American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II

Trained in the use of the Eureka radar, holophan lights, and colored ground panels, the pathfinders dropped thirty minutes before the main airborne landing to provide ground guidance for successive airborne jumps. The concept of the pathfinders proved successful and they were used during the remainder of World War II. The story of the airborne pathfinders and the vital part they played in airborne operations during the Second World War has rarely been told. Author Jeff Moran tells the story of the operations they led, the equipment used—much of it unique to the pathfinders—and has memorialized them by noting, in many cases, the individual teams of pathfinders.