Germany’s highly successful use of airborne troops to capture Belgian forts in 1940 and to seize the British-held island of Crete in 1941 encouraged the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to develop airborne forces. These efforts included both services establishing glider landing forces.1
In October 1940, shortly after the German assault against Belgium and France, the Marine Corps Commandant Major General Thomas Holcomb directed that one battalion of each Marine regiment be designated as “air troops,” to be transported by aircraft. Within each air battalion there would be one company of paratroops; the remaining companies would be air-landed. For the latter companies, using gliders could be cheaper than using only powered aircraft, and gliders could land troops on terrain unsuited for conventional landing operations.
Serious Marine efforts were initiated to acquire gliders following the German aerial invasion of Crete. The Navy’s Bureau of Aeronautics (BuAer) was assigned the responsibility for getting gliders and support equipment, while the Marine Corps would handle personnel training. Initially, calls went out for 50 second lieutenants to volunteer for training as glider pilots and 100 noncommissioned officers would be selected for training as copilots. Training first would be conducted for officers at civilian schools until service schools could be established for both the officers and NCOs.
Planning soon was under way to acquire 75 12-man gliders to transport the first air-landing battalion. At that time the largest glider manufactured in the United States had a capacity of four men, including the pilot.
The Navy, which had experimented with gliders as early as 1933 for primary flight training, “was somewhat less than enamoured with the whole idea.”2 Still, with Marine input, BuAer undertook a glider design study that addressed the:
- Capability to take off from land or water
- Capability to carry light cars and 37-mm antitank guns, and possibly light tanks
- Capability to be configured for static-line parachute jumping
- Mounting of machine guns for self-protection in flight
- Capacity for at least 12 troops (at 250 pounds per man).
BuAer had two types of gliders under consideration. One amphibious variant, which could carry 12 troops, was ready for industry bids for its manufacture by August 1941. The second was a twin-hull seaplane glider with a revised design providing for 12 men being carried in each hull. There was a proposal to fit outboard motors to the gliders to enable them to “land” and maneuver in lagoons and other protected water areas. To facilitate training before production could begin, the Navy issued procurement orders for eight small one- and two-man gliders.
Several civilian glider schools already were training Army pilots. Marine candidate selection became problematic, as some officials believed that only qualified pilots should be trained in gliders because aircraft control, navigation, and night/instrument flying required experienced fliers. Training finally got under way in November 1941, when four qualified officer pilots were enrolled at the Motorless Flying Institute in Harvey, Illinois. The school offered a four-week training course for $500 per student. Eight other officers attended the Lewes School of Aeronautics in Lockport, Illinois; that school offered a nine-week course for personnel with no prior flight training at $775 per student.
With their training completed by mid-December, the newly minted glider pilots reported to Parris Island, South Carolina. Three Navy training aircraft were provided for glider towing, and the one- and two-man gliders were delivered to the base. Effective 24 April 1942, Marine Glider Group 71 was established with a headquarters squadron and glider squadron (VML) 711. The group was authorized 20 officers and 218 enlisted men.
Training accelerated, with more powered aircraft assigned as glider tugs But the delivery of large gliders was delayed, and the Marines continued to train with the smaller aircraft. However, the decision was made to establish Marine glider bases at Eagle Mountain Lake, Texas; Edenton, North Carolina; Shawnee, Oklahoma; and Addison Point, Florida. Only the first site actually was put in service, with Marine Glider Group 71 established there on 24 November 1942.
Meanwhile, training continued on the small gliders because none of the planned 12-man aircraft had been delivered. Of the latter, two seaplane XLRA-1 prototypes were built by Allied Aviation Corporation and two XLRQ-1 prototypes by Bristol Aeronautical Corporation. Production orders were placed—and soon canceled—for 100 gliders from each firm. None of the larger, 22-man XLRG-1 gliders ordered from AGA Aviation were built.
The lowered priority of the Marine glider program became more apparent in February 1943 when it was ordered that no further action be taken until more pressing needs in the Pacific theater were met. And, belatedly, it was becoming apparent that the distances in the Pacific and limited airfield availability made gliders as well as parachute operations impractical. The Commandant ordered termination of the Marine glider program, effective 24 June 1943.
The Eagle Mountain facility was used as a night fighter training base for the remainder of the war. Ten Waco LRW-1 gliders that had been delivered to the Marines but never flown were assigned to the Army.
The Wacos were the largest gliders flown by U.S. forces. Most were designated CG-4, with 16 plants producing a total of 13,906 units. Of mixed wood and metal construction with a mostly fabric covering, the CG-4 had an upward-hinging nose to permit rapid loading and unloading of vehicles and troops. The hinged portion of the nose contained the cockpit for two pilots seated side-by-side and the tow attachment. A side door also was provided. Fifteen troops could be carried, with two serving as the pilots. Alternatively, the CG-4 could accommodate a standard Army jeep or a 75-mm towed howitzer.
The Army used these gliders disastrously in Sicily in 1943, and with more success in France and the Netherlands in 1944, and in Burma in 1944. But the Marine Corps glider program never got off the ground.
1. This column is based largely on Charles P. Updegraph Jr., U.S. Marine Corps Special Units of World War II (Washington, DC: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1972), 47–53, and Gordon Swanborough and Peter M. Bowers, United States Navy Aircraft since 1911 (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1968), 560–64.
2. Updegraph, U.S. Marine Corps Special Units of World War II, 47.
Waco LRW-1/CG-4
Type: Glider
Crew: 2 + 13 troops (all combat equipped)
Empty weight: 3,700 pounds
Max. weight: 7,500 pounds
Engines: none
Length: 48 feet, 4 inches
Wingspan: 83 feet, 8 inches
Wing area: 852 square feet
Height: 12 feet, 7 inches
Max. speed: 120 mph
Armament: none