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The Beginning of the End
Tiger Boards - The Amphitheatre
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Replies: 5
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The Beginning of the End

12

Jun 6, 2024, 1:29 PM
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Here's a terrific account of the glider assault on the 2 bridges in Normandy with video footage of one of the gliders landing - what a great job by those pilots and soldiers:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240531-how-ww2s-d-day-began-with-a-death-defying-mission-in-a-wooden-aircraft

I took this picture of one of the bridges and some museum pictures of the area honoring that daring, dangerous action:
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Re: The Beginning of the End

13

Jun 6, 2024, 2:25 PM
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I have an uncle who flew gliders over Normandy 7 times. He'd crash land them, find his way to a pick up point and they put him in another. After 3 times he was statistically dead yet there he was again and again. After the 7th time, they said thats enough and sent him home to marry my aunt.

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That's incredible...

3
Jun 6, 2024, 2:30 PM
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...he must have had an angel on his shoulder that day.

2025 orange level memberbadge-donor-15yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up


Re: The Beginning of the End

3
Jun 6, 2024, 2:56 PM [ in reply to Re: The Beginning of the End ]
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Glider duty was extremely dangerous. The only advantage was the element of surprise (at night), but as you pointed out, that had a high rate of morbidity.

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Re: The Beginning of the End

1
Jun 6, 2024, 7:16 PM
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Clemson’s own Strom Thurmond inserted via a glider in Normandy.

Personally I’d rather jump out of a perfectly good airplane with a parachute than crash land into a combat zone in a glider.

2025 orange level memberbadge-donor-05yr.jpg flag link military_tech thumb_downthumb_up

You said


Jun 6, 2024, 7:35 PM
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Strom Thurmond inserted… he he he

🤣

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Class of '87


Replies: 5
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