Salerno

If the Sicily campaign proved how well the 82d Airborne could perform when things were awry, the Salerno proved the division could perform even better when external forces were cooperative.

To gain the accuracy of night drops, the division experimented with radar sets to guide planes to their drop zones and with the krypton lamp, which could produce a brilliant one-second flash of light visible from 10,000 feet. These devices would be put operation at the drop zones of Salerno by small pathfinder units that jumped ahead of the main force, a practice that would always be used by airborne units.

By September 13, 1943, General Mark Clark’s Fifth Army had held tenaciously to the Salerno beachhead for four days but needed quick assistance. He sent a message to Major General Ridgway requesting a drop that night.

A plan was immediately set for the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment to jump several miles from Clark’s embattled troops, then be driven in trucks to the front lines. Pathfinder teams would arrive first to mark the DZ. In addition, ground troops would set ablaze cans filled with sand and gasoline arranged in a “T” shape. This time, it all worked. Except for one company that landed ten miles off target, all the paratroopers landed within 200 yards of the DZ. No troopers or planes were lost in the jump, and no “friendly fire” was experienced. It went just as smoothly the next night, when Colonel Gavin and 1,900 of his 505th All Americans arrived. A day later, the beachhead was declared secure -a feat that could not have been attained without the 82d’s assistance. Indeed, General Clark felt that the 82d had saved the beachhead by its quick and effective response.

With Salerno secure, General Ridgway led his division, with other 5th Army units, on the key seaport of Naples. There, the 82d troopers enjoyed the experience of liberating that famous city. In November, after sharp fight in mountains around Naples, the 82d withdrew to England to prepare for the invasion of France. General Clark kept the 504th PIR in Italy where they fought at Anzio, returning to the 82d in April 1944. It was at Anzio that the 504th earned its famous nickname “Devils in Baggy Pants.”

Normandy

With Italy in good hands, Allied eyes focused on France. Operation “Overlord,” the invasion of Normandy, would be the greatest military operation in history. The massive plans for D-Day included Operation “Neptune,” an all-important airborne phase of Overlord. Ridgway’s All Americans would play an integral part in Neptune. Joined by the 507th and the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiments, the 82d was prepared to assault Normandy with 12,000 Parachute and Glider troops. Their mission: Destroy vital Germany supply bridges and capture causeways leading inland across the flooded areas behind the Normandy beaches where seaborne forces would land to gain control of roads and communications.

On June 6, D-Day, it must indeed have seemed as though the 82d Airborne was “everywhere,” as a German officer wrote in his diary. This perception of paratroopers being “everywhere” was vital, for in actuality the All Americans engaged enemy forces of four to ten times their number.

At H-hour, the early morning darkness and low-hanging clouds diminished visibility causing many of the pathfinder’s aircraft to miss their designated drop zone. In the 82d Airborne area, only 505th’s pathfinders were accurately dropped into the DZ.

Compounding the landing problems were thousands of physical barriers. Hedgerows - earthen dikes about four feet high, covered with thick hedges, and bushes - crisscrossed the farmers’ fields that formed the battle area. In addition, German troops had sown the field with hundreds of thousands of wooden poles with mines on top, providing hazards for glider borne warriors from the 325th Regiment and other glider units. In addition, much of the countryside had been purposely flooded and many of the daring jumpers drowned under the weight of their equipment.

Nonetheless, one of D-Day’s major objectives - the town of Ste Mere Eglise was captured by dawn. The 505th’s 3rd Battalion had the honor of liberating this first town on the western front.

Meanwhile a platoon from the 2nd Battalion, 47 men in all, encountered a large enemy force moving toward Ste Mere Eglise from north. A four-hour battle ensured before the Germans withdrew, thinking mistakenly they were outnumbered. Only 15 paratroopers survived, but they saved the division’s position around Ste Mere Eglise.

Two key bridges on the Merderet River, La Fière and Chef-du-Pont proved difficult to take. Brigadier General Gavin, who led the 82d’s assault contingent into Normandy as assistant division commander, gathered about 500 paratroopers from various regiments and split them in half to secure the bridges. After much fighting, the bridge at Chef-du-Pont was taken. The La Fière Bridge was taken once, and then reoccupied by the Germans, and then American controlled, became the scene of two more days of battle before it again.

A German battalion stopped a group from the 508th, whose mission was to seize a bridge over the Douve River at Pont L’Abbe, just before reaching the town. Realizing they were vastly outnumbered, the 508th group withdrew to Hill 30, where for two days Lieutenant Colonel Thomas J.B. Shanley and his men fought off strong German units trying to overrun the main paratrooper landings. This action has been considered decisive in helping the airborne meet its objectives at Normandy.

Also on D-Day, the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment departed from England, towed by troop carriers to land in the Normandy Beach DZ secured by the paratroopers. The Glidermen who avoided the steady “ack-ack” fire of enemy guns landed quickly reinforcing the paratroopers.

On June 9th, three days after the invasion, Private First Class Charles N. DeGlopper of Company C, 325th Glider Infantry Regiment, became the first 82d Division member to win the Medal of Honor in World War II. Weighting 240 pounds and standing six feet seven inches tall, he allowed himself to become a target for a large force of Germans while other platoon members broke free and formed the first Bridgehead across the Merderet River at La Fière. PFC DeGlopper, of Grand Island, New York, was already wounded several times when he made his gallant move. He mowed down many Germans before he died.

The airborne troops continued their ferocious fight as infantrymen for 33 days after landing at Normandy. When relieved to go to England, tallies showed nearly half of the 82d’s Soldiers had been wounded, captured or killed. But, they had cost the Germans many more men and had destroyed 62 enemy tanks and 44 anti-tank guns and artillery pieces. Most importantly, they had choked off reinforcements for the Axis forces defending the French coast preventing some 35,000 to 40,000 enemy troops from rushing to the sea where they were needed.

In preparing for the arrival of amphibious troops, the airborne had done a magnificent job. By the end of D-Day alone, 20,000 troops and 1,700 vehicles had come ashore at Utah Beach with virtually no opposition. Only 12 men were killed and 46 wounded or injured at Utah Beach. By contrast, at Omaha Beach, where no airborne troops had been sent, the Allied casualties were heavy. The Germans killed many infantrymen before they got to shore. There every bit of land gained required great sacrifice. At the end of D-Day, troops had moved inland just ½ miles, and 2,374 men had been killed or wounded.