Hi All, The forensic research that has gone into identifying the location of Glider Landings and linking them to known photos from the ground is absolutely superb on this forum, and I commend all with an eye for this sort of detail in images. As such, I was wondering if anyone had ever looked into the glider landings shown in three specific locations around the La Fiere/SME area. The first area is North of La Fiere itself, showing four Waco's on the Western "shore" of the floods immediately East of Timmes Orchard in two cases and immediately East of the "Grey Castle" as the Paratroopers came to know it. These are NCAP images US30/4108/1051 and US30/4073/2021, sections of which I have attached as Wacos 1 and Wacos 2 respectively. A number of Officers of the 82nd Airborne Division landed by Parachute in this inundated area, including Division XO, Brigadier General James Gavin, 508th PIR CO Colonel Roy Lindquist, and 2/507 CO, LTC Charles Timmes. Both Gavin and Timmes testified post-war to seeing the Gliders come in shortly after landing, which narrows down missions for us, with there being mention of two carrying 57mm AT guns, so again this helps us narrow it down to 80th AT/AT Battalion. The other two I believe contained Div HQ personnel. The second area is SOUTH of the main road running between SME and La Fiere, and appears to show four Wacos and a Horsa. This is NCAP US30/4108/1133 and I have attached a snippet of the image as Gliders 1. The final area is around the 505th PIR DZ, West of SME. I won't post an image, as there are a number of Glider landings visible, but a good slide is NCAP US30/4108/1059. My question is, do we know of any images of these Gliders actually on the deck in Normandy that might help us to confirm for sure which they were? Or any photographs of the general area? When the mixed groups of 82nd guys used the rail-line to move South towards La Fiere after crossing the inundated area, they report the tail enders being artillery guys but say little more than that. I am trying to determine for sure that these could have been guys from the 80th Abn AA/AT Battalion or if they coud have been Para Arty guys. Your input would be most valued. Regards, Adam P.S If these landings have been covered in another thread please accept my apologies. I have had a good search of the forum and couldn't see any mention of them.
Hi Adam, I don't know if you read this topic thread, but it may be worth your time because some nearby Waco gliders are identified by Patrick Elie. I also found a book quote which seems to relate to the events with a Waco carrying a 57mm gun that ended up at La Fiere. The thread is "The BAR Horsa" with 20 posts... I'll link it here: The BAR Horsa John
Hi John, Thank you for pointing me in the direction of this thread, it certainly answers a few of the questions for me. Regards, Adam