An American Glider Pilot's Story
Author: Gale Richard Ammerman
Publisher: Merriam Press
Published: 2001
Total Pages: 274
ISBN-13: 1576382141
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Silent Wings at War
Author: John L. Lowden
Publisher: Smithsonian Books (DC)
Published: 1992
Total Pages: 250
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe pilots were known as "suicide jockeys" and the aircraft they flew were called "flak bait." Towed behind modified bombers or transport aircraft, Allied combat gliders were used in some of the riskiest missions of World War II, landing miles behind enemy lines with specially trained assault forces. In "Silent Wings at War," John L. Lowden combines his own recollections with those of fellow veterans to create a vivid, gritty, jocose memoir of war as he and other glider pilots and their passengers knew it. These true tales of courage, as well as command blunders, make a substantial contribution to WWII literature.
An American Glider Pilot's Story
Author: Gale R Ammerman
Publisher:
Published: 2020-09-25
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9781716557101
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis is the story of one American glider pilot in World War II. After enlisting in the Army in May 1941, Gale went through basic training and airplane mechanic instruction. In 1942 he volunteered for glider pilot training, going to South Plains Army Flying School, Lubbock, Texas, and later Bowman Field, receiving ground combat training since glider pilots might be required to fight as infantry after a combat landing. In 1943 he joined the 436th Troop Carrier Group and after more training, the unit set off for England on 24 December 1943. Gale then flew gliders into combat during the Normandy invasion, Holland and Rhine crossing operations, and his accounts of these episodes are detailed and riveting. You will not soon forget the story of a young man who went off to war as a member of one of the most dangerous occupations of any combat arm. 65 photos/documents. A Merriam Press World War 2 Autobiography.
Glidermen of Neptune
Author: Charles J Masters
Publisher: SIU Press
Published: 1995-12-22
Total Pages: 116
ISBN-13: 9780809320080
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMasters has also assembled the finest existing collection of photographs of the American D-Day glider attack. These photographs - many of which have never before been publishedafford the opportunity to examine the inside of the combat gliders used on D-Day, to observe the glidermen in action, and to witness the often tragic consequences of the glider attack.
World War II Glider Pilots
Author:
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company
Published: 1991
Total Pages: 170
ISBN-13: 0938021958
DOWNLOAD EBOOKGlider Pilots at Arnhem
Author: Mike Peters
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Published: 2014-09-19
Total Pages: 826
ISBN-13: 1844683486
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe fierce struggle between the British 1st Airborne Division and the superior German forces in and around Arnhem is well documented. This book tells of the role played in the battle for Oosterbeek and the bridge at Arnhem itself by the men of the Glider Pilot Regiment (GPR). These men were already experienced soldiers who volunteered to join the airborne forces and take the fight to the Germans in a totally new regiment.The men of the GPR were predominantly SNCOs trained to fly wooden assault gliders into occupied territory. Once on the ground they were expected to go into battle with the troops they had delivered onto the Landing Zone. During the Arnhem operation they were involved in the initial defense of the LZs, before fighting house to house leading mixed groups of infantrymen, engineers and medics. In so doing they suffered extensive losses from which the Regiment never fully recovered. This book tells their story in their own words from the moment they landed on Dutch soil through the fierce fighting all around the ever shrinking perimeter until the survivors of the GPR proudly marked the route out for the battered survivors of 1st Airborne Division as they escaped over the Rhine.
American Military Gliders of World War II
Author: Bill Norton
Publisher: Schiffer Military History
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9780764340512
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe U.S. Army glider corps was formed in the tumultuous period of rapid buildup of American military might prior to the nation's December 1941 entry into World War II. It then had to mature rapidly, under the persistent pressure of wartime conditions, to be ready for action when American airborne troops first deployed. This meant haste and misconceptions that fostered inefficiencies in all aspects of the effort. The program produced a cadre of pilots and fleet of wood and fabric gliders that executed challenging combat missions unlike anything done before or since. Despite the numbers and combat record, the glider is almost never mentioned in accounts of World War II combat aircraft. Many other gliders were developed, partially or completely, to enhance airborne operational capabilities. Most of these have been little reported until now. The U.S. Army and Britain shared aircraft and knowledge, both employing the other's gliders in combat. The U.S. Navy also spent time developing amphibious transport gliders for Marine Corps landings. All are covered in this book. The American experience with military gliders during World War II remains a fascinating story of innovation under wartime conditions of a weapon with no historical antecedents.
Glider Pilots in Sicily
Author: Mike Peters
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2013-01-19
Total Pages: 523
ISBN-13: 1783378484
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe British Airborne landings on Sicily are the least known and, without doubt, the most fraught with political and technical strife. Newly formed Air landing troops were delivered into battle in gliders they knew little about. The men of the Glider Pilot Regiment (GPR) had self-assembled the gliders while living in the empty packing cases. They accomplished this complex and technically challenged task while living on fly ridden, dusty North African airfields. After only a few hours of conversion training they took off for a night flight across the Mediterranean Sea that was to end in near-catastrophe.With over three hundred soldiers drowned off Sicily that night in July 1943, the first major operation attempted by the British using gliders almost ended in total disaster. In fact a few Airborne troops reached dry land and attacked their objectives. Shining examples of collective and individual acts of courage rocked the Italian and German defenders. This book tells the controversial story of that first mass glider operation and the men who proved the GPR motto Nothing is Impossible.This is the first account of the Sicily air landing operation.
An American Glider Pilot's Story
Author: Gale Ammerman
Publisher:
Published: 2008-08-03
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13: 9781435749528
DOWNLOAD EBOOKMemoir of a U.S. Army Air Forces glider pilot in World War II. After training he joined the 81st Troop Carrier Squadron, 436th Troop Carrier Group, in July 1943. He flew gliders into combat during the Normandy (D-Day - Overlord) invasion, Holland (Operation Market Garden), and the Rhine crossing operations, and his accounts of these episodes are detailed and riveting. 61,000 words, 26 photos, 40 documents.
Glider Infantryman
Author: Donald J. Rich
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 2013-01-18
Total Pages: 286
ISBN-13: 1603449620
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA member of the famed Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division, Donald J. Rich went ashore on D-Day at Utah Beach, was wounded in the bloody conflict at Carentan, landed in a flimsy plywood-and-canvas glider on the battlefields of Holland, and survived the grim siege with the "Battling Bastards of Bastogne" during the Battle of the Bulge. Glider Infantryman is his eyewitness account of how he, along with thousands of other young men from farms, small towns, and cities across the United States, came together to answer the call of their nation. It is also a heartfelt tribute to the many thousands who gave their lives in this struggle. Coauthored by Kevin Brooks, the son of Rich's best friend and World War II comrade, Glider Infantryman covers a span of nearly three years; his return home, five months after the war's end, as a toughened bazooka gunner and veteran of five campaigns. Rich's first-person narrative includes vivid coverage of the action, featuring an especially rare account of arriving on a combat landing zone by glider. Detailed, day-to-day depiction of some of the heaviest fighting in Holland follows, including the action at Opheusden, the center of the infamous "Island." Later highlights include the Battle of the Bulge, where Rich recounts his experiences in some of the hottest defensive fighting of the European Theater, including the epic tank battles at Marvie, Champs, and Foy.
