the horser glider was one of the most well-known assailant gliders used during
World War II actually did you know that the first units to land during the storming of
Normandy did so by these gliders it's even been estimated that over 300 gliders were
deployed during the Battle of Normandy however impressive they were it is essential to note
that they were far from perfect the pilots who flew them faced countless challenges before even
entering enemy territory resulting in many tragic losses of Life today we discover why
horser gliders were so dangerous I'm your host Ryan silkash and you're watching its history
first take a brief look at the history of gliders in combat the use of gliders in combat began with
the German GFS 230 in May of 1940 which was used in Belgium there were two different terms for
gliders assault gliders and cargo gliders Germans typically use gliders to transport troops outside
combat zones whereas the U.S and British forces tended to use them as spearheads for large Landing
operations you see glider assaults held a unique advantage over parachute assaults the troops
that came in on gliders would all land in one place ready for combat the parachute force will
disperse by force wind will take them planes will draw them in the wrong place and all of
that specifically for the operation Pegasus and here that was an essential bit of the whole plan
Horsea gliders typically had around 28 seats for troops which was much larger than both the British
Hadrian and the general aircraft for gliders used for training which could carry only approximately
13 and 8 troops respectively their production was primarily carried out by AirSpeed and
subcontractors including Austin Motors the gliders were constructed in sections and production was
spread across many factories to limit losses in the event of a German attack drawing from
the World War II database the first Horsea which crossed the skies on September the 12th 1941 was
a high Wing cantilever monoplane with wooden wings and a wooden fuel silage it was built in
three separate sections and then bolted together the front section served as both the Pilot's
compartment and the main Freight loading door the main section was an accommodation for troops and
Freight well the rear section supported the tail unit it boasted a fixed tricycle landing gear and
surprisingly was one of the first gliders to be equipped with a tricycle undercarriage for 10 take
off the wings had large barn door flaps that made steeper Landings possible the pilot compartment
was equipped with dual controls and the hinged Freight loading door on the port side could also
double as a loading ramp in order to help onload troops and Equipment as fast as possible upon
Landing the fuselage joint at the back of the glider's main section could be broken upon the
aircraft touching down one of the big problems was that sometimes they were loaded with stuff as well
so you'd have most of it just men but then you'd have a Jeep at the back or something like that
and when they then came to a hard halt that like you know the undercarriage broke or something like
that then the Jeep or whatever Cannon or artillery that was stored in the back would then come
rushing forward immediately and it would crush everyone who was in in it there are a lot of
accounts of you know being people being cut in half by the Machinery inside when they crash
operation Tonga is one of the most well-known uses of horser gliders taking place between June
the 5th and 7th 1944 the main objective of the operation was daunting the British six Airborne
Division commanded by Major General Richard Nelson Gayle was instructed to seize two Bridges
the stakes were incredibly high as capturing the intact Bridge was considered necessary for the
D-Day invasion to succeed the importance of that operation cannot be understated first of all they
did a Precision Landing that landed only 47 yards away from the bridge silently took the bridge in a
matter of minutes they had to hold this bridge that crossed the canal which basically divided
Normandy in two parts that reduced both the pressure on the Allies from the German Defenders
but it also opened up new options for the Allies so they could now go anywhere from this bridge and
they can continue the operation into the next day and the day after that and whatnot and had
that failed that would not have been possible it would have been dramatically delayed which would
have both made the operation itself more difficult but also cost more human lives in honor of this
two of the captured Bridges were renamed Pegasus after the sixth Airborne divisions Patron animal
and horse A Bridge after the gliders that helped make the capture of the bridges possible however
incredible this story is glider Pilots faced countless obstacles many of which occurred before
even reaching enemy territory allow me to explain where other Airborne Vehicles had engines to
drive them up to speed the gliders instead had to accelerate by a tow rope that was usually attached
to a c-47 Dakota transporter or Halifax bomber as a result during flight the winds from the towing
machines would often cause extreme turbulence this coupled with the constant acceleration and
deceleration of the glider often disoriented its occupants and made them very ill the use of the
tow rope was also hazardous because both Pilots could release the tow rope at any moment this
meant that there was a high risk that a severed tow rope could fly back into the glider's cockpit
and severely damaged or even destroy it the pilots of the towing machine and the glider would
communicate back and forth via telephone cable wrapped around the tow line however as you might
imagine the heavy strain and violent turbulence the line experienced during flight would often
snap the cable and render communication between the two impossible another major cause of glider
crashes is the fact that many tow Pilots either disengage the tow line too early or
executed evasive maneuvers that a fully loaded glider behind them couldn't follow additionally
gliders needed brakes to decelerate however small arms and debris during Landing often damage these
crucial systems causing many gliders to crash at dizzying speeds of 80 to 100 miles per hour
glider actually occurred during its first operational use on November 19 1942 during an
attack on the German heavy water plant in Norway during operation freshman two horser gliders towed
by two Halifax bombers entered Southern Norway loaded with volunteer soldiers they were tasked
with destroying the heavy water plant connected to German research on the atomic bomb making this
the first time that British gliders would be sent out to attack their enemy though the crew
didn't have much practice in Towing gliders and the tug engines had to be modified to
accommodate the extra weight of the gliders being pulled behind them these problems were addressed
during the practice toast everything seemed set for Success unfortunately disaster soon
struck as inner communication systems between the gliders and tugs broke down almost immediately one
of the towing halifaxes attempted to fly below the thick cloud coverage and crashed the shock
caused the glider is toe line to loosen and it crashed as well the other Halifax continued but
could not locate the landing spot due to faulty maps and poor weather eventually its pilot was
forced to turn back and on the return trip yet another tragedy would strike when the glider and
Tow ran into incredibly difficult weather causing the two depart from each other the
glider crashed close to the other Halifax and the survivors were captured soon after
another major disaster struck two years later during the 88th Troop Carrier squadron's routine
training program on December the 12th 1944 the 88th Squadron was giving a local orientation
ride to members of the 17th Airborne horser glider lj132 had made a complete circuit of the Airfield
and was flying at an altitude of approximately 600 feet when onlookers noticed that the glider
had cut loose from its toe and parts of its tail assembly were disintegrating furthermore the left
elevators seemed to have broken loose from the horizontal stabilizer leaving the pilot Alfred
C Buckner completely unable to control the glider lieutenant John J Beeman of the pilot
toe plane directly behind the glider had this to say I saw the left elevator of the Horsea in the
front Breakaway this was followed immediately by the right elevator at which time the glider pilot
cut himself loose the nose of the glider at the time of the cutoff started descending it continued
towards the ground at the same angle and never did flare for landing it crashed into the ground
hitting a pine tree just before impact the pine tree sheared off the right wing of the glider as
the glider hit it began to disintegrate at which time I had flown out of the line of vision the
glider hit the ground head-on and was smashed in an instant tragically all 31 passengers and two
crew members were killed upon impact the cause of this crash as stated before was the loss of the
left and right elevators during flight this loss was soon attributed to excessive interior moisture
which had deteriorated the wood and weakened the glue holding the left outboard elevator
hinge rib in place once this Rib was torn loose from the horizontal stabilizer the left inboard
hinge Rib was also torn away leaving the pilot to lose complete vertical control after the right
elevator gave way following this tragic crash all 12 gliders of the 88th Squadron were grounded the
ninth Troop Carrier commander and the commanding officer of the 53rd Wing were also informed that
all Horsea gliders on American airfields were to be grounded immediately and thoroughly inspected
while horser gliders had drainage holes to help get rid of excessive moisture this horrific
accident would soon prove that not all models had quote adequate facilities for inspection of the
horizontal stabilizers be because horser gliders were primarily made of wood and the glue used
was not waterproof The Damp climate that lj132 was continually exposed to caused much of its
interior to rot and loosen shockingly however this rot was completely invisible it wasn't
until inspectors pulled back the plywood they realized just how bad the situation had become
well there is no doubt that Horsea gliders played a significant part of many operations during the
1940s we can't Overlook their downside the fact of the matter is that the life of a horse a glider
pilot was dangerous the use of gliders in combat was brief by the early 1950s they had entirely
disappeared as their function was replaced by the helicopter and that is where I will leave
off today thank you all so much for watching until next time this is Ryan silkash signing off