These pictures were passed on to me by the Son of L/Bdr Archer G Battery (Mercers Troop ) 5 RHA.who took them. They are rather poor in quality. and writing difficult.. They are annotated. Dakotas carrying paratroopers passing over our gun positions at Zanderever?(Zandoven ? )Belgium later on found they had dropped in Holland. One of our gliders just outside Eindhoven. 5 RHA were in Eindhoven on 25 Sept. Is it possible just from picture to identify the glider /Passengers /cargo.?
Hi, The glider near Eindhoven the 5 RHA men are standing before would probably belong to the 101st Airborne Division. It could possibly be sitting on LZ-W near Zon or Son just north of Eindhoven. See map on this page: Airborne Troop Carrier - DZ/LZ maps The markings to the rear of the glider are not very clear but appear to be half stripes similar to some 101st Wacos seen taking off in this video on Vimeo: Allied Airborne - Operation Market Garden - Vimeo If that is the case and this is the first time this image has been published it might be of interest 101st Airborne followers. Regards ...
Certainly first time published L/Bdr Archers Son has just released them from Fathers album and given me permission to research them.
redtop, I think that is some kind of anti-bump device on the nose of the glider. You can see them on a few gliders being towed in videos of the reclamation/retrieval project at Eindhoven. According to Dr Warren in his book (page 148) Airborne Operations in World War II: "Between 25 September and 1 October three repair teams of about 150 men apiece were flown to the Continent to repair the gliders at Zon. On 20 October one of these teams and two others arrived at Grave to begin repairing the gliders in that area." So there is a possibility your glider has been moved or is about to be moved. Regards ...
Cee,Tricky Dicky Thank you for that information , I would not fancy being pilot of plane doing first snatch pick up,if it tore front out of Glider there was a good chance it could have ripped his tail off.
This won't help redtop in his quest for info on his Waco but I thought I should correct my notion above that the device attached to the front of the Waco was used solely for protection purposes while towing. As can be seen in the following video the device also has a tow rope attachment mechanism fastened rigidly to the front of the glider. There is also a underlying skid built in as well. I'm not sure where the snatches shown here took place. Regards ...
Cee, the device in question was commonly known as the Griswold Nose. These devices became available in the ETO as bolt on kits, possibly from early 1944, but were plainly not in universal service. General Brereton was a keen advocate as is evident from the attached cable.
Thanks Richelieu, The Griswold Nose - very interesting, it's good to have name for the device. Regards ...
