Charles Agate's daring parachute testing at RAF Ringway transformed

airborne warfare, while his post-war struggles reveal a complex legacy.

By 1940 the Allies had fallen behind the Axis powers in parachute design

and research. Other than as a means of escape from a doomed aircraft,

the British regarded parachuting as of little military value. All that

changed when the Germans used paratroops, the Fallschirmjäger,

to devastating effect in the invasion of the Low Countries, and Churchill

 demanded immediate action. The call went out for men who would be

prepared to risk their lives testing parachutes, jumping and

landing techniques.

Charles Agate was a 34-year-old schoolteacher with a taste for adventure

when he joined a pioneering group of mavericks at RAF Ringway

in Manchester. The breath-taking risks they took alongside the essential

work of the women of the WAAF changed the course of the war and

the face of airborne warfare. Their work though often came at a terrible cost.

Between 1941 and 1945 Agate and his fellow Parachute Jump Instructors

(PJIs)  completed thousands of jumps, often from low altitude or using

prototype parachutes. They also trained thousands of raw recruits for the

key airborne operations of the war, as well as over 600 Executive agents for 

dropping into enemy territory, frequently accompanying them as dispatchers

on these hazardous flights. They were proud of the knowledge they were

 acquiring and imparting at Ringway, but, as the authors reveal, this led to

disputes with the Americans over tactics and equipment as they prepared

for the Allied invasion of France.

Agate amassed a record 1,601 jumps and was awarded the Air Force

Cross. He and his fellow PJIs at Ringway were also personally thanked by

 Churchill for their unique contribution to the war effort. His last jump, in 1946,

with his flying suit stuffed with winnings won on a horse called Airborne at the 

Epsom Derby, was reported in the press worldwide.

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6 by 9  Inch Trim Size

Hard Cover 

264   Pages

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George F. Cholewczynsk

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