Hello, I read on Twitter that there had been a plan to use helicopters as air OPs in NWE but American development stalled or was botched. Is there any truth to this? Chris
Chris a bit here Britain had a standing order for several hundred helicopters from the US to be used by AOP Squadrons for Overlord (delivery was anticipated in early 1944). For months it was chased up by the War Office but it seems the Americans dragged their heels on development and they never materialised. choppers in wwII
Not exactly what you're looking for, but an interesting story nonetheless: This was the first military helicopter rescue ever - We Are The Mighty
There's that peculiar German thing for towing behind subs as an OP too. One at Cosford I think. Ah. 'Focke-Achgelis Fa 330'. So rotary viewpoint not an entirely unheard of concept. There's a WW2 Heliwopper thread on here somewhere.
It was good to see the story about Carter Harman and the Chindit rescue using the Sikorsky YR-4B helicopter in Burma. I have written this story up ready for the next newsletter using his own first-hand account from my files. In the first video posted by Itdan, Harman is rather underplaying his skill in getting that chopper to those downed Airmen in April 1944. His helicopter was continuously overheating and was close to running out of fuel by the end of the rescue.
Yes. Helicopters are mentioned in many of the D Day logistical planning documents. I'll post something when I am home.
Mention is made in secret lists of material required for the invasion - with progress reports on sourcing. There is an assumption that the term 'helicopter' is standard and the concept is understood. This kind of thing:
A lot of this stems from myself! The short of it is I was trying to find more about kit issue in 21st Army Group, equipment trials etc and dug through tons of material at Kew. This all started over tank crew oversuits, shifted to entrenching tools and then I started finding odd, strange scraps about helicopters. The intention was to swap out Austers from AOP Squadrons for helicopters. Annoyingly I can't find my notes to hand with file references but a figure of about 200 helicopters being ordered emerged. The Ministry of Supply ended up mired in attempts to check progress with the Americans, and were repeatedly promised imminent shipping which slid well past useful delivery dates. A few prospective models stood out, but I still couldn't tie down the exact model listed. I believe the Sikorsky R-4 was one of two types that looked most likely.
I wonder, on the American end, what the problems were. Technical? Manufacturing? I see (if wikipedia can be trusted) that they only ever built 131 R-4s and only reached 100 in Nov 1944.