Topside was the most unsuitable
jump field ever designated during Combat operations during WW2.
Sure there were drop fields which by
enemy occupation or sheer and tragic error proved to be more
fatal, but Topside was a designated zone.
The field itself was littered with jagged chunks of concrete,
shell holes, uncertain footings and blasted tree trunks. That
was, as they now say, "as good as it gets." Beyond that
it became worse, being ringed either with sheer cliffs, bombed
out buildings or virtually impenetrable undergrowth.
On the first run, the C-47's came in
at 550 feet, which proved to be much too high. Witnessing the
error from his command plane, Colonel Jones quickly radioed the
pilots to come in at 400 feet, and directed the jump masters to
count from five to ten seconds longer after the "Go" lights
flicked on in the cabin.
"Not so in my case," suggests Lt.
Don Abbott, leading the third stick out of his C-47, who can't
recall receiving the order. Having himself seen the first two
sticks blown back from the drop zone towards the cliffs, he
deliberately counted off the extra time, causing the jumpmaster
to think momentarily that he might have frozen in the doorway.
His decision to count the extra seconds until the plane was
almost across the parade ground meant that the high winds blew
his stick only to the edge of Battery Wheeler. Only one trooper
refused to jump.
