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Glider Pilots in Combat

Published May 01, 2015

The CG-4A could carry 13 fully equipped troops plus a pilot and copilot. As a cargo carrier, its capacity was almost 4,000 pounds. Used late in the war, gliders were generally considered expendable in combat and few efforts were made to retrieve them. (U.S. Air Force photo)
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The CG-4A could carry 13 fully equipped troops plus a pilot and copilot. As a cargo carrier, its capacity was almost 4,000 pounds. Used late in the war, gliders were generally considered expendable in combat and few efforts were made to retrieve them. (U.S. Air Force photo)

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During the March 1945 airborne crossing of Germany's Rhine River, about 40 pilots from the 435th Troop Carrier Group defended a crossroad against several hundred infantrymen and two tanks in what was called "The Battle of Burp Gun Corner." Glider pilots had the reputation of being cocky and tough and weren't bashful about letting people know that the "G" on their pilot wings stood for "guts." USAAF glider pilots, in concert with U.S. and Allied airborne forces, spearheaded major invasions in Sicily, Europe, the Philippines and the China-Burma-India Theater and delivered about 30,000 American airborne troops into combat.

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