Students of Russian military history may already be familiar with the mantra often attached to their military operations- nothing succeeds like excess. Ridgeway’s problems were real tough on the other hand there was Germany’s airborne general Kurt Student looking up enviously at the Allied air armada supporting Operations Market Garden. My biggest complaint about these big anniversaries are the crowds so I avoid them and plan my visits accordingly. As for the words, I pay little attention after a career that involved preparing, editing, revising “official remarks”. We have so few orators today but a surfeit of public speakers. I was amused at how few and far between were the references to President Reagan’s DDay speech - now that was a story.
I am the author of Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot. I very much enjoyed your article and am glad to see someone bring up the shortage of power planes and gliders. Although some gliders were reclaimed after a mission and additional retrievals were planned, they never happened. There were not enough gliders for some missions and often not enough glider pilots in a given Troop Carrier Group to fly a mission with the gliders they had. The glider pilots were often on "detached service" flying with co pilots and tow crews they did not know. The glider and the glider pilot were the lifeline to the airborne both in terms of heavy artillery but also resupply on so many levels without which the airborne may not have completed the mission or struggled greatly simply due to the limited amount of equipment they could jump with and the difficulties of gathering up scattered drops when time was of the essence. Great article!
I agree about the D-Day anniversaries. They seem to fog up the true meaning and feeling of that fateful day. I was there on the 70th anniversary but not the exact day fortunately. Great perspective regarding the logistics of war too. I think those days are generally behind us now. 1 bomber can do the work of 100 WW2 bombers. Fewer casualties too which actually scares me because our “fearless leaders” might be quicker to pull the trigger and start a war than ever before.
Students of Russian military history may already be familiar with the mantra often attached to their military operations- nothing succeeds like excess. Ridgeway’s problems were real tough on the other hand there was Germany’s airborne general Kurt Student looking up enviously at the Allied air armada supporting Operations Market Garden. My biggest complaint about these big anniversaries are the crowds so I avoid them and plan my visits accordingly. As for the words, I pay little attention after a career that involved preparing, editing, revising “official remarks”. We have so few orators today but a surfeit of public speakers. I was amused at how few and far between were the references to President Reagan’s DDay speech - now that was a story.
Principles are scared to make a wave, even in a good cause.
I am the author of Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot. I very much enjoyed your article and am glad to see someone bring up the shortage of power planes and gliders. Although some gliders were reclaimed after a mission and additional retrievals were planned, they never happened. There were not enough gliders for some missions and often not enough glider pilots in a given Troop Carrier Group to fly a mission with the gliders they had. The glider pilots were often on "detached service" flying with co pilots and tow crews they did not know. The glider and the glider pilot were the lifeline to the airborne both in terms of heavy artillery but also resupply on so many levels without which the airborne may not have completed the mission or struggled greatly simply due to the limited amount of equipment they could jump with and the difficulties of gathering up scattered drops when time was of the essence. Great article!
Thank you for the comment 🫡
I agree about the D-Day anniversaries. They seem to fog up the true meaning and feeling of that fateful day. I was there on the 70th anniversary but not the exact day fortunately. Great perspective regarding the logistics of war too. I think those days are generally behind us now. 1 bomber can do the work of 100 WW2 bombers. Fewer casualties too which actually scares me because our “fearless leaders” might be quicker to pull the trigger and start a war than ever before.