![]() Despite their long months of training, pathfinder operations on D-Day were a disaster.Once on earth, the teams shed their harnesses, gathered their gear and set about preparing the drop zones for the massive airborne assault that was set to arrive within minutes. According to D-Day veterans, the planes were so close to the ground that the pathfinders’ chutes had scarcely opened when they were touching down. Dangerously low cloud cover forced some sticks to jump from only 300 feet. Just after midnight on June 6, the aircraft were over France and the pathfinders hit the silk. local time on June 5, 20 American C-47s carrying more than 200 of the specially trained paratroopers lifted off from an airfield in Southern Britain. The pathfinders would play a key role in the airborne phase of Operation Overlord.An American paratrooper about to leap from a C-47. Following their combat debut, the American pathfinder teams were withdrawn from action and sent to a special training camp at RAF North Witham in Lincolnshire, England to hone their skills for the upcoming invasion of France. The unit leaped into Italy just minutes ahead of the main Allied drop over Paestum and guided elements of 82 nd Airborne’s 504 th Parachute Infantry Regiment onto the target using lanterns and transponders. ![]() 13, 1943 - barely a week after being formed.
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