The U.S. Army Air Corps lands one at Williamson

Back in early October of 1943, one of the lesser known weapons in the U.S. Army Air Corps World War II arsenal landed and rolled safely to a stop in George Williamson's pasture, east of Williamson, late one afternoon.

Here's a report from The Chariton Herald-Patriot of October 7:

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A big Army glider made a forced landing in a pasture east of Williamson late Tuesday afternoon. The crew was unhurt as the big ship bounced to a stop in a rolling nine-acre field owned by George Williamson. Neither was the glider damaged.

The pilot was Lt. F. C. Wilson. Also in the glider were Lt. H. A. Smith and Sergeant Norman. With several others, the ship was in a ferry flight headed for Sedalia, Missouri.

George Williamson and a number of other Williamson residents saw the glider land. The coupling on the tow line opened several miles away from the landing site and the glider circled over a wide area before the pilot picked the Williamson pasture. The pilot of the plane which had the glider in tow remained in the vicinity until the glider landed.

Army air officers were in Williamson Wednesday and it is believed the glider will be dismantled and shipped to an air base. It cannot be towed from the field by a plane.

Two other gliders in the same flight made southern Iowa landings --- one near Pleasantville and the other near Milo, according to reports.

The nylon tow rope which became uncoupled and dropped the glider that landed near Williamson Tuesday was found by L. D. Wright at his farm north of Chariton. Wright turned the rope over to Sheriff Roy Shepard, who in turn sent it on to Army authorities. 

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The idea of using gliders to transport troops and equipment was modeled after German strategy observed in Europe during 1940. Both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps set to work developing the planes and training pilots.

The Waco Aircraft Company prototype glider (image above) met all of the Army’s structural and flight test requirements and this probably was the model that landed unexpectedly in the Williamson pasture. The workhorse 15-seat CG-4A weighed 3,900 pounds empty and could fly at an emergency weight of 9,000 pounds. The Waco could haul in addition to pilot and copilot 13 infantry soldiers and their gear, a jeep and four passengers, or a 75mm howitzer cannon and 18 rounds of ammunition plus three passengers. A tow plane such as the Douglas C-47 could haul the Waco at 150 mph and a skilled pilot could stop the glider in a few hundred feet.

Before World War II ended, nearly 15,000 gliders had been built and 6,000 pilots trained. They were successfully deployed on many battle fronts.