101st Airborne Division

Division

August 1942 - Reconstituted in the Army of the United States as the 101st Airborne Division.

- The airborne capability was to be provided by two glider infantry regiments (GIRs), the 327th and 401st, and one parachute infantry regiment, the 502nd.



10 June 1943 - the 506th Parachute Infantry was attached to the division



August 1943 - 101st arrived in England and was quartered in Wiltshire and Berkshire.



January 1944 - the 101st received its third parachute regiment, the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment.



Training in England, the 101st participated in three formal exercises: BEAVER, TIGER, and EAGLE. During Operation BEAVER at Slapton Sands on the Devonshire coast, elements of the division jumped from trucks instead of planes with the mission of capturing the causeway bridges that crossed the estuary behind the beach. The division performed much the same mission during the second exercise, Operation TIGER. Operation EAGLE, held during the second week of May, was the division's dress rehearsal for its role in the coming Normandy invasion.



6 June 1944 - The 101st Airborne Division first saw combat during the Normandy invasion - Operation OVERLORD



September 1944 - Operation MARKET Garden.

- D-Day was set for 17 September 1944, and the 101st, along with the 82d Airborne Division, the British 1st Airborne Division and 52d Lowland Division (Airportable), and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade were set to jump. Unlike the Normandy jumps, this operation, by order of Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, commander of the First Allied Airborne Army, was to be carried out in daylight. Shortages in transport planes, however, prevented the three divisions from dropping all their troops on D-Day, and the commanders had to decide which units would go in first. The 101st Airborne Division was to anchor the British Airborne Corps' southern-most flank and secure a 15-mile sector between Eindhoven and Veghel. Taking this into consideration, General Taylor decided that the three parachute infantry regiments would jump on the 17 September. The 327th Glider Infantry was to arrive on D+1, and the artillery units were scheduled for D+2, the 19th.



December 1944 - Battle of the Bulge - The Ardennes Offensive.



30 January 1945 - 101st Division was deactivated.

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People

  • Military/Civilian/Mascot: Military
  • Nationality: American
  • Unit: 101st Airborne Division
  • Service Numbers: 19127607
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Role/Job: Paratrooper

Revisions