Description
Guaranteed original. Complete & intact. This is an original Glider Pilot Regiment Cap Badge for sale. In good condition. Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other Glider Pilot Regiment cap badges.
For more original cap badges for sale, click here.
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British airborne forces unit of the Second World War, which was responsible for crewing the British Army's military gliders and saw action in the European theatre in support of Allied airborne operations. Established during the war in 1942, the regiment was disbanded in 1957. The German military was one of the pioneers of the use of airborne formations, conducting several successful airborne operations during the Battle of France in 1940, including the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael. Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, the Allied governments decided to form their own airborne formations. This decision would eventually lead to the creation of two British airborne divisions, as well as a number of smaller units. The British airborne establishment began development on 22 June 1940, when the new British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed a memorandum to the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops.
Glider pilots of the 6th Airborne Division and RAF crews are briefed at RAF Harwell for the D-Day invasion, 5 June 1944. On 21 June 1941, the Central Landing Establishment was formed at Ringway airfield near Manchester; although tasked primarily with training parachute troops, it was also directed to investigate the possibilities of using gliders to transport troops into battle. It had been decided that the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the British Army would co-operate in forming the airborne establishment. Squadron Leader Louis Strange and Major J.F. Rock were tasked with gathering together potential glider pilots and forming a glider unit; this was achieved by searching for members of the armed forces who had pre-war experience of flying gliders, or were interested in learning to do so.
Please see our other items for more original WW1, WW2 & post war British military cap badges for sale including other Glider Pilot Regiment cap badges.
