towrope

We have now seen quite a few shots of aircraft from 440TCG. Did Carl move from 313TCG to 440? Stig

General Aircraft was one of the companies responsible for license-production of Waco CG-4A combat gliders during the Second World War. Here it appears workers are fastening an interphone cable to a glider tow rope. The interphone enabled the crew of the towing aircraft (frequently a Douglas C-47 (DC-3)) to communicate with the pilot of the glider up until the time the tow rope was released. See: National World War II Glider Pilots Association - "CG-4A GLIDER: Communications Systems," by Charles L. Day See also: Wikipedia - Waco CG-4

Apparently ground crew attaching a glider tow rope to USAAF Curtiss C-46D Commando (USAAF Ser. No. 44-77604; c/n 3300). This aircraft would be lost will the lives of all four crew on April 10, 1945, after a mid-air collision with a Royal Air Force (RAF) Spitfire (possibly RAF Ser. ML232) piloted by Group Captain Gordon Learmonth "Raffy" Raphael in the skies between Woodchurch and Dungeness, England. G/Capt. Raphael would also perish as a result of the collision.