Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is the Swas cut away from the vertical stabilizer fin of a DFS 230 German WWII Assault Glider. The glider had a fabric covered body to reduce weight. The DFS 230 was the first German combat glider, with a wingspan of 72 feet and fuselage 38 feet long. The first use of this aircraft took place on May 10, 1940. In the half-light of dawn, shortly after 5 a.m., ten 230s carrying a total of 78 assault troops swooped down and landed on top of a huge Belgian fort, Eben Emael, a barrier to AH's invasion of Belgium and Holland.

Belonging to the Luftlandegesch wader 1, the Luftwaffe's first "'Airlanding" Geschwader and the first unit of its kind in the world, each DFS 230A carried paratroops whose tasks were the storming of the Eben-Emael fortifications and the capture of the Kanne, Veldwezelt and Vroenhoven bridges which were to be held until the arrival of ground forces.

So successful was this operational initiation of the assault glider that virtually every aircraft manufacturing nation immediately followed Germany's lead and began the design and development of troop and freight-carrying gliders, while the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, which had previously expressed doubts concerning the operational value of Lastensegler (Cargo Gliders), promptly demanded that the highest priority be awarded the development and manufacture of larger aircraft in this category.

This is a very lovely cut section which was brought home by an American soldier after WWII. Comes ready to be framed and displayed!

Dimensions:
11 ½” x 7”