Although the airborne assault on Crete on
20 May 1941 sounded the death knell for the German airborne, the
American military planners were oblivious to the unacceptably high
casualty rate suffered by the Germans. Instead, they focused on the
tactical and strategic successes of the operation noting that Crete had
been captured entirely by an airborne force.
Consequently, the Army accelerated its plans
to organize and activate additional airborne units. On 1 July 1941, the
502nd Parachute Infantry Battalion was quickly activated at
Fort Benning, GA under the command of Major George P Howell Jr, the
former Executive Officer of the 501st Parachute Infantry
Battalion. The unit was initially comprised of a small detachment taken
from two companies of the 501st.
December 7,1941, "a day that will live in infamy", again
prompted an acceleration of airborne planning and strategy. On 30
January 1942 the War Department hurriedly authorized the activation of
four Army parachute regiments. A month later, on 2 March 1942, the 502nd
Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) was activated at Fort Benning, GA from
the 502nd Parachute Infantry Battalion. Howell was promoted
to Colonel but left that same month to command the parachute school at
Fort Bragg, NC. He passed the regiment's command to Col George Van Horn
Moseley Jr. (picture
right) who came from a long line of West Point graduates.
Like the other airborne regimental commanders of his day, Col Moseley
made enormous demands on his troops as well as himself.
In July of 1942 the activation of two full
airborne divisions the 82nd and 101st was ordered
and the 502nd was assigned as a permanent unit of the 101st
Airborne Division. Shortly after they became part of the 101st
the 502nd PIR moved from Fort Benning GA to join the rest of the
division, at Fort Bragg NC. Throughout the rest of 1942 and into 1943
the 502nd PIR took part in a grueling training program, which
consisted of individual, unit, and combined division training. During
March of 1943 they took part in division maneuvers in Southern Pines.
This was followed by the Camden maneuvers which started on May 23rd
of that year. Shortly after the Camden Maneuvers the big Tennessee
maneuvers were held.
On September 4 1943 men of the 502nd
boarded the SS. Strathnaver bound for their new home in England. The
Strathnaver sailed for 6 days before she had to make port on September
11 in St. Johns Newfoundland for repairs. The journey eventually would
end up taking a total of 44 days because of the discovery of salt water
in the ships fresh water tanks and other non-related mishaps. On October
4th the SS John Ericsson picked the men up and finally set
sail for England arriving in Liverpool on October 18th. They
settled into quarters in the Chilton Foliat and Denford near Hungerford,
Berkshire which would be their new home for the next seven months. The
Five-O-Deuce's troopers continued their rigorous training which included
15–25 mile hikes and daily close combat exercises. Instructions were
given in a wide variety of items from 1st-aid, map reading,
chemical warfare and the use and firing of German weapons. Company and
battalion size parachute drops where also rehearsed during this period.
Normandy - D-Day
Flying out of Membury and Greenham Common in
the first wave to depart, the 502nd PIR headed for drop zone
(DZ)A.
Their mission was to secure two northern causeways leading inland from
Utah Beach and destroy a German coast-artillery battery (122 mm Howitzer)near
Ste Martin-de-Varreville. In the predawn hours of D-Day a combination of
low clouds, and enemy anti-aircraft fire caused the break-up of the
troop carrier formations. The scattering of the air armada was such that
some troopers jumped while still over the English Channel and drown.
Consequently, the sporadic jump patterns caused most of Col Moseley's
battalions to land far afield of their designated DZ. Some of the sticks
landed as far away as 5 miles from the designated area. Unfortunately
during the drop Col Moseley broke his leg and had to relinquish command
to his Executive Officer, Lt Col John H Michaelis
(picture left)
. Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion led by Lt Col Robert G Cole
was responsible for securing the two causeways. Undaunted by the
confusion, Lt Col Cole gradually collected his men and achieved his
objective.
The rest of June found the airborne troops fighting as infantry. After
regrouping the 101st received the new objective of seizing
the city of Carentan. It was during this operation that Lt Col Robert
Cole (picture right)
received the Medal of Honor for leading his battalion in a fix bayonet
charge on the Ingouf farm house, a German stronghold defending one of
the bridges over the Carentan Causeway. His Executive Officer, Maj John
P Stopka, led the charge on Cole's left and received the Distinguished
Service Cross (DSC). Lt Col Cole never got the chance to wear it since
he was killed by a snipers bullet 3 months later in Holland. Maj Stopka
was killed two weeks after receiving his medal at Bastogne.
On 29 June the 101st was relieved from the VIII Corps and
sent to Cherbourg to relieve the 4th Infantry Division. The 502nd
PIR returned to England shortly thereafter for rest and training. At
about the same time General Eisenhower called for a headquarters that
would oversee the Allies' airborne troops. In August 1944 he established
the First Allied Airborne Army, controlling elements of the American and
British (and Polish) Armies. Concurrently,the 17th, 82nd
and 101st Airborne Divisions were assigned to the newly
created U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps under the command of Gen Matthew
Ridgway. The new army was put to the test in September 1944 during the
Allied thrust in northern Europe: Operation Market-Garden.
(picture above left: General Omar Bradley conferring the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) on T/4 Jack Rudd (Company B) for his action during the Normandy Campaign.
Operation Market Garden
This was an audacious plan concocted by British Field Marshal Montgomery
that would be the first major daylight air assault attempted by a
military power since Germany's attack on Crete. Similar to the Germans
assault of four years earlier, the Allies initial plan for September
17,1944 was to use the paratroopers and glidermen of the 82nd
and 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions and England's First
Airborne Division in a daring daylight drop into Holland. The airborne
Allied troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication
cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, thus cutting Holland in half
and clearing a corridor for British armoured and motorized columns all
the way to the German border.
The 101st mission was to secure the
fifteen miles of Hell's Highway stretching from Eindhoven north to
Veghel. After less than three months in England, the 502nd
was to make its second combat jump. Still under the command of Col
Michaelis the unit was to land in Holland on DZ C, seize the small
highway bridge over the Dommel River north of Saint Oedenrode and the
railroad and road bridges at Best. The 502nd was also given
the mission of guarding DZs B & C for the subsequent glider landings.
Shortly after 1315 hours on the afternoon of 17 September 1944, after a
n uneventful daylight drop, the men of the 502nd gathered up
and headed for their objectives.
First Battalion went north to capture the little town of St Oedenrode.
Third Battalion sent patrols through the Zonsche forest, trying to move
toward the town of Best and the bridge. German resistance was tough in
the vicinity of Best but the 502nd fought their way to within
100 yards of the bridge before the Germans blew it up. In fierce
fighting around the bridge, Private Joe Mann
(picture right) who was seriously
wounded twice during the fighting, was killed when he threw himself on a
German grenade to save his fellow soldiers who were in the same foxhole
with him. Mann was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this act
of selfless heroism. Ironically, the only other Medal of Honor recipient
of 101st during the war, Col. Robert Cole, was shot and
killed by a snipers bullet in the action around the Zonsche Forest. The
fate of the third battalion was now in the capable hands of its
executive officer Maj. John Stopka. On 22 September, Lt Col Michaelis
and three of his staff were seriously wounded by an artillery shell
outside of his headquarters. Command of the 502nd passed to
2nd Battalion commander, Steve Chappuis.
After securing their hard-won objectives, the
men of the 502nd moved north with the rest of the 101st
to take hold of defensive positions on 'The Island', south west of
Arnhem. It was here that the 101st would fight some of its
toughest battles during its time in Holland.
The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
On 16 December, 1944, The Germans had launched
a major offensive at dawn on 16 December, west through the Ardennes
Forest, in the lightly held sector of our VII Corps. Their goal was the
port town of Antwerp where they hoped to choke off the allied supply
lines. At that time Shaef's Reserve consisted of the 101st
and 82nd Airborne Divisions. The 101st was ordered
to the vitally important town of Bastogne which was the key to the
German counteroffensive. From Bastogne radiated several roads that were
essential to the German juggernaut. The 101st was jammed into
trucks for an overnight rush to Bastogne in Belgium on Dec. 18th. The
defense of Bastogne by the 101st presented a formidable
obstacle to the surging Fifth Panzer Army of Hasso von Manteuffel. In
the ensuing days the encircled 101st engaged in vicious
fighting. The 502nd held positions on the north and northwest
portion of the envelopment.
After the Germans had failed to break through
in other sections of the circle, they sent probes, which attempted to
penetrate the areas defended by the 502nd. In an attack that
took place on Christmas morning in the Hemroulle area of Belgium,
numerous German tanks penetrated the line. Simultaneously farther north
strong German infantry elements infiltrated the town of Champs. Two of
the German tanks which drove north from Hemroulle attempted to bypass
the 502 Regimental C.P. at the Rolle Chateau. In this attack Sky Jackson
of the 502nd won the Silver Star for single handedly hitting
the two tanks with bazooka fire knocking out one. The other tank escaped
only to be destroyed at Champs by another 502nd member John
Ballard of A Company who was killed on January 3 1945 in another action.
Finally, on December 26th Patton's 4th Armor Division broke through the
encirclement and the lifting of the siege of Bastogne began.
On 3 January 1945 the 2nd Battalion
engaged in heavy fighting around Longchamps, Belgium. The Germans
pressed forward and as many as forty jumpers, mostly from F company,
were rounded up and taken prisoner that day. On January 14, 1945 3rd
Battalion 502 would again suffer the loss of its commander. Lieutenant
Col. John Stopka and some of his troopers were advancing through a pine
forest along an elevated rail line. Enemy Tanks were advancing along the
other side. Someone called in for air support and the planes strafed too
close to the friendly positions, resulting in the death of Col. Stopka
and thirty other soldiers near Michamps. With that unfortunate incident,
the command of the 3rd Battalion was given to Cecil L Simmons
who would lead the unit until the end of the war.
The 101st Airborne held a line
along the Moder River for over a month as part of the US 7th
Army. On 23 February, the Screaming Eagles were relieved and
returned to Mourmelon, France. Here General Eisenhower spoke to the
101st Airborne Division when the unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit
Citation for its stand at Bastogne. This was the first time in the
history of the United States Amy that an entire Division had been so
honored.
As the war in Europe was nearing its end,the 502nd moved to
the Ruhr Pocket on 2 April to help in mop-up operations. Here the 502nd
went on the line facing the Rhine River south of Dusseldorf, Germany. On
the 4th and 5th of May, the 502nd received and carried out
its final wartime mission - the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's
Eagles Nest.
(picture right: Sgt Carl
G Henning (left); Sgt Francis Backenston (right) of the 81st AAA -
Toast Victory at Hitler's Berchtesgarden
The 502nd spent the summer of 1945
on occupation duty near Mittersill, Austria. Returning to France in
September, the soldiers continued waiting for transport stateside. The
101st Airborne Division was deactivated in December of 1945
Eisenhower speaks with U.S. paratroopers of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division on the evening of June 5, 1944.
© M. Koolmees [502nd PIR]