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The parachutes were rigid with
stiffening rods to maintain there shape and tied to the bottom of the balloons,
when it came time to jump a helper would cut the rope and they would ascend
in their particular contraption.
It was an era of do it yourself
designs some worked and some didn't . The ones that didn't were the
unlucky ones (this could be considered an
understatement).
This do it yourself design also
applied to airplane with a lot of fatal
results.
The Wright brothers finally got
one to fly and it has been the skies the limit every since.
Now the interest in (and need for) parachutes really took off.
One of the first parachutes was invented in 1837 by a man named Robert Cocking.
The canopy was covered with linen and used stiffeners made of thin metal tubes to retain it's shape, the only trouble was it weighed 223 pounds . It worked fine at first, but the
stiffening tubes started to give way , then a hole developed in the canopy,
then it collapsed ( it was the first
parachute fatality).
After that England's interest
in parachutes declined, but continued in America and Europe.
In 1884 the Baldwin Brothers
developed a parachute similar to the one used today, it had no stiffeners
, just a fabric canopy that was folded and stuffed into a soft container.
They decided to demonstrate it
publicly, and sold tickets for the event at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco,
Cal. on Jan. 30,1887. Thomas Baldwin the younger
brother got elected for the task, the brothers took the balloon to 5,000
ft. before a sellout crowd.
Tom jumped and the chute worked
perfectly opened within five seconds and he drifted slowly to the ground,
and landed safely.
In April 1914 Charles Broadwick
invented the back pack container, his design resembled a sleeveless coat,
the canopy and suspension lines were stowed on the back, the apex was attached
to a static line on the back with a breakaway tie and a static line that
could be hooked anywhere available, it similar to the design used today.
He demonstrated it to the army
just a few months before WW 1, with hisadopted
daughter Tiny then Twenty years old. She had been jumping since she was
fifteen years old.
She jumped from a Curtis biplane
and used the risers to steer to a perfect landing.
This amazed the General
and his staff. The Generals report to the Army was great , but they ignored
it, and later American pilots flew into combat
without parachutes because the Generals thought they would abandon their
planes at the very slightest chance of trouble, hence no parachutes. During the war only Germans provided parachutes for their pilots, it was a canopy and suspension lines stored in a container. When it came time to depart the aircraft, they lifted the container from under the seat, stood on the seat and tossed the container over the side, then followed it, a little crude but it worked and all the other pilots envied them, especially since they had to ride theirs down in flames. Col. Billy Mitchell attempted
to get parachutes for his aviators, without success, but the army did conduct
some test , and they were still testing when the war ended in 1918. But
Col. Mitchell thought of others ways to use parachutes. To him goes the distinction of suggesting the first airborne assault. forces
During the 1930s the Russians and Germans started using airborne troops.
The Russians in 1935 and the Germans in 1937 . The French also started in 1937,
however the French were defeated before they could use them.
The success of the Germans in Holland and Belgium caused the United States to form an airborne unit.
The first thing the United States did was to design a chute that could be used for military jumps since most chutes were only used by stunt jumpers.
The "AIR CORPS TEST CENTER" was commission to design and develop a chute for
mass military jumps. They designed what was then called the T-4 and was the first chute to
have four risers so it could be steered. They also developed the reserve , something
only the U.S. had. No other nation ,at that time, used reserves.
Other
nations chutes were hooked to a single D ring and hooked to the harness behind their head. The jumpers were unable to steer them and they landed where ever the wind took them.
A platoon of volunteers was formed in 1940 and made the first mass jump August 1940.
The first airborne Reg. the 501st was formed in April of 1941 and the first jump school was started at Ft. Benning, GA. The idea for the 250' towers came from Coney Island, N.Y. They were built
for the 1940 worlds fair , and are still their today. The rest were put together from scratch.
The first airborne divisions were created on August 15 1942. The 82nd and the 101st. Then came the 11th ,13th and 17th.
The first combat jumps was made on November 8, and November 15, 1942 by the 509 PIR in Algeria at Tunisia. The next combat jump was made by the 504th PIR in Sicily,
On September 5, 1943 the 503rd jumped in the Pacific at Markham Valley.
The first really big jumps were made on September 9th and 14th , 1943 by the 504 and the 509 at Salerno and Avellion which, because of lack of organization, almost turned out to be a disaster.
After that jump, other units like artillery, engineers and signal Corps were added to make Airborne units more like a traditional division and increase their efficiency.
Even the jumps at Normandy was disorganized, but this worked in their favor, because they landed in so many different spots the Germans didn't know how many men had landed, and it kept them off the beaches of Normandy, allowing the invasion force to gain a foot hold on the beach.
Gliders were necessary because they didn't have chutes big enough to drop artillery and jeeps, and there was a pressing need to get more men and heavier equipment on the ground quicker. Hence the design and use of gliders.
Gliders proved very dangerous and to add insult to injury the BRAVE troopers that rode them didn't even draw jump pay.
I am not sure if they even had a choice . I think they were just assigned to these units.
I have talked with a glider man who went through the entire war without jump pay and finally got on jump status after the war was over.
The most disastrous jump of world W.W.II was by the 1st airborne task force in France. The Germans
found our about it and was waiting for them. They placed steel girders all over the landing field and destroyed most of the gliders on landing. The jump was salvaged but not without tremendous loss of life.
The next large jump was by the 82nd and the 101st in Nijmegen-Arnheim to take control of the bridge at Remagen that crossed the Rhine river into Germany. The mission was accomplished leading to the defeat of the Germans.
Then it was back to the Pacific. On February 3, 1945 the 11th airborne jumped at Luzon and
again on the February 23, at Las Banos in the Philippines.
The last and final jump of world W.W.II was by the 503rd on the Island of Corregidor also in the Philippines. This Jump got the 503 its nickname "THE ROCK" . It was on a cliff and some troopers were blown of and their chutes re-open before they hit the ocean!
Last but not least was the battle of Bastogne. "IF YOU ARE THEN PULL YOUR VEHICLE BEHIND ME" and yelled "I'M THE 82nd AIRBORNE AND THIS IS AS FAR AS THE BASTARDS ARE GOING!"
Bill Waters Jr. "Airborne 1948 to 1953 All the Way and Proud of it" Combat Jumps; Jump School; The Planes; and Great Jump Pictures? Then use our drop down menu and pick a DZ to jump on. For Information on how to obtain a CD of GREAT AIRBORNE SONGS or a CD of a Documentary of Jumpschool in the 50's  BUT FIRST BETTER READ OUR WARNING THIS IS "FOR MEN ONLY !" Be part of one of the largest data base to find old Para Buddies !! Please, list the dates and units you served with. Sign Our MANIFEST 
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