The 101 st And 82 nd Airborne in World War II By: Dale F.

The 101st And 82nd Airborne in World

War IIBy: Dale F.

The Beginning• U.S. Army Airborne units had first

started up in 1942 during World War II

• It was originally started with only two units the 82nd All Americans and the 101st Screaming Eagles

101st Screaming Eagles

• The 101st Airborne division was first activated in 1942 and assigned to train at Camp Claiborne Louisiana. Then they moved to Fort Bragg North Carolina to continue there training then shipped to New York then to England until June 6th 1944 they jumped into Hitlers fortress Europe. There Pathfinders being the first to go

in. starting the units great history.

82nd All Americans

• The 82nd Division was activated at Camp Gordon, Georgia, on 25 August 1917.It was originally a infantry division which fought in world war I. As the Division filled, it was discovered there were soldiers from every state. Through a popular contest, the nickname "All American" was chosen to reflect the unique composition of the 82nd.When the boys came home it stayed a infantry division till August 15, 1942 becoming Americas first Airborne division.

Operation Husky• In 1942 training began in Fort Bragg North Carolina

and the unit was transformed into paratroopers. Then in 1943 the unit was shipped out to Casablanca, Morocco on May 10. There they were trained for the invasion on Sicily. In which they would spear head the assault. As they flew over the american fleet to jump they were mistaken for enemy bombers and 23 were shot down Eighty-one troopers were killed, including the assistant division commander, Brigadier General Charles Keerans. The 82nd continued its fighting in Sicily by leading Patton's westward drive to Trapani and Castellmare. In five days, the Division moved 150 miles and took 23,000 prisoners.

Italy• On 9 September 1943, General Clark's Fifth Army launched

Operation AVALANCHE with an amphibious landing at Salerno, Italy. Several operations had been planned for the 82nd, including a drop on Rome, but were cancelled. Within four days the Allied beachhead was in trouble. General Clark sent an urgent request to General Ridgway who was in Sicily with the 82nd. On 13 September 1943, Colonel Reuben Tucker led his 504th combat team (minus 3rd battalion) on a parachute assault at Paestum, south of Salerno. On the 14th, the 505th jumped. The paratroopers were rushed to the front line where they engaged the enemy in the rugged hills and drove them back. On the 15th, the 25th and 3/504th conducted an amphibious landing near Salerno. Throughout September and October the 82nd conducted operations in the Salerno/Naples area. The 82nd was the first unit to enter Naples. The Division advanced north to the Volturno River, cleared the area of the enemy, and became the first unit to set sail for England, via Ireland, to prepare for the invasion of Normandy.

D-Day 101st • The 101st Airborne Division first saw combat during the

Normandy invasion - 6 June 1944. they were going to jump before H-Hour to seize positions west of Utah Beach. Given the mission of anchoring the corps' southern flank, the division was also to eliminate the German's secondary beach defenses, allowing the seaborne forces once ashore, to continue inland. The Screaming Eagles were to capture the causeway bridges that ran behind the beach between St. Martin-de-Varreville and Pouppeville. In the division's southern sector, it was to seize the la Barquette lock and destroy a highway bridge northwest of the town of Carentan and a railroad bridge further west. At the same time elements of the division were to establish two bridgeheads on the Douve River at le Port, northeast of Carentan. The 101st completed all assignments except securing the crossing at the Douve river.

D-Day 82nd The US 82nd Airborne Division's mission was

to protect the far right flank of the invasion in the Cotentin peninsula.  It hoped to accomplish this by destroying bridges over the Douve River and by securing the Merderet River by occupying both sides.  It also had the mission to capture Ste. Mere-Eglise from the German garrison stationed there.  The capture of Ste. Mere-Eglise was important because it straddled the main road between Carentan and Cherbourg.

Market Garden 101st

• The plan called Operation Market-Garden, for the largest airborne drop in military history. Three Allied divisions would be involved. The US Army 101st Airborne would drop on Eindhoven and take the canal crossings at Veghel. They would

hold the bridges there.

Market Garden 82nd

• The US Army 82nd Airborne would land on bridges over the Maas and Waal Rivers. 60 miles behind the German lines. And hold the bridges there.

Market Garden After• The operation was initially successful with the capture of the

Waal bridge at Nijmegen on September 20. But it was a failure overall since the planned Allied advance across the Rhine at Arnhem had to be abandoned. The British 1st Airborne Division did not secure the bridge at Arnhem, and although they managed to hold out near the bridge far longer than planned, the British XXX Corps failed to relieve them. The Rhine remained a barrier to the Allied advance until the offensives at Remagen, Oppenheim, Rees and Wesel in March 1945. Due to the Allied defeat at Arnhem, the north of the Netherlands could not be liberated before winter and the Hongerwinter ('Hungerwinter') took tens of thousands of lives, particularly in the cities of the Randstad area.

The Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944 to

January 25, 1945 • With the Germans almost in defeat they

would try one last great offensive later known as the Battle of the Bulge. This battle would be fought in the Ardennes Forest on the German/Belgium border in some of the coldest conditions ever recorded.

Casualties• Over a million men, 500,000

Germans, 600,000 Americans (more than fought at Gettysburg) and 55,000 British.

• Armor: 800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft.

• Human Life: This would cost the Americans over 81,000 casualties 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed. The Germans with over 100,000 killed, wounded or captured 1,400 British casualties  200

killed.

Other Facts • · The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered in an

open field while they were surrounded by Germans after been taken prisoner, was the worst atrocity committed against American troops during the course of the war in Europe.

• The 106th Infantry Division, average age of 22 years, suffered 564 killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing in action at the end of the offensive.   Most  of these casualties occurred within the first three days of battle, when two of the division’s three regiments was forced to surrender.

The Bulge, 101st • On December 17th, 1944 over 12,000 101st soldiers were sent

south to fight in what would be known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st arrived in Bastonge just ahead of the Germans and took control of the city. They formed a perimeter and readied to defend the city the Germans came and surrounded the city cutting them off from and outside aid . When they left they were in such a rush that they had no winter clothing no extra ammunition. After 5 days of withstanding attacks by the Germans without reinforcements or supplies, two German Officers were sent to the American Headquarters with a letter from the German Commander demanding that the 101st surrender. After hearing that the Germans wanted the 101st to surrender, the Acting Commander - BG General McAuliffe said "Nuts". Surrendering was not an option for the 101st so "Nuts" was chosen as the official response to the Germans demand for surrender. The Germans continued their attack of the American perimeter without success, and the 101st continued to hold the city. on December 26th the 101st was relieved by Pattons 3rd army.

The Bulge 82nd• The 82nd moved into action on December 17th in reponse to the German's Ardennes Counteroffensive

and blunted General Von Runstedt's northern penetration in the American lines. On December 20th the 82nd attacked in the Vielsalm-St. Vith region and the 504th PIR took Monceau. This fierce attack forced the German units back across the Ambleve River the next day.

However, further German assaults along the Salm hit the 505th PIR in the Trois Ponts area on December 22nd and by December 24th the division lost Manhay. On December 25th, 1944 the division withdrew from the Vielsalm salient then attacked northeast of Bra on December 27th reaching Salm by January 4th, 1945.

On January 7th the 508th PIR Red Devil's launched an attack with the 504th in the vicinity of Thier-du-Mont where it suffered heavy casualties. The 508th was then withdrawn from the line and placed in reserve until January 21st when it replaced elements of the 2d Infantry Division.

On January 29, 1945 First Sergeant Leonard Funk, Jr. of Company C, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment won the Congressional Medal of Honor for action at Holzheim, Belgium. After leading his unit and capturing 80 Germans.

On February 7th, 1945 the division attacked Bergstein, a town on the Roer River. The 82nd crossed the Roer River on February 17th. During April, 1945 the division performed security duty in Cologne until they attacked in the Bleckede area and pushed toward the Elbe River. As the 504th PIR drove toward Forst Carrenzien, the German 21st Army surrendered to the division on May 2, 1945.

Hitler is dead• On April 30, as the Battle of Berlin raged above him

and realizing that all was lost, German dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide in his bunker along with Eva Braun, his long-term mistress whom he had married just hours before their joint suicide. In his will Hitler appointed his successors; Karl Dönitz as the new Reichspräsident ("President of Germany") and Joseph Goebbels as the new Reichskanzler (Chancellor of Germany). However, Goebbels committed suicide on May 1, 1945, leaving Dönitz as sole leader of Germany.

After the Bulge• After the Germans were beat back from

there offensive in the Ardennes the war was starting to come to close in Europe there army crippled there factories destroyed and there cities laying in ruins the German army surrendered in April of 1945

After Math 101st

• During World War Two, the 101st Airborne Division spent 214 days in combat. In addition to 2 Medals of Honor awarded to Soldiers of the 101st, the Division awarded 47 Distinguished Service Crosses, 516 Silver Stars and 6,977 Bronze Stars. The Division was responsible for capturing 29, 527 Enemy soldiers. The price of victory was high. 2,043 Screaming Eagles were killed in action and 7,976 were wounded. 1,193 became MIA and 336 were taken prisoner.

After Math 82nd• The 82nd airborne lost 9,073 and saw 442 days of combat.

Following the surrender of Germany, the 82nd was ordered to Berlin for occupation duty. In Berlin General George Patton was so impressed with the 82nd's honor guard he said, "In all my years in the Army and all the honor guards I have ever seen, the 82nd's honor guard is undoubtedly the best." Hence the "All-Americans" became known as "America's Guard of Honor."

•      The 82nd returned to the United States January 3, 1946. Instead of being demobilized, the 82nd made its permanent home at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was designated a regular Army division on November 15, 1948. Today, the 82nd Airborne Division is still located at Ft. Bragg and is the only true Airborne Division in the U. S. Army.

The Elite• Today the united states airborne are the

best in the world they have served with honor in every war carrying out what the men befor them started since the begging days they were started.