Mission Details
The first two serials of 76 tug-glider combinations came under heavy ground fire just before the release point. Two C-47s were shot down after release and half the survivors suffered battle damage. Unknown to the troop carriers, troops of the German 795th Georgian Battalion occupied part of the landing zone, and the "Eureka" transponding radar beacon landing aids had been moved two miles (3 km) to the northwest on Drop Zone/Landing Zone O. The C-47s released their gliders for the original LZ, unaware of the aids on LZ O. Although the 82nd Airborne considered the landings inaccurate because they did not land on LZ O, most came down within 2 miles (3.2 km) of the original LZ. Of the 3 Wacos and 21 Horsa destroyed, most were the result of German mortar and artillery fire after landing.
The second wave of mission Elmira arrived at 2255 just as the terrain was enveloped in shadow, and since no other pathfinder aids were operating, headed for the Eureka beacon on LZ O. Approximately halfway there, it came under the most severe ground fire of the day, since the route to LZ O passed directly over and along the German lines. Despite this, damage was similar to that of the serials that had come in two hours earlier, with three C-47s ditching on the way home. The last two glider serials had mixed accuracy. The first released early and came down near or within German lines, but the second came down on Landing Zone O, except for 5 who followed their briefing orders and landed on LZ W. Even so, virtually all of the personnel of both battalions made their way to the 82nd Airborne positions by morning, and had 15 of their 24 guns in operation by sundown of June 8.
Casualties in mission Elmira were 15 killed, 17 wounded, and 4 missing among the glider pilots; and 33 killed and 124 wounded among the passengers. Strom Thurmond, then a Lieutenant Colonel in a Civil Affairs unit was at age 41 credited with being the oldest person attached to the division to go into Normandy with the invasion. He later became the longest-serving senator in United States history.
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