The Roving Historian: WWII

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The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate)

A Norwegian-American Unit formed during World War II.
(Original article written 7-14-2013 by Jim Broumley)

99th Infantry Battalion
Shoulder Patch

One of the reasons I enjoy studying and writing about WWII is that during that time the concept of "special operations" was really taking root. There are a lot of interesting stories in the histories of these types of military units. Quite a few units were conceived on paper, or actually formed and began training, to fulfill specific missions or operate in a particular theater or environment. Units like the 1st Special Service Force, Darby's Rangers, Merrill's Marauders, etc, easily come to mind. Even the airborne was initially conceived as a small unit, special operations force, according to General William Yarborough. (The general made that statement in an oral history interview that I used as a reference while researching the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.)

Upon the United States' entry into World War II, plans for unconventional warfare operations in Norway began developing under the code name "Plough." The goals of these operational plans were to eliminate Norway as an economic asset for Germany, keep large numbers of German troops on occupation duty in Norway, limit German troops deployed in Norway the ability to attack allied convoys headed to supply the Russian port of Murmansk, to prepare for the liberation of Norway, and open a link through Norway to Russia. The unit first envisioned for this mission was the 1st Special Service Force, "the Devil's Brigade," activated on July 2, 1942. The 1st SSF began its training with skills in winter warfare like skiing and mountain climbing.

Concurrently, U.S. Army planners knew that they needed soldiers who could blend in with the local Norwegians. It was determined that the Army should recruit native speakers of Norwegian and Americans of Norwegian descent for a special unit. On July 10, 1942, the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was activated. Many of the men who volunteered for the unit came from Minnesota and the Dakotas. There were also a number of Norwegian merchant seamen who were locked out of their home country when the Germans invaded. All the volunteers were either American citizens or were required to apply for citizenship.

The 99th Battalion began their training at Camp Ripley, Minnesota on August 15, 1942. The Battalion's first commander was Captain Harold D. Hanson. Their strength was 884 men, led by Norwegian-American officers until native Norwegians could be trained at officer candidate schools. They adopted a shoulder sleeve insignia representative of their native origins: a Viking ship on a shield utilizing the Norwegian national colors of red, white, and blue. The unit's training began with soldier skills and physical conditioning. Fort Ripley was built for summer training, so in September the 99th moved to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, at the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The local Scandinavian immigrant communities in the area made the soldiers feel at home with a number of social events.

On December 17, 1942, the 99th Infantry Battalion moved out to Camp Hale, Colorado for winter training on skis and snowshoes. When the snow melted in the spring the soldiers were trained in rock climbing and mountaineering. The 99th Battalion arguably received the best winter warfare training available to American troops at the time. President Roosevelt, known to champion special ops units of the day, reviewed the Battalion on Easter Sunday, 1943. During their nine months of training in Colorado, the unit took on the nom de guerre of the "Norwegian Avengers."

Unfortunately, in the spring of 1943, the Allied Powers decided to take the Norwegian operation away from the 1st Special Service Force and their attached 99th Infantry Battalion. It was determined that once such a large ground force was inserted into Norway that they could not be supplied or extracted if necessary. Their mission could actually be accomplished by bombers of the Royal Air Force, despite the belief by the Norwegian government that the damage caused by any of these combat operations would hurt the economy and the people of Norway more than the German occupation. However, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA, had an interest in Norway (as well as every other occupied country). In June 1943, about a hundred Norwegian speakers from the 99th Battalion were recruited for OSS operational teams. Some of these men would eventually parachute into Norway with Major William Colby as part of OSS "Operation Rype."

Two months after their mission was scrubbed, the 99th Infantry Battalion was ordered overseas. In August the Battalion moved to Camp Shanks, New York. Then on September 5, they departed for Great Britain on the troopship SS Mexico. While in England the 99th continued to hone their mountaineering skills, but they also trained as armored infantry (infantry that supported tanks). The "Norwegian Avengers" became part of the great Allied army preparing to cross the channel and fight for the liberation of Europe.

The 99th Infantry Battalion landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 21, 1944, and by June 30th was participating in the liberation of Cherbourg. While attached to the 2nd Armored Division in mid-August, the commanding general said that the Norwegians were the only infantry unit that his tanks had trouble keeping up with. The last week of that month saw the 99th Infantry Battalion fighting to secure the bridge over the Seine River in the city of Elbeuf. This was one of only two escape routes for the Germans fleeing Normandy. By September the Battalion, still attached to the 2AD, saw heavy action along the Meuse Canal near Maastrict, Holland. October saw the 99th attached to the 30th Infantry Division and engaged in their most intense combat of the war, blocking the German retreat from Aachen by attacking the German city of Wurselen. During November and December, the Norwegians served as the U.S. 1st Army reserve against possible German airborne operations.

The day after the Germans began their offensive in the Ardennes area of Belgium, kicking off what became known as the "Battle of the Bulge," the 99th Infantry Battalion was ordered forward into a defensive position south of Malmedy. They were part of Task Force Hanson, named for their commander LTC Harold Hanson, which consisted of the 99th along with the 526th Armored Infantry Battalion and the 825th Tank Destroyer Battalion. On December 21, Task Force Hanson was attacked by Panzer Brigade 150. This German unit, commanded by SS Colonel Otto Skorzeny, was intended to operate behind Allied lines posing as Americans. They wore American uniforms and drove captured American vehicles. When their initial clandestine mission failed, they re-entered the fight as a regular armored unit. Their combat mission was to take Malmedy in order to attack the rear of the Americans who were blocking the advance of the 1st SS Panzer Corp at Elsenborn Ridge. The 99th Battalion and other units of the 30th ID stopped Skorzany's attack, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans. However, due to the accents of the Nowegian-Americans, during the Battle of the Bulge more than a few members of the 99th Infantry Battalion were detained as suspected German infiltrators.

After the fight for Malmedy, the Norwegians spent the next 31 days on the line between Malmedy and Stavelot, conducting raids and running combat patrols. When they came off the line they were moved to Tilff, Belgium for several days then on January 22, 1945, the Battalion moved by rail to Barneville, in Normandy. In France, the 99th Infantry Battalion became part of the newly created 474th Infantry Regiment (Separate). The 474th Infantry was a collection of the elements left from deactivated special-purpose units. Along with the 99th, the 474th included the 1st Special Service Force, and the surviving members of the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Ranger Battalions. Backing up the infantry was an artillery company of 105mm self-propelled cannon and the 552nd Anti-Tank Company with M-8 armored cars and light tanks.

99th Infantry Bn arrives in Norway

On February 22, 1945, the 474th Infantry was given the mission of providing security for the 12th Army Group rear area. The 474th was then attached to Patton's Third Army. The 474th was tasked with clearing out bypassed German units and demilitarizing civilian populations. In April LTC Hanson was tasked to provide guards and vehicles from his 99th Infantry Battalion to transport Nazi gold and art treasures from the Kaiseroda salt mine in Merkers, Germany to the Reichsbank in Frankfurt. The estimated value of these treasures was 2.1 billion dollars.

Two days after VE day (Victory in Europe, May 7, 1945) the 474th Infantry, including the 99th Battalion, finally received orders to go to Norway. Their mission there was to assist in the disarming and demobilization of approximately 300,000 German soldiers there. The regiment arrived in Oslo on June 8, where the 99th was quartered at Camp Smestad, a former German army camp. By August the 99th had assisted in processing and transporting nearly 100,000 military personnel back to Germany. When King Haakon returned from exile to Norway, he was greeted by an honor guard from the 99th Infantry Battalion. Consequently, the king designated the Norwegian Americans his personal honor guard unit. The 99th also took part in several large parades commemorating the Allied victory in the World War.

The 99th Infantry Battalion had received a large number of replacements due to combat losses. Nevertheless, the unit retained a strong Norwegian presence. Those men were able to take advantage of a generous leave and pass policy to look up relatives and friends with which they had no contact for five years. There was also a great deal of fraternization with the local civilian population. At least fifty new brides followed the 99th Infantry Battalion home.

On October 16, 1945, the 99th Infantry Battalion departed Oslo, Norway aboard the SS Bienville. They arrived in Boston on November 1. The 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) was demobilized at Camp Miles Standish on November 2, 1945. The Norwegian-Americans had earned five Campaign streamers for Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. The Battalion had spent 101 days in combat, losing 52 men killed and 207 wounded, with six unaccounted for. Members of the 99th were awarded fifteen Silver Stars and twenty Bronze Stars.

The 99th Infantry Battalion was a unique unit in American military history. With the origins of the Battalion in the Scandinavian communities of Minnesota, it is not surprising that there is an exhibit honoring their service at the Minnesota Military Museum located at Camp Ripley, near Little Falls, Minnesota.

References:

99th Infantry Battalion (Separate) WWII Educational Foundation: http://www.99battalion.org

Bekke, Maj Doug (Ret), "Norwegian-Americans and the 99th Infantry Battalion (Separate)," a paper for the Military Historical Society of Minnesota, accessed at: http://www.mnmilitarymuseum.org/files/5613/2261/5287/99th_Infantry_Battalion_Sep.pdf

Minnesota Military Museum Website: http://www.mnmilitarymuseum.org/

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What happened at Howland Island during WWII?

If the name “Howland Island” rings a bell with you at all, it’s probably because it was the spot in the Pacific Ocean that Amelia Earhart was trying to locate during her around-the-world flight. She didn’t find it. Her plane disappeared on July 2, 1937. But something I didn’t know is that the Japanese bombed Howland Island on December 8, 1941, one day after their attack on Pearl Harbor.

Howland Island is located about 1700 miles southwest of Hawaii. It lies roughly halfway on a direct line from Hawaii to Australia, which made it a good spot to refuel in the early days of transoceanic flying. That is if you could find it. The island is only 1.4 x .55 miles, approximately one square mile in size. Howland came up on my radar when I was watching an excellent YouTube video on World War II in the Pacific. In the list of locations that the Japanese attacked on December 7-8 that we all know, (Hawaii, the Philippines, Wake, Guam, etc.) the narrator included Howland Island. Since I had not heard this before I had to look into it.

Howland Island was on sailing maps by the late 1700s. It is believed that Captain Bligh landed on the island for a short stay in 1789 after being set adrift by the mutineers of the HMS Bounty. Whalers in the early 1800s knew where it was. The United States gained possession of Howland Island in 1856, but really the island was a hazard to navigation (there were multiple shipwrecks on the island) and a place to harvest bird guano. In 1935, colonists came to the island to establish both a scientific research facility and to solidify American claims to this and other South Pacific islands. The belief was that the island would be used as part of a chain of refuel stops for commercial aircraft. In fact, WPA funds were used to build an airstrip on the island specifically for Earhart’s flight.

The Japanese attacked the island on December 8, 1941, with 14 bombers based in the Kwajalein Islands. Two colonists were killed in the attack. There was extensive damage to the airstrip. Two days later a Japanese submarine shelled the island, destroying the remaining buildings that had survived the first attack. Two times a single bomber flew over and dropped bombs on the island, even though there was nothing left to bomb. The U.S. Navy rescued the survivors on January 31, 1942. A battalion of U.S. Marines occupied Howland in September of 1943 and the island was called Howland Naval Air Station. But the war moved on and it was abandoned in May 1944.

Today, Howland is an uninhabited, unorganized, territorial possession of the United States. In 1974, a wildlife refuge was created that included Howland and 12 miles of ocean around it. Entry to the Howland Island National Wildlife Refuge is only by a special permit granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Brazilian Expeditionary Force During WWII

Brazil’s Contribution to the Allies in World War II

I read an article recently in Military History Magazine about the Brazilian Expeditionary Force in World War II. Realizing that I am rather “America-centric” in my reading, this opened my eyes to the contribution of Allied nations other than “The Big Three” Allied countries of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States.

Brazilian troops, newly arrived at Naples, Italy from

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. July 16, 1944. National Archives

Since the war began in 1939, the United States made ever-increasing overtures to Latin American nations to ally themselves with the countries fighting fascism. However, Brazil would become the only South American country to send troops into combat. Of course, this alignment was in Brazil’s best interest. The Atlantic is at its narrowest point between the coasts of Brazil and Africa. Brazil’s government knew that the United States would require air and naval bases for a safer and shorter route to get troops and supplies to Europe. A military alliance would also turn into a trading partnership that would give Brazil an advantage over its South American neighbors.

Initially, Brazil tried to maintain a neutral status. But after contracting for American bases to be built in Brazil, they severed diplomatic relations with Germany, Japan, and Italy on January 28, 1942. As a result Axis submarines began to target Brazilian merchant shipping. U-boats sunk 13 Brazilian merchant ships by July, killing 600. Brazil declared war on Germany and Italy on August 22, 1942.

The Brazilian Navy participated in the Battle of the Atlantic, escorting a total of 614 convoys. They sank a total of twelve submarines (11 German and 1 Italian) along their coast. Brazil lost a total of 36 ships, including merchant vessels, and losing approximately 1600 crewmen, both navy and civilian.

Shoulder sleeve insignia of 1st EID

By Government of Brazil - Wikipedia

Once war was declared, Brazil began to organize an expeditionary force to send to the European Theater. The country was woefully unprepared for war and the United States contributed to their training. However, political disagreements over the size, use, and command of the force delayed their deployment for two years. The first troops of the Brazilian 1st Expeditionary Infantry Division (1st EID) departed for Italy in July 1944. Before the end of the war, over 25,000 Brazilian soldiers would serve in Italy.

The 1st EID was assigned to the US IV Corps of General Mark Clark’s US Fifth Army. They fought alongside African American soldiers of the 92nd Infantry Division and Japanese Americans of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Although under American command, one could argue that the Fifth Army was a multi-national force. British units consisted of commonwealth and colonial forces from New Zealand, Canada, India, Nepal, Palestine, South Africa, Rhodesia, and various African colonies. Free French forces were comprised of Senegalese, Moroccans, and Algerians. Soldiers from occupied countries such as Poland, Greece, and Czechoslovakia were also part of the Fifth Army, as well as anti-fascist Italians.

The 1st EID wore a shoulder patch that has a caricature of a snake smoking a pipe. It was inspired by a saying in Brazil during their training that, translated from Portuguese meant “it’s more likely that a snake will smoke a pipe before the Brazilian Expeditionary Force would go to the front and fight.” The soldiers embraced this put down and came up with the motto “The snake will smoke.” The patch is the result of that and it gave them their nickname: “The Smoking Snakes.”

The 1st EID fought as part of the Fifth Army in northern Italy until the end of the war in May 1945. During their time in combat, the Brazilians took over 20,500 prisoners. They lost 948 men killed in action. For a rundown of their combat operations, read the article “The Boys from Brazil” by Jerome A. Long in the Winter 2023 issue of Military History magazine.

2nd Lt. Jorge E.P. Taborda, from Rio de Janeiro, a pilot

with the First Brazilian Fighter Squadron serving in Italy.

National Archives Photo.

The Brazilian Air Force also made a significant contribution to the war effort. The 1st Squadron of the Brazilian 1st Fighter Aviation Group trained at US bases in Panama and was designated operational in May 1944. They participated in the defense of the Canal Zone until they deployed to Italy in September 1944. They flew the P-47 Thunderbolt, attached as a squadron of the US Air Force 350th Fighter Group. Most of their missions were supporting ground units. Unlike the ground element of the BEF, the aviators were not going to get any replacement pilots. Out of the 48 operational pilots that deployed with the squadron, 22 were lost: five were killed by anti-aircraft fire, eight others were shot down over enemy territory, six were medically grounded and three more were killed in accidents. In their cumulative 5,465 combat flight hours, the 1st Fighter Squadron amassed an impressive record of damage to the enemy.

Of course we are drawn to the history of our own country. But I think the takeaway here is that we need to acknowledge that the Second World War was definitely a world war. By my count, there were 21 combatant nations joining the Americans, the British, and the Soviets on the Allied side of the war. Not to mention the four former Axis nations that swapped sides and joined the Allies later in the war (Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and Finland.) Who knows? Maybe knowing the contribution of a WWII ally will change how we view our foreign relations today.

A Summary History of the 101st Airborne Division

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"The Screaming Eagles"
(Original article written 5-9-08 by Jim Broumley)

Since 1974 the 101st Airborne Division has been the United States Army's "Air Assault" Division. The Division is capable of lifting, by helicopter, a 4,000-soldier combined arms force up to 150 kilometers behind enemy lines in one lift. Having approximately 281 helicopters, including three battalions of Apache attack helicopters, makes the "Screaming Eagles" the most versatile fighting unit in the Army. It is the world's only air assault division. The 101st consists of three infantry brigades, Division Artillery, Division Support Command, the 101st Aviation Brigade, the 159th Aviation Brigade, the 101st Corps Support Group, and various other separate commands stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Although the Screaming Eagles won their fame and reputation during the Second World War, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) can trace its lineage back to World War I. In the build-up to the Great War, the 101st Division was originally activated on July 23, 1918. Without fanfare, the Division was demobilized in December 1918. In 1921 the 101st Infantry Division was reconstituted as a reserve unit with headquarters in Wisconsin. This is where the distinctive "eagle head patch" was acquired. The eagle's head represented "Old Abe," the famed eagle mascot of the Wisconsin Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. The Division remained in the reserves until needed for World War II. The Screaming Eagles were disbanded as a reserve unit and reactivated in the regular army as the 101st Airborne Division on August 15, 1942.

The United States Army began testing the viability of parachute units in 1940, after seeing the success of British and German paratroop units in the early days of World War Two. The first tests, conducted at Fort Benning, Georgia, were so successful that soon the army was forming Parachute Infantry Regiments (PIR). Once the United States was thrust into the war, the army authorized airborne divisions. The 82nd and 101st would serve in the European Theater and later the 11th Airborne Division would see action in the Pacific.

Originally the 101st Airborne was comprised of the 502nd PIR and two glider infantry regiments (GIR), the 327th and the 401st. Also assigned were three artillery battalions and various support units. Rigorous training began at Fort Benning, Georgia and Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In June of 1943, the Division was joined by the 506th PIR, of "Band of Brothers" fame, who had been training at Camp Toccoa, Georgia at the foot of Currahee Mountain. The Division deployed to England in September 1943.

After eight more months of training in England, the Screaming Eagles were ready. On June 6, 1944, the Pathfinders of the 101st Airborne Division were leading the way into France for Operation Overlord: D-Day. In the fight against the German 6th Parachute Regiment for the town of Carentan, Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, Commander of the 3rd Bn, 502nd PIR, became the first member of the Division to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The 101st would spend 33 days in combat before returning to England to receive replacements and train for their next operation.

In September of 1944, the 101st Airborne Division made its second combat jump. This time the jump was in Holland for Operation Market Garden. During this battle, Private First Class Joe E. Mann of the 3rd Bn, 502nd PIR became the second member of the Screaming Eagles to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The Division spent 72 days in combat before being moved to France for refit.

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a surprise attack with thirteen armored and infantry divisions in the Ardennes region of Belgium. The front of the Americans was in danger of collapse. On December 17th the 101st received orders to move north out of France and defend the town of Bastogne, Belgium. This was the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge.

Bastogne was a hub of highways that moved through the Ardennes, a forested area that forced the German mechanized forces to use these roads. The Germans surrounded the city on December 20th, isolating the 101st and some elements of the 10th Armored Division. On December 22nd the Germans issued a demand for surrender. The acting Commander of the 101st, General McAuliffe, gave his famous reply of "Nuts." The Germans needed to seize the town of Bastogne for the success of their offensive. Although facing five German divisions, the Screaming Eagles held the town until help broke through on December 26th. The Division continued the defense of Bastogne for three more weeks, earning them the moniker of "The Battered Bastards of Bastogne."

The last mission of World War II for the Screaming Eagles was the taking of the German town of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's retreat in Bavaria. From March until August of 1945, the 101st Airborne served as occupation troops and took the surrender of German military units and prominent Nazi officials. In August of 1945, the Division moved to Auxerre, France to train for the invasion of Japan. The operation became unnecessary when Japan surrendered two weeks later. The 101st Airborne Division was deactivated on November 30, 1945, at Auxerre, France.

In the next eleven years, the 101st Airborne was activated and deactivated three times. Finally, in 1956 the Division was reorganized as a five-brigade division and came back to the Regular Army and its permanent home of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Between 1956 and 1964 the Division was reorganized again and participated in several major exercises as the world transitioned into the nuclear age and the United States entered the Cold War. Most notable during this period was the 101st Airborne's deployment to Little Rock, Arkansas, in September of 1957 to assist in maintaining order during a series of civil disturbances. The unrest was a result of the integration of Central High School in Little Rock. This was a major event in the quest for racial equality and the professionalism of the troops of the 101st Airborne prevented possible tragedy.

The First Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division was deployed to Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam on July 29, 1965. They were the third United States Army unit to arrive in country. The remainder of the Division arrived in Vietnam in December of 1967, just before the Tet Offensive of January 1968. During Tet, the Screaming Eagles were engaged in combat operations as far south as Saigon and as far north as Quang Tri. One platoon of the Second Brigade landed on the roof of the United States Embassy in Saigon which was under attack by the Viet Cong.

During the early days of Vietnam, the Division made its transition from parachutes to helicopters as the method of insertion. In July of 1968, the Division changed its name to the 101st Air Cavalry Division. The next year, on August 29, 1969, the Division changed its name again to the 101st Airborne Division (Air Mobile), making it the Army's second airmobile division.

In late 1971 and early 1972, the Screaming Eagles left Vietnam and returned to Fort Campbell. During almost seven years of action in Vietnam, the 101st Airborne participated in 15 campaigns. Most notable were Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970. The Division served in the northern I Corps area of operations against the NVA infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley. The Division supported the ARVN Operation Lam Son 719 which involved invading southern Laos in 1971, but only aviation units actually entered Laos. During Vietnam, seventeen Medal of Honor awards were given to members of the Division. The Division suffered 4,011 soldiers Killed in Action during Vietnam, which is twice the number of casualties from World War II. The 101st was the last American Division to leave the combat zone of Vietnam.

In 1974 the Army terminated jump status for the Division and the Screaming Eagles formally became America's Air Assault Division. The Screaming Eagles took on their current designation of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). In the post-Vietnam years the Division has evolved into the rapid deployment force that it is today participating in major exercises and peace keeping operations throughout the United States, Honduras, Egypt, Rwanda, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and elsewhere.

Since the end of the Cold War, the 101st has served proudly in the Persian Gulf War in January of 1991, conducting an air assault deep into enemy territory in the Iraqi desert. The Division sustained no soldiers Killed in Action during the "100-hour war" and captured thousands of enemy prisoners. The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) was the first conventional unit to deploy in the War on Terror. In 2002 the Division's Third Brigade participated in Operation Anaconda facing an intense period of combat in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. In 2003 the Screaming Eagles, led by Major General David Petraeus invaded Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Division has made a second deployment to Iraq in November of 2005 to conduct counterinsurgent operations and to train Iraqi security forces.

General Order Number Five, which gave birth to the 101st Airborne Division in the early days of World War II, begins "The 101st Airborne Division…has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny." The Division has certainly lived up to those prophetic words. The 101st is one of the most famous fighting forces in the world. Thousands upon thousands of proud soldiers have worn the distinctive "Screaming Eagle" shoulder patch, which is arguably the most recognizable unit insignia in the United States military.

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The 1st Armored Division "Old Ironsides"

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A Short History of the 1st Armored Division
"Old Ironsides"

The 1st Armored Division, nicknamed "Old Ironsides," is the oldest and most recognizable armor division in the United States Army. It was the first armored division to see combat in World War II. The Division is currently home-based at Fort Bliss, Texas, and is part of the US III Corps.

As part of the mechanization of the U.S. Army and the buildup for WWII, cavalry and reconnaissance units were brought together to form the 1st Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky on July 15, 1940. Major General Bruce R. Magruder was the Division's first commander, serving in that capacity from July 1940 until March 1942. General Magruder is also responsible for the Division's famous nickname. In 1941, General George S. Patton Jr. had just named his 2nd Armored Division "Hell on Wheels." The 1st Armored Division needed a nickname too, so General Magruder held a contest to find a suitable name. Approximately two hundred names were submitted including "Fire and Brimstone" and "Kentucky Wonders." The General chose to study them over the weekend but none of the suggestions appealed to him. It happened that General Magruder had just bought a painting of the U.S.S. Constitution during a drive for funds for the preservation of that famous fighting ship, which is nicknamed "Old Ironsides." General Magruder was impressed with the parallel between the development of the tank and the Navy's "Old Ironsides" spirit of daring and durability. He decided the 1st Armored Division should also be named "Old Ironsides."

The 1st Armored Division boarded the Queen Mary at the New York Port of Embarkation, Brooklyn Army Terminal on May 11, 1942. Five days later the soldiers of the Division landed in Northern Ireland and trained on the moors. On October 29, 1942, Old Ironsides moved to England to depart for North Africa.

The 1st Armored Division's first contact with an enemy was as part of the Allied invasion of North Africa, Operation Torch on November 8, 1942. The Allies did receive unexpected, and heavy, resistance from Vichy-French units; however, the invasion forces suppressed all resistance in the beachhead area within three days. Old Ironsides then advanced toward Tunisia. The soldiers of the Division learned hard lessons about armored warfare and the harsh conditions of North Africa.

In January of 1943 Old Ironsides was part of II Corps and received the mission of defending central Tunisia against an Axis counterattack. In February the 1st Armored Division met with a superior German armored force at Kasserine Pass. The Division sustained heavy losses in personnel and equipment and was forced to withdraw. Old Ironsides was battered but kept in mind its lessons learned. The Germans outran their supply lines and faced determined Allied resistance. After three more months of hard fighting, the Allies could finally claim victory in North Africa. Old Ironsides was reorganized in French Morocco and then moved to Naples, Italy on October 28, 1943, to support the Allied effort there.

As part of General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army, the 1st Armored Division took part in the attack on the infamous Winter Line in November of 1943. Old Ironsides then flanked the Axis forces in the landings at Anzio and moved on to participate in the liberation of Rome on June 4, 1944. The 1st Armored Division continued to serve in the Italian Campaign until German forces in Italy surrendered on May 2, 1945. In June of 1945, Old Ironsides was moved to Germany as part of the U.S. Army occupation forces.

In the drawdown of forces after WWII, the 1st Armored Division was deactivated on April 25, 1946. With the success of the Russian-made T-34 tank by the enemy at the outset of the Korean War in 1950, there was a renewed enthusiasm for armored forces in the U.S. Army. As part of the new buildup of forces, Old Ironsides was re-activated on March 7, 1951, at Fort Hood, Texas, and was the first U.S. Army unit to field the new M48 Patton tank.

Although the 1st Armored Division did not participate as a division in the Vietnam War, two of their subordinate units did. Company A, 501st Aviation and 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry served with distinction. Both units earned Presidential Unit Citations and 1-1 Cavalry received two Valorous Unit Awards and three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. Neither unit was officially detached from the 1st Armored Division. Veterans of both units may wear the Old Ironsides as a combat patch. Also, in 1967 three Old Ironsides infantry battalions were formed into the 198th Infantry Brigade and deployed to Vietnam. Two of those battalions, 1-6th Infantry and 1-52nd Infantry, were returned to the 1st Armored Division.

As Vietnam wound down, the United States turned its attention back to the Cold War in Europe. The 1st Armored Division was moved to Germany in 1971, home-based in the West German city of Ansbach. The Division remained in Germany for the next twenty years as part of the American forces committed to a NATO defense of Europe.

In November of 1990, Old Ironsides was alerted for deployment to the Middle East in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. In less than two months the Division moved 17,400 soldiers and 7.050 pieces of equipment by rail, sea, and air to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield. On February 24, 1991, the 1st Armored Division crossed into Iraq to begin Operation Desert Storm as the leading unit in VII Corps' main flanking attack. Its mission was to destroy the elite Iraqi Republican Guards Divisions. In an 89-hour blitz across the desert, Old Ironsides traveled through 250 kilometers of enemy territory. They destroyed 768 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and artillery pieces. The 1st Armored Division also captured 1,064 prisoners of war. Old Ironsides returned to Ansbach, Germany on May 8, 1991. Their triumph was celebrated by a visit from the Vice President of the United States and participation in victory parades in Washington D.C. and New York City.

The 1st Armored Division was called to serve once again, this time in the Balkans. Old Ironsides was ordered to Bosnia-Herzegovina and part of Operation Joint Endeavor on December 14, 1995. The 1st Armored Division was relieved by the 1st Infantry Division and returned to Germany in November of 1996.

In 1999, Old Ironsides was deployed again. This time 1st Armored Division was supporting Operations Allied Force and Joint Guardian. Operation Allied Force took Old Ironsides soldiers to Albania in response to the ethnic cleansing and fighting there. Operation Joint Guardian was to uphold the United Nations Security Council resolution to bring peace back to the Kosovo region.

The 1st Armored Division began its participation in the global war on terrorism when it received deployment orders to the U.S. Central Command on March 4, 2003. By April 15th Old Ironsides was moving out to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom. During their 15-month deployment, Task Force 1st Armored Division was the largest division-based task force in U.S. Army history. Units serving with the Task Force included brigade-sized elements from the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, the 1st Cavalry Division, the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 124th Infantry Battalion, the 18th and 89th Military Police Brigades and the 168th MP Battalion. At its height, more than 39,000 soldiers were part of Task Force 1st Armored Division. The Division took responsibility for Baghdad in April of 2003. Old Ironsides was scheduled to return to Germany in April of 2004, but their tour was extended by three months to defeat a Shia militia led by Moqtada Al Sadr.

The Division's 3rd Brigade was deployed to Iraq once again for Operation Iraqi Freedom III in January of 2005, this after only eight months at home. They were attached to the 3rd Infantry Division as part of Task Force Baghdad. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT) deployed to Kuwait in November 2005 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom IV. Old Ironsides' 1st Brigade deployed again to Iraq in January 2006.

In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) commission determined that the 1st Armored Division should leave its home bases in Germany and move to Fort Bliss, Texas. While it took several years to accomplish the movement, Old Ironsides' division headquarters uncased its colors in May 2011.

Like their naval namesake, the 1st Armored Division carries with it the traditions and military values for which Old Ironsides has been known for over half a century. They also are the standing armor division of the United States Army, on the cutting edge of technology and tactics, and remain relentlessly strong today. Both active soldiers and veterans are proud to wear the 1st Armored Division patch and say, "I was with Old Ironsides."

View the Index of Unit Histories

The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment

View the Index of Unit Histories

The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment

For regular readers of this blog, you know that the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion started out the World War II designated as the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment. When I was doing my research for The Boldest Plan is the Best, I of course wondered what happened to the rest of the original 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment that the Geronimos left behind at Fort Bragg in 1942. After some reading, I found out that the 503rd PIR had an equally fascinating combat history. While I was living in Pennsylvania I visited the National Archives and the Army Heritage and Education Center and conducted the research to write a combat history of the 503rd PIR, "The Rock Regiment," during their time in the Pacific Theater. Unfortunately, life gets in the way (as does writing fiction) and that book (which I thought would make an excellent companion to The Boldest Plan is the Best so that the pair will cover early WWII airborne operations) will not be completed until next winter. In the meantime, I thought I would take the opportunity to provide some of the highlights of this little-known unit's record during WWII here.

July 2, 1944 – Members of 503rd Parachute Infantry
descending on Kamiri Airstrip, Noemfoor Island.
SC-287126 from the National Archives

After the departure of the 2nd Battalion for England in June 1942, the 503rd PIR formed its 3rd Battalion at Fort Bragg and continued to train as a two battalion regiment. They departed Fort Bragg on October 10, 1942, headed to Australia to join MacArthur's growing force in the Pacific Theater. On the way, they formed their missing 2nd Battalion from a company out of the 504th PIR recently formed at Fort Bragg, and three companies of the 501st Parachute Infantry Battalion that had been serving in the Panama Canal Zone. The old 2nd Battalion was at this time in England preparing to jump into North Africa as part of Operation Torch. They were now designated the 2/509th PIR.

It took the 503rd PIR until December 2 to make it to Australia. The regiment spent the next nine months training in Australia and New Guinea. At the time of their first combat operation, one could argue that they were the most well-trained airborne unit in the American army. The first entry into combat was a jump on Nazdab airfield, in the Markham Valley of New Guinea, on September 5, 1943.

Two battalions of the 503rd Parachute Infantry made an unopposed jump on Kamiri airfield on Noemfoor Island, off the coast of Dutch New Guinea beginning on July 3, 1944. The third battalion made an amphibious landing a few days later. Once Noemfoor was secured, the regiment was moved to Leyte in the Philippine Islands. The 503rd PIR was turned into a regimental combat team with the attachments of the 462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and Company C, 161st Airborne Engineers. On December 15, 1944, the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team made an amphibious landing on the Philippine island of Mindoro, where they fought to secure airstrips that would be used to support the invasion of the island of Luzon, and hence the retaking of Manila.

February 16, 1945 – Parachutists of the 503rd Parachute
Infantry landing on “B” field, Corregidor Island.
SC 201041 from the National Archives

The 503rd PRCT earned their nom de guerre when, on February 16, 1945, they made a combat jump onto the island fortress of Corregidor, "The Rock." Corregidor had become an important symbol to the United States as the last outpost of any size to fall to the enemy in the early stages of the Pacific War. Japanese sources have estimated that there were 6700 Japanese soldiers on the Island when the 503d Combat Team landed. Only fifty of those defenders survived. Almost 200 American soldiers died taking back Corregidor. The 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for taking back "The Rock."

The 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment finished WWII fighting on Negros island in the Philippines. They were deactivated shortly after the war. After a history of activation and deactivation and a redesignation as the 503d Infantry, two battalions of "the Rock Force" are serving with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, the "Sky Soldiers." Their home station is Vicenza, Italy, but the soldiers of the 503d Infantry have participated in multiple deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan (where they are currently deployed) during the Global War on Terror.

View the Index of Unit Histories

Nonfiction R&R: Fire and Fortitude

This book Review and Recommendation is on "Fire and Fortitude, The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943" by John C. McManus.

If you are like me, when you think of World War II in the Pacific, you immediately think of the Marine Corps. Maybe it’s all those old war movies like “Sands of Iwo Jima,” or the marine narratives by Eugene Sledge and Robert Leckie? But I must admit my ignorance. I was shocked when I read in “Fire and Fortitude” about the contribution of the Army versus the Marines.

This in no way detracts from the amazing accomplishments of the USMC during the Second World War. That being said, the Army presence in the Pacific dwarfed the marines. In the Pacific Theater during WWII, the Marine Corps fielded six combat divisions. The United States Army, on the other hand, deployed twenty-one combat divisions, along with several regimental combat teams and separate battalions. Not to mention massive numbers of logistics, medical, intelligence, and transportation personnel. With so many army personnel fighting against Japan, why aren’t some of the battles and campaigns that were predominantly army operations more well-known?

In “Fire and Fortitude," the author cites historian and writer Cole Kingseed for five reasons the Army is not known for its contribution to the war in the Pacific Theater: The “Germany first” strategy that prioritized the European Theater, a maritime nature of the war in the Pacific that led to a naval-dominated narrative, MacArthur’s PR campaign that failed to credit the accomplishments of subordinate units, press coverage weighted to the European Theater because correspondents found it a more pleasant environment over remote Pacific islands, and the racial aspect of fighting Japan and their approach to war.

I'm glad to see that we’re starting to take a long-overdue look at the Army in the Pacific. There seem to have been a number of books that focus on an aspect of this huge subject area published over the last couple of years. “Fire and Fortitude” (2019) is the first volume in a trilogy chronicling the US Army in the Pacific. McManus begins this book with a look at the pre-war army. He then provides a review of Pearl Harbor from an army perspective that I found unique. He, of course, covers Bataan and Corregidor, but I found the chapter on the struggle to take Buna during the Papuan Campaign in New Guinea to be the most interesting. Probably because it is one of the least highlighted battles in the media and popular history.

The second volume of the trilogy is already out in hardback. I’m looking forward to the release of the third. I’ve read a couple of other works by McManus, like “The Dead and Those About to Die.” “Fire and Fortitude” has the same level of readability combined with historical detail. What Ian Toll has written about the Navy in the Pacific, and Rick Atkinson accomplished for the European Theater, John McManus has tackled for the Army in the Pacific. Definitely a must read.

The Raid on El Djem, A Nonfiction Excerpt

Since we recently released our first historical fiction work, The Bridge at El Djem, I thought I would share an edited section from the nonfiction book it was based on. The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion is an amazing story for a nonfiction book, (forgive me if that sounds less than humble, really I’m talking strictly about the true history of the unit). But I’m a sucker for a pulpy adventure story, so when it came to writing a fiction work, I took a number of liberties with history. And I don’t really think that’s a bad thing. Growing up I learned a lot of history reading mass-market paperbacks and watching old movies on Saturdays. That being said, I wanted to provide the opportunity for fiction fans to know the true story that inspired The Bridge at El Djem.

So here it is, footnotes removed, an excerpt from The Boldest Plan is the Best:

Raid on El Djem

By mid-December [1942], the Germans had two armies in Tunisia. General Juergen von Arnim’s Fifth Panzer Army was in the north around the ports of Tunis and Bizerte. General von Arnim had counterattacked the British First Army and held them at the mountain line approximately fifty miles west of Tunis. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps had retreated from Libya into southern Tunisia under pressure from the British Eighth Army. Rommel, under orders from the Axis high command not to retreat further, held the Mareth Line, a fortified border between Tunisia and Libya.

Hitler was attempting to resupply his armies in North Africa through the ports in the north. Those supplies for the Afrika Korps that were not lost to Allied attacks at sea, were sent south by rail. Rommel’s army was consuming 400 tons of fuel a day. Stopping the flow of supplies would cripple Rommel’s ability to maneuver in the south. General Anderson’s First Army headquarters believed that the German supply line would be cut by destroying a key railroad bridge near the village of El Djem. The steel girder bridge was on the coastal railroad line between the cities of Sousse and Sfax. The Air Corps had hit it multiple times with bombers and again with fighters shooting rockets. The bridge would not come down.

The original concept for parachute troops was more like what we think of today as Rangers or Special Forces. The 2/509’s initial training emphasized hand-to-hand fighting and demolitions. Some unknown staff officer must have remembered this or perhaps they had read of the exploits of the paratroopers in the press. Regardless, the order came down from Allied Forces Headquarters for a platoon from the 2/509^th to jump into the area of El Djem, some sixty air miles behind enemy lines, and blow up the bridge from the ground.

The original order called for two officers and twenty-one enlisted men, making up an assault-security team and a demolition team, to jump in at 2100 hours on December 20. After blowing the bridge, the raiders were to move to a spot for a pickup by aircraft. Whoever wrote the original order must have thought that the paratroopers were supermen who could do anything. It specified that each man would “act as [an] Intelligence agency,” capturing papers and documents, capturing officers, and cutting telephone lines. Secondary tasks were included such as creating diversions in the enemy’s rear area and acting “generally as guerrillas.” First Lieutenant John Martin, the demolitions platoon leader, was chosen to lead the raid, with Second Lieutenant Dan DeLeo leading the assault team.

Ignoring the fanciful “intelligence agency” directives, the mission was actually doable. That is, if the platoon was dropped where they needed to be, they did not encounter any sizeable enemy force and were able to make it to their pickup point before daybreak. Then the changes came. First, the aircraft pickup was canceled. Reasons were not provided, but it was assumed that the Air Corps thought the risk of losing their aircraft was too great. Nevertheless, the risk of losing paratroopers was not. The raiding force would have to walk out and exfiltrate to the nearest Allied unit.

Lieutenant Colonel Doyle Yardley, as battalion commander, could make the final call on who would go on this mission. Rather than arguing with higher headquarters and getting the mission canceled (as the men believed Raff would have done), Yardley decided that he did not want to lose his best men on an operation that was starting to look like a suicide mission. He based his roster decision on men he thought would “most easily be replaced.” Yardley removed Lieutenant Martin and Corporal Lloyd Bjelland from the demolition team and radioman Ellis Bishop. Second Lieutenant DeLeo would now command the operation.

Dan DeLeo was new to the Geronimos, but he was not an inexperienced soldier. DeLeo had joined the Illinois National Guard in 1937 and rose to the rank of sergeant. He obtained his commission in 1942 just before entering active duty. After jump school, he came to England with the replacements for the 2/509th PIR. DeLeo had been placed in charge of the rear detachment of replacements in England. He and the other replacements had come to North Africa by ship a couple of weeks after Operation Torch. They were reunited with the rest of the battalion at Maison Carrée.

The changes to the mission were made before Yardley briefed DeLeo. The Lieutenant did not know that he or any of the men on his roster were considered to be “easily replaced.” On the bright side, foreign languages would not be a problem on this mission. DeLeo spoke Italian. One of his men, Sergeant John Betters, could speak Arabic. Another, Private Roland Rondeau, also spoke fluent French. Added to the raiding force were two French paratroopers, First Sergeant Jean Guilhenjouan and Corporal Paul Vullierme, to act as guides. Both had served in the area for several years and both spoke Arabic. The mission was postponed until Christmas Eve and then rescheduled again. DeLeo’s group, now numbered at 32 men, left Maison Blanche the morning of December 26 in three C-47s. After a brief stopover at Tebessa, they continued on to the airstrip at Thelepte where they spent the remainder of the day. The jump was scheduled for 2200 hours that night.

Colonel Raff says that he did not “know that much” about the mission until the three C-47s landed at Thelepte. He tried to stall the mission for a day in order to arrange an aircraft pickup. Unfortunately higher headquarters overruled him and the mission still had to go that night. Knowing how much trouble transport pilots had in finding drop zones in the dark, Raff asked Lieutenant Colonel Phil Cochran to go along as a copilot. Cochran was the commander of the P-40 fighter squadron and had personally attacked the bridge in daylight. Raff figured that if any pilot could find the bridge at night, Cochran could. Raff also advised some of the men going on the mission to kill any Arabs that they encountered, as they could not be trusted and would probably alert the enemy to their presence. Oddly, and for reasons unknown, Raff did not have this discussion with Lieutenant DeLeo.

The flight to the drop zone took about an hour. As the aircraft crossed the “lines” near Godsin there was some flak, but none of the aircraft were hit. Even with Cochran on the flight, they were unsure of the exact location of the bridge. They circled a small town, decided it was El Djem, and then flew to where they thought the drop zone was. No injuries were sustained on the jump, but one man was missing and the troopers were unable to locate one of their equipment bundles. This was a common occurrence on a night jump, and they decided that there was probably enough TNT in the one bundle to drop at least the center span of the bridge.

Before the raiding party set out for the bridge, a group of five Arabs appeared at the drop zone. Some of the men insisted that they follow Raff’s advice and kill them, but the lieutenant would not allow it. DeLeo offered them some of their parachutes, prized by the Arabs, for their silence. The platoon headed east toward the rail line under the heavy burden of their equipment plus an extra 500 pounds of explosives.

An hour and a half later, they reached the railroad tracks. Here they turned south, assuming they had been dropped at the right location. In the dark of night, they could only see a few yards, so it was difficult to fix their location in the desert. They had to trust their plan. The paratroopers encountered another Arab, this one with a donkey cart. The Americans pressed the Arab into service to help carry the burden of the large amount of TNT. But an extra 500 pounds was too much for the donkey and after a time DeLeo let that Arab go free as well. We do not know why the lieutenant did not confirm his position with Arabs, unless perhaps at this point he was confident that they had been dropped at the right location and all was going to plan. Regardless, after hours of marching in the dark, DeLeo realized that they should have come to the bridge by now.

The men took cover in an olive grove to rest. In the morning twilight, the lieutenant was able to take a compass reading on some nearby hills and, with the help of his French guides, fix his location. He now knew for sure that the pilots had dropped them south of the bridge instead of north of it. They had spent the night walking away from the bridge. He told the men that they were nearly twenty-two miles south of their objective.

All of the paratroopers knew that there was no way they could march twenty-two miles back to their objective in broad daylight. The best that DeLeo could do was to cause some damage and then get his men out. Their chosen target was a small building next to the tracks that they spotted another hundred yards down the tracks, near a cut through a small hill. It had electrical wires leading to it and they thought that the building was for controlling switches on the line. The demolition men set their charges to the building and roughly 100 yards of track, all set to blow at the same time.

By now the enemy was closing in on them. DeLeo had posted security men up and down the tracks. Within minutes of each other, paratroopers came running up to report enemy soldiers in at least platoon strength were approaching on foot from both the north and the south. While they were setting their charges, a switching car came down the tracks, and German soldiers onboard traded shots with the paratroopers. The Germans decided to wait for their reinforcements to arrive and withdrew back up the line. DeLeo shouted for everyone to move west and take cover. The demo men lit a three-minute fuse. They could see more enemy soldiers arriving in trucks farther down the tracks.

The ground shook under their feet as 500 pounds of explosives went off all at once. Dirt, ties, rails, and other debris flew hundreds of feet in the air. While the explosion must have shocked the approaching enemy into momentary inactivity, the paratroopers immediately started double-timing to the west. The Americans quickly split up into groups of two to six each and headed for home as best they could with enemy soldiers closing in on them from three directions.

The two French paratroopers, Sergeant John Betters, Private Frank Romero, and Private Roland Rondeau stayed with Lieutenant DeLeo. The six men moved out together almost at a dead run. They came to a road and followed it. Soon a cargo truck appeared with a lone driver. The six paratroopers stepped out into the road with their weapons leveled and commandeered the truck. DeLeo sat in front with the Italian driver. The lieutenant wrapped a sheet over his head to look like an Arab while the other men climbed in the back and remained hidden under a tarpaulin. This guise allowed them to travel for some miles that included a harrowing passage right through a column of German soldiers marching on the road. Sensing the need to get off the main route, DeLeo had the driver turn onto a secondary road heading west which soon degenerated into nothing but a camel track. Eventually, the truck landed in a ditch, broken beyond repair.

Before proceeding on foot, Sgt Betters advocated killing the Italian. As with the Arabs they had encountered, DeLeo wouldn’t hear of it. The Lieutenant gave the Italian 300 francs to compensate him for his broken truck and hoped that he would think favorably of the Americans, or at least not report their presence for a while. The group proceeded on foot, traveling by night and hiding during the day. The language skills of the group came in handy in gaining information and bartering for food during their odyssey. According to Rondeau, “After a couple of days, we gave it up [hiding during the day]. I guess we got a little cocky, and we hiked all the way in day and night until we got to our lines.”

DeLeo’s group eventually stumbled into a French outpost, only after walking into a minefield while approaching it. The French defenders were kind enough to show them the way out of the minefield, after which they called Raff’s headquarters to let them know that the paratroopers were back. A truck was sent to pick up the wayward Americans. They had been gone nearly two weeks and DeLeo estimated that they had traveled about 120 miles to get back to Allied lines.

Besides DeLeo’s group, only Private Charles Doyle and Private Mike Underhill made it home to the 2/509th while they were still in North Africa. Those two privates, moving individually, endured a similar ordeal to those who were with DeLeo. That meant that only eight soldiers who went on the raid at El Djem made it back to Allied lines. Sixteen others survived the war after serving time as prisoners of the Axis. One, Staff Sergeant Manuel Serrano, would rejoin the unit in Italy after escaping from a POW camp there. The remaining eight raiders are presumed to have been killed by the enemy. Just prior to leaving North Africa, Lieutenant Dan DeLeo had the opportunity to visit the bridge near El Djem. It was still standing. The lieutenant knew when he saw the sixteen stone pillars that held up the double-tracked steel girder bridge, that his raiding party could have never carried enough explosives to blow it. He was confident that he and his men had done as much damage twenty miles south as they would have been able to do had they found the bridge that fateful night. The raid at El Djem was the third and last combat jump for the 2nd Battalion of the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment in North Africa.

Get the books on Amazon:

The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII.

The Bridge at El Djem: A Jack Bell WWII Novel.

New Book Release!

Our new book is out: The Bridge at El Djem

I’m very excited to announce that we’ve published our first work of historical fiction: The Bridge at El Djem. It’s part of a World War II adventure series inspired by real events. Particularly involving the combat history of the 509th PIB. All characters are, of course, composites or strictly a fictional construct of the author. That being said, the author’s notes at the end of the book lists the nonfiction works where the ideas for the plot of the story came from. The Bridge at El Djem is available on Amazon in print, Kindle, or Kindle Unlimited. Here’s a synopsis from the back cover of the book:

WWII Action in North Africa

The Kraut on point was probably only twenty yards away when he turned and signaled to his men to spread out to the left and right. As soon as his head started to turn, Bell raised his Thompson submachine gun. After letting out a breath and thinking, here we go, he squeezed the trigger. The rest of the squad opened up instantly…

Tunisia, 1942

Paratroopers Lieutenant Jack Bell and lead scout Corporal Roland “Rube” Roubideaux might be the only survivors out of their platoon after a failed mission to blow up a bridge behind enemy lines. Now they are going back to finish the job, tagging along with a detachment of British SAS desert commandos. But it seems the operation isn’t that simple. One of Bell’s own men doesn’t appear to be who he says he is and the British captain leading the raid might have a secret mission all his own.

Some folks might be wondering why I took a break from nonfiction. Actually, I’ve been asked that very question in different ways. I thought I’d address those questions here:

Why Historical Fiction?

I enjoy reading historical fiction, war and military fiction, WWII fiction, or whatever people choose to label the genre. As a history teacher, I’ve learned how works of fiction can educate as well as entertain. Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels was a life-changing book for me when I read it the first time. That book really fired up my passion for military history.

More specific to The Bridge at El Djem, the plan is to write a series of adventure stories within the background of different chapters in The Boldest Plan is Best: The Combat History of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion during WWII. My hope is that readers of the fiction stories will then explore the real history. And maybe the history fans will give the fiction a try.

What was the process?

Well, it turns out that writing fiction is hard. It took a year to produce the first book in the series. At one point it got put in a drawer, then pulled out again and taken back to the drawing board. I also spent a lot of time learning how to write fiction by reading a lot about writing, taking a fiction writing class, and of course, when all else fails, learn by doing.

What’s the next project and when can we expect it?

I’m already well into the next story in the series. The background is the Geronimos’ jump behind the lines at Avellino, Italy. The Avellino Jump will be available later this spring. I’ll post a preview soon.

I’ve been asked about the status of the nonfiction project on the combat history of the 503^rd PIR during WWII. It is long overdue but not forgotten. More news on that project soon.

Book R & R: Agent Sonya

This book “Recommendation and Review” is for “Agent Sonya” by Ben Macintyre.

I am a Cold War veteran, having spent three years patrolling the East German border back in the 1980s. Maybe that’s why I like spy stories so much. Fiction or nonfiction, it doesn’t matter. At least from a media standpoint, the Cold War made for some good spy stories. You had definitive bad guys (that would be the Soviets) versus us, the good guys. This book isn’t like that.

“Agent Sonya: Moscow’s Most Daring Wartime Spy” by Ben Macintyre is the true story of Ursula Kuczynski, also known as Ruth Werner, Ursula Beurton, Ursula Hamburger, or her code name: Sonya. She was born in Germany in 1907 and was a teenager and young adult during the political upheaval immediately following World War I. She became a devout, ideological communist, passionately opposed to the rise of fascism in her country. When her husband was offered a job in Shanghai, she went with him. There in China, she met other communists and was recruited into working for Soviet intelligence. Over her career worked in China, Poland, Switzerland, and Great Britain. Although Sonya didn’t “spy” firsthand, she did run agents in these locations and radio information back to Moscow.

I’ve read books by Ben Macintyre before, specifically Rogue Heroes and Agent Zigzag. So I knew the writing would be excellent and that this book, like the others mentioned, would be a true story that reads like fiction. What makes this book different from the usual spy story is that it is told from the perspective of Kuczynski. I gained an understanding of why a person would embrace Communism during the 1920s, especially if faced with a weak government (the Weimar Republic) and a threat of Fascism. As an aside, Ursula became disillusioned with the Soviet Union after the purges by Stalin in the 1930s, but she never lost her idealistic faith in communism. During the story of her career as a spy during the 30s and 40s, you of course sympathize with Ursula and are on the virtual edge of your seat during the times she was nearly caught.

SPOILER ALERT! If you don’t want to know the rest of the story, skip the next paragraph.

Why a book devoted to this one spy? One of her agents she ran in Great Britain was another German Jew, a talented physicist by the name of Klaus Fuchs. Fuchs had escaped from Hitler’s Germany and was sponsored into Great Britain. He was investigated and cleared to work on Britain’s atomic bomb project, despite being a devout communist. Once Fuchs realized what the project was about, he decided to share all the information about his work with the Soviet Union. Agent Sonya was his handler in Great Britain. When Great Britain’s nuclear bomb program was merged with the Manhattan Project (the United States nuclear bomb project), Fuchs was sent to work in the U.S. and passed off to a KGB handler in America. The information that Fuchs passed to the Soviets arguably gave them the bomb or certainly allowed them to develop their own five years earlier than expected. When Fuchs' treachery was found out, it would lead straight back to Ursula. In 1950 she escaped Great Britain and settled into retirement in East Germany, eventually writing a book about her own escapades.

So you have to ask: Did Agent Sonya help to start the Cold War or did she prevent World War III by helping to maintain a balance of power? Don’t try to answer that question without reading the book. I think it will change the way you look at that period of our history. It did mine.

A Postscript to the Chapter on Anzio

You can stay in the house that was the 509^th CP during the Battle of Anzio.
(click on any image for a larger version.)

509th CP during Anzio

For the most part, I’m not a big fan of social media. But sometimes it’s a bit of a miracle. Still, years after “The Boldest Plan is the Best: The Combat History of the 509^th Parachute Infantry Battalion During WWII” was released, I am contacted by veterans, families, and others. It's a thrill and an honor. I must admit that it is especially exciting to be contacted by someone living in a country other than the United States where the Geronimos fought.

Map courtesy of
Mike Reuter

The other day I received a message from Diego Cancelli, an architect who lives in Aprilia, Italy, just a few miles outside of Anzio. Diego owns and operates Il casale di Giulia, a working farm and B & B. The stone farmhouse just happens to have been the 509^th Battalion command post during the battle. He has pictures to prove it. Moreover, I have the image of a map that was provided by 509^th veteran Mike Reuter that shows unit positions in the Anzio beachhead as of January 30, 1944. Sure enough, you can match up the unit symbol on the map with Google Maps. The 509^th headquarters symbol is located on the Via Carano between Crocetta and Carano. That’s exactly where you’ll find Il casale di Giulia on Google Maps. You can even get a feel for the terrain by checking out Google Street View.

Il casale di Giulia before
rennovation.

Diego has located the hill that B company occupied forward of the MLR before they were overrun. The help that Diego required was being able to prove that the house his wife’s family owns and restored was one of the houses that were the object of “Raid Nibble.” Readers of “The Boldest Plan” know the details of the raid. The objective houses were simply referred to as House #5 and House #6 in the battalion’s war diary. No grid coordinates are offered so one must assume there is a map overlay. The problem we have, often repeated, is the lack of records in the archives for this unit. The Geronimos were attached to the 3^rd Infantry Division, and during the battle; they had at different times the 7^th Infantry Regiment and the 30^th Infantry Regiment to their right. Perhaps there is a map overlay in the archives of these units?

After rennovation

There just were not that many houses in the area during the battle, so the odds are excellent that the house in question (that is now occupied by the family’s grandmother) is House #6 referred to in the 509^th war diary narrative concerning Raid Nibble. Especially considering the war relics that have been found on both properties. Diego has been practicing some applied history and has amassed quite a collection as the included pictures show. He has found dog tags and returned them to the families of American soldiers. He has found several helmets both American and German. One of the German helmets was found along with the skeleton of the soldier who wore it; found during the restoration of House #6.

Aerial view showing B/509th
position on forward hill.

Diego shared quite a few pictures with me, and I’ve included some of them for you to see as well. The next time I’m in the archives at NARA or AHEC I plan to look in the records of the 3^rd ID for that missing overlay. In the meantime, I’m planning a trip after covid to visit Anzio, Il casale di Giulia, and other sites where the Geronimos fought. Ever thought about it?