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| The Aircraft : | |
| Name | Info |
| Horsa | The Airspeed AS 51 Horsa named after Horsa the legendary conqueror of southern Britain in the 5th century was built by Airspeed Ltd during the second world war. The Horsa was a troop carrying glider that also could carry light vehicles. On the 19th / 20th November 1942 the Horsa was used for the first time for Operation Freshman, the unsuccessful attack at Rjukan in Norway on the German heavy water plant. The two Horsa gliders, each carrying 15 sappers, and one of the two Halifax Bombers used to tow the gliders, crashed in Norway due to bad weather. All 23 survivors from the glider crashes were executed on the orders of Adolf Hitler. In preparation for further operational deployment, 30 Horsa gliders were air-towed by Halifax bombers from Great Britain to North Africa but three aircraft were lost in transit. On 10 July 1943, 27 surviving Horsas were used in the invasion of Sicily during Operation Husky. During the Normandy landings over 250 Horsa Gliders were used by British and US Forces. The first units to land in France during the Battle for Normandy were at Pegasus Bridge where 6 Horsas were used in the capture of the bridge over the Caen canal, and a further bridge over the River Orne. In 1944 large numbers were also used for Operation Dragoon and Operation Market Garden, and in March 1945 Horsas again were used during Operation Varsity and the final operation for the Horsa when 440 gliders carried soldiers of the 6th Airborne Division across the Rhine. The Horsa Glider was towed by a variety of aircraft, usually bombers. The Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle and also the Douglas C-47 Dakota. During Operation Market Garden, a total of 1,336 C-47s along with 340 Stirlings were employed to tow 1,205 gliders, and Curtiss C-46 Commando. They were towed with a harness that attached to points on both wings, and also carried a intercom between tug and glider. The glider pilots were usually from the Glider Pilot Regiment, part of the Army Air Corps, although Royal Air Force pilots were used on this occasion. |
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