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Into
The Valley is the story of USAAF Troop Carrier in World War II,
by Col. Charles H. Young, war-time commander of the 439th TC Group. This 616-page book
contains first-hand accounts of the airborne assault missions that
spearheaded the invasions
of Normandy, Holland, North Africa, Sicily, Southern France and the
Rhine River crossing into Germany. The book also includes detailed maps and more than 600 photos,
many of which are rare. |
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his is the
story of the aircrews and other members of USAAF Troop
Carrier, pioneers of the airborne assault, the third dimension in warfare.
It includes the story of the intrepid Airborne troopers they delivered
into battle behind enemy lines. This history was recorded by those who
were there, from commanders to enlisted men, pilots, radio
operators, crew chiefs, glider pilots, gliderborne and airborne
troopers, members of the ground echelon, flight nurses, French and Dutch
underground fighters, even German soldiers. The first-hand accounts are accompanied by
detailed historical summaries based on declassified material,
after-action reports and World War II analyses. The story is told in
chronological order, threaded together by the author’s personal war
diary. Col. Young was one of 15 Group Commanders in the U.S. Ninth Air
Force’s Troop Carrier Command. His vantage point is the cockpit of a
lead ship in some of World War 2’s most historic missions, including
Normandy, Southern France, Holland and the crossing of the Rhine River.
To read samples,
click the From the Book tab.
Selections include combat missions flown to Bastogne, Belgium during the
Battle of the Bulge, beginning in December 1944. Focus
is on the fateful 50-ship glider mission bringing artillery ammunition and
gasoline to trapped American forces, including troopers of the 101st
Airborne Division. The mission, expected to be routine, as the Allies
controlled the air, was routed over recently changed enemy gun positions. It
encountered concentrated German flak on the west side of the city, resulting
in 26 percent losses. Remarkably, most gliders made it into the designated
Landing Zone as power pilots and glider pilots alike struggled to keep
damaged aircraft in the air long enough to make it into American-held
territory. Read chilling firsthand accounts of this mission, and more about
the Battle of the Bulge.
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Left: Marshaled for takeoffs in Operation
VARSITY, the front of the 439th
Troop Carrier Group, 23 March 1945. Destination LZ S, east of the
Rhine River. This mission, the last major airborne assault of the war in
Europe, delivered the XVIII Airborne Corps in the largest combat glider
double-tow in history. Airfield is A-39, Châteaudun, France. C-47
towships are positioned more than half-way down the west runway, and the
first 10 aircraft, including Col. Young's Argonia at the head of
the southern stream, finished their takeoff rolls in the wheat field
beyond the end of the runway (see photo,
looking west). The gliders became airborne before the towships. Note
the patched bomb craters on runways. See
Sights & Sounds for a ride across the Rhine with Mutual
correspondent Paul Manning as he recorded his report from The Argonia
as the 439th flew into heavy flak.
The one-day invasion formation took more than 3 hours to pass a given
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Right:
The
run-in to the drop zones in Normandy, just after
0100 on D-Day, 6 June 1944, at the beginning of World War 2's most
famous invasion. These aircraft flew 100 feet apart from nose
to nose within elements, without self-sealing gas tanks, their navigation lights
off. Pilots wore infantry helmets as required flight gear. At right, author’s ship,
The Argonia, depicted in an oil painting on the
book's dust jacket. For a description of
the run-in to DZ C in Normandy from the cockpit of a lead aircraft, see Col. Charles H. Young's wartime diary.
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