Mission Elmira
During
Mission composition and purpose
Elmira consisted of 176
Elmira was considered an essential mission, delivering two battalions of glider artillery and 24 howitzers to the 82nd Airborne. It consisted of four serials of aircraft, the first to arrive ten minutes after Mission Keokuck, a similar but much smaller mission to reinforce the 101st Airborne Division. To reduce congestion over the landing zones, two serials of mission Elmira were delayed two hours until just before sunset. These carried both battalions of glider field artillery and their guns. Because the missions were flown on British Double Summer Time, both were daylight missions, with the first wave taking off at 1907 and arriving at 2104, and the second wave taking off at 2037 and arriving at 2255.
Mission details
The first two serials of 76 tug-glider combinations came under heavy ground fire just before the release point. Two C-47s were shot down after release and half the survivors suffered battle damage. Unknown to the troop carriers, troops of the German 795th Georgian Battalion occupied part of the landing zone, and the "
The second wave of mission Elmira arrived at 2255 just as the terrain was enveloped in shadow, and since no other pathfinder aids were operating, headed for the Eureka beacon on LZ O. Approximately halfway there, it came under the most severe ground fire of the day, since the route to LZ O passed directly over and along the German lines. Despite this, damage was similar to that of the serials that had come in two hours earlier, with three C-47s ditching on the way home. The last two glider serials had mixed accuracy. The first released early and came down near or within German lines, but the second came down on Landing Zone O, except for 5 who followed their briefing orders and landed on LZ W. Even so, virtually all of the personnel of both battalions made their way to the 82nd Airborne positions by morning, and had 15 of their 24 guns in operation by sundown of June 8.[2]
Casualties in mission Elmira were 15 killed, 17 wounded, and 4 missing among the glider pilots; and 33 killed and 124 wounded among the passengers.
Serial | Airborne Unit | Troop carrier Group | # of C-47s | # of gliders | UK Base | Landing Zone | LZ Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 | Btty C/HQ 80th AAA Bn 82d Abn Div Arty 82nd Signal Co |
437th TCG | 26 | 8 Waco CG-4 18 Horsa |
RAF Ramsbury, Wiltshire | W | 2110 |
31 | 82nd Abn Recon Plat 82nd Signal Co Div HQ 307th Abn Medic Co |
438th TCG | 50 | 14 Waco 36 Horsa |
RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire | W | 2120 |
32 | 319th Glid FA Bn 307th Abn Medic Co Co A 307th Abn Engr Bn 82nd Abn Div Arty |
436th TCG | 50 | 2 Waco 48 Horsa |
RAF Membury, Berkshire | O | 2300 |
33 | 320th Glid FA Bn | 435th TCG | 50 | 12 Waco 38 Horsa |
RAF Welford, Berkshire | O | 2310 |
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Sources
- Warren, Dr. John C. USAF Historical Study 97: Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater (1956). Air University.
- U.S. Airborne in Cotentin Peninsula
References
- ^ Axis History
- ^ Warren, Airborne Operations, 68-69.
Further reading
- Harrison, G. A. (1951). Cross-Channel Attack (PDF). United States Army in World War II: The European Theater of Operations. Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Military History, Department of the Army. OCLC 606012173. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- Warren, J. C. (1956). Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater (PDF). USAF Historical Studies. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: USAF Historical Division, Research Studies Institute Air University. ISBN 0-89126-015-3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
External links
- "Normandy: Operation Overlord". National WWII Glider Pilots Association, Inc.