The Pathfinders :

Trained in the use of the Eureka radar , holophan lights , and colored ground panels, the pathfinders dropped thirty minutes before the main airborne landing to provide ground guidance for successive airborne jumps .The concept of the pathfinders proved succesful and they were used during the remainder of World War II .

SHORT HISTORY OF THE PATHFINDERS :

In 1942, the 82nd Airborne Division and 509th PIR began to experiment with a new concept, small groups to guide the Airborne Divisionsto their assigned drop zones and glider landingzones .A few months later emerged the PATHFINDERS .The pathfinders were Volunteers that received special training for the hazardous duties they would perform . They would spearhead the Airborne main assaults , in small groups of eighteen men or less to set up special equipement to aid pilots of the Troop Carrier Commandto navigate to their designated drop zones .

Sgt Eagle your webmaster June 2004

The EUREKA BEACON AN/PPN-1A

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THE TROOP CARRIERS D-DAY HISTORY

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The general views of Troop Carrier performance in Normandy vary widely between veterans of the 82 nd Airborne Division and veterans of The 101 st Airborne Division with the most critical judgments coming from the 101 st There are still strong differences of opinion about this between veterans of these two divisions but there are also many other well documented records to supplement these opinions Normandy was the first combat action for the 101 st while the 82 nd had trained and fought with these same Troop Carrier units in North Africa Sicily and Italy It may be that they just knew a little more about what to expect A more likely reason for the difference is the relative time of arrival over the French coast The first Troop Carrier serials in the lineup carried the 101 st Airborne Division from airfields in Southern England and this is when the fog and the clouds were the thickest And this is also when and where the breakup of the formations was the most severe.

06.06.1944 THE MOST IMPORTANT PATHFINDERS OPERATION

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The role of the Pathfinders was critical here and must not be overlooked The IX Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder Group Provisional was formed within the 52 nd Troop Carrier Wing under the command of Lt Col Joel Crouch to provide accurate guidance for the airborne troops to their drop zones and landing zones This group was the outcome of numerous meetings held in Comiso Sicily between senior American and British commanders to critique the disappointing results of the airborne landings there It was clearly established that the use of assigned drop zones marked in advance of the arrival of the main body of airborne troops was sound thinking. In addition the idea was that even if the pathfinders missed the zones a bit and the zones were improperly marked that at least the main body of the paratroopers would be dropped together This would avoid the tragic scattering we experienced in Sicily Specially selected troop carrier crews and airborne troops were trained for specific pathfinder duties The Rebecca Eureka radar transponder system was utilized as a navigational aid for incoming troop carrier serials Eureka was a portable responder beacon that was placed on a drop zone or landing zone on the ground And after it was activated it indicated it's approximate location on a receiver called Rebecca in the cockpit.Just before 10 00PM on June 5th twenty C 47s of the 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinders Group took off from the base of North Witham near Grantham England.
Each carried its elite pathfinder paratroopers and their equipment The weather also scattered those who were to mark the DZs Their destinations Ste Mère Eglise and Ste Marie du Mont These crews and their men were the first to know the exact place of the Normandy landings and theirs were the very first flights Multiple pathfinder teams preceded the main assault but some missed their destinations by as much as 1 1 4 miles They set up their transmitters where they landed and this is why there were some conflicts between the visual sightings of the drop zones and the Rebecca signals. These pathfinders were absolutely essential to the success of this mission Their job was to mark the proper DZs drop zones and LZs landing zones with luminous panels in the shape of Ts in predetermined places that were visible from the air but not from the ground In addition smoke generators were also to be placed near the panels to indicate the wind direction Radio direction finders beacons were also to be placed as homing beacons The pathfinder force arrived over the beaches after an uneventful flight across the Channel but after they made landfall they ran into problems. The lead C 47 ran into a bank of low lying coastal cloud and disappeared from the view of the pilots in the rest of the formation The loss of visual contact completely destroyed the essential integrity and the discipline of the formation that had been drilled into the pilots during their training Some pilots elected to climb above the clouds while others tried to go below them and others tried to stay together The disorder caused the formation to break up and the force scattered.
Then to compound the problem German flak came up to meet they lowflying C 47s as they crossed the coast Many of the pathfinders were dropped away from their programmed destinations At 01 30AM the planes carrying the 101st Airborne Division arrived over Normandy and began dropping their troops In part because of the failure of the pathfinders to find their objectives. Their planned drops were also scattered   As a matter of general interest one report states that the first person to land on the continent of Europe during the invasion was Captain Frank Lillyman of the 101 st Airborne Division an airborne pathfinder. Less than an hour after landing Captain Lillyman heard the engines of the main body of IX Troop Carrier Command C 47s arriving from the west. They were carrying paratroopers of the 101 st and 82nd Airborne Divisions a sight that Captain Lillyman hadn't time to enjoy. Lt Col Patrick Cassidy battalion commander of the 1st Battalion 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment 101st Airborne Division ordered Lillyman to set up a roadblock near Foucarville. And once again we can be thankful for the American ingenuity that largely saved the day.

 Cpt Frank Lilyman and his men June 1944

A special Thanks to the Website WW2 Pilots who was a greatfull help in resuming these facts.

Your Webmaster Sgt Eagle

June 2004