Profound Observations
Memo From: Prime Minister To:General Sir Hastings Ismay, Head, Military Wing War Cabinet Secretariat We ought to have a corps of at least 5000 parachute troops. Advantage of the summer must be taken to train these troops, who can nonetheless play their part meanwhile as shock troops in home defence. Pray let me have a note from the War Office on the subject. Winston Churchill 22 June 1940 |
On Being Airborne Being airborne is like being a virgin. Either you are or you are not. and if you are not then nobody is interested in your excuses. Anon. |
If you want to find out if a guy will fight in battle, find out if he'll jump out of an airplane. If he will, you'll know he's a fighter. Brigadier General James M Gavin Comd 82 Airborne Division (1944) |
| Where is the prince who can afford so to
cover his country with troops for its defence, as that
ten thousand men descending from the clouds might not, in
many places, do an infinite deal of mischief before a
force could be brought together to repel them? Benjamin Franklin, 1784 |
| .....When
an enthusiastic horseman said that there was no delight
on earth, like that which could be found on horseback
there were neither aircraft nor parachutes. If a canter
on a good horse is a wonderful sensation, it is one that
cannot be compared with that of soaring into the air with
the terrific but controlled power of an aircraft. .....Greater than either, however, is the almost superhuman sensation of the parachute jump. It alone compresses into the space of seconds feelings of concentrated energy, tenseness and abandon; it alone demands a continual and unconditional readiness to risk one's life. Therefore the parachutist experiences the most exalted feelings of which human beings are capable, namely that of victory over one's self. For us parachutists, the words of the poet, who said that unless you stake your life you will never win it, is no empty phrase. General-Leutnant Bruno Brauer German Parachute Regiment |