Ref:
Arnhem - 1944: The Airborne Battle by M. Middlebrook
The glider landing was a less dramatic and less costly operation. The tug aircraft approached at 3,000 feet, which enabled the combinations to escape German small-arms fire. The gliders then cast off and made their final approach in a steep dive.
One glider pilot was Staff Sergeant Bert Harget of E Squadron.
He was flying on the extreme right-hand side of the stream when he cast off and he took a long, careful approach over Arnhem
and then over Deelen airfield. Not one flak shell was fired at him, and he was not aware of any other fire. So much for the supposed flak defences at Deelen, which had dictated the route in the air plan!
A total of 273 gliders reached the cast-off point. They were to use two landing zones (see map).
Approximately a quarter of them - mostly carrying the balance of the Airlanding Brigade infantry and including many of the glider parties which had landed prematurely in England from the first lift - would land on LZ-S, the one north of the railway line at Wolfheze which had been used the previous day.
The main group would then come in to LZ-X, which was the large area used as a parachute-dropping zone on the first lift. The loads landed here would mostly be the balance of the division's artillery and transport, together with a large quantity of ammunition which was part of the first daily resupply, being brought in more reliably by glider than being dropped by parachute.
Among the gliders were ten Horsas flying from Manston carrying the first element of the Polish brigade - five anti-tank guns and a small Brigade HQ advance party, twenty-six men in total.
Also coming in were the two remaining RAF radar-warning-unit gliders and a glider which had fallen out from the Corps HQ lift the previous day. It landed safely, but its occupants were forced to remain with the Arnhem troops; one man, a signals officer's batman, would be killed at Arnhem.
It mostly went very well, thanks to the firmer ground being used than on the previous day, the good work of the 1st Border in defending the landing zones .....
..... and the skill of the glider pilots.
