Warbird Information Exchange

The gliders wee considered an expendable tool or weapon, much like a torpedo or cannon shell. In Tennessee the U.S. Army practiced for the European assault. Called the "Tennessee War Maneuvers." THey had two CG-4A drops near my farm. One on Ben Green Road about 6 miles east of Lebanon, and the other on Taylorsville road near the tiny town of Taylorsville.
My wife's uncle and grandparents saw the practice take place including a 1,000 plus jumpers, CG-4A's , and all the assorted combat troops and equipment. HeR uncle used to ride his bicycle a half mile or so to one area where 3 CG-4's were released and cut pieces of wire, and other materials from the CG-4s. THey were abandoned by the Army where they landed.
Sometme after the war, say 1946 or 47, a crew of G.I.s came around and dismantled the remains and hauled them off. He believes they were taken to Sewart Air Force Base, Smyrna, Tenn. THey were likely burned or used for landfill. I have flown over many times the two landings fields near my farm hoping to find the fuselage remains of a CG-4. or maybe a barn made from one, but no luck.
My theory of the CG4s and CG-15s that survive is that they were either A) lost or not able to locate after used for training, B) were in the weeds at a base that was closed immediately after the war, and the clean up crews missed them (Like the Brewsters at Tullahoma), or C) THey were purchased new in the box, for the value of their wood components and shipping box. Occasionally a fuselage escaped to be used as a hunting shelter, or barn.

pjpahs, Did you make any closeup photos of that tow release that you could post or send?

In the beginning of advanced GP training (CG-4A) they had trouble pre-mature releases. Wright Field engineer(s) determined the primary cause to be improper maintenance -- not keeping the mechanism clean and free of dirt, grit and sand. However, per the engineer in charge of the release designs, slight modifications were made-would be counted as part of the thousands of changes on the CG-4A.

Marine Air,
Did your relatives make any photos of these gliders? That the gliders were intended to be fully expendable was not the original plan. Recovery depended on having an air field large enough to take off or having C-47 equipped with the model 80 winch for in flight recovery. But this was limited to the amount of damage to the glider on landing, or the amount of vandalism after landing. Half of the snatch winches were removed from those so equipped C-47s on arrival in England prior to Normandy because a particular commanding officer who had no previous knowledge or experience with the snatch procedure, said it did not work. In Normandy, no provision was made for a recovery field and no guard or protection of undamaged gliders was set up. French farmers liked the wheels, steel tubing and other stuff. U.S. troopers liked the fabric for various uses including bring a piece home. There is an official Army photo of a Tennessee Maneuvers CG-4A which is identified as BGen Pratt's glider in Normandy and was identified as such in at least one book written by an Airborne glider officer (someone who should have known better). There are two MPs with their Jeep in the photo. Problem is, the glider was in Tennessee not Normandy.

I don't know if there was a planned recovery of the Tennessee gliders. That would be a research project. Up until late summer 1943, there was only one model 80 winch in service and that was assigned to the glider test and research base. It flew all over recovering CG-4A gliders.

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

I did not take any photos of the tow ring. It was partially covered by a zippered canvas cover. I asked the guy from Yankee Air Museum if it was possible for the tow plane to disconnect from the glider and and he said no. It seemed to be just a heavy ring , possibly 3/4 " dia. cross section by maybe 4" dia. and no release. Release only at the glider. It did have "42D8750" stamped on it. That's what I seen and was told.

Interesting. The "plug" of the release was a round steel disc. On one side was welded the "D" ring that was grasped by the tow release jaws. On the other side was a round ring (1/2 a ring) welded to the disc. This plug was part of the tow line. A figure-eight swing-link connected to the plug and an oval link to the other end of the swing link which also had the tow line thimble though it. (I would post a picture if I knew how). When the tow release jaws opened the "D" ring was free to leave with the tow line.

I don't believe the YAM guy knows about which he is speaking. My question to the him would have been, "How does this thing land with a 350 foot long, 11/16 inch diameter, nylon line permanently attached?" Catching that line in a big tree or whatever, would jerk the tail off the C-47 or stall it out.

The number you give looks like it is an AAF part number but the ring you describe does not sound right to me. I will have to make a trip up to YAM to see what is on the plane.

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

Gliderman1 : I agree with you that to come back with the tow rope attached would really complicate things and when I started this thread I didn't expect it to be this interesting and I appreciate it. I have a cousin who pulled advertising signs with his Super Cub and he would have 3 ropes and grapples ,each with it's own release and would trail 1 to grap the lead elevated on a frame and pull his sign then go over the grass strip next to the runway, release the grapple and banner, circle around throw out another grapple ,snare another banner and repeat. After 3 banners it was time to refuel. I agree that a C-47 or whatever must be able to jettison the load. As I said most of the tow ring was covered by canvas and I kinda opened it a little to see the part number and didn't know enough about it to look for anything more, sorry.

pjpahs, It might take me a couple months, but I will check out the YAM, C-47 tow release. It is only about an hour away, if it is there when I go there.

There were numerous incidents on combat tows during WWII where the tug released the glider tow line with the glider still on the other end. The stretched nylon line would shoot back to the glider and go through through the windscreen or wrap around the glider wings, etc.

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

The RAF procedure for tow ropes was to drop them in a designated area away from the LZ. This was done during training and on operational tows.
I have copies of the report on the first UK tow trials conducted during September and October 1942 using a Dakota I which I presume was actually a US Military aircraft as the serial is quoted as 118339. This is one of three C47 serials I've noted along with one C53 which were used for British glider towing trials by the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment.
The one photo in the report shows the tow hook point at the tail and it is different to the later C47 / Dakota installation as the tailcone remains on the aircraft and the hook is mounted externally, although the tow hook appears to be the same piece of equipment.
British gliders and tugs used tow releases of various sizes but similar designs all made by the same company, R Malcolm Ltd, the same company produced the bubble canopies on P51 / Mustangs and other aircraft.

OK, now to learn more about what I started I found you tube to be really helpful and google. On you tube is a 15 min. film "Normandy, the airborne invasion of fortress Europe, part 1" and at the 11 min. mark it shows the hookup at the rear of a C-47 and and the CG-4 glider. Yes, releases at both ends. On other films it showed gliders being towed by B-25, P-38 and PBY Cat.. Showed a B-17 Dual tow and a C-54 triple tow, showed non-stop C-47 "snatch" pickups of CG4 gliders and what happens when the tow rope breaks and snaps back into the glider ,ouch!!! Very interesting locking device's 2 and 4 finger collet type grippers, I wish I had pulled back the canvas more on the YAM C-47 and maybe I could have seen if it truly was a glider tow or just a hard point to tie down the aircraft. One film showed a parachute arrestor to shorten the landing and the "Griswold Nose" on CG-4, a framework to receive the tow and protect the pilot if the rope breaks which in one film is devastating to the glider.

"On the other film, ..."

This demonstration of various tugs, etc. was done during the Laurinburg-Maxton "Pea-Patch Show" during first week of August 1943. USAF BGen Robert Cardenas (ret) (then Lt) flew the P-38. Most of the tugs, power pilots, and glider pilots for the demonstrations, as well as the C-47 (with winch) shown in the film were from CCAAF glider test field in Ohio. The show culminated at night. Mike Murphy had hand picked some glider pilots at L-M to fly a special show. After dark, with all the attending US Army high brass seated in a viewing stand, unknown or unheard by the observers, gliders landed and taxied right up to the viewing stand. As Murphy ordered the lights on, a brass band musically blasted its way out of one glider and armed glider riders exited the others, all to the surprise of the viewing officers. Though I have never found written proof of possible program cancellation, in view of several crashes and production problems, it is said the US glider program was in danger of being cancelled. This stunt by Murphy is said to have saved the US glider program. Regardless of the program status, this stunt was very impressive.

The original purpose of the "parachute arrestor" (known as a deceleration chute) was for the purpose of quickly losing altitude to get on the ground faster. Actual testing and development of a glider braking chute was not done until after BGen Don Pratt was killed on June 6, 1945. The bolt-on Griswold Nose Protection Device was an after-thought, a result from the design of the Griswold nose which was a totally redesigned, streamlined nose/cockpit. It was for crash protection for the pilots more so than protection from broken tow lines. It also moved the tow release nearer to the center of the nose. This eliminated pulling the glider nose down onto the cargo section front skids on take off. There were only a few hundred deceleration chutes and bolt-on Griswold nose protection devices available and field installed for Normandy.

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

I was researching a plane crash from 1957 that occurred relatively close to my house. It involved a Capital Airlines DC-3 that was purchased surplus from AAF in 1946. The plane's c/n was 19448, which translated to 42-100985. 42-100985 was a glider tug with the 476th Troop Carrier Group and towed a glider over Normandy on D-Day. I am told that there still may be some pieces of the plane still at the crash site. I'm of the opinion that these pieces should "come in from the cold" and have an appropriate memorial placed to the crew that was killed in that crash.

SaxMan,
Good idea but where did you get the 476 TCG?
I can not find any Glider Pilots who were assigned to, or flew with that group?

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

Hi Gliderman, I found this link to 42-100985, showing it as part of the roster (#28 in the formation) for the 82nd Airborne's drop on June 6. It's actually the 437th TCG. My apologies.

http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=s28

According to this website, 42-100985, piloted by Chesher, Jr. was towing glider 42-79156 flown by Russell

Baugher's site indicates 42-79156 as a Waco CG-4A-WO, but no other info on that craft.

I'd love to find some corroborating information on 42-100985, but haven't found anything using some cursory internet searches. If you have any info, I'd be glad to have it.

Right now, my focus is finding the crash site. It really comes down to which side of the road the site is on. If it's on the east side of the road, it would put the site on park property and there are a lot more resources I can bring to bear in regards to recovery. If it's on the west side of the road, it would place it on private property. This would require a bit more work to recover, but certainly not insurmountable.

SaxMan, I think I saw on baugher that the C-47 was sold by the Reconstruction Finance Corp in late 1945, so she probably flew a load back to the US in late summer 1945? I have very little info on the C-47s.

Glider #42-79156 was 234 production article of the first 500 article contract by WACO. According to 82 A/B info, 42-79156 carried a Jeep and two 82 A/B riders, landed 3 miles from LZ-O. The glider was destroyed, the Jeep unserviceable and one of the two riders was evacuated for injuries (these are 82nd figures and do not include the Troop Carrier glider pilots). There were eleven GP name of Russell. Edward H. is only Russell indicated as flying Normandy (he also flew Market and Varsity) and he is not indicated as receiving PH, so he must not have been injured in the Normandy landing (or the others). Do not know who was the co-pilot, who could have been injured or KIA.

_________________
Charles Day,
Silent Ones WWII Invasion Glider Test & Experiment CCAAF Wilmington Ohio

Thanks Gliderman for the info on the glider

I found an AP article on the crash, which gave me the critical clue that I needed to find the site. I now have the site pinpointed. It is on private property, but at least there is a business on that property. I think the business owner would probably more amenable to someone poking around for old junk rather than knocking on the door of a residence. Even though it is on private property, the park service may still be interested in displaying what will hopefully be recovered items. Stay tuned.

Update: I drove by the first location and came away not quite as certain that I found the crash site. Doing more research, I came across two more pictures which blew my theory to heck. However, after showing these pictures to the Park Manager, we now have it narrowed down to two sites that were caddy-corner to the gas station, on the east side of Frederick Road, which puts it on park property. That is huge, as both access to the site and recovery of any artifacts is going to be made much easier.

We're probably going to have to wait for a killing frost to go survey the site, as the undergrowth this time of year is pretty heavy. In the meantime, I figure this gives me ample opportunity to do additional research into the plane's history, the men who were on her on that fateful day, as well as finding more local accounts of the accident itself.

I'm clearly a novice at this, and would appreciate any suggestions or advice pertaining to the research, site survey and possible recovery of any artifacts.