In military organizations, a pathfinder is a specialized soldier inserted or dropped into place in order to set up and operate drop zones, pickup zones, and helicopter landing sites for airborne operations, air resupply operations, or other air operations in support of the ground unit commander. Pathfinders first appeared in World War II, and continue to serve an important role in today's modern armed forces, providing commanders with the option of flexibly employing air assets.
There was a group of pilots who were also designated pathfinders. They flew C-47 (DC-3) aircraft and were the lead planes followed by paratroop transports, used for dropping paratroopers into designate drop zones such as on D day, the Normandy Invasion.
One version of the patch worn on the uniforms of American pathfinders who served during World War II
Paratroopers of 3 Platoon, 21st Independent Parachute Company, assemble at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire in preparation for Operation Market Garden, September 1944.
Paratroopers of the 22nd Independent Parachute Company with their toy mascot 'Pegasus' at RAF Harwell, Berkshire, preparing for Operation Tonga the initial airborne element of Overlord, 5 June 1944.
U.S. Army pathfinders of the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (505th PIR), and C-47 Skytrain flight crew just before D-Day, June 1944
6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)
The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being the 1st Airborne Division. The 6th Airborne Division was formed in the Second World War, in mid-1943, and was commanded by Major-General Richard N. Gale. The division consisted of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades along with the 6th Airlanding Brigade and supporting units.
Glider infantry of D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, in Normandy 1944.
The division's first GOC, Major-General Richard Nelson "Windy" Gale.
Men from the 22nd Independent Parachute Company, the division's pathfinders, prior to take off for Normandy 5 June 1944.
Paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division climbing into an RAF Albemarle aircraft at RAF Harwell, 5 June 1944.