Ormeside, your post re the Rhine Crossing operation was short and to the point, yet if anything it all the better emphasised how violent and arbitrary war really is. It is very clear that being in that Horsa was a very dangerous place to be, truly a sitting duck for those ravenous 88's. That you all emerged unscathed is remarkable and entirely due to you chaps up front, I'm sure. All those months training in the UK, in North America, and back in the UK again, were preparation for that one flight and its violent arrival at the LZ. They clearly paid off!
There is a tendency to consider the Allied advance through Western Europe as an inevitable outcome, maybe a hiccup or two at Arnhem or the Ardennes, but on the whole pretty well a foregone conclusion. It was of course nothing of the sort, and your description of your part in one of the major component parts of that hard fought and bloody campaign brings that right home.
Gliders, like transport aircraft, are not at the glamour end of military aviation, but they were a vital part of the success of D-Day and the Rhine crossing. They were also mauled terribly at Arnhem as you remind us. We can but remember such duty and sacrifice, pay tribute to the fallen, and to the survivors such as yourself say a heartfelt thank you.
Thank you indeed, Ormeside28.