D-Day was not a Surprise
You just needed to know when and where
Operation Overlord, 'D-Day' began very late on the night of June 5th and continued through June 6, 1944. It became known as the longest day, maybe based on the General Erwin Rommel comment to his troops when he stated, “the first day of an invasion battle would be the longest day” and critical to winning the war. The battle involved massed troops of Allied armies invading the beaches of Normandy, France. The conflict engaged more than 165,000 allied troops, used 13,743 aircraft and thousands of naval vessels. It also represented the beginning of the end of WWII.
The fact that the Allies were planning an invasion along the coast of Europe was not a surprise. Although the Allies were successful in keeping German intelligence confused about the details it was difficult to hide the thirty nine divisions that were slated to participate in Operation OVERLORD plus the more than 16 million tons to feed and supply those men, 137,000 jeeps, trucks, and half-tracks, 4,217 tanks and tracked vehicles, 3,500 artillery pieces, 12,000 aircraft, and huge quantities of everything else needed to sustain the armies. It was not a surprise that the Allies were planning to invade using the beaches of France either, the only questions that the enemy needed to answer were which beaches and when. These were two very important questions. The Allies engaged a high stakes, complex intelligence cloud around the invasion that included many facets; false army’s, incorrect intelligence by double agents and heavy bombing at potential landing locations.
The U.S. hosting War Bond rallies in preparation of the invasion.
Weather – maybe divine intervention helped because American meteorologists projected a break in bad weather which had delayed the invasion. The enemy did not forecast a break and because of that weather forecast difference Rommel, the German commanding officer left the coast to visit his wife on her birthday.
On June 5th the forecasted small break in the weather occurred and gave the Allies the chance they longed for. Late that night, D-Day began with a force of Dakota aircraft (C-47’s) and Horsa gliders towed by Royal Air Force bombers beginning the aerial invasion of Normandy. More than 200 gliders were towed up into the very early skies of Britain. Over the course of the next several hours more than 660 more gliders would be towed, each by a small nylon cable, to their destiny. Through the late night of June 5th and the long day of June 6th B-24’s, B-26’s, Mustangs, Thunderbolts and other Allied aircraft flew more than 11,000 sorties.
The battlefield advantage provided by a glider in 1944, like the helicopter of today, was that it could deliver an airborne platoon with all its equipment to a precise spot, day or night. The secret monster Hamilcar glider carried a wide variety of loads, up to seven tons which could include forty troops or a tank, the British Tetrarch or an American Locust, both light tanks. Paratroopers, the alternative to gliders , often were dispersed across a wide area drop zone and could not carry heavy armor. The allies knew the difference could spell the difference in winning or losing a battle and combined their use into an effective military strategy.
Different types of gliders were built by the British and Americans and each had a specialized purpose during the D-Day invasion. The British workhorse was the 'Horsa' built by Airspeed. It was about 67 feet long with an 88 foot wingspan and could carry 28 fully equipped airborne soldiers or a 75mm gun or an airborne Jeep. The American workhorse, the Waco CG-4A, had a wingspan of about 83 feet was 41 feet long and carried 15 troops, two of whom were piloting the aircraft. Besides troops it could alternately carry a jeep or a 75 mm howitzer and its crew. It was used by the British too, titled the Hadrian glider. Another British glider was also used. Considered “top secret,” the monstrous Hamilcar Gilder was first introduced during the D-Day battle although it first flew in 1942. It was truly a monstrous glider, hosting a wing span of 110 feet and a length of 68 feet. It weighed in loaded, at 18 tons. A Boeing 737-400 jet weighs in at thirty-six tons, has a wingspan of 94 feet and it has full hydraulics, two engines and computer control. The monster glider may have been a bit harder to fly in its powerless descent into enemy defended territory.
Why the Hamilcar glider was kept secret – it could carry a tank.
How could gliders “slip in” on an unsuspecting enemy? An interesting side note, during the American effort to secure funding for gliders a noted speaker arranged to talk to a large group of VIPs at an outside location. The presentation was scheduled as dusk was setting. He spoke to a small audience of less than 100 who were seated in outdoor bleachers. As the presentation unfolded, dark settled in and modest lights were turned on the speaker. While the presentation was underway and after darkness settled in, a large group of Waco gliders landed silently behind the speaker and less than 200 feet from the audience. At the conclusion of the presentation large lights were turned on and to the surprise of the VIP audience a squadron of gliders had swarmed in without being heard – the stunt secured future funding of the Waco gliders.
Gliders were not without problems. Simply assembling them for flight proved difficult. By February 1944, over two thousand created Waco’s had been shipped to England. British civilians without training were initially used to assemble them. However when fifty-one of the initial sixty two assembled gliders proved unflyable, the Air Force stepped in. Over the next few months they built 200 more gliders but 100 of these were destroyed in a storm. Eventually, five weeks before D-Day, glider mechanics were rushed in from the U.S. working around the clock, seven days, three shifts a day to assemble 910 Waco gliders.
Having gliders available was one thing. Safely delivering troops to a battle zone with an unpowered aircraft made of canvas, metal and wood destined to land without a runway and in the face of enemy fire was another. Add the complexity of a courageous pilot who had only basic operating controls and often just 150 hours of flight experience and it was a risky assignment.
The famed Australian war correspondent Chester Wilmot accompanied the British 6th Airborne Division into Normandy, landing in a glider. His reporting from the battlefield thrilled British radio audiences and his recording of the chiming of the church bells of the first village liberated in France was heard around the world. Let me honor the men who flew in gliders and the men who served June 6th 1944 with an outtake of The Glider Pilot’s song; As into the gliders we crawl, we’re in for a helluva fall, no orchids, no violets, for no-engine pilots, so, cheer up, my lads, bless ‘em all!
By: John Cilio You can contact him at: www.vintageflyer.com
