Designed in 1940 at the time of Dunkirk, the Mark I first flew on the November 5th 1940. This version was a high performance sailplane (wing span 62ft) capable of gliding silently at long distances to its target carrying eight soldiers. It was designed to be used only once on operations and had a 'lid' type fuselage and jettisonable undercarriage.
Policy changed rapidly and the Mark II was designed to be taken into action at low altitude with a steep fast approach needing little gliding capacity. The wing span was reduced to 46ft and the more robust fuselage given two side doors for exit of the troops. No operational tasks were undertaken by this glider as the Horsa soon replaced it. However 1,000 were made and it was used extensively for training.
