Page "Mike Calvert" Paragraph 10

Each American C-47 towed two heavily-laden Waco CG-4 gliders.

Although a double tow posed no problems for a competent pilot in good weather, many of the pilots were inexperienced and the route across the mountain ranges bordering the Chindwin river guaranteed a turbulent, unsettled flight.

The first gliders were scheduled to arrive at Broadway by 9: 30pm, but by 2: 00am Wingate and the others waiting at Lalaghat had not yet heard from Calvert.

Poor reconnaissance, not enemy resistance, caused the delay, as aerial reconnaissance had failed to show a number of ditches scarring the field at Broadway.

Calvert wrote: