Cargo and Securing Same

Gliders delivered primarily two things for US Airborne forces in WWII: personnel, and equipment that could not be air dropped. A jeep trailer would be loaded with its towing jeep. And the jeep and trailer combo loaded with whatever... Tied down. Loose objects become missiles on hard landings causing  injuries. Crates themselves would not be loaded in the glider as those can be easily airdropped in parapacks or door bundles. stowed in a glider they would slow down unloading- a big no no in airborne assaults. 

Stik,

Thanks for the reply!  I have to disagree a bit, however.  I've been going by this list:

http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/data/301tcs_04.pdf

(A great site for D-Day information).  I notice there are 1/4 ton trailers listed, and I believe they were carried on the glider even without jeeps (which would have been carried on a separate glider).  The other stores, like ammo, grenades, rations could have been dropped by para-pack, but not all I think.

You're right that loose objects not secured properly would be deadly in a glider landing (and reading some accounts being secured properly didn't do much good).  Still hope to find something on what measures were taken, however.

Thanks!

Gary

That's a really interesting link, but I see a huge problem with it... Four of the units listed are 82nd airborne, not 101st. 505, 507, & 508 Parachute Infantry Regiments, and 325 Glider Infantry Regiment were all part of the 82nd, not 101st. I find it hard to believe such an error in  listing would be done on anything so thoroughly planned as D-Day. Is that document legit with such an error? Aside from that, I would presume that the items listed were secured in the jeep trailers, and if no trailer or jeep was carried, tied down to the floorboards by lines, chains, or some form of cargo strap. 

I am gonna have to do some googling myself now, as you have piqued my curiousity with your question. And of course I am fascinated by all aspects of US Army Airborne ;) 

Here's the main link if you want to read some more of these.  They are apparently official documents from the archives at Maxwell.  Look under "Documents" for the one I listed.

http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_page.php?page=82

Your thinking about securing goes along with mine.  I am curious if cargo netting was used at all, or just secure lines or chains.  I think there may have been pallets for cargo,but I haven't found any evidence yet.

Well, good luck with your own quest! 

PS> Well, I ran across this site:

http://militarymashup.com/aircraft-glider.htm

Take a look at the pic of the interior of a glider with medical supplies headed for Bastogne.  Really?  I mean... really?  I think the pilot and co-pilot are going to need them!

LOL! Yeah, quite likely. But Bastogne was a unique situation, very much a case of getting the most supplies of particular types (muntions and medical) in as possible in the shortest time.

Here is a link to a site with some interesting info on the CG-4A

http://www.ww2gp.org/CG-4A.php

From that site, it appears that the Glider would carry either a jeep, or a trailer, but not together. And you can see in one of the photos how the trailer is packed to the gills with the stuff lashed down.

this image of aresored glider shows some straps/lines securing the 75mm pack howitzer in place along with wheel chocks. How historicly accurate that is, I can not say, but it makes sense for the era

and I comletely forgot about these handcarts used by the Airborne. I suspect that is how the itmes listed in your links are loaded on board. Scroll down to see them loaded before and after Glider ops

http://www.theliberator.be/handcart.htm

stikpusher

That's a really interesting link, but I see a huge problem with it... Four of the units listed are 82nd airborne, not 101st. 505, 507, & 508 Parachute Infantry Regiments, and 325 Glider Infantry Regiment were all part of the 82nd, not 101st. I find it hard to believe such an error in  listing would be done on anything so thoroughly planned as D-Day. Is that document legit with such an error? 

Stik,

After looking through the other documents related to this operation, I think what you are looking at is a genuine "typo".  It is dated "8th June", so the clerks were probably pretty busy and their supervisors probably overwhelmed with reports and paperwork.

All that mattered was that the stuff got delivered to France.  Who got it was not their problem! 

Thanks for the link!  I think you posted just as I was starting my last post.  There is an image in one of my previous posts of an artillery piece inside a WACO.  There are some ropes lashed around the barrel, and very little else observable.  I get the feeling that securing cargo inside these gliders was a rather hap-hazard affair.

PS>  The "Silent Wings" Museum is in Lubbock, TX.  I'm in Longview, TX.  It would probably be worth a visit, even though it's about a 7 hour drive!

Thanks for the info!

if you look carefully at the image that I posted, the howitzer appears to be tied down at two points. around the barrel, and midway back on the trail coming up form the center point of the second framework "V". You can just see the tan strap coming up. From looking at different images of Waco interiors, there appears to be some sort of attachment point where the framing meets in those areas

another view of that Waco showing the rear tie down point better