World War 2 In Review: Waco CG-4A: American Troop/Cargo Military Glider (Photos)

Waco CG-4A glider in flight.

Troops of a glider field artillery battalion entering a Waco CG-4A glider, Camp Mackall, North Carolina.

British troops loading a jeep is loaded onto a USAAF Waco CG-4A glider for the assault on Sicily, July 1943.British troops loading a jeep is loaded onto a USAAF Waco CG-4A glider for the assault on Sicily, July 1943.

A line of Waco CG-4A gliders.

Douglas C-47s and CG-4A Waco gliders, of the 436th Troop Carrier Group, lined up on the runway at Membury Airfield, England.

Waco CG-4A gliders lining up on an airstrip in Sicily, Italy, August 1943.

Jeep coming out of the front cargo door of a Waco CG-4A glider after landing, Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. 1942.

CG-4A Waco glider of the 315th Troop Carrier Group, RAF Aldermaston, 1943.

C-47 of the 62nd Troop Carrier Squadron, 314th Troop Carrier Group, and Waco CG-4A gliders, at RAF Saltby, England.

A U.S. Army Air Force Waco CG-4A glider on display in October 1944. "CG-4A glider used to carry utility and service units. It is also a standard troop carrier glider which has been used in every invasion from Sicily through Holland. It carries about 3,700 pounds or 15 fully equipped men. Note efficient assembly of service units in this picture."

Robertson Aircraft Company in St. Louis was contracting to build Waco CG-4A-RO gliders under license. Several VIPs were getting a demonstration ride on 1 August 1943. Among the passengers was the Mayor of St. Louis, William D. Becker. Mayor Becker was an experienced pilot himself. All ten souls aboard were killed when a wing separated from their glider shortly after it dropped off tow from a C-47 at 2,000 feet over Lambert Field. The photo shows the glider with left wing missing, pointed almost straight down. Robertson had subcontracted with a local casket maker for some of the parts, and the investigation showed they had used substandard materials for the critical wing attachment.

C-47 tow planes and Waco CG-4A gliders over the mountains of Burma.

An aerial view of a C-47 as it tows off a CG-4A Waco glider from a British airfield en route for Holland during Operation Market Garden, 17 September 1944.

A wrecked U.S. Army Air Force Waco CG-4A glider (42-73623) in Sicily in July 1943.

Waco CG-4A glider in flight.

Waco CG-4 with 101st Airborne glidermen. Readying themselves for the always nerve-wracking flight in a CG-4A glider, men of the 101st Airborne Division join in a domestic training operation. This illustration gives an idea of the Waco’s tubular steel and canvas construction (including the hinged nose section, forward), and furnishes a fine glimpse of standard American infantry small arms in the hands of the glidermen. Note BAR, M1 Garand, Thompson M1A1, M1A1 Bazooka, Springfield 1903. Circa early 1944.

CG-4A gliders and Douglas C-47s of the Ninth Troop Carrier Command lined up along the runway await take off time at Greenham Common air base in England prior to taking part in the invasion of France. 6 June 1944.

CG-4A gliders of the 313th Troop Carrier Group after landing during the Market Garden operation, Holland. 23 September 1944.

Brig. Gen. Anthony C. Mcauliffe, artillery commander of the 101st Airborne Division, gives his various glider pilots last-minute instructions in England on Sept. 18, 1944, before the take-off on D-Day plus 1. (USAF photo)

British glider troops load a jeep into a CG-4A (Hadrian) glider in preparation for Operation MANNA. On 13 October 1944 , six CG-4As (Hadrians), four of them carrying bulldozers, landed successfully. The following day, a further thirty-four CG-4As did the same with more troops and jeeps. There were no casualties but some interesting experiences.

Operation Manna was the codeword for a Second World War operation by the British and Greek forces in Greece in mid-October 1944, following the gradual withdrawal of the German occupying forces from the country. The operation included an airborne element, which was conducted by the British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade on 12 October, when elements of the 4th Parachute Battalion parachuted onto the Megara airfield 28 miles (45 km) outside of Athens. The prevailing weather conditions forced the abandonment of further parachute operations and it was not until 14 October that the rest of the brigade, less the 5th Parachute Battalion, arrived. After landing, the 4th and 6th Parachute Battalions marched on Athens. On 16 October, the 5th Battalion and the brigade's glider-borne element arrived. The 2nd Para Brigade was reinforced by the British 23rd Armoured Brigade, and the British force took over the protection of the city. The British and Free Greek navies transported British and Greek troops, as well as the Greek government in exile, to Athens.

In September 1944, the withdrawal of German troops from Greece began. Wherever possible, ELAS units struck the retreating German troops. However, as historian T. Gerozisis writes, there was at least a "strange" phenomenon. The German army was leaving Greece, but the British air force and navy, dominant in the air and at sea, offered no resistance to the Germans. Gerozisis writes of a unique "agreement" between the British and Germans during the war. Albert Speer confirms that in the summer of 1944 the Germans and British came to an unsigned "Gentlemen's Agreement" in Lisbon.

The British were not to prevent the Germans from evacuating. In turn, the Germans were to hand over a number of Greek cities and positions to the British. "German troop transports from the Greek islands passed unimpeded under the eyes of the British and British U-boats in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas in the autumn of 1944." German planes carried 50,000 troops from Crete and 17,000 troops from Rhodes unimpeded. This provoked protests from the Soviet commanders. British General Scobie negotiated the handing over of Greek cities to him to prevent their occupation by ELAS forces. Churchill himself wrote to Eden on 13 September: "there is a widespread belief in headquarters that we shall soon be fighting a bear and that we are in a better position to do so today than we were two months earlier".

Patras was one of the few, if not the only, city in Greece where the British supported the ELAS guerrillas in salvaging the infrastructure, especially the port, due to the importance of this "western gateway" of the country for further British plans. Even before Churchill's trip to Moscow and before the organization of Operation Manna, a group of British Special Boat Service landed at the coastal airstrip of Araxos, near Patras.

Waco glider advertisement.

Glider pilot Charlie Rex (on right) and the Glider Engineering section of the 315th Troop Carrier Group posing in front of CG-4A glider “Hiya Honey.” 1943.

CG-4A glider packing cases in a glider assembly yard.

Atterbury Army Air Field. A C-47 is taking off but not yet airborne, while the CG-4A glider it is towing is already in the air, 1945.

Glider Infantry Badge.

USAAF Troop Carrier Command demonstrating loading wounded men onto a CG-4A glider, Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York. 24 Mar 1945. Note Dodge WC54 ambulance.

C-47s towing CG-4A gliders, Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. 1942.

A CG-4A glider coming in for a test landing with a 10-foot nylon drag parachute serving as a giant air brake. Parachutes enabled gliders to land more quickly on small fields. They were used extensively during landings in Europe. This test glider is also equipped with a Griswold Nose.

Loading a jeep into a CG-4A glider by lifting the hinged pilot’s compartment.

Landing at night in the pitch-black Burmese jungle caused these two CG-4A gliders to crash into each other. Many were killed in the landings on the first night.

USAAF metal Glider Pilot Wings.

CG-4A gliders on the ground after a supply mission to Bastogne, December 1944.

A jeep exits a CG-4A glider.

Looking towards the cockpit inside a CG-4A glider.

CG-4A and Horsa gliders littering Normandy fields amongst the hedgerows, France. June 1944.

CG-4A glider landing, Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. 1942.

CG-4A gliders land after being towed to the coast of southern France by Douglas C-47 transports of the Twelfth Air Force Troop Carrier Air Division, on the invasion's D-Day. Dust can be seen as the gliders land somewhere between Cannes and Toulon. 15 August 1944.

CG-4A glider making a training landing, England. June 1944. Note invasion stripes.

Two CG-4A gliders ready to be towed by a C-47 to their new home with a glider unit after being assembled at a glider assembly yard.

CG-4A Glider above Columbus, Indiana, 1945.

This is a close up of the hook mechanism of the CG-4A glider from the backside. The back of the instrument panel is also visible. Some installations had the hook mechanism mounted at the top of the windshield.

Airborne troops exiting a CG-4 glider, Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. 1942.

CG-4A gliders of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group at Chilbolton airfield just before Operation Market Garden. September 1944.

C-47 Skytrain aircraft towing CG-4A glider off an Algerian airstrip. 1943.

As the men of one Waco Hadrian glider disembark and gather their gear, another is coming in for a landing. Southern France, Operation Dragoon. 15 August 1944.

Advertisement for Waco gliders.

C-47 Skytrain aircraft towing two CG-4A gliders during a training exercise.

Assembling the tail of a CG-4A glider at a glider assembly yard.

The cockpit of a CG-4A glider.

CG-4A fuselages ready for wings and tail units at a glider assembly yard.

Dozens of CG-4A gliders, ready for service, awaiting tows to their new home with a glider unit.

Pilot at the controls of a CG-4A glider.

Co-pilot of the same CG-4A glider as in the previous photo.

Glider at rest is being snatched airborne by C-47, a picture of the pick-up of the first glider to be recovered from the Normandy landings. It was taken on 23 June 1944 as the glider was being snatched from a field just southeast of St. Mere Eglise, by 1st Lt. Gerald "Bud" Berry, 91st Troop Carrier Squadron, 439th Troop Carrier Group.