ⓘWhat do the D1–D5 confidence tiers mean?›
- D1A single attributed public source (museum, council, Historic England, CWGC, mapping data).
- D2Two or more independent public sources corroborate the same facts.
- D3A named coordinator or local reviewer has confirmed the public-source account.
- D4A named observer has personally visited and documented the site — photographs, inscriptions, condition.
- D5An archive or institution has provided written documentation supporting the entry.
A higher tier means more corroborating evidence, not automatic historical certainty. The Discovery layer does not replace archival verification.
The Glider Pilot Regiment was a British Army regiment whose pilots flew troop-carrying gliders. The National Archives holds WO 361/638, described in the catalogue as Airborne operations, North West Europe, Arnhem: 1 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment; includes gliders 506 and 5003, covering November 1944 to April 1949 — the only one of these references whose own description names the regiment.
Three war diaries of 1945 sit in the North West Europe series: WO 171/5128 (January to September 1945), WO 171/5129 (January to December 1945) and WO 171/5130. Their catalogue titles are only positional — H.Q., 1 Wing, 2 Wing — so the attribution to this regiment comes from where they sit in the archive's hierarchy rather than from the item descriptions themselves. That distinction is stated here rather than smoothed over.
What this page does not claim
- This page does not claim a complete roster of the regiment. It lists only the people this archive holds.
- It does not claim that any individual named here appears in WO 361/638 or in the war diaries. The references establish that the records exist and what they cover.
- WO 171/5128 and WO 171/5129 are titled only H.Q. and 1 Wing in the catalogue. Their attribution to this regiment rests on the archive's hierarchy, which this page states rather than presenting as the item description.
- The catalogue entries were captured from the archive's public interface, not from the documents.
ⓘHow is each connection known?›
- FROM THE RECORDA record on this platform states this connection, quoted here in its own words.
- CITED SOURCEAn external cited source states this connection.
- SEVERAL SOURCESNo single source states this connection; it follows from several independent pieces of evidence, named here.
- OUR CONCLUSIONThe platform's own editorial judgement, not a statement by a source.
This describes one connection, not the page as a whole: the D1-D5 tier at the top of the page says what the record itself rests on. A connection can rest on a direct statement by a source even where the record around it is weakly supported, and the other way round.
Personnel
- Herbert Gapper
FROM THE RECORD“Staff Sergeant Herbert Gapper of Bristol flew Horsa gliders with the Glider Pilot Regiment.”
- John McKinlay
FROM THE RECORD“Lieutenant John McKinlay was a Glaswegian who served with the Glider Pilot Regiment, flying Horsa gliders into Normandy on D-Day.”
- Cyril Hawkins
FROM THE RECORD“Staff Sergeant Cyril Hawkins from Bristol flew Horsa gliders with the Glider Pilot Regiment.”
- George Albert Norton
FROM THE RECORD“Sergeant George Albert Norton from Nottingham served with the Glider Pilot Regiment, one of the most dangerous roles in the British Army.”
Sources
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