For the Miami Valley Today

TROY — The WACO Historical Society is continuing its Aviation Lecture Series with a lecture titled “Gliders in combat during WWII,” which will be held on Sept. 16 at the WACO Air Museum. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the lecture starts at 7 p.m.

The first use of gliders in combat reportedly took place at the start of the invasion of the German Army into Holland, Belgium, and France in May of 1940. The use of stealth glider airplanes operating behind enemy lines is not known to many. It took courage to fly in a WACO build CG-4A or similar types of gliders.

The story about the glider troops is one that should not be forgotten. In World War II, gliders participated in several major battles in Europe and a spectacular rescue of Americans who crashed in New Guinea, in a place they called Shangri-La.

The lecture is presented by Bill Albers, who is a volunteer at the WACO Air Museum and is a frequent guest lecturer about World War II subjects. Albers is Dutch-American who survived WWII and shares his knowledge about WWII so the events of WWII are not forgotten.

To learn more about the subjects of WWII and more, join them on Sept. 16. It is the start of the WACO Air Museum 2021-2022 lecture series.

All aviation lectures are free and open to the public and are held in the Willis Wing of the WACO Air Museum at 1865 South County Road 25A in Troy. Programs are scheduled to last one hour with questions to follow. Donations to the WACO Air Museum are accepted. For questions, call 937-335-9226 or visit www.wacoairmuseum.org.