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- The Story of Glider 88 – the Battle for LZ 2
- Operation Dragoon – British Glider Chaos in Riviera Invasion
- Tommy Grant’s Operation Beggar – Horsas for Sicily Invasion
- 3 Commando – the Storming of Torre Cuba
- Paddy Mayne and the SAS Attack on the Second Battery
- The Story of Glider 110 – Glider Pilots Fight for the Ponte Grande
- Arnhem & Varsity Sketches by Glider Pilot Victor Miller
- The Story of Glider 50 – Hemmed In By Fire
- The Story of Glider 107 – Escape and Evasion
- The Story of Glider 46 – Kicking the Hornets’ Nest
- The Story of Glider 8 – Calm Before the Storm
- The Story of Glider 52a – Out of the Firestorm
- The Story of Glider 29 – A Tough Nut to Crack
- The Story of Glider Z – No Business Being There
- The Story of Glider 124 – A Life and Death Decision
- Surgical Strike – the Bombing of Syracuse in Operation Ladbroke
- Mystery Plane – Wellington Bomber Wreck off Cape Murro di Porco
- Photo Story: SAS SRS & Airborne – Agony & Ecstasy in the Med
- Wilf Oldham – Ordeal by Water.
- SAS Special Raiding Squadron (SRS) – The Cliffs of Cape Murro di Porco
- The Story of Glider 57 – The Cliffs of Cape Murro di Porco
- Lt J S D Hardy, RSO of 1 Border Regiment in Operation Ladbroke
- Operation Ladbroke, Fustian, Glutton, Bigot, Husky – or not?
- The Story of Glider Y – Bayonets & Threats of Execution
- Operation Ladbroke Sites – the Coup-de-Main Objectives
- Italian Cavalry Attack British Glider Troops on the Ponte Grande Bridge?
- The Story of Glider 52 & Gozo in Operation Ladbroke
- A US glider trooper in Operation Varsity – John Kormann’s legacy
- Chatterton vs Hopkinson – the Facts
- Glider Pilots to Blame for Operation Ladbroke Disaster? Part 3
- The Battle for Augusta – Jim Fern and the 6 Seaforths
- The Story of Glider 70 – Disaster for Medics in Operation Ladbroke
- Glider Pilots to Blame for Operation Ladbroke Disaster? Part 2
- SAS Rogue Heroes – Book Review
- The Story of Glider 26 – Combat Medics in Operation Ladbroke
- Glider Pilots to Blame for Operation Ladbroke Disaster?
- Unseen US document reveals impact of glider battle at Maleme
- South Staffords near Syracuse – rare photograph
- The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment – Book Review
- Unpublished shot of a tank on the Ponte Grande
- Ray Atkinson, Halifax Tug Pilot in Operation Varsity
- The Story of Glider 126 – A Rare Good Landing
- The Lost Photos of Operation Ladbroke
- Nothing Is Impossible by glider pilot Victor Miller – Book Review
- PARAS Voices of the British Airborne – Book Review
- The SAS Pocket Manual – Book Review
- Battle plans for Staffords glider troops in Operation Ladbroke in Sicily
- Tullio Marcon – the story of his story of Augusta 1943
- Tullio Marcon: the Allied invasion of Sicily in the memories of a Balilla
- Terror off Terrauzza – Operation Ladbroke gliders in the sea
- Galpin’s Glider – New photo of Operation Ladbroke’s star landing
- Italian Artillery of WWII – Book Review
- Seizing Bridges, Building Bridges – Battlefield Tour Guide Roberto Piccione, Syracuse, Sicily
- Admiral Leonardi takes on the Royal Navy and the SAS
- Peter Davis of the SAS – a precious first-hand account
- Eben-Emael: The Glider Assault Myth is Born
- Operation Ladbroke, Sicily: Tugs to blame for releasing gliders?
- The Longest Weekend: D-Day Normandy 2004
- German predictions for Operation Ladbroke & airborne landings in Sicily
- Greatest Feats, Feats Forlorn: Jim Wallwork, Pegasus Bridge & Operation Ladbroke
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Category Archives: Gliders in WW2
Posts and articles about the history of gliders in WW2 both before and after Operation Ladbroke. For details of gliders in Operation Ladbroke, see here.
Operation Dragoon – British Glider Chaos in Riviera Invasion
Gunners without guns, an LZ without defenders, impenetrable fog – the British glider assault in the invasion of the South of France went seriously awry. Operation Dragoon was the code name for the Allied invasion of the South of France … Continue reading
Posted in All Posts, Gliders in WW2
Tagged Horsa gliders, Operation Bluebird, Operation Dragoon
3 Comments
Arnhem & Varsity Sketches by Glider Pilot Victor Miller
Victor Miller’s sketches show us something no photograph can – what it felt like to be in the front seat in a massed glider assault. Glider pilot Staff Sergeant Victor Miller fought in and survived three of the great glider … Continue reading
Posted in All Posts, Gliders in WW2
Tagged Arnhem, Hamilcar gliders, Horsa gliders, Operation Market Garden, Operation Varsity, Victor Miller
2 Comments
A US glider trooper in Operation Varsity – John Kormann’s legacy
On the anniversary of Operation Varsity, an extraordinary gathering in a local restaurant in honour of US glider trooper John Kormann brought back memories, and evoked the sights and sounds of battle. Operation Varsity, the Allied airborne drop across the … Continue reading
Posted in All Posts, Gliders in WW2
Tagged 17 Airborne Division, John Kormann, Operation Varsity
12 Comments
Unseen US document reveals impact of glider battle at Maleme
Glider troops of Germany’s airborne forces landed around Maleme Bridge in Crete in May 1941. They were decimated. The Germans decided never again to mount a major airborne assault. The Allies drew the opposite lesson, as a previously unseen American document shows. … Continue reading
The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment – Book Review
‘The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment’ is an academic book in style, but it’s full of interesting nuggets of information about the personalities, politics and technology involved in developing Britain’s parachute and glider forces. Review of “The Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment … Continue reading
Ray Atkinson, Halifax Tug Pilot in Operation Varsity
Flying Officer Ray Atkinson towed a Hamilcar glider in Operation Varsity. The flak over the Rhine was apparently fearsome, but he never mentioned it – only the guilt he felt that he and his crew were going back for a hot … Continue reading
Posted in All Posts, Gliders in WW2, Veterans' accounts
Tagged 298 Squadron, Hamilcar gliders, Operation Varsity, Ray Atkinson
30 Comments
Eben-Emael: The Glider Assault Myth is Born
The seizing of the fortress of Eben-Emael was an extraordinary coup. Germany’s best glider pilots gave Hitler much to crow about, and the Allies much to fear. Was this spectacular glider assault strategically necessary, or was it a barn-storming diversion and … Continue reading
The Longest Weekend: D-Day Normandy 2004
Your correspondent dropped behind the lines on the weekend of D-Day 2004 to send back an eyewitness despatch from the struggle to organise and celebrate the anniversary of the greatest airborne operation in history. NORMANDY, 4-7 JUNE 2004. 60 years … Continue reading
Greatest Feats, Feats Forlorn: Jim Wallwork, Pegasus Bridge & Operation Ladbroke
The Horsa glider coup-de-main landings in Sicily and Normandy are umbilically linked. The one gave birth to the other. Glider pilot Jim Wallwork, justly remembered for his extraordinary feat at Pegasus Bridge, was also present in Sicily, although with somewhat different … Continue reading
