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British glider pilots of the Glider Pilot Regiment received serious infantry combat training while the comparable training for U.S. glider pilots was more hit and miss. I think it was Gavin though who was furious that American glider pilots didn’t quickly return to fly another mission during Market Garden (some were rounded up from cafes in Brussels). The British glider pilots at Arnhem were actually assigned defensive positions around the LZ and Osterbreek.

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The combat training for the U.S. Glider Pilot , with the exception of those in the CBI Theater of Operations, was hit or miss until late 1943. At that point rather than their training being left up to the Group/Squadron they were assigned to a more formalized combat training program at Bowman Field. This was more in response to the loss in morale of those glider pilots caught in the waiting pools for the Advanced Training at Bowman Field than the Army Air Forces desire to remedy the combat training issue. By Varsity they had been trained to a high level to work with the infantry. However, the glider pilots that volunteered for a secret mission in the CBI, (unbeknownst) the them at the time, were trained in '43 in a 6 week course in Combat Jungle Warfare. If the American glider program interests you I cover it all in my newly released book Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot.

As for Gavin - well you hit on my latest research button which I will be publishing on soon. In a nutshell Gavin gave a scathing report on the glider pilots of Market - which if my facts line up correctly was completely unwarranted. I am currently going through multiple primary document sources to expand on this - I do touch on it briefly in my book. In Market and under Gavin the glider pilots were put on the front lines and then evacuated as ordered. Another SNAFU occurred in a series of SNAFUS when they were place on the airborne convoy heading further into enemy territory instead of being evacuated. When it was realized they were being driven away from the evacuation zone, the decision was made to drop them off in the woods with the orders to stay concealed until a truck could be sent for them. The second truck convoy they were placed came under heavy German attack and the glider pilots - underarmed and without equipment - which had been stolen while they were on the front lines after they had been ordered to leave it behind - inched the trucks out of the line of fire and saved the convoy. There is much more to it but that is just a quick glimpse.

The glider pilots were not able to abscond from the battlefield as has been reported and has become part of their story. The primary reason being they were rarely issued Escape and Evasion Kits that contained identity papers and currency. I have read reports where they could not get a room or eat as a result. They were ordered to of get back to base any way possible as quick as possible once they were released from the Command Post so they would be ready to fly another mission. In over 750 reports I have not read one case of court-martial or formal complaint of glider pilots leaving the battle to head for the big cities. Of course that doesn't meant it never happened - war is a dynamic situation and I'm sure some did. The only report I read that came close was a recommended court martial for a group of glider pilots that disappeared for a month but it was rejected when it was determined they were actually fighting in tanks to fill in for losses. If you have the source for the glider pilots being rounded up in a cafe in Brussels I would love to see it so that I can present the full picture before I write the article. I feel for the British Glider Pilots at Arnhem - I think their landing so far from the objective really doomed their mission.

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Thanks again for the reminder about our brave glider Troops of World War II. We all need to remember these brave soldiers and the Glider Pilots who flew them in service to our country. As long as we remember them, they are not forgotten!

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