US Airborne Units in the Pacific Theater 1942–45

Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472802233
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
This book examines the wide variety of airborne units that served in the Pacific Theater. Among the units covered are the 12,000-strong 11th Airborne Division; the elite 1st Special Service Force; the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Separate); and the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment. The nature of the enemy and the terrain in the PTO, and long distances that had to be covered, provided significant and diverse challenges to both Army and Marine Corps parachute units. Internal organization, weapons and equipment, command and control, training, combat missions, and combat operations including the 11th Division's fighting in the Philippines, and the 503rd PIR's legendary jump onto Corregidor and recapture of the island are all covered.

US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific Theater 1943–45

Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780961316
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
The two major Army units that operated in the Pacific – the 11th Airborne Division and the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) launched small-scale operations on extremely difficult, if not, outright dangerous, terrain, while also conducting amphibious assaults, fighting on jungled hills, swamps and mud. The two units were very different, with the 503rd PRCT being reserved for special purpose missions and the 11th Airborne Division occupying a more traditional role. This title will deal with the background to these two units and their training, before detailing the specific equipment used in the theatre and, finally and most importantly, the combat experience at a personal level of the US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific.

US Paratrooper 1941–45

Author: Carl Smith
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782005234
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 175

Book Description
In Sicily, Normandy, and in the frozen hills of the Ardennes, America's airborne warriors proved themselves some of the toughest and most determined soldiers of World War 2. What made these soldiers so special? How were they recruited, how did they learn to jump and fight? What special tactics and equipment did they use? This title looks at what it was like to be one of the United States' airborne elite, through the experiences of the soldiers themselves. It is the story of the men who invariably led the way; the soldiers who flew to battle and walked home.

History of the 101st Airborne Division

Author: Robert E. Jones
Publisher: Turner
ISBN: 9781630263553
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The History of the 101st Airborne Division is the epic story of the Division from its activation in August 1942 through the completion of Operation Desert Storm in April 1991. The Division's progression through the sky took decades of hard work and tens of thousands of dedicated soldiers. In World War II, the 101st became the first American troops to set foot in occupied France, when, on 6 June 1944, its paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines, clearing the way for the 4th Infantry Division landing on Utah Beach. The Division would become famous for its work in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and for its successful defense of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge. In Vietnam, the "Screaming Eagles" engaged in battle from 1965 to 1972, when they began their evolution to Air Mobile by deploying by helicopter. In the Gulf War, the Division fired the first shots of Operation Desert Storm by destroying Iraqi radar sites, and during ground war of the operation, they made the longest and largest air assault in history. In every engagement and during the training periods in between, the 101st Airborne Division has honored the words of its first commander, General William C. Lee, that it has a "rendezvous with destiny." This book is a fitting record of that history, and of the men who are proud to be called "Screaming Eagles."

US Army Special Forces 1952–84

Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782004467
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 153

Book Description
From its very inception the United States Army Special Forces has been enmeshed in controversy, its mission misunderstood to varying degrees, and its very existence opposed by some of the Army hierarchy. Nevertheless it continues to serve in a highly specialised role in all manner of differing conditions. There can be few better qualified to chronicle the history of this unique organisation than former Special Forces Group weapons specialist Gordon Rottman, whose expert knowledge is clearly evident in this authoritative text. This volume also contains 12 full page colour plates by one of the world's most respected military artists, Ron Volstad.

US Marine Corps Pacific Theater of Operations 1941–43

Author: Gordon L. Rottman
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472802209
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

Book Description
The outbreak of World War II set in motion a massive expansion of the United States Marine Corps, leading to a 24-fold increase in size by August 1945. This book is the first of several volumes to examine the Corps's meteoric wartime expansion and the evolution of its units. It covers the immediate pre-war period, the rush to deploy defense forces in the war's early months, and the Marines' first combat operations on Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville. It focuses on the 1st, 2d, and 3d Marine Divisions (MarDivs) and the provisional 1st, 2d, and 3d Marine Brigades (MarBdes).

82nd Airborne

Author: Stephen Smith
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 9781612005362
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
On August 15, 1942, the 82nd Airborne became the US Army's first airborne division. Commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway, they trained exhaustively for their new role, which involved parachuting from C-47s and insertion by Waco CG-4A gliders. In April 1943 the 82nd was shipped overseas to Casablanca, North Africa, and on July 9 made its first combat drop as part of Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. A second operation--night parachute drops onto the Salerno beachhead on September 13 and 14--provided more experience, and in December, the bulk of the division left for the United Kingdom and training for D-Day. Reorganized with two new parachute infantry regiments, the 507th and the 508th, joining the 505th, the division dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula between Ste-Mere-Eglise and Carentan on the night of June 5-6, in a mission codenamed Boston. Their glider-borne component, the 325th GIR, arrived the next day. Widely dispersed on landing, the division overcame its problems and strong German defenses to take the important town of Ste-Mere-Eglise. Further intense action along the Merderet River ensured that the Utah beachhead wasn't compromised, and subsequently, the division fought on losing 5,245 troopers killed, wounded, or missing. When withdrawn after 33 days of action, the division could be satisfied it had performed heroically and helped establish the Allied forces' foothold in France. The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and how much such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera has changed, providing a coherent link between now and then.

A Long Way from Home

Author: Matthew James Fox
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781475134940
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description

Luftwaffe Field Divisions 1941–45

Author: Kevin Conley Ruffner
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782008985
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 130

Book Description
Hermann Göring raised the Luftwaffe Field Divisions [LwFD] during 1942, when Nazi Germany was still making spectacular gains but was first feeling the pinch of its losses on the Eastern Front. The Reichsmarschall decided to raise his own divisions for ground service under the command of Luftwaffe officers. On 17 September 1942, Göring called for volunteers from throughout the Luftwaffe for combat duty in the East. Even before that date, however, some Luftwaffe troops were heavily engaged against the enemy in Russia in a ground role. Kevin Conley Ruffner's engaging text tells the fascinating story of the LwFD.

They Are Only Gone If They Are Forgotten

Author: Steven Robert Zaley
Publisher: Steven Zaley Author
ISBN: 9780578435817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 620

Book Description
A true and unbelievable story about an original company of paratroopers with the 82nd Airborne Division's, 505th Combat Team, Headquarters Company, Third Battalion from inception in 1942 to demobilization of high time combat forces at the end of World War II. The book follows the original company of 122 men through parachute training and how the 82nd Airborne Division became the first division of paratroopers sent overseas to North Africa. Their first parachute mission was the invasion of Sicily , then Italy, Normandy France, Holland and the long push across Central Europe into Germany at the end of the war. The men count heads to try to come up with a number of who is left of the original 122 as they go through disarmament and the long journey stateside back into civilian life. The book totals 643 standard size pages, 320 pages of text and hundreds of pictures, general orders, after-action reports, combat newspaper articles that places the reader in the era of World War II. WARNING PARENTAL ADVISORY Due to the extreme conditions that take place in stateside training and in combat a parent should read and review the book in its entirety before allowing a minor to read the material........