A Glider Pilot's Tale, Part 2
So, battle training, first by the RAF Regt and then the Army followed by glider training in Hadrians (WACOs) and Horsas. All this and then a posting to ‘B’ Sqn The Glider Pilot Regt at RAF Earls Colne. Prior to this, and in company with some 100+ RAF pilots we were stationed at Fargo Camp on Salisbury Plain undergoing infantry training. Just before Christmas (1944) we were paraded and told that there would be no Christmas Leave since the civilians would require all available civil transport. That evening there was a tremendous kerfuffle! It subsequently transpired that a number of pilots had acquired a load of explosives and set off to blow up Stonehenge, which was some 2 or 3 miles away, to mark their displeasure. Fortunately for Stonehenge the party was intercepted half way along their journey! Nothing was said and no action taken. The next morning Christmas leave passes were issued and we left Fargo for good!
At B Sqn we flew Horsas and continued battle training. Glider crews tended to be all Army or all RAF. In the latter case an RAF Officer would be First Pilot with and RAF Sgt as Second Pilot – my First Pilot was F/O Ted Barton who was an experienced pilot who’d just done a tour as an instructor prior to joining the GPR. Co-operation between the Army and RAF crews on the Sqn was very good.
The day came when we were confined to camp. It was obvious that we were in business when we commenced loading our Horsa MkII gliders. Our glider, loaded to an unusual plan, carried a Jeep, trailer, 17pdr gun and 6 troops. The troops were planned to sit at the rear of the glider – a position to which they objected since they would be slower to de-plane after landing.
(My note: The Horsa MkII had 2 doors, one either side of the rear fuselage which lifted and swung in an overhead arc to open and which were known to jam if there was any fuselage distortion as would be the case in a heavy combat landing.)
Consequently we did a quick recalculation of the loading plan, and with extra work by the troops, the load was re-positioned so that the troops sat as far forward as possible.
It was a great sight, the gliders marshaling, taking off, and joining the stream. We flew north towards the Wash behind a Halifax tug, before turning South-East on our way towards the Rhine. As far as the eye could see there were aircraft towing gliders, whilst overhead Fighter Sqns weaved providing top cover. Some 5 minutes before the Rhine, which we could easily see, my skipper F/O Ted Barton called me to look to the left. The combination to our immediate left was a Halifax towing a Hamilcar. I was just in time to see a tank, probably a Honey, had broken out of the rear of the Hamilcar and fallen to earth.
(My note: the tank was, in fact, probably a Locust.)
I saw the tank bounce some 50 – 100 ft in the air before losing sight of it. The Hamilcar was, by now, causing too much drag for the Halifax and so the Halifax jettisoned his tow rope causing the Hamilcar to crash. Our opinion was that the tank driver had left the vehicle in gear and that when he started his engine, it fired first time and thereby caused the ensuing calamity. It was the practice for tank drivers to start up 5 mins before the LZ. The idea was that, in an emergency, the tank could be driven through the closed nose doors ready for immediate action.
(My note: There is a letter in my late Father's notes from one Peter Davies, a Sgt glider pilot from C Sqn GPR, who also witnessed the tragedy while on board his Hamilcar. The tank commander involved was Sgt Dawson. The other 7 tank carrying gliders all arrived safely.)
As we crossed the Rhine at approximately 1500 ft we could see that the whole of the landing area was totally obscured by dense smoke, through which the flashes of anti-aircraft gunfire could be seen. On a position call from our tug aircraft we released, turned right, steadied our glider, and descended with full flap into the smoke. Up until this time Ted had always flown the landings, on this approach he handed it over to me with the words: “Maybe you better do this one.” The descent was so steep that, being only 5 ft 6 ins I was nearly out of my seat standing on the rudder pedals!
The smoke was so thick that we saw no other glider during our descent, and only saw the ground when below 100 ft. The landing went well, although we ploughed through 2 or 3 wire fences. We came to a stop about 15 ft from a ditch from which several American Paratroops were firing at the enemy.
Last edited by ExAscoteer; 25th Sep 2010 at 03:02.