15 June 1944

Mapham J (Sgt), No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit Official photographer. IWM B 5585
The British Army in the Normandy Campaign 1944. Glider troops pose with a local French girl on a captured German motorcycle.

Glider infantry was a type of airborne infantry in which soldiers and their equipment were inserted into enemy controlled territory via military glider rather than parachute. Initially developed in the late 1930s by Germany, glider infantry units were used extensively during World War II but are no longer used by any modern military.

In 1942, Winston Churchill decreed the formation of a British glider force of 5000 gliders.

Glider landings in The Battle of Normandy were very successful. In particular, one coup de main force in six Horsa gliders seized vital bridges over the River Orne by surprise. The British 6 Airlanding Brigade were in action early on following concentrated landings, and prevented early…