Operation THURSDAY

A glimpse into the chaos of an active glider landing zone

Above: Gliders on Broadway - note the uneven terrain. Photo Courtesy of National Archives

Operation THURSDAY was an Allied mission and the largest glider operation in the China Burma India Theater of war (CBI). Planned by General Orde Wingate, the Operation was to span over seven days commencing on the evening of March 5, 1944, with the first Pathfinder glider departure at 17:00. The main body of gliders would head for the landing zones of Broadway and Piccadilly. Landing strips would be prepared at those sites over the next day to enable the larger cargo planes to land. A second part of the mission called for gliders to head for a third landing zone called Chowringhee on March 8th. However, due to previously undetected obstacles at Piccadilly that landing zone was eliminated literally at the last moment. The chaos of the glider landing that ensued on the landing zone at Broadway was not due to enemy opposition. Instead, some, but not all, can be traced to last minute changes rerouting gliders from the Piccadilly to the Broadway landing zone.

Backdrop: First Air Commandos versus Troop Carrier

As a backdrop to the information in this article it is key to understand that the organization of the gliders and glider pilots in the CBI under first Project 9 which was then called the 5318th Provisional Unit, soon to renamed the First Air Commandos, varied greatly from their counterpart's organizational structure in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) under Troop Carrier Command. The differences extended to the reporting and record keeping of the Air Commandos which was not as straightforward. Accounts have to be pieced together using a variety of sources and the numbers changed with time as more complete information became available. I still find conflicting numbers as I discover additional documents and books on the CBI glider program.

The Objective: Three Landing Zones

The objective of General Wingate's mission was to operate as a diversionary force protecting General Stillwell's mission from smaller bands of enemy troops and larger Japanese reinforcements. Part of Wingate's plan called for the construction of runways deep in the enemy controlled jungle. The initial personnel headed for the fields would be transported in gliders. The passengers were a combination of engineers to construct runways for the larger cargo planes to follow; Chindits and British Forces to initially guard the perimeter from the Japanese; and medical personnel to care for the wounded and set up sanitation and disease prevention protocols for those remaining at the landing zones. Accompanying the passengers were bulldozers, construction equipment, medical supplies, mules, radio equipment, rations, and other supplies.  

Not unusual in any operation, Operation THURSDAY saw last-minute revisions. A few included the origination point of the mission being pushed east at least 200 miles forcing the gliders which were being double towed to clear altitudes of up to 8000 feet while dangerously overloaded. The last-minute cancellation of the Piccadilly landing zone resulted in all gliders rerouted to land at the small field at Broadway. It also resulted in the initial cancellation of the Chowringhee landing zone due to its proximity to Piccadilly and its now potential total isolation. Shortly after the Chowringhee portion of the operation was reinstated.  Finally, there was the last-minute decision after tow rope strength issues led to a switch from double glider tows to single tows for the second wave of gliders rerouted from Piccadilly to Broadway. In hindsight the ability to adapt and succeed in rerouting air traffic and succeed in the building of runways as planned in Operation THURSDAY is a testament to the men who were having to pivot on the spot from start to finish.

The Glider Portion of Operation THURSDAY

Both American CG-4As and the British Hadrian gliders were used in this operation. In the original plan forty gliders were assigned each to Broadway and Piccadilly and most of the sources indicate they were hauled in double tows.[1] This would affect how quickly the gliders were following each other into the landing zone. The last-minute change from two landing zones to one would have doubled the number of gliders landing on the small field at Broadway to eighty. However, final numbers state a total number of sixty-three gliders flew to Broadway. The last glider in was a lone glider carrying a replacement bulldozer for one destroyed in an earlier glider crash while attempting to land at Broadway. The additional seventeen gliders from the original eighty originally slated for the combined Broadway and Piccadilly landing zones were halted when the radio at Broadway was repaired and the code word for stop the gliders was received.

The first glider to head for Broadway was the Pathfinder glider. It left at 17:00 and its purpose was to make the landing zone visible in the jungle for the gliders scheduled to follow forty  minutes later.[2] Delays soon occurred after a last-minute unplanned check of the Piccadilly landing zone showed conditions that eliminated it for landings. It was fully dark at 18:12 when the initial serial of gliders loaded with personnel and equipment took to the air. The light expected from the full moon was also diminished due to haze, potentially reducing the location of the landing zone and/or obstacles on it. For those gliders who made it through the flight to the landing zone, among the first to arrive were gliders prepared to serve as small scale makeshift field hospitals and gliders containing equipment and supplies. There is evidence that all the medical gliders did not make it to the landing zone. At least one containing medical supplies and a flight surgeon had to release early, landed somewhere in the jungle and at the time of the reporting on the mission had not been located. In preparation for injuries a number of the medical gliders had been outfitted with litters, estimates are twenty-six litters in handful of gliders, but it is not clear if that was the cumulative total decided upon for the Broadway mission or both Broadway and Piccadilly landing zones.

Chaos Ensues

A rare glimpse is given into the chaos on a glider landing zone from a medical personnel perspective is provided by Captain Tulloch in his description of the medical care in the CBI. As one of the first arriving in a medical fitted glider, caring for the wounded on the landing zone he provides a unique view. He explained that as the gliders began to land, injuries mounted, and it was agreed that the British Medical officers would handle glider injuries on the East side of the landing zones while the American medical officers handled the West side. The litters in the medical gliders were quickly occupied and as a result medical care had to be taken to the men where they landed. He described conditions on the landing zone:

  "it was becoming extremely hazardous to move about on the field - gliders now coming in at the rate of two every 2 1/2 minutes. One crashed in the jungle while attempting a 360 degree turn to lose altitude. A second glider did the same but deeper in . . .  Here nine men were alive of the twenty occupants. The glider had come in on its nose and all the dead were jammed in the wreckage."

Despite efforts to do so they could not locate the second glider in the dark the first night. Keep in mind that during this time Colonel Alison, second in command of the First Air Commandos and one of the first glider pilots to arrive, as well as those assisting him trying to avoid disaster by actively running around on the field repositioning smudge pots after a glider landed and forming them into the diamond shapes on a clear spot to signal the incoming glider to land on.[3] If, as Captain Tulloch states, gliders were landing every 2 1/2 minutes Colonel Alison was having to reposition the smudge pots on the same timeline. Such overloaded gliders also took much longer to stop so assuredly some missed the targeted area. Meanwhile, gliders on the ground had troops pouring out and heading into the jungle to keep enemy troops at bay, gliders that could move were being shoved out of the way, equipment being moved around, livestock being unloaded, and medical care being provided to those in and around the gliders.  Until the radio, which was damaged on landing, was repaired the code to stop all further glider tows could not be relayed. Nor was there anywhere else for the gliders to land but that landing zone.

Above: Glider on Broadway after the mission. Photo courtesy of Fold 3

While Captain Tulloch and others searching for the second glider, they could hear the continued crashing of gliders coming in. They searched for two hours so it is possible the crash of the gliders was deafening and carried well into the jungle’s interior. The improvised plan on the landing zone had been for the occupants of the landing gliders to push their glider off to the side to clear the runway for incoming gliders. The field was uneven terrain and made this impossible because the gliders' landing gear was being knocked off as they hit the ground. Consequently, they remained where they finally halted.  It played out like a multi traffic pileup on an ice-covered highway. Seven incoming gliders subsequently crashed into those on the ever-shrinking LZ. Most of the gliders were dangerously overloaded which had the glider pilots struggling to keep the nose up on takeoff and to control the increasing rate of speed on descent. It was some time before the radio was repaired and the code word sent to stop further glider serials to Broadway.

Then there was the fate of the other gliders who were released by the glider or tow pilot prematurely or their tow ropes broke during takeoff or flight.[4]  This too was caused in part by the overloading which was in part by design but was pushed over the edge by the Chindit troops loading up extra ammunition and supplies for their stint in the jungle, unbeknownst to the glider pilots. The combined effect of two overloaded gliders being hauled by the same two plane caused a potentially deadly situation if the tow rope broke and lashed back wrapping around one of the glider's wings or creating other potentially catastrophic situations for one or both gliders. Climbing to high altitudes to clear mountains were required to reach the LZ. This was due to the change in departure locations prior to the mission and exponentially increased strain not only on the tow planes but also on the tow ropes which had been weathered, and although not immediately apparent were dangerously weakened. As the planes descended down the other side of the mountains the heavily overloaded gliders surged downwards and when they reached their limit the rope was stretched taught stressing them to the breaking point. In cases where the ropes did not break the telecom cable between glider and tow plane often did making verbal communication impossible between the two pilots.  Those gliders whose tow ropes broke or were released had no choice but to make the best landing possible in the jungle, hoping for a sandbar or other relatively clear area - they were then on their own to make it to safety.

Above: A view of the glider tow rope connecting it to the tow plane on a single tow. The wire wrapped around it is the intercom wire connecting the pilots. Photo courtesy of Fold 3.

Casualties

Of the two initial gliders that crashed into the jungle reported by Captain Tulloch, the first was easily located at the end of the runway. Tragically all were killed. Two of the British passengers from the second glider made their way to the landing zone after the first search effort for the glider failed. However, they could not give clear directions back to it. The second search began at daylight and was again unsuccessful. It wasn't until an aerial search using light planes (L-5) finally located the downed glider. The search party was given the location and the three men that were still alive in the wreckage were carried back to the landing zone and evacuated. The other fifteen were dead. Interestingly, the medical officer made a unique observation that hearkens to today, had those who died had their seatbelts on they probably would have survived.

Inevitably injuries were sustained at Broadway.  Among those cited by Captain Tulloch were a crushed finger, a compound fracture of both femurs, a broken hip, a broken shoulder, loss of consciousness, lacerations and multiple smaller fractures and contusions. Breaking down the deaths the British and the Gurkhas bore the blunt with 27 dead and 40 wounded. In comparison four Americans died. The ratio of the nationalities on the mission and their positions is not provided so those numbers may be misleading without further research. Gliders that had cut loose or broken from their tow ropes were initially reported as missing, however that changed as they were accounted for in the ensuing weeks and months. One of the downed gliders occupants had to avoid Japanese patrols as they made their way with limited supplies and rations to make it to Broadway. It took them ten days. At least one glider, possibly two if a double tow, that had a tow rope break landed near to a Japanese Headquarters. This confused the Japanese who thought they were going to be under attack and helped divert them from the actual Allied mission going on.

Heroic Efforts

The chaos at Broadway is indicative of the chaos on many landing zones during the war that gliders encountered although not for the same reasons but every mission and every situation is unique. The Broadway mission was successful, the landing zone was built and ready for cargo planes within days and troops, equipment, supplies, and mules began to pour in. Chowringhee was also successful although it was abandoned shortly after the runway was build and just before the Japanese successfully bombed it. For me the story of the glider landing zone at Broadway shows all the moving parts involved in making a mission successful. All levels of command and all personnel were professional, flexible, proactive and quick moving in a dire situation which allowed them to adjust to the everchanging circumstances every minute brought.

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[1] For those unfamiliar "double tow" is when two gliders are towed by one tow plane in a staggered formation. See Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot for more technical information on the gliders, ropes, and tow lengths.

[2] Pathfinders in the case of gliders were troops that went to the landing zone(s) ahead of the gliders to clear it of the enemy and/or hazards as well as marking it to make it visible to the glider pilots from the air. At Broadway, Col. Allison the First Air Commandos second in command, landed in one of the first gliders and took charge by grabbing the smudge pots to mark where the gliders were to land moving them after every glider landing to avoid gliders crashing into one another on the glider filled field. Undoubtably he and those who aided him saved many lives.

[3] Colonel Alison was seasoned power pilots. Broadway was one of his few glider flights.

[4] One tow plane had electrical issues and the gliders had to release, another was consuming gas at too fast a rate.