Ahh Avgeek Book Review time… well.. Kinda..

This weeks book (it has been a week right?) is the History of the Glider Pilot Regiment by Claude Smith. Your probably thinking “the what regiment” and why the hell do I care. Well the British and the American’s in WW2 had been using Gliders to bring in parts of their Airborne forces, well before the invention of the helicopter insertions that are seen today. These gliders were towed into the air behind either a bomber like a Halifax or perhaps a Wellington or behind a C-47 Skytrain/Dakota (DC-3). Made of wood or fabric these flimsy aircraft were a 1 way ticket for the pilots and crew and they were used to ferry troops or vehicles into the war and essentially crash land them into a site and off they would go.

The biggest thing for this was the fact that the pilots of these gliders were pretty much stranded once they got there. During the build up and start of these forces the British went back and forth between the Army and the Royal Air Force to fight over who did what. Eventually it came down to the army to control the pilots and hence the Glider Pilot Regiment was formed. These pilots once they landed were dual role troops and once they were on the ground, they became soldiers, trained to not only lead men but fight and act like infantry till they could be exfiltrated back behind the lines to their home bases and restart the process.

This book is a pretty indepth look at all the different gliders and the regiments that pretty much existed for WW2 only and was gotten rid of once the war was over. As technology in aviation advanced they were no longer required as parachute technology expanded and the invention of helicopters came around, why would you need an aircraft that isn’t powered, is a one way ticket to possible death and destruction and really just an empty money hole? I guess they decided the same thing and it just slowly went away.

I have stood next to a Hamilcar glider in France and jesus they were big, its scary that they could carry a small light tank! It’s a good read, pretty interesting at least!