 Graphic designed by T.J. Brennan http://www.pointvista.com/WW2GliderPilots/ 434th Troop Carrier Group History
Constituted Headquarters, 434th Troop Carrier Group. WD Ltr. AG 320.2 (1-28-43) OB-I-AF-M, dated 30 January 1943. Activated At Alliance Army Air Field, Nebraska, on 9 February 1943. GO 3, HQ., Army Air Base, Alliance, Nebraska 1943, pursuant to above-cited WD Ltr. Dated 30 January 1943. Inactivated At Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, on 31 July 1946. GO 77, Hq., Third Air Force, 29 July 1946, pursuant to WD Ltr. AG 322 (9 Jul 46) AO-I-AFCOR (169(e))-M, dated 12 July 1946. The 434th Group, being the first of the IX Troop Carrier Command units to reach the theater, trained for some seven months for an operation that was over in a matter of hours. The Group’s D-Day mission was to tow gliders, which carried reinforcements to the 101st division troops who had been dropped a few hours earlier. At 0119, 6 June 1944, 52 of the Group’s planes, each towing a Waco glider, began their take-off from Aldermaston. Cargo consisted of 155 troops, sixteen 57mm anti-tank guns, 25 vehicles, 2.5 tons of ammunition, and 11 tons of miscellaneous freight. Shortly after take-off, one glider broke loose and landed four miles from base. In it was the radio by which the 101st division was to have communicated with higher headquarters. The remainder of the formation reached Cherbourg peninsula, where it encountered sporadic small arms fire, which shot down one plane and glider. One pilot dropped out of formation and released his glider some eight miles from the designated zone. The remaining 49 planes reached the release area, released their gliders at 0354, and turned back toward England. All landed shortly after 0530. The 434th Group had successfully performed the task for which it had been trained. The airborne troops who were transported to France on the morning of D-Day depended, to a certain extent, on aerial resupply and reinforcement. The 434th Group participated in the follow-up missions. Late in the afternoon of D-Day the Group sent 32 of its planes, each towing a Horsa glider, back to the 101st division area; the payload consisted of 157 troops, 40 vehicles, 6 guns, and about 19 tons of other equipment and supplies. According to one authoritative source, the mission “proved to be an incredibly easy one”. The planes encountered no enemy aircraft and virtually no ground fire. Battle damage consisted of a few nicks on one plane. In the early morning hours of D plus one, the Group flew its last mission in conjunction with the Normandy landing; 50 of its planes, each towing a Waco glider, transported reinforcements to the 82nd Division. In late July, American forces broke through at St. Lo, and the third Army covered 100 miles a week. Ground forces shortly were from 100 to 200 miles beyond depots. Because of the shattered condition of the French roads and railroads, surface transport was able to supply forward elements with only a minimum of daily requirements. Under the circumstances, troop carrier units were called upon to help supply the advancing ground forces. It was realized that air supply could not provide all of the supplies required, but it was felt that the supplies delivered by air as a supplement to those delivered by surface means might spell the difference between continuing the offensive and stalling. In early August, therefore, higher headquarters over-ruled senior troop carrier commanders, who had raised objections to the diversion of troop carrier units from their primary task (that of working with airborne forces), and gave air supply precedence over training for airborne operations. Consequently, until mid-September, the 434th Troop Carrier Group was fully occupied with flying supply and evacuation missions. The Group flew supply missions on all but seven days in August. In one week (20th – 26th), “loading by night and with maintenance crews working at all hours,” the Group transported over 1,000 tons of supplies (chiefly diesel oil, gasoline, and ammunition) to France for the third Army. The Group continued its heavy schedule off supply operations until 13 September. Although the basic doctrine covering the employment of troop carrier organizations was never altered during World War II, from this beginning in August-September 1944 until the end of the war, the largest portion of the 434th’s operational effort was devoted to air supply. While the 434th Group (as well as virtually all of the IX Troop Carrier Command) was busily engaged in its transport activities, plans had been made for a large-scale airborne operation to support the British 21st Army Group’s push into Holland. Late in August, as a prelude to further airborne operations, airborne and troop carrier forces were consolidated into the First Allied Airborne Army (FAAA). On 26 August 1944, the IX Troop Carrier command was relieved of assignment to the Ninth Air force and became a part of the newly created FAAA. The 434th remained assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 53rd Troop Carrier Wing. The FAAA was created in the midst of planning for a major airborne operation, which was to take place in August, but was canceled because the Allied armies overran the objective. In the first week of September two more airborne operations were planned only to be rapidly discarded, one because the objective was overrun, and the other because of unexpectedly strong enemy forces in the proposed drop area. On 10 September, however, allied leaders agreed upon an airborne operation (given the code name MARKET) in the vicinity of Arnhem, Holland. Because of the heavy supply commitment, the 434th Group had no time to train for MARKET. Indeed, MARKET was the only large American airborne operation during World War II for which there was no training program, no rehearsal, almost no exercises, and very little tactical training activity. Nevertheless, when airborne troop began to congregate on the airfield, personnel of the 434th realized that a mission was imminent. On the afternoon of 16 September the briefing of crews began for the operation that was to take place the next day. The main drop of airborne forces was to be accomplished on 17 and 18 September, followed by several resupply missions. Unlike the Normandy operation, MARKET was a daylight affair. For MARKET, the 434th was again paired with elements of the 101st Airborne Division. Its assigned drop zone was near Eindhoven. On D-Day, 90 of the Group’s C-47s dropped elements of the 501st parachute Regiment, scoring a generally excellent drop. Five of the Group’s aircraft were knocked down by enemy ground fire. On the next day’s follow-up mission, 80 of the Group’s aircraft towed Waco gliders on which were loaded troops, vehicles, and supplies. Surface fire was again intense and the Group lost two aircraft. A glider-tow reinforcement mission on the 19th was plagued by wretched weather. The 434th dispatched 80 planes, each with a glider in tow; but available records do not state how many of those sent out completed the mission. The Group’s historical report states, “several gliders aborted before reaching the LZ due to weather conditions.” The 53rd Wing sent out a total of 385 plane-glider combinations, but only 213 of the gliders reached the landing zone. The weather was scarcely any better on the 20th. But the need for supplies was great, and a resupply mission to the airborne forces was flown. The 101st Division had already made contact with Allied ground forces and was in a fairly comfortable condition. The 82nd Division, however, was being hard pressed, and the 53rd Wing (including 53aircraft from the 434th Group) dropped supplies to the 82nd’s troops. The weather remained bad for the next five days, and air supply was reduced to a trickle. The 434th flew its last mission in connection with MARKET on 25 September, when it provided 16 aircraft for a formation of 34 C-47s dispatched by the 53rd Wing to transport supplies to the 101st Division. Largely because of foul weather, which prevented the troop carriers from bringing in the scheduled supplies and reinforcements, the MARKET operation did not achieve its objective. From the close of the MARKET operation until near the end of December, the 434th was engaged in supply and evacuation missions. Freight for the most part consisted of ammunition, gasoline, aircraft parts, rations, clothing, and almost every kind of air transportable item needed by both air and ground forces on the Continent. The most outstanding supply operations during the period came in late December, when the Group helped to halt the German Ardennes offensive. For about a week after the German drive opened on the 16th, bad weather prevented the allied air forces from offering any appreciable assistance to the ground forces. When the weather finally broke on the 23rd, however, fighters and bombers turned their attention to the battle area, and troop carrier units began to ferry in supplies and reinforcements. In three days, 23, 24, and 26 December, the 434th flew 161 sorties on supply operations to the beleaguered troops at Bastogne. On D-Day, 24 March 1945, the 434th provided two formations of 45 aircraft each. The first formation, lead by the Group Commander in whose plane rode the 17th Division Commander, gave a “fairly accurate” drop to the 464th field Artillery Battalion. The second formation dropped the 466th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, which was to support the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 513th was dropped at some distance from the specified zone and it was mid-afternoon before troops had fought their way to their proper zone. Throughout the morning, leaders of the 513th were perplexed over he whereabouts of the regiment’s supporting artillery. The reason for the lack of contact between the two was, as one authoritative source put it, “ that the battalion had come down where it was supposed to, on DZ ‘X’. The last parachute serial, a formation of 45 C-47s from the 434th Group, had flown accurately to the drop zone and dropped 376 artillerymen and 12 howitzers there at 1023.” Within 30 minutes after its jump, the battalion had some howitzers in operation. All of the airborne forces were dropped on the morning of D-Day, and there were no follow-up missions, as had been the case in OVERLORD and MARKET. There were a few resupply missions flown during the day by Eighth Air Force bombers. By nightfall of D-Day, the airborne and ground forces had joined, and the troop carriers were not called upon for a resupply campaign. This brief history of the 434th Troop Carrier Group is based primarily on the historical records of the unit available in the USAF Historical Division Archives. For World War II operations, use has been made of USAF Historical Studies No. 97, “Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” and W. F. Craven and J. L. Cate, eds., The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume III (Chicago, 1951). This text was found on the site: 434th TCG on links page.  General McAuliffe with the 434th TCG on 18 September 1944 
 Glider Pilots (L) Normandy, (R) Holland, TCG unknown. 
 (L) A Glider Pilot in Normandy (R) A photo from Mark Bando's book "The Screaming Eagles at Normandy". It shows Pilots Ralph Tonbell (KIA D-day), Frank Doubek, and R.E. Brown of the 88th TCS, 438 TCG. 
 (L) Glider Pilots at Normandy. Notice the M42 Paratrooper jump siut on the far left Pilot. (R) Glider Pilots heading to England. Photos from De Trez's book "At the Point of No Return". 
 (L) Glider Pilots leaving the Normandy coast. From De Trez's book At the Point of No Return". (R) Flight Officers George Brennan and Bernie Cantwell after landing during Operation Dragoon in Southern France. Photo from WW2 Glider Pilots Site.  Photo of M42 jacket with cloth glider pilot wings from Bill Rentz's book Geronimo. Typically the Glider Pilots wore the Wool OD or HBT uniform with the M41 Jacket, low quarter boot, and leggings. However, a few men secured the M42 paratrooper uniform for use. Stories by: George E. "Pete" Buckley, Flight Officer 74th Troop Carrier Squadron, 434th TCG  Normandy Holland Finest and Final Effort The 434th Troop Carrier Group in WWII The 440th Troop Carrier Group in WWII |
