Glider Infantry - Usage and Doctrine

Usage and Doctrine

Firstly, glider infantry are loaded into gliders which are attached to towing aircraft by a cable. The loaded gliders are then towed through the air by towing aircraft and flown to a release point usually just beyond the hearing range of enemy troops. The tow cables are then released and the gliders would be piloted, without engine power, to a designated landing zone. Once the gliders landed, the troops and equipment would disembark and enter combat. Glider pilots were often organized together after landing to fight or be extracted to safety.

Compared with paratroops, alongside whom they would operate, glider-borne troops had several advantages:

• Gliders could carry and deliver much bulkier and heavier equipment (such as anti-tank guns, or vehicles such as jeeps or even light tanks) that could not be parachuted from the side-loading transport aircraft normally used in World War 2. Thus glider infantry units were usually better equipped than their parachute infantry counterparts.
• Any one stick of glider infantry could disembark intact and combat ready, while paratroops needed time after landing to regroup and reorganize before beginning operations. Under ideal conditions, whole glider units could land intact.
• Unlike drop planes which delivered paratroops, gliders were totally silent and detection by the enemy was difficult, greatly increasing the element of surprise. In fact, completely undetected insertions were possible, especially during night landings.
• Glider infantry required much less training than parachute infantry. In fact many glider infantry units were simply converted from regular infantry units with only cursory training.

However using gliders as a method of insertion also had serious drawbacks:

• Gliders required a relatively smooth landing area free from obstructions. A common countermeasure against gliders was to sow posts and other obstructions in likely landing areas.
• Gliders were fragile and glider landings were rough and brutal affairs. All too often, gliders were destroyed during landing attempts, killing or injuring the crew and passengers.
• In practice, it was difficult for entire units to land together and glider-borne units often ended up even more widely scattered than parachute units.
• Gliders and towing planes were extremely vulnerable to interception by enemy aircraft while gliders were under tow. Gliders were also helpless against ground fire if they were detected before landing, but the same can be said for any aircraft or helicopter flying over enemy territory.
• Glider pilots, who were expensive to train and replace, suffered heavy casualties.