Glider Infantry - Allied Organisation

Allied Organisation

The gliders which were most widely used by the Allies were the American-designed Waco CG-4A, which could carry 13 passengers, and the British-designed Airspeed Horsa, which could carry 25 passengers. Both of these aircraft used plywood extensively in their construction, with the CG-4A also using aluminium to provide greater strength in its framing. To deliver especially heavy loads, the British General Aircraft Hamilcar could carry up to eight tons (8,000 kg) of equipment.

Much like conventional gliders, these aircraft were towed behind a powered aircraft, usually a C-47 (or the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle in British units), and were then released near the designated landing area called the Landing Zone' or 'LZ'.

The crews of these aircraft landed their aircraft in circumstances which would challenge the most seasoned pilot. They had but a few moments to pick a likely landing spot, avoid the other gliders making similar approaches and those already on the ground, avoid incoming enemy fire and then land the aircraft without crashing into any trees or ditches and do so softly so as to ensure that the aircraft and/or cargo were not damaged in the process.

Prior to the Battle of Normandy, Allied command feared that the losses suffered by glider groups would be as high as 50-70% before even encountering the enemy. This fear was based on expectations for high numbers of crash landings and encounters with anti-aircraft defences. The actual losses were less than the estimates and were comparable to the losses of associated parachute units; interestingly, the losses suffered by certain Glider Artillery battalions (e.g., the 319th and 320th of the 82nd Airborne) were higher than the losses of the associated Glider infantry (i.e., the 325th) primarily because the two artillery battalions landed in the evening hours of D-Day and the landing zone (LZ-W) near St.Mere Eglise was not secure with many casualties occurring from enemy anti-aircraft and machine gun fire in addition to crash landings. In contrast, the 325th landed on D-Day plus 1 and faced less intense enemy fire; while more than half of the 327th GIR landed by boat on the third day at Utah beach because of the lack of gliders to carry them into Normandy.

Initially the American Glider Infantry Regiments (GIR) had only two battalions, but later in Europe, the two battalions of the 401st GIR were divided in March 1944 to act as the 3rd battalions of the 325th & 327th GIRs. In March 1945 the 401st was disbanded and the battalions formally became part of their new regiments.

In both the British and American armies, there was a sense that the glider infantry were poor cousins to the more glamorous paratroopers. In the British Army, whereas paratroops were volunteers, airlanding units were line infantry units converted without any option (although they were entitled to wear the same maroon beret as the Parachute Regiment). In the US Army, glider troops did not receive the extra pay awarded to paratroopers until after the Normandy invasion (where glider troops provided essential support to the parachute regiments and fought on the front-lines alongside their parachute brethren). This blatant inequality of treatment came to the attention of U.S. Airborne High Command and from that point forward the glider troops were issued the same jump boots and combat gear as paratroopers (including the M1A1 carbine with folding stock) and earned the same pay until the war ended in Europe. There are numerous examples of glider troops volunteering as replacements for paratroop units but very few, if any, examples of paratroopers volunteering for the gliders.

In one respect the American and British armies differed. The British Glider Pilot Regiment were not only trained aircrew, but also well-trained infantry, most of whom would have been junior or senior NCO's in other units. By comparison, the American glider crews were treated as mere drivers.