Nick Wotherspoon
Vercors DFS 230
On the approach to Vassieux-en-Vercors from the direction of La Chapelle and close to the site of the landing ground is the "Necropole de la Resistance" containing the graves of some 193 Resistance fighters killed in the battle in 1944. Here the wreck of another of the German DFS 230 gliders used in the assault is displayed on a pylon in the car park.
The glider-borne assault did not go totally as the German’s envisaged - many of the gliders were caught in the strong winds that are a feature of the Vercors. Some were lost after their towlines separated and they went of-course. Others had wings torn off and crashed, inevitably resulting in the deaths of all onboard as this flimsy structure could offer little protection in any circumstances other than a carefully controlled landing. Even those that made it to the drop zone were mostly badly damaged as they attempted to land under heavy fire on the rocky ground and the wrecks were probably abandoned here by the Germans as they were beyond repair.
Vercors DFS 230
On the approach to Vassieux-en-Vercors from the direction of La Chapelle and close to the site of the landing ground is the "Necropole de la Resistance" containing the graves of some 193 Resistance fighters killed in the battle in 1944. Here the wreck of another of the German DFS 230 gliders used in the assault is displayed on a pylon in the car park.
The glider-borne assault did not go totally as the German’s envisaged - many of the gliders were caught in the strong winds that are a feature of the Vercors. Some were lost after their towlines separated and they went of-course. Others had wings torn off and crashed, inevitably resulting in the deaths of all onboard as this flimsy structure could offer little protection in any circumstances other than a carefully controlled landing. Even those that made it to the drop zone were mostly badly damaged as they attempted to land under heavy fire on the rocky ground and the wrecks were probably abandoned here by the Germans as they were beyond repair.