The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa
Was a British World
War II
Troop-carrying glider
Used for air assault
by British
And allied armed
forces
Like other British
gliders
Of the Second World
War,
Gliders were named
After military figures
Whose name began with
H,
So it was named after
Horsa,
The legendary 5th
century
Jutish Conqueror of
southern Britain.
But on D-Day 1944
The Horsa showed
It was not a conqueror
But a liberator of
Europe
The General Aircraft
GAL.48 Hotspur
Was a military glider
Commissioned at the
behest
Of the then Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill
In order to transport
Airborne assault
troops into battle
The Hotspur was the
result
But its tactical
limitations
Meant it was only used
for training
The General Aircraft
GAL. 49 Hamilcar
Was a large British
military glider
Produced during World
War II
Commissioned at the
behest
Of the then Prime
Minister
Winston Churchill
In order to transport
Airborne assault
troops
And heavy cargo into
battle,
When completed
The Hamilcar was
capable
Of transporting heavy
equipment
In support of airborne
troops.
The glider could
transport
A single light tank
Or two Universal
Carriers.
Hamilcars were only
used
On three occasions,
But only in support
Of British airborne
forces.
They first saw action
in June 1944
Transporting anti-tank
guns
Assorted armoured
Vehicles
And Tetrarch light
tanks
Into Normandy during
Operation Tonga
They were used in a
similar way
During Operation
Market-Garden
And finally in March
1945
During Operation
Varsity
When they landed in
Germany
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules
Is a four-engine
turboprop
Military transport
aircraft
An uncomplicated work
horse
Take-offs and landings
Can be made on any
unprepared ground
And its uses are too
numerous to mention
In fact, it would be
easier to list
What the Hercules can’t do
The Waco CG-4A
Was the most widely
used
Troop/cargo military
glider
Of World War II
Named the Hadrian
The English Electric Lightning
Was a supersonic jet
fighter
From the days of the
Cold War
Noted for its great
speed
The only all-British
Mach 2 fighter
And the first in the
world
Capable of Supercruise
Renowned for its
interceptor capabilities
The Lightning was the
best of the best
The Avro Vulcan
Was an RAF
Delta Wing strategic
bomber
And was the backbone
of the Uks
Airborne nuclear
deterrent
During a long period
Of the Cold War
It carried no
defensive weaponry
So had to rely on its
high-speed
And high-altitude
flight
To evade interception
Until the advent
Of Electronic
countermeasures
And although it spent
Much of its career
Armed with nuclear
weapons
The Vulcan was still
capable
Of performing
conventional
Bombing missions
A fact underlined
Very effectively in
1982
When it was used in
Operation Black Buck
During the Falklands
War
