Gaining An R.A.F Pilots BrevetinWW11
We were flown in our Dakotas to Gosfield in Essex where me met our new Mk 11 Horsa's, our passengers and load and our towing crew who we knew already. We were very well briefed and assured that the 2nd Army would have established a bridgehead on the east bank of the Rhine before we took off. The first twelve gliders of "F" Squadron were to contain Coup de Main parties to capture the bridges over the Issel Canal to stop German heavy armour getting towards the beachhead on the Rhine. We and the remainder of the Squadron were to take units of the 6th Air Landing Brigade. Our load was a mortar section of the Ox and Bucks Regiment and comprised seven men and a Lieutenant, a Jeep and trailer and a motor bike. It was easy to load the Mk 11 as the whole cockpit swung.There were two metal troughs in the aircraft to take the Vehicles and two troughs which fitted on to the front of the open fuselage to enable them to be driven up and secured. The two troughs were then disconnected and laid alongside the ones containing the vehicles and, we hoped, properly secured!! Take off was at 6 am on March 24th 1945, and off we went to war.