For the next few minutes you will witness some highlights of a spectacular
and the study of operation.
If you brief flashes on the screen will bring you the end product of years of
training and planning
and construction aircraft you will see took decades to develop the man who jumped
from the i'm had to become experts in a matter of months
and they did the operation with the great success.
It saved thousands of miles that might have been lost and bloody from assault
but as you will see we had to pay the cost of those save lives
and broken blondish parachutes self aviation gas
and a thousand other items of supply and equipment.
This is not one that can be won by dollars and cents alone
but neither can it be won without dollars and cents in money for gliders
and parachutes.
Yes in fact than it does come Friday out of the war bonds if you buy your
game among the six
that might headquarters under command of General Eisenhower allied naval forces
supported by strong air forces on the northern coast of France the
greatest news story in one hundred forty eight hours
that fateful moment for which the whole world held its breath.
But in the night hours. The day minus one before this first assault.
Snows on the beach American fighting men troop carriers paratroopers airborne
infantry and guide him and we're already there.
This picture is a small tribute to those men living
and dead who went in before a judge or on D.
Day five hours ahead of the main force to start the destruction of Fortress Europe.
The story begins in a village in England not the kind of village
that you ever saw or read about but a strange unsightly place one
that had sprung up almost overnight
and was known to its citizens as shanty town its buildings were fashioned entirely
from heavy boxes
and shipping crate used in transporting thousands of gliders from the United States.
It was a growing community. Every time a glider moved out of its crate
and were impatient tenants waiting to move in and set up housekeeping.
Or perhaps a business establishment
and everyone in town was there for one purpose for the day
when they would join forces with the British to make the big jump the jump.
That would carry them not only across the English Channel
but across an almost solid wall of steel and iron and guns
and ruthless determined men trained for generations in the art of death
and destruction but impregnable of these defenses appeared.
We had a plan to surmount them the wall of fortifications stretched along the
entire coast of your part of the plan called for our air forces to carry an army of
paratroops and airborne infantry over this war.
The chief of staff a lot of them dropped deep in German held territory to a stylish
defense areas
and block the movement of the enemy then they decided the invasion spearhead to
strike me.
Didley troops began to be dispatched to special takeoff points all over England
where they would stand by until the final word was given heroes in the making rode
the highways of England
that day bus loads of them as to how they found riding into their first real battle
for well one of them tell you they were just another ride at first taken to
somewhere else for another train
and maybe after eighteen months to train any again so you don't expect anything
else at least that's the way marriage will say goodnight
and I guess the glider guys are pretty much the same but we find out different.
They took us to a single airport when nobody was allowed in
and none of us allowed this to bother the hot plates going stories
we kept in shape with regular exercises and then maybe a game or two
when you know there was something cooking something
and we spent any spare time we could find and writing letters from home
or maybe writing one of the folks in
that special girl invasion markings painted on every ship
and glider brought the whole thing even close.
It would soon be on our way money was passed the kind you
can spend in France they hadn't forgotten a thing we need either a week
ago when these were taken care of not many of us forgot that for our kind of guy.
Nice and good enough.
Now we were really ready gentle like nearly tore his pants stepping over the barbed
wire but he didn't care he wanted to talk don't.
Why can't a lot of questions
that ask what your name salary says what your hometown who's a toughest man in the
outfit. Tell me then the answer that last one.
When we get bank inspected a few of the boys will really have to be tough a path
finder. They don't want to handle all of us
and clients signal markets so we can find a way they live on a steady diet of
danger when I get through this.
We're all keyed up raring to go and then it was time.
Most of these men had never seen real combat but remember them look at their faces.
They've seen plenty of action since then the voice of the eighty second
and one hundred first Airborne Divisions the men of faith one ranch dead
and Belgian stop them. Call the test on your staff a lot.
They've given us brand new parachutes
and I remember one little guy saying he was in worry none about him opening because
the company that made him was in a home town
and his mother worked there on final inspection a few of the
outfits got the idea they ought to show the Germans we had Indians
and American Indians from the low from Back Bay
and the Bronx climbing into the ship some of us will love it so.
Heavy
that we had to be shoved on board by the others a way to never made it the allotting
went on into the night
we were in a place
and ready long before take our time then we heard the roar of engines the
Pathfinder ships being in up
and
when you would be flown soon after that takeoff a sudden I'm never again.
Sure we don't. Milada train and hops
but this was just like the first time you ride a bicycle only with a home run.
Find in the fall. If anything goes wrong.
Nothing to do now with those two carrier guys at the controls talk about American
trains run on time you're going to really a set your watch by the split second way
those guys took us all state of the ships off the ground like it was just another
practice run by them.
I guess it was after all they were going to have to fly again
and again fall night and the next day only under five and that's no fun
when you figure that the forty seven seven any army no guns
and have to fly all over the drop in zones straight is on a bombing run
after we had the channel and started across every light went out.
We had no idea where we were when we got the on the list stand up and hook up
that came so quickly didn't have time to do much thinking before we were over the
side China four hundred foot drop in a France thousands of us
not far behind came the first bunch of gliders
that seemed forever before they hit the ground.
They were like clay pigeons for the German cyclist the glider pilots really had
their hands full bringing those babies down in the dark
that way they were done few signalized to help find their way
the Germans in common with CROSSFIRE almost from the minute they sat down at a do
their work lie and plan on the ground but those gliders got down and the troops
and guns inside I'm going in the fight the pilots by my along with them.
I guess we did plenty of damage that night.
Yes late in plenty of damage blocking road junctions knocking out bridges capturing
fields for air strips
and all the while out in the channel behind the Navy guns guns slamming away at the
beach
and softening things up for the big push the begin of dawn clearing the way for the
biggest invasion in history the greatest movement of many clients
the Troop Carrier Command was ready for its next meal they had massed hundreds of
British
and American gliders in preparation for the most gigantic aerial towing job ever
attempted. Each held a full cargo of Jeeps
and guns for the fighting men to use them.
The lives
and success of those who were already in France depended on the flight of this vast
Armada they were greatly outnumbered
and desperately needed these reinforcements how they got them a story of two way
air traffic and I'm broken chain of planes
and gliders stretching from England to France
and back again is best told by a man who was a part of it all.
Maybe we glider pilots didn't show it but we are as excited over flying across
that English Channel as Blair A.O.
Must have been
when he flew it for the first time years before most of us were born he didn't have
much of an airplane under him.
But then there weren't any German guns waiting for him on the other side we did a
bit of wondering about those guns as we started out over the channel
and a lighthouses of England again slipping away beneath us
and what about the German look was a this was a big chance.
Our air forces
that are stablished air supremacy sure we had our regular umbrella fighters over us.
But if there was ever a time that German flyers would try anything
that breaks through this was that time
but we never saw a German plane approaching the French coast the agony of gunfire
seemed harmless and far away for those who are right in it. It was different.
It gave us a feeling of pride to be a part of it all looking down at those men on
the beaches of Normandy. We felt a little guilty to sitting up over them.
Even getting our feet
when the
Germans flooded entire areas to slow us out of a beachhead was established we kept
watching for those would gone in during the night but we only saw their parachutes.
There was no sign of them in
the first line or we find out pretty soon. What happened.
Roger was along
we stretched our glides as much as possible
that way we ended up near the edge of the field where we could run for cover as
soon as we got out.
Not everybody came down exactly where they wanted to one glider went right into a
German field headquarters.
And what was
that I said about not getting our feet wet this bunch was lucky the Germans were
under control in this section but more than one tow ship
and glider made it last flight that day guns didn't do all
that damage fifteen foot poles driven into the ground ripped off the wings
and smashed through fuselage as the men who stepped out of this glider will never
know if their first mission was successful but it was plenty.
Yes their mission had been successful
but this down payment on freedom ran very high.
These broken wings served the highest purpose they carried it on the Internet on
the day an army which spearheaded the allied invasion carried the fight for freedom.
Right to the front door of those with a challenge to a ring of steel and high
and a gun
and determined Fremantle was closing in months so miles of battle lay ahead.
But the day minus one was the beginning.
OK So carriers. Why don't we go from here.