-kW (965-hp) Bristol Mercury
3l radials with simphfied controls in-
cluding a sinqrle-lever engine opera-
tion, no cooling grlls, flxed-pitch
wooden propellers, and hydraulic
hand-pumps to restore the 'sinking
undercarriaqe' (desrgned to ease
loading) to its origrnal posrtion, Single-
point towing was used for the Hamilcar
Mk X instead of the bifurcated system
of the pwe glider Hamilcar Mk L The
type was quite capable of berng used consisted of some 50 per cent of the Performance: maximum tomng speed Seen benealJr the wing of a Halifax is
alternatively as a solo aeroplane wrth a all-up weight compared wrth 30 per 241 km/h (150 mph) a line-up of British Hamilcar assault
loaded weight not exceeding |4742kg cent rn the Hamilcar Mk X, Weights: empty BB45 kq (19,500 lb); heavygliders atthe time of the
(32,500 lb), Maximum speed and maximum take-off 16783 kg (37,000 lb) Normandy landings. The only Allied
range were 233km/h (145 mph) and Dimensions: span 33,53 m (1 10 ft 0 in); aircraft capable of delivering a light
ii35 km (705 miles) respectively, Specification lenglh 20.73 m (68 ft 0 in): height 6. 17 m tankinto battle, the Hamilcar could
it is interesting to note the fact that General Aircraft Hamilcar Mk I (20 ft3 in): wrngarea 154.03 mz carry aTetrarch or Locust.
lhe mihtary load of the Hamilcar Mk I Type: transport glider (1,658 sq ft)

ffi b"r,"r"l Aircraft Hotspur

Toward the end of 1940 a British spe-
crfication was issued for an assault glid-
er capable offlying 161 km (100 miles)
from its point of release at 6096 m
(20,000 ft), and the General Aircraft
Hotspur Mk I was the result, In fact it
could glide only 134 km (83 miles), but
this was quite an achievement since
the original demand, that this be done
with a load of seven fully equipped
iroops and a pi1ot, was really too stnn-
lrent.
The Hotspur Mk I had a span of
18.90 m (62 ft 0 in) and was distinqnrish-
able from the later models by having
cabin portholes. Despite the fact that
23 examples were built, the type was
lot accepted for widespread oper-
ational use, being developed instead
-rto the Hotspur Mk II training glider
-,'ihose simple wooden construction
ient itself admrrably to large-scale sub-
ccntracted manufacture,
Although never used for its intended
pLrrpose, the Hotspur was neverthe- ting and a deeper cockpit canopy, panels joined by a common centre The Hotspur was a fiamiliar sight
iess burlt in numbers and performed although lt retained the jettisonable section and tailplane; although a pro- throughout Britain during the war
':seful servrce at ghder schools where Ianding gear legs (and the central skid totype was built in 1942 this version did y ears. C ap ab le of being towed by
iual rnstruction was caried out follow- on which the type was designed to not go into production. redundant biplanes, most members
:rg a perrod on single-engine po- land after the wheels had been drop- ofthe British airborne {orces and
';ered aircraft at an EFTS. ped, although this facility was seldom Specification their pilots were introduced to
Apart from the reduced span, the used), General Aircraft Hotspur Mk II glrders rh fft ese all-wooden $ aft.
Hotspur Mk 1l differed in some detail The monocoque structure of the Type: training g[der
:om the earlier Hotspur Mk 1, which glider naturally lent itself to quite a Performance: maximum towinq speed Dimensions: span 13,99 m (45 ft
:-ad proved difficult to handle on the high degnee of adaptation, and a furth- 145 km/h (90 mph) 10,75 in); lenqth 12, I I m (39 ft B,75 rn);
ground, The changes included the er variant was the Twin Hotspur, con- Weights: empty 753 kg (1,661 lb); height 3 30 m (10 ft 1O in): wingarea
aCoption of inset ailerons, revised sea- sisting of two fuselages with oi-rter wing maximumtake-off 1632 kg (3,598 lb) 25.22 mz (272 sqfi)
Arnhem
Argu ab ly M on tgome ry's mos t cos tly
failure, the airborne component of
Operation'Market Garden' was the
largest single air assaultoperation that
had ever been attempted.
During the morning of Sunday, 17 September
i944, the inhabitants of south east England wit-
ressed the assembly in the skies above them of
re greatest airborne armada of all time, From
22 airflelds stretching from Dorset to Lincoln-
shire over I,500 aircraft ciimbed into the air,
and as the fighter and bomber units sped away
::r their protection or distraction tasks Douglas
l-47 Dakota transports and Short Stirling bom-
bers converted for troop-carryrnq, some of
rem towing a total of 478 gliders packed u,rth
::en or vehicles, formed up for their joumeys
:;er the North Sea to the Netherlands,
One stream made lbr the North Foreland,
:en due east across the sea to Geel, then north
::-wards their dropping zone at Eindhoven;
:ese held the men and eguipment of the US
--^ist Airborne Division (commanded by Ma-
-:r-General
James Gavin), The second, larger
flew on a line farther north, over A-lde-
=eam,
:-:rgh and then Shouen Island, above the spe-
:-ally positioned vessels in the North Sea
their beacon lights, over the Dutch
--hrrg
l:ast as far as the oddly named small ton'n of
. -{ertogenbosch where the stream split tnto
--no, The larqer part carried the US 82nd Air-
:,:me Division and flew almost due east to-
-n-ds the area between Grave and Niimegen,
,r:ile the smaller part carried the Air Landing
::-gade and one Parachute Brigade ofthe Bnt-
-:- ist Airborne Division (commanded by Ma-
::-General Robert Urquhart) and flew north
to the divison's landlng grounds 16 kn (10
=-i Arnhem and its
--es) to the west of the town ofRi;n,
'-.a-1
bridge over the Neder
-hat bridge and four other brrdges to the
ihelightiy equipped paraciute divisions were
seriously outnatched when German resktance
':nexpectedly included crack Panzer units . Anti-
:ank weaponry on the perimeter often meant PIAT
::lanwweapons only.
south at Nltmegen, Grave, Veghel and Ein-
dhoven, were the objectives for these airborne
forces, firr farther to the south (along the line of
the Meuse-Escaut Canal) waited the forward
troops of the British 2nd Army, poised to hurl
themselves forward along the Etndhoven-
Amhem road and across all the canals and
rivers between, outflankrng the main German
defences of the Siegfried Line and thus form-
ing, in the words of their commander-1n-chief,
Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, 'a
springboard for a powerful fuli-blooded thrust
to the heart of GermanY',
The bridge at Arnhem was the tip of that
springboard, the Ultima Thule of Operation
'Market Garden'.
T\uelve converted British bombers and slx
American Dakotas carried the Pathfinder com-
pany that dropped first, and within its time
schedule the company's work was completed;
as the 149 Dakotas carrying the men of lst
Parachute Brigade arrived over Dropping
Zone X the flares were all burning and the
markingr tapes laid out, as they were for Land-
ing Zones S and Z where the 254 Airspeed
Curtiss C-46 Commando transports of the 437th
Troop Carrier Group, 53rd TC Wing, are seen at
Ramsbury in the UK, belonging to Major-General
Paul L. Williams' US lX Troop Carrier Command.
Seen here withWaco Hadrian gliders on I 7
September 1944, the command flew numerous
towing and support missions over Arnhem and
Nijmegen during the following week.
Note the bomb craters.
Horsa and 38 glant General Aircraft Hamilce:
gliders of the Air Landing Brigade and Ur-
quhart's headquarters were released fror:
their tows, first to drop with stomach-
wrenching acceleration then to level off anC
skim silently to their destrnations, From &e
entire force only five gliders had been hit or the
tows cut during the journeys, and only 35 au-
craft lost - many of these after they had drop-
ped their parachutists or slipped their tows, As
a loss rate of 30 per cent had been predicteci
the omens looked good at first for 'Market Gar-
den',
Nevertheless, the first troop movemen:s
were slow to begin, It was 15,30 on that fi:ie
Sunday afternoon before Irieutenant-Colonel
John Frost had assembled the men of his 2ni
Parachute Battallon and led them off on the:
I3-km (8-mlle) march to the Arnhem Brtdge
But their planned predecessors, the bngade
reconnaissance squadron which shor:ld ha;e
raced off Iong before in their armed Jeeps ::
take the bridge by coup de malh, had not eve::
started; by anunfortunate coincidence three c:
the gliders which had been lost had been car-
rying their vehicles,
The race tothebridge
Frost's battalion reached Oosterbeek. a
small town half way to Arnhem, and Frost -r,-as
about to detach one company to capfilre a-r-i
cross the railway bridge over the Neder F;::-
(to storm the southern end of the main briige
whrle the rest olthe battahon took the norther::
end) when a loud explosion revealed that the-.-
were too late and that the rail bridge had bee:-
blown,
This was the second serious setback, but:he
British paratroops pressed on after firs:
brushing aside resistance by Germar
armoured cars and snipers inside Oosterbeek
towni but it was dark by the time Frost and h-s
men reached Arnhem Bridge, and began tJre
epic battle by which the legend of '2nd Para
was born.
 hem
The maj.srity.atAinEtican a:ircraft involved,n, ; '.'
Qpeialipn'Markdt Garden' were: suppiigd: by the
fi biqrlitrins 9,& Tr da p q a r r ier C e-inm drtd; and
cornprised C-4Vs and G.46 Commandos.
*'
.,.:i_: ..
Meanwhile, Urquhart was facing another se-
vere difficulty: his signal sets were not working,
This was not so unqommon rn those pre-
transistor days, and fact it is fair to say that in
u1
1944 no satrsfactory small portable set had yet
been manufacturedi they were either too
healry for easy transport or too fragile and short
in range for effectiveness in a spreading battle.
So in order to flnd out what was happening,
Urquhart set out after his paratroops by Jeep.
He found Frost's HQ close to the Rhine bank,
then turned back and towards the sound of
battle near Oosterbeek, There Urquhart found
Lieutenant-Co1onel Fitch's 3rd Battalion (heavr
ly engaged wlth young German troops who
had been rushed dourn to block them and who
fought with fanatical zeal) and also found the
commander of ist Parachute Brigade, Briga-
dier Lathbury. By now it was dark, it was evl-
dent that German Panzer units were coming
into position between 3rd Battalion and
Arnhem, as they were aiso between Lieute-
nant-Colonei Dobie's lst Parachute Battalion
working its way along the railway line running
into Arnhem from the west,
The night was spent by Ist and 3rd Battalions
problng down towards Arnhem against ever-
thlckening resistance, and by Frost's men first
attempting to cross the bndge to the southern
end against withering fire from armoured vehi-
cles and a pill-box, then repelling the first
efforts by German vehicles to cross from the
south. Four German lorries were set on fire,
and rn their light Frost's engineers cut all the
leads they could find, though heat and
machrne-gun fire prevented them from
reaching German demolltion charges set
among the girders,
t77B
,
The 1,500 aircraftflew
to the landing zones in the
Americ an troop s arou nd N ij megen
and the British I st Airborne Division near Arnhem.
But by now the patternof the battle had been
formed; powerful and efficient German units
were being fed into the gap between Frost's
men at the bridge and all possible reinforce-
ments - and even when the 4th Parachute Brl-
gade under Brigadier John Hackett arrived on
the Monday afternoon, it could only flght its way
forward to join the remnants of Ist and 3rd
Battalions, blocked around Oosterbeek and
the smail farms and houses to the west,
Throughout the next two days the separate
battles raged with ever-increasing ferocity, the
advantage moving to the Germans as a result of
dwlndling numbers on the British side (and
dwindling ammunltion too, for to the near-
despair of the men fighting in constricting
areas, the RAF's supply aircraft were dropping
the vital canisters in zones already occupied by
the enemy).
By Wednesday night it was ail over at the
bridge. Frost had been wounded dwing the
late afternoon, the Germans had shelled into
chaos every buildinq the paratroops had occu-
pied, and now their Panzers moved inexorably
across the bridge; German infantry closed in
and took the few flt survivors prisoner, carrying
away and treating the wounded with care and
courtesy,
During Thursday, the survivors of the divi-
sion, now some 3,000 men, began coalescing
around the village of Westerbouwing on the
outskirts of Oosterbeek, their focal point St Elt-
sabeth's Hospital, their outposts stretching
down to the river bank, all their hopes resting
{W
in the promised arrivai of the infantry and tanks
of the 2nd Army, But alas, these were baulked
at Nijmegen by fierce German defences, now
further reinlorced as more Panzer formations
drove doum across the Arnhem bridge.
Spiritswere raised briefly on the afternoonof
Friday, 22 September, when the Poiish Air-
borne Brigade under its gallant General Sosa-
bowski was dropped just south of the river, but
the ferries had been destroyed and every
attempt by the Poles to go to the rescue of the
Britlsh came under withering fire from both
banks; in the end only about 50 Poles got
across. And the ordeal of the lst Arrborne Divi-
sion had still another three days to run.
The men had been told that they would be
relieved certainly within four days, perhaps in
two; in the event they were on their own for
nine days. Three battalions of the 43rd Division
at last reached the southern bank ofthe river on
Sunday afternoon, and some men of the Sth
Dorsets crossed to bring help and reasswance
to the exhausted, famished, desperate para-
troops still holding on, and during the following
afternoon their evacuation was organized,
That night XXX Corps artlllery put doum a
devastating curtain of flre all around the peri-
metelr, the glider pilots of the Air Landing Bri-
gade taped out an escape route, and when
 Transport and Assault Aircraft of World War II
'ffi
The early stages of the operation did not receive as
much hard treatment as expected, with fewer
aircraft being lost than predicted. As an omen for
the troops, however, itwas tragicallywide of the
mark.

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On theground around thebridges of theNeder
Rijn atArnhem, paratrooPs had the
misfortune to contact crackGerman Panzer
divisions, the 9th and I 0 thSS of fhe /J SS
Panzerkorps, which had recently arrived in the
area for recuperation and restor ation.

r,:-<ness had fallen, guided their dazed and

..=3gering comrades down to the bank, where
::-:,sh and Canadian engineers waited in
=.sault boats whrch had somehow been rushed
-- :rom Nijmegen,
-:-nd as one semi-consctous paratrooper
. -nbled out of his boat, into the welcomlng
.:rs of more XXX Corps tnfantry, he was heard
:=peating endlessly to himself 'That's bloody
:--:. That's bloody thatl That's bloody thatl,
3peration'Market Garden' had been a good
.::a. It was defeated by lack of informatlon of
=:.emy drspositions around Arnhem, by bad
r:k with weather whlch had contributed to
.'-,iX Corps' delay, and mistaken planning
":ich had dropped lst Airborne Dtvision too
-:: from its objectlve,
But the battle for Arnhem Brldge will hve in
.-.-siory as long as the red beret ts worn,

3:itish paratroops areseen af Oosterbeek, near

.:-:nhem. British and American aircraft dropped a
"
::al of 8,905 airborne soldiers and I ,100 glider
::-cts atArnhem,of whom 2,163 escapeddeathor
:: pture;of the 2,000 men of the 4th Parachute
i ::gade, only nine officers and 260 other ranks
:egained the British lines.

li-.
ffi fiandley Pase Halifax
Another bomber used for both olider-
towing and the dropping ofparatroops
was the Handley Page Halifax, of
which the Halifax A.Mk III, Halifax"
A.Mk V and Halifax A.Mk VII
commonly used throughout Europe for
this work. Indeed, the Halifax was the
only type capable of towing the giant
General Aircraft Hamilcdr glider when
the latter was loaded with its light tank,
while the final version, the paratroop-
carrying Halifax A.Mk 9 produced af-
ter the war, was able to take 16 men
with their associated equipment,
The first experimental flights of an
airborne forces' Halifax with a Hamil-
car glider took place in February 1942
at Neurmarket, although the first oper-
ational sortie, which was carried out
nine months later on the night of 19/20
November, was conducted with two
Arrspeed Horsas, This was Operation
'Freshman', which took men to attack
the German-run heavy water plant in
southern Norway, Halifaxes also towed
two Horsas apiece to North Africa for
the invasion of Sicily, Operation 'Hus-
ky' launched on 10 July 1943,
Operation'Elaborate' mounted over
a period between Augmst and October
1943 was intended to brrnq reinforce-
ments to this theatre, and 10 Halifaxes
plus Armstrong Whitworth Albe-
marles were used to take 25 Horsas,
Unfortunately five of the qliders fell
into the sea on the Portreath to Sale legr
of the journey, either due to bad
weather or enemy action, while three
forcelanded in Portugal, together with
their Halifax tugs; another had to put
doum in the sea, where it was lost,
Other operations with which the
Halifax ls associated were, of course,
that at Arnhem and the final crossinq of
ffi $non stirtins
From the beginmng of 1944 the main
role of the Short Stirling, designed as a
bomber, was that of glider tug and
transport operating with No, 38 Group,
Transport Command, The prototype of
the Stirlinq Mk tV, a converted Stirlingr
Mk III, had first flown in 1943, and
although the powerplant was un-
changed, consrderable alteratron had
taken place in the armament with the
nose and dorsal turrets deleted fthe
former bernq replaced by a transpa-
rent fairing), and glider towing gear
was installed in the rear fuselagie,
which retained the defensive turret in
this positron,
The capacious fuselage meant that
the troop-carrying version was cap-
able of taking either 40 fully-equipped
soldrers or half that number of para-
troops, but the first use of the Stirling in
rts new role was towrng Airspeed Hor-
sa gliders rnto action when the conti-
nent of Europe was invaded on 6 June
1944, the aircraft being drawn from
Nos 190 and 622 Squadrons at Fairford
and Nos 196 and 299 Squadrons at
Keevrl. The type also participated in
ITBO
the Rhine. In the latter the German The.powerful Handley Page Halifax was the only type used tor glider towing
forces were on the defensive on 24 which could handle the massive General Aircraft H amilcar glider when fulfu
March 1945, when 440 tugs were in- loaded. I t was also used for clandesfinemrssrbn s over Europe.
volved with an equal number of grlid-
ers, both Hamilcars and Horsas, all the
troops in the former havinq emplaned
at Woodbridge, Almost half of this
force of tugs was made up of Halifaxes,
there being an equal number of Short
Stirlings and only a small number of
Douqlas Dakotas.
Specification
Handley Page Halifax A.Mk III
Type: glider tug and paratroop
transport
Powerplant: four 1204.3-kW ( 1,61S-hp)
Bristol Hercules XVI l4-cylinder air-
cooled radial piston engrnes
Performance: maximum speed
454 Wn/h (282 mph) at 4 i 15 m
( 13,500 ft); service ceiling 6096 m
(20,000 ft); range 1733 km ( 1,077 miles)
Weishts: empty 14969 ks (33,000 Ib);
maximum take-off 24675 kg (54,400 lb)
Dimensions: span 30, 12 m (98 ft 1O in);
lensth 21,82 m (71 ft 7 in): height6,32 m
(20 ft 9 in) wing area I 16, 13 mz
(1,250 sq ft)
Armament: one Vickers 'K' 7.7-mm
(0, 303-in) manually-operated
machine-erun in nose, four 7.7-mm TheHalifax,apartfromgiving squadrons.TheMkVlllversion,
Browning machine-guns in power. excellent service as a heavy bomber, shown here with a large ventral
operated Boulton Paul dorsal turet, proved adaptable as a glider-tug freight pannier, entered sewice with
and four gmns of similar calibre in tail and transport during the war , three squadrons shortly after the
turret (iffitted) equipping a total of 13 RAF war's end.
the historic action at Arnhem and in the Bristol Hercules XVI 14-cylinder air- Dimensions: span 30,20 m (99 ft I in);
final assault across the river Rhine in cooled radral piston engines lensth26,59 m(87 ft3 in); heisht6,93 m
March 1945. Performance: maxmum speed (22 ft 9 in); winq area 135.63 m2
Production was dispersed among a 45 1 km/h (280 mph) at 3200 m (1,460 sq ft)
number of contractors, the largest ( 10,500 ft); service ceiling 5 182 m Armament: four 7. 7-mm (0, 303-rn)
number (236) cominq from Short & (17,000 ft); ranse 4B2B km (3,000 miles) Browning machine-gmns in power-
Harland at Belfastl the Austin Motor Weishts; empty 19595 ks (43,200 lb); operated tail tullet
Company was responsible for 198, and maximum take-off 3 175 I kg (70, 000 lb)
the remainder beiing produced by the
company's Rochester works. In all 577
Stirling Mk IVs were delivered,
although not all had orignnated in this
form, a number being converted Stul-
ing Mk lils,
Another task performed by this ver-
sion of the Stirling was the paradrop-
ping ofsupplies to parachute troops in
forward areas, as well as the delivery
of food and ammunitlon to Resrstance
workers on the continent, The type
was also used to ferry petrol, a capac-
ity load consistrng of284L25 litres (625
Imp gal) in 139 cans.
Specification
Short StirlingMk IV Above: Formerly heavy bombers,
Type: glider tug and general transport S hort S tirling glider tug s were
Powerplant: four 1230, 4-kW ( 1, 650-hp) employed in all the maj or airborne
operations over Northern Europe in
1 944-5. The S tirling Mk IV, seen here
takingoff with aHorsaglider at
H arweLl, O xfords hire, be longed to
No.295 squadron.
Converted to cairy 40 ttoops, the
Stirling MkV transport entercd
service with No. 46 Squadron, RAF
Transport Command, in February
1945 but was too late to see combat.
Armed Forces of the World
Soviet ArrngPar,3
The Artillery Division
-he Soviet artillery division is normally found at
=ront or army level, and provides additional firepow-
.r for the divisions as and when required, for exam-
:le during a breakthrough or in overcoming particu-
:rly strong static defences. The artillery division
:cnsists of an HO, two artillery regiments with 130-
-m (5.12-in) M-46 towed field guns, two artillery
-egiments with 152-mm (6-in) D-20 towed gun/
:cwitzers, an antl-tank regiment wlth 36 '100-mm
3.9-in) T-12 orl-12A towed anti-tank guns and 27
3nDM-2 4x4 vehicles with 'Sagger' or 'Spandrel'
:rti-tank guided missiles, a multiple rocket-launcher
:'rgade wlth four battalions each of 1B BM-27 multi-
: e rocket-launchers, a target-acquisition battalion, a
, gnal company, a motor transport company and the
-sual services.
Each of the artillery regiments has three batta-
:ns each with 1B weapons, so giving the artillery
':giment a total of 54 weapons, More recently the
::wed 152-mm (6-in) D-20 has started to be re-
: aced by a 152-mm self-propelled gun/howitzer de-
s gnated 2S3 (or M 1 973 as it is known sometimes in
:^e West). The ordnance of the 2S3 is based on that
:'the towed D-20 and has a similar range, but as it is
:r a tracked chassis it has much greater mobility.
ln addition to the artillery divisions there are also a
-rmber of heavy artillery brigades that are also de-
: oyed at Front level. These appear to be used to
:rovide a massive amount of firepower mainly
:Eainst heavy defensive positions. Each heavy anil-
ery brigade is believed to have an HO, a target-
:cquisition battery, two battalions of towed 240-
-m (9.45-in) M1953 heavy mortars that are known
rc have a nuclear capability, and two battalions of old
203-mm {B-in) M1931 (B-4M) towed howitzers. The
atter take a long time to bring into action and have a
slow rate of fire by modern standards, so aTe now
:eing replaced by a new 203-mm (8-in) self-
:ropelled howltzerwhich ls believed to be based on
:re chassis of the GMZ armoured minelayer and
:apable of firing an HE round to a maximum range of
27000 m (29,530 yards) or a rocket-assisted projec-
: le to a maximum range of 37000 m (40,465 yards).
-ne elderly towed 240-mm (9,45-in) mortar is being
-eplaced by a new self-propelled model based on
.re chassis of the 152-mm (6-in) 2S3 and capable of
= ring one round per minute.
'scaleboard' missile brigade
Also deployed at Front level is a surface-to-
srrface misslle brigade with SS-22 'Scaleboard'
The SA-4'Ganef is seen here parading through
Moscow on 7 November 1966. SA-4 batteries
provide medium- to high-altitude anti' aircraft
protection for Soviet army forces. Deployed up to
25 km ( I 5.5 miles) behind the front,SA'4 has a
range of 7 5 km (46.6 miles) and can destroy
aircraft flying at 24000 m (78,740 ft).
missiles. This brigade has an HO battery, three
'scaleboard' battalions, a signal company, an en-
gineer company and supporting services. Each
'scaleboard' battalion has two batteries each with
two'scaleboard' transporter/erector/launcher vehi-
cles (TELs). An SS-23 'Scud' brigade also has 12
launchers, although some brigades in the Group of
Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG) each have lB
TELs,
Combined-arms and tank armies
There are two types of Soviet ground armies, the
combined-arms army and the tank army. The former
normally consists of between two and four moto-
rized rifle divisions, one or two tank divisions, and
supporting elements. The latter can include an artil-
lery brigade or regiment. a multiple rocket-launcher
regiment, an artillery command and control batta-
lion, a surface-to-surface missile brigade, an SA-4
'Ganef' anti-aircraft brigade (with 27 launchers), a
chemical defence battalion, an engineer regiment or
brlgade, a pontoon bridge regiment, an assault cros-
sing battalion, an intelligence battalion, an early
warning battalion, a signal regiment and indepen-
dent radio-relay battalion, a long-range recc.-: ::-
ance company, a motor transpon regirrert. -': : '
and radar intercept battalion, a rad o nterce:::':::-
lion and a liaison helicopter elernent \ ''in 30 .e :::-
ters. lt can also have an assault heliccpier-'eg -:^:
(with 40 Mil Mi-24'Hind-D/E' and 20 N'-3 - c-3 :
helicopters) and an independent ianK reg -3':
The tank army generally has tvr'c t: =o-t- ::-..
divisions and one or two motorzeci r'e ::" s:^s
plus the same supporting uniis as :ne :J-: -::-
arms army. lt does not, in all probabil'w. 1a'.e :-:
multiple rocket-launcher regiment. art llery re: --
ent, artillery command and control baltalion. '-:
radar and radio lntercept battalion of the comb -::-
arms army. Although both types of arm es are :-:-
able of independent operations, they are norr. ,
committed as part of a Front.
Soviet Fronts
A typical Soviet Front could have one or tvvo ta^{
armies and three orfour combined-arms armies, :-:
this combination and its supporting element dc, :=
course, depend on its mission. ln addition to the:!',:
types of army, a Front would also have an art ile-;
division. two or three SS-23 'Scud' and one SS-22
'scaleboard' brigades, two SA-4'Ganef' sudace'rc-
air missile brigades, a diversionary brigade, a ci+'
mical defence brigade, an engineer regiment bt:
gade, one or two pontoon bridge regiments, one t:
three assault crossing battalions, a signal brigade.
specif ic radio jamming, radio intercept and radar an;
radlo intercept regiments, an independent rad,c-
relay battalion, air defunce jamming and early wan-
ing regiments, a motor transport brlgade, a pipel ne
brigade and an intelligence regiment. lt could also be
allocated a number of units under RVGK (Reserve c'
the Supreme High Command) control, includlng a
signal brigade, a heavy-lift regiment, and an air-
borne/air assault division. The Front also has a tactic-
al alr army with over 400 aircraft including222tight'
er-bombers, 32 light bombers, 32 reconnaissance
aircraft, 40 attack helicopters plus transport aircraf:
and helicopters.
Despite the picturesque setting, FROG-7-is an
alaimingly unselective delivery system for
chemicil, nuclear andHE munitions. Although
nearly 20years old, it provides battlefield support
to augment artillery firepower with a useful range
of 70 km (43 miles). It is being replaced bv the
SS-21, amissile similar to theUS Lance system.
Armed Forces of the World
Airborne divisions
In recent years the Soviet airborne divisions have
been given a new lease of life and much new equip-
ment. Each airborne division (or air assault division
as it is more commonly known) has a divisional HO,
three airborne regiments, an artillery reglment, an
ASU-85 self-propelled anti-tank battalion with 31
vehicles, an anti-aircraft battalion, an engineer batta-
lion, a signal battalion, a parachute rigging and re-
supply battalion, a medical battalion, a maintenance
battalion, a reconnaissance company and a chemic-
al defence company.
Each airborne regiment has a regimental HO,
three airborne battalions, a mortar battery with six
120-mm (4.8-in) mortars, an anti-tank battery with
nine BRDM-2s with'Sagger' or'Spandrel' ATGWS.
an anti-aircraft battery with three SA-7 'Grail' sur-
face-to-air missile launchers and six 23-mm 7U-23
towed anti-aircraft guns, an engineer company, a
signal company, a parachute rigging and resupply
company, a transport and maintenance company, a
chemical defence platoon, a medical platoon and a
supply and service platoon. The airborne battalion is
the most important part of the regiment and has a
total of 30 BMD tracked airborne combat vehicles,
two BMD command vehicles and three BMDs with-
out turret. Each battalion has three companies of
vehicles, each company having 11 BMDs. The intro-
duction of the BMD has meant that the airborne
division is now almost fully motorized, and can thus
conduct operations some distance from its drop
zone. The BMD has the same turret as the BMP
mechanized infantry combat vehicle, armed with a
73-mm (2.87-in) gun and a'Sagger'ATGW, plus two
bow-mounted machine-guns. The Soviets have
seven airborne divisions, but can lift only one of
these at a time, and this would leave other areas
very short of transport aircraft. These divisions
would play a major part in any future campaign in
Europe, and have in recent years been employed as
the Soviet equivalent of the US Rapid Deployment
Force (or Central Command as it is now known). For
l2-- ?x<s SovietArmy L
example, they spearheaded the Soviet invasion of control, and so on. The internal troops are organized
Afghanistan in 1979, and at least one division is still into regiments and divisions along lines similar to
there today. those of the Soviet army, and in time of war would
ln addition to the airborne divisions the Soviets probably be used to seal off the rear areas or to take
have also formed air assault brigades, each with a over control of ocdupied territories as the main body
total strength of about 2,000 officers and men, as of the army moved forwards.
well as airmobile assault brigades each with a
strength of about 1,700. The former is normally
transported by tactical transport aircraft and its .
Below: Aswell as spearieadrhg Soviet operations
such as the invasion ofCzechoslovakia, KGB
equipment is believed to include six 120-mm (4.8-in)
troops patrol the long borders of the USSR with
mortars, 45 SA-7 launchers, six 23-mm ZU-23 unceasingvigilance. Equipped with a full range of
towed anti-aircraft guns, six SD-44 85-mm (3.35-in) armoured fighting vehicles and a naval ele. ment,
auxiliary propelled anti-aircraft guns, 68 BMDs and a the main taskis to prevent unauthorized exil from
host of anti.tank weapons, machine-guns, grenade- thecountry.
launchers and infantry weapons. The airmobile
assault brigade has no armoured vehicles apartfrom
four BRDM-2s so can be transported by helicopters.
Other forces
The Soviet army has a peacetime strength of
around 1.8 million officers and men, but on top of
this must be added the paramilitary forces which
total about 450,000. The KGB has a strength of just
under 200,000 and lncludes the border troops who
keep a constant watch on the long frontiers of the
Soviet Union. Their role is not only to stop people
getting in, but in peacetime to stop Soviet citizens
getting out of the country! The KGB is equipped
with tanks and armoured fighting vehicles, and also
has aircraft, helicopters and coastal patrol craft. ln
the border clashes with China in the 1960s the first
units to encounter the Chinese were not the Soviet
army but the border troops of the KGB. Allalong the
borders of the Soviet Union is a restricted zone
which can vary in depth up to 40 km (25 miles), and
entry to this area by civilians is carefully controlled,
The MVD internal security troops number about
260,000 officers and men, and are subordinate to Below: The 25 I I 22-mm SP gan (formerly known in
the Soviet Councilof Ministers through the Ministry the West as the M- 1 974) is based on the MT-LB and
of Internal Affairs. The MVD is responsible for inter- mounts a version of the D -30 I 22-mm howitzer.
nal security matters such as riot control in support of Each artillery division and motor rifle division has
the militia (police), for motor vehicle inspection and 36 of thesevehicles andeach tankdivkionT2.