PARATROOP TRAINING

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 February 1943, Page 4

PARATROOP TRAINING

METHODS USED IN BRITAIN. “Parachute control is' first taught without a parachute on an ordinary trapeze about ten feet from the ground. This is so that lhe pupil will learn to balance while swinging. And then when he has accustomed himself to that, he swings off from a platform twenty feet up, letting go at the bottom of the swing. Later on parachute harness is attached to the trapeze, and the man sits in the harness and is taught how to turn his body in the air. This is so that he will know how to land facing down wind—or in other words with his back to the wind. It is only after you have done an elementary course that you use a parachute at all. And you start your advanced training by making two decents from captive balloons. The balloon looks exactly like an extra large barrage balloon, with a box, or car suspended beneath it —just like the pictures of balloons you used to see years ago. The box holds five people—four pupils and an instructor. The reason for making preliminary jumps from a balloon is mainly because there is no noise, and the instructor is able to give last minute instructions to the pupils. As well as the instructor in the car, there is another one on the ground with a loud speaker, and as soon as the men leave the balloon car and are airborne he tells them exactly what to do in order to make a safe landing.”—A British Officer of Airborne Troops, speaking in a 8.8. C. radio newsreel.