Gliding to Glory
April 2, 2023
Their tenure was short. Their heyday was 1941 through 1945. They flew into combat in unarmed, fabric-covered aircraft that lacked engines. Most completed only one combat mission. Almost none of them completed four. They were the pilots of the US Army’s gliders in World War II.

“The Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II,” by Scott McGaugh tells their tale. It is the first major history of American glider pilots.

The book starts by introducing the combat glider and their pilots. The opening chapters present the history of the combat glider, showing how and when it was first used. McGaugh discusses its introduction into the US Army Air Force and the plans to incorporate it into future air assaults.

These opening chapters, which include the first US combat deployment of gliders at Sicily, show the difficulties in simply creating the glider force. Traditional aircraft manufacturers were too busy manufacturing warplanes, and thousands of gliders were needed. Manufacture was contracted to dozens of firms without prior aircraft experience. Structural problems plagued early gliders. (In one case, wing spar collapses were eventually traced to a faulty component built by a coffin manufacturer.) This was paired with the challenges of training thousands of new glider pilots.

The heart of the book looks at the Army’s use of gliders in combat. Besides Sicily, gliders flew combat missions at Normandy, Anvil Dragoon in Southern France, Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, and Operation Varsity in Germany. All of these are discussed in detail in chapters devoted to these operations. Another chapter presents the glider drops conducted to resupply the 101st Airborne Division when it was isolated at Bastogne. Almost forgotten today, these proved the most hazardous flights of the war, with the highest casualties.

The book focuses on the men that flew the gliders rather than the campaigns in which glider assaults took place. McGaugh follows the men through training, deployment overseas, and into their airborne arrival at the battlefield. He then traces their experiences in combat. They were supposed to be collected the day after the landing, but sometimes they remained in combat, at loose ends for days and occasionally weeks afterward. McGaugh makes extensive use of memoirs and conversations with still-surviving veterans. The tale is told in their words.

“The Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin” offers insight into a forgotten and dangerous war. It is worth reading.

“The Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II,” by Scott McGaugh, Osprey Publishing, 2023, 288 pages, $30.00 (Hardcover), $12.60 (Ebook)
This review was written by Mark Lardas, who writes at Ricochet as Seawriter. Mark Lardas, an engineer, freelance writer, historian, and model-maker, lives in League City, TX. His website is marklardas.com.

Many of us have seen Second World War films that feature airborne troops flying into battle in large gliders towed by transport aircraft. This book describes the US Army adoption of the concept, the production of Gliders from the drawing board and the recruitment and training of thousands of raw recruits. It follows a number of men through all their training and into high risk operations in Europe with remarkable detail of their flights and their bravery in unpowered and unarmed gliders in the face of fierce enemy fire. Until you read this book, the average reader will have had no concept of what these men went through and after the war did not receive the recognition they really deserved.
A great read for anyone who has any interest in the air war of WWll in Europe.

The first major history of the American glider pilots, the forgotten heroes of World War II, by New York Times bestselling author Scott McGaugh. A story of no guns, no engines, and no second chances.

I read the Kindle edition, and this book will make you laugh, cry, remember veterans, and appreciate the bravery of these men. "This book distills war down to individual young men climbing into defenseless gliders made of plywood, ready to trust the towing aircraft that would pull them into enemy territory by a single cable wrapped with a telephone wire." Author Scott McGaugh shares the stories of a few of these courageous men and delivers an action-packed 200-plus page must-read.

American glider pilots were forgotten heroes who carried troops, jeeps, and guns to the front lines—known as Flying Coffins, Tow Targets, Death Crates, Puke Ships, and Plywood Hearses. One of the stats that stood out to me was glider pilots earned an Air Medal for each mission, while bomber pilots had to complete five missions and fighter pilots ten to receive the same medal. Let that stand for how dangerous these missions were.

Author McGaugh did a stellar job bringing these stories to life within the pages of this book. Each man is represented and followed, allowing readers to connect with them. The author cleverly tells stories of learning curves, suspense, humor, sadness, and more. The book is very well-written and exciting. I recommend this book to anyone who appreciates World War II history and for study. I am considering this book for my book club read!

Many thanks to the Osprey Publishing, author Scott McGaugh and Netgalley for providing the opportunity to review this book.

An interesting and informative book about the courageous American volunteer glider pilots of World War 11 who carried troops, jeeps and guns to the front lines. This is a fascinating part of history that has not been well-covered in the WW11 literature, and these pilots – mainly young men – really deserve recognition. The author focuses on a number of individuals, drawn from different backgrounds, but unfortunately there were too many characters for this reader to follow all the individual stories, which is a pity. I found the book a little stilted, and would have enjoyed more context in terms of how the battles fit into the big picture of WW11. Having said this, I recommend this to anyone interested in WW11 – you’ll be amazed at how brave these young men were who were sent into battle in their “flying coffins”, aircraft that had not even existed four years earlier. They paid an incredibly high price. Pre-flight information was often inaccurate, they were at the mercy of their towplanes and ropes, usually had to approach at a mere 600 feet, faced intense flak and then horrendous landings usually in fields or vineyards surrounded by tall trees or buildings, or full of poles, wrecked gliders or other obstacles. As one General put it, they “were the only aviators during World War 11 who had no motors, no parachutes and no second chances.” Well worth a read.

I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WW2 since it provides a detailed insight into the rarely reported topic of glider warfare. Every invasion and most major campaigns require troops and equipment to be brought to the frontline as quickly as possible so as to maintain the element of surprise and to establish a combative force sizeable enough to capture and hold territory. WW2 saw the first use of gliders in this regard by both sides. Mc Gaughs book covers the early use of gliders in combat and then describes the successive campaigns where they were employed from the Invasion of Sicily through to the crossing of the Rhine.
I found the book riveting! It takes the reader through the steep learning curve that the pilots and their leadership had to overcome in order to achieve greater success in subsequent campaigns. Needless to say, landing large numbers of troops and equipment by often hundreds of gliders flying into combat zones through enemy fire trying to land in small fields surrounded with collision hazards is a high stakes game and casualty numbers were very high. The author cleverly uses personal stories of individuals to tell the story which adds drama but is also effective in understanding the circumstance under which each of these missions were executed and how the people involved dealt with so many unknowns.
The focus of the book is on the American glider technology and the the US air crews who flew both the gliders and the tow planes. This is the only criticism I have of the book since it would have been very interesting to have the same detailed examination of the British forces who used a different glider design, sometimes different tow planes and organised their forces in a different way. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent progression in helping the public understand such a key role during WW2, the brave men who took part and the high level of casualties.
Many thanks to the Publisher and Netgallery for providing this opportunity to review this book.

A really enjoyable book detailing the war time experiences of the USAAF glider pilots. It also includes some of the missions working with the British.
The whole glider mission has been massively overlooked so it was great to actually read first hand accounts from the pilots who flew them and the some of the horrors they endured.
The huge loss rate of gliders and pilots was astonishing, in some missions running at eighty five percent.
Despite the high odds against the glider pilots, they achieved very high percentages of troops and equipment delivered to the battle front, often behind enemy lines.
The book is written in a relaxed manner which aids a very pleasant read.
Highly recommended.

A truly inspirational book on the little known group of heroes flying gliders in WW2. The hardship and perils they endured will really grab your heart. The firsthand accounts of the battles fought makes this a truly outstanding book. A must read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.