Operation Ladbroke

Operation Ladbroke
Part of World War II, Operation Husky
Date 9 July 1943 Location Syracuse, Sicily Result British defeat
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany Italy
Commanders and leaders
Brigadier P.H.W Hicks
Strength
2, 075
Casualties and losses
61 Killed, 133 Wounded, 44 Missing, 252 Drowned

During World War II, Operation Ladbroke was the British glider landing near Syracuse, Sicily on the night of 9 July, 1943 as part of the invasion of Sicily. On the night of 9/10 July 1943 a force of 144 Waco gliders, towed by US C-47, and British Handley Page Halifax and Albemarle tug aircraft, took off from North Africa to take part in Operation Ladbroke – the first Allied attempt at a mass glider landing in World War II. The plan was to place a large invasion force on the ground near the town of Syracuse, secure the Ponte Grande Bridge and then take control of the city itself, including its strategically vital docks, as a prelude to the full-scale invasion of Sicily.

Background

Maj-Gen G.F. Hopkinson, GOC 1st Airborne Division and chief architect of the plan, was totally convinced that it would succeed, but his optimism proved unfounded. In practice, the operation went disastrously wrong.

Training had been seriously deficient because of a lack of priority in assembling gliders until late May. British Airspeed Horsa gliders intended for the mission did not arrive until late June. The first practice mission was not flown until 14 June. A host of maintenance and spare parts deficiencies aggravated the problem, until all gliders were grounded on 30 June for 3 days to repair tail wire weaknesses.

Making matters worse, the American troop carrier wing originally assigned to support the British airborne forces, experienced in glider tow operations, was switched on 6 May to drop the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division. Its replacement, the 51st Troop Carrier Wing, had extensive combat experience with British paratroop units but no glider towing experience whatsoever, and thus had very limited time to train on gliders when in late May Eighth Army commander Gen. Bernard Montgomery changed the planned parachute assault to a glider assault.

The British glider pilots assigned to the mission were unfamiliar with the American CG-4A Waco gliders, whose landing characteristics were far different from those of British gliders. During training there were no mass releases of gliders over water or at night, and little practice in landing under combat conditions.

Battle

On D-Day, despite takeoff difficulties because of improper loading, 144 gliders and their tugs (109 C-47s, 28 Albemarles, and seven Halifaxes) took off at 1842 hours from six fields near Kairouan, Tunisia. Their planned course took them Malta, 200 miles to the east, which they reached at sunset, flying at altitudes between 250 and 500 feet above the sea. They then turned northeast for Cape Passero on the southeast tip of Sicily. Despite navigation difficulties in the dark, 90% of the force arrived successfully along the eastern shore of Sicily. Had the assault been made in daylight, it is estimated that between 109 and 119 gliders, carrying 1,200 troops, would have been released within visual view of its landing zones.

Because of faulty mission planning estimates of distance and altitude for release points, in the face of strong headwinds blowing from the shore, at least 69 Wacos came down at sea, with over 200 passengers drowned, and seven other Wacos and three Horsas likely were lost at sea with all hands. Some gliders were also released too far from shore by inexperienced crews dodging antiaircraft fire, which shot down one glider.

Only 49 of 130 Wacos and five of eight Horsas were positively accounted for as landing on Sicily. Those that reached land were either released within a mile of shore, or at altitudes higher than planned, allowing them sufficient gliding altitude. Of the force of 137 gliders, only nine reached shore using the planned release point altitude and distance. Only two Wacos reached Landing Zone 1, just one made Landing Zone 2 (where it hit a tree), and one Horsa on Landing Zone 3. 13 Wacos and three Horsas struck obstacles in landing, resulting in much damage to heavy equipment.

The initial assault on the Ponte Grande bridge resulted in its seizure by 73 men and removal of demolition charges. Daylong counterattacks by Italian forces resulted in the eventual surrender of the force. However, their resistance had permitted forward elements of the British 5th Infantry Division to arrive, who recaptured the bridge and liberated the survivors of the airlanding brigade.

Bibliography

• Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918-1945. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-30436-730-3.
• Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H (1990). The Second World War 1939-1945 Army - Airborne Forces. Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-90162-75-77.
• Saunders, Hilary St. George (1972). The Red Beret – The Story Of The Parachute Regiment 1940-1945. White Lion Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-85617-823-3.
• Thompson, Major-General Julian (1990). Ready for Anything: The Parachute Regiment at War. Fontana. ISBN 0006375057.