WW II glider pilot reunites with aviators in England

(EXCERPT) By Toni Marshall Staff Writer Posted October 19 2003

Margate · Pilot Sam Fine waited for the snatch. Then the towline
jerked, signaling the start of the symbiotic relationship between the
glider packed with troops and supplies and the massive cargo plane
that would pull it from North Africa across the Mediterranean to
Sicily.

The two aircraft climbed together into the midnight skies of World War
II, soaring for four hours guided by wit until the moonlight revealed
the southern Italian island's coastline. Fine then released the cord.

"Then we were on our own," said Fine, about 30 at the time, reliving
minutes when his glider adeptly challenged gravity on July 10, 1943.
The Allied forces aimed to strike Mussolini at his underbelly,
starting with Sicily.

Among his military accomplishments, Fine, today 90, was one of the
first Americans to land in Sicily and support the groundwork in Europe
leading up to D-Day 11 months later on June 6, 1944.

He left for England last week to meet up with the British Glider...

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