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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Aircraft More Aircraft Initials E to J  Horsa |
[UP] - Fiat CR42 - Fw200 - Gladiator - Hamilcar - Hampden - Havoc - He115 - He162 - He177 - He219 - Hellcat - Helldiver - Horsa - Hs129 - Hudson - I-153 - IAR - Invader - Ju287 - Ju52 - Ju87 - Ju88 |
| Horsa Aviation Prints |
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| Text for the above items : |
Tugs of War (Stirling & Gliders) by Ivan Berryman. Wearing the distinctive black and white identification stripes of the D-Day operations of June 1944, Airspeed Horsa MkII assault gliders, towed by their Short Stirling MkIV tugs of No.620 Squadron, make their way across a moody English Channel en route to Normandy during the tumultuous Operation Overlord. |
LZ S-17, Operation Market Garden, September 1944 by Jason Askew. 1 Border Regiment (1st Airborne division) unload their Horsa gliders, and push on to the next stage of the operation, forming a defensive perimeter around the LZs and DZs, ready for the next lift. |
Out of the Night - The First To Go In by Robert Taylor. Silently out of the night they came. With flaps deployed, three timber and plywood Horsa gliders swept swiftly down through the night skies, rapidly closing with their objective - Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal. On board, with tension etched deep into their blackened faces, men from the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, part of the British 6th Airborne Division, braced themselves for landing. They, and sappers from the Royal Engineers, were about to become the first fighting force to land in France on D-Day. They were about to make history. |
Operation Deadstick by Michael Turner At 0016hrs on 6th June 1944 three Airspeed Horsa gliders, flown with outstanding skill by pilots from the Glider Pilot Regiment, and carrying airborne troops from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and Royal Engineers, landed within yards of the bridge over the Caen Canal at Benouville, Normandy. The audacious attack achieved complete surprise, and some fifteen minutes later the bridge had been secured, an objective of vital importance to enable the advance of the Allied Liberation Forces on D-Day. |
D-Day Invasion : Tribute to the Glider Troops by Ivan Berryman. A tribute to the glider crews and airborne troops who participated in the glider operations during D-Day. The British Horsa glider (known as the flying coffin) was used by British, Canadian and American airborne forces during the invasion. Approximately 100 glider pilots were killed or wounded during the D-Day operations. |
The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea Features the successful Horsa glider borne assault on the Caen Canal bridge at Benouville in Normandy at approx. 00.15hrs on D-Day, the 6th June 1944. Troops from the second battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry led by Major John Howard took the bridge which later became known as Pegasus Bridge. |
Coup de Main, Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, 6th June 1944 by David Pentland. As a prelude to the invasion of Europe, certain important targets were attacked by airborne forces. Among them the bridge over the Caen canal which would protect the allies left flank. Major John Howard (D Company Ox and Bucks Light Infantry) gliders achieved complete surprise and the bridge was taken in a matter of minutes. Ever after it has been known as Pegasus Bridge in honour of the airborne forces emblem. |
Final Descent by Richard Taylor. Horsa gliders, laden with troops as they land in occupied France during Operation Overlord - the Allied invasion of Europe. |
| Horsa Pilot and aircrew signature details |
  Staff Sergeant Peter B Boyle Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Staff Sergeant Peter B Boyle One of the pilots in the third glider to arrive alongside what was to become famous as Pegasus Bridge, Boyle had a key role in perhaps the most dramatic action by airborne forces on D-Day. The Horsa landed heavily on the edge of a pond throwing two officers through cockpit windows and temporarily trapping some of the troops in the aircraft - one had been killed, the only fatal casualty in the landings. Boyle then joined in the actions across bridge. Although demanding very accurate flying (all three gliders landed within 500 metres of the bridge), they had been rigorously trained for the landings; Boyle remembers more than 40 individual rehearsals. A few months later he landed another Horsa at Arnhem but was taken prisoner in the subsequent fighting. |
Lishman Y Easby Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Lishman Y Easby Lishman Y. Easby (Wireless Operator) joined the RAF in 1941 after service in the Home Guard. He was selected for training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner but after training as a W/Op he was posted to Coastal Command 159Gp HQ, Liverpool, and served in 1942 as a ground wireless operator. Later in the year he was called for training as a W/op (air) which was followed by an air-gunner course. Following this he was posted to an Operational Training Unit and joined Ron Clark and his crew as a W/op on 4 engined aircraft – the two jobs were separate. The crew were later posted for further training, first on Halifax and then on Lancasters; then posted to 100 Sqn, Waltham, near Grimsby, where they were given a brand new Lancaster which they named the Phantom of the Ruhr. Their Flight Engineer, Harold Bennett DFM painted its name and insignia on the nose of the aircraft. The same name today adorns the Lancaster which flies as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. In the Phantom they completed 21 ops to Germany and two to Italy, after which the Phantom was taken in for extensive repairs due to enemy damage. The crew completed a further four ops which then completed their tour. For their 27th op the crew were transferred to 625 Sqn Kelstern (Lincs) which turned out to be their final operation and they were then disbanded. Lishman Easby was then posted to OTU near Shrewsbury to help with the training of new crews. Later he was posted to 298 Sqn Transport Command with another pilot (Ian Forbes) and crew where they received training in towing Horsa Gliders in preparation for an airborne attack on Singapore. However, the war ended suddenly and the Sqn was posted to India and eventually to Burma to take part in Operation Hunger. This entailed dropping sacks of rice on isolated villages thus saving them from famine. This ended his service and he was released from service in 1946. He agreed to his name being held in reserve as a Minute Man until aged 45. During this time he could be called back in an emergency for immediate service. However, this never happened. |
Air Commodore Roger Topp AFC 2 bars Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Air Commodore Roger Topp AFC 2 bars Commanded Royal Air Force Coltishall. Commandant of the Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscome Down. Commanding Officer and acrobatic team leader of No. 111 Squadron joined the R.A.F. in 1943 and learned to fly in Canada. When he returned, to England in 1944 there was a surplus of powered aircraft pilots so he transferred to the Glider Pilot Regiment. On March 2, 1945, he flew a Horsa glider carrying jeep, guns and troops in the airborne crossing of the Rhine. In 1947 he joined No.98 Squadron, flying Mosquitos in Germany, becoming a flight commander and instrument flying examiner for his Wing. He was awarded the Air Force Cross in 1950. In that year he took the course at the Empire Test Pilots School, and remained at Farnborough on the staff of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. He undertook flying tests of various experimental armament installations, including guided weapons and the new 30 mm. Aden gun, four of which formed the Hunters armament. He was a leading acrobatic demonstration pilot on the Canberra twin-jet bomber, flying before the Emperor of Ethiopia and the Shah of Persia during their visits to Britain. In 1954, with another pilot, Squadron Leader Topp shared the 100 hours intensive flight testing of the Comet jet air liner undertaken from Farnborough. He was awarded a Bar to the A.F.C. in 1955 and a second Bar in January 1958 for work with the acrobatic team. |
Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork Horsa glider pilot who flew forces into the airborne assault on Pegasus Bridge on D-Day. |
| Horsa Squadron details |
No.298 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 21st December 1946 Known Codes : , 8A, O6, 8T, | No.298 Sqn RAF Silent we strike |
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