David's Boutteville Gliders

Hi All,

This thread is being opened in an effort to help our new member David Fincham learn more about the gliders from the large Boutteville Marsh cluster which landed adjacent to his house.

David, I assume the gliders in question are the two marked H2 and W1 on the NARA aerial cover extract below - please give exact coordinates if this is not the case:

​

The gliders marked H1 and H2 are Horsa gliders and could be from any of the following reinforcement missions flown in on the evening of the 6th or the morning of the 7th June; 'KeoKuk', 'Elmira', 'Galveston' or 'Hackensack'. The glider marked W1 is a Waco glider and could be also from any of these four missions. Below is a Bing Map extract showing the approximate positions:

​

I tracked down air cover flown by the USAAF's 30th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, 67th Reconnaissance Group on the afternoon of the 6th June. The extract below is from sortie 4073, frame 2075:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk​

The 'parking spaces' for the three gliders are obviously vacant on D-Day afternoon so this implies that the Waco is not from the first two glider missions - 'Chicago' or ' Detroit'.
Without giving away your exact location, can you tell me if there is a laneway between the upland fields of your hamlet and the 'floor' of the marshes? I ask because I may have a ground photograph which might fit 'H2'. Also, are there drains running perpendicular to Grand Critique dividing the paddock strips where the three gliders landed?

Let me know if these are indeed the gliders you are interested in before we go further.

Regards,

Pat

 

Bad news David,

The photograph I thought might work is definitely not a match. It is reproduced below from page 71 of Philippe Esvelin's book 'Forgotten Wings':

​

I thought it might work because of the obvious soft ground and the nose down Horsa with the tail still attached, but sadly not :s
Looking at the overall cluster on the Boutteville Marshes in the extract from NCAP_ACIU_US7GR_1857_8010 flown on the 12th June, I would wonder about other possibilities:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk​

We have good cover for the western end in the NARA photograph below but I cannot see any matches there for the ground photograph in 'Forgotten Wings':

​

The 'Big Dipper' Horsa cluster down south on the Vierville Marshes shows no good candidates either:

Image Credit: RCAHMS/www.aerial.rcahms.gov.uk​

So, to make a long story short, I have no additional photographs of your two gliders but you never know, new stuff is turning up all the time.

Regards,

Pat