Staff Sergeant Les Howard

Les Howard began the war serving in the 2/7 Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, stationed at Fakenham in Norfolk during late-1941. Bored with the routine of home defence duties he requested a transfer to the RAF as aircrew.

Eventually L/Cpl Les Howard was called forward to the RAF selection board, and invited to transfer to the RAF for aircrew training, before fate took a hand. Army transfers were cancelled, but a new opportunity arose with the fledgling Glider Pilot Regiment. In February 1942 Les Howard was among one of the first trainees to report to the Glider Pilot Regiment Depot, to join 5 Flight, 1st Battalion GPR at Tilshead near Larkhill.

Les Howard left the Tilshead Depot in April 1942 and travelled to No 16 Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) at RAF Burnaston, near Derby to fly Miles Magisters. Les took to the air for the first time 17 April 1942, and flew solo just two weeks later. He continued flying at EFTS into June 1942, when he and his comrades were moved on to begin their conversion to gliders at RAF Thame and RAF Kidlington. The course was introduced to powerless flight on the newly developed Hotspur training glider:

‘We went to Kidlington to complete our Hotspur training including night flying. Do you know, I enjoyed flying the Hotspur except for one occasion. Night flying on a short cross-country, at 2,000 feet, my cockpit hood blew off. Not a nice experience to say the least’.

Following completion his Hotspur training, he moved on to the Heavy Glider Conversion Unit (HGCU) at RAF Brize Norton to learn to fly Horsas and was granted his wings and the rank of Sergeant on completion. It was early days for the fledgling regiment and it was a struggle to get Glider Pilots onto RAF stations and into the air. This time as put to good use however, with glider pilots undertaking passenger flights in RAF bombers and inventive infantry training exercises.

The Glider Pilot Regiment was an integral part of the newly established Airborne Division. The new force would soon be committed to its first operation. Les was to be involved and took the opportunity of just four days embarkation leave to marry his fiancée Irene.

North Africa and Sicily

After a brief honeymoon, Sgt Howard joined the men of 2 & 3 Companies GPR deployed from the sea port of Gourock in Scotland, in a convoy destined for Oran, North Africa, which arrived in late April 1943. The arrival of Glider Pilots in North Africa heralded extensive training in night flying and night landings in the desert in American WACO/Hadrian gliders (after the glider pilots had helped build them!) in preparation for the invasion of Sicily.

D-day for the Airlanding Brigade was set for 9 July 1943, Staff Sergeant Les Howard and his second pilot Sergeant Jimmy Tigar took off in ‘Glider 34’ carrying the Pioneer Platoon of the South Staffs. They were one of the few gliders that battled through strong head winds and flak to make landfall. In fact Glider 34 landed two miles south of their designated Landing Zone.

Immediately after landing the two pilots and the South Staffs set off for the Italian held town of Syracuse. They were engaged by Italian troops several times but undeterred they pushed on to reach the main road to Syracuse and the initial objective, the Ponte Grande Bridge. The journey was eventful:

‘We saw in the distance what appeared to be a large house and went forward toward it, when we were fired at from the house. We returned the fire then heard a lot of screaming and shouting, the noise going further and further away. We edged up to the building to discover it was a barracks of some kind. The occupants had evidently got out of bed and vanished leaving most of their arms and weapons there.'

The following morning the lead elements of the 8th Army had landed to the south of Syracuse and were pushing steadily inland. At 0700 hours the Green Howards reached the house. The Company Commander of the Green Howards informed the Airlanding troops that they had taken their first objective. He ordered the South Staffs to remain in place and hold the house. After two days holding the position they were finally relieved and driven into Syracuse to rejoin their own brigade.

It was only on their return that the two Glider pilots heard about the heavy losses incurred on the night of 9 July 1943. They were shocked to hear that fifty-seven Glider Pilots had drowned off shore having never made landfall. The Airlanding Brigade had lost over 300 officers and men drowned in the Mediterranean without ever seeing Sicily.

Les Howard remembers the period after the liberation of Sicily as an acutely frustrating time for the men of 1st Battalion GPR. They were initially confined to a transit camp amid concerns that they would vent their anger over the loss of so many comrades on their American tug pilots, before calm was eventually restored.

In August 1943 the Battalion was deployed without its gliders in the infantry role to the Italian mainland, landing at Taranto. SSgt Howard had a relatively quiet Italian campaign, and eventually sailed home to the UK from Italy on a French ship on Christmas Day 1943.

Reorganisation

On completion of some well earned disembarkation leave Les Howard was back on the move again. The Glider Pilot Regiment had undergone a significant reorganisation after Sicily. SSgt Howard was now assigned to E Squadron at RAF Down Ampney, with Second Pilot Sgt Melvin. Extensive training operations for the planned invasion of North West Europe followed.

Normandy and Arnhem

Les was selected as a reserve for ‘D’ day and did not fly to Normandy. In September 1944 he flew to Arnhem on Operation Market Garden. He was captured at the end of the epic battle and spent the rest of the war in captivity. He was held in Stalag Luft 7 until the end of the war. On his release he returned to England and after leave began training at Brockenhurst for operations against Japan. The war ended on VJ day and Staff Sergeant Les Howard was eventually demobbed.

Les Howard now lives in Sudbury in Suffolk; he is remains an active member of the veterans community as part of the Glider Pilot Regiment Association (GPRA).