The Wings of Pegasus by George Chatterton

Chapter 13 The Regiment Disbands But Lives On

The preceding chapters have told the fighting story of the Glider-Pilot Regiment, and all

that remains is to give a brief outline of its activities before it was finally disbanded

in 1957. Before the cessation of hostilities, and for some time after, the regiment was

kept together and used in various capacities in many sectors of the world.

India In accordance with the conditions agreed on when our improvisation scheme was adopted

after the heavy losses at Arnhem, in India the regiment came under the command of the

Royal Air Force, who employed it in a number of ways, not the least important being for

the resupply of China. It had been planned to use gliders in an attack on Malaya, and

I'd been sent out to India to study the terrain, and had lectured there to both mount

the battles and general Orkin-Leck staffs. Little was known of airborne warfriend that sphere,

but an Indian airborne division was in the process of being organised and finally took shape

as the 44th Indian airborne division, commanded by Major General E. Down, CBE. It was very

widely dispersed and must have been most difficult to command. It was soon found that the

wooden type of glider, such as the Halter and Hamelcoe, was unsuitable for operation

in the Far East because of the climate, and the glider crews therefore changed over

to the American Waco gliders. At about the same time, the glider pilots learned that

their passengers would be Indian troops, and that, in the event of their officers becoming

casualties, the glider pilots would have to take command. There was of course nothing

new about this, since on many occasions in Europe, pilots had taken over command in emergencies.

Nevertheless, because of the different personnel involved on the new type of terrain, courses

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