Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day, made up of major forces from the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada and 12 other Allied nations. Some 23,400 airborne troops landed in Normandy from 822 aircraft and gliders. It was the largest amphibious invasion and the largest paratrooper assault in history.
The U.S. 82nd Infantry Division was redesignated and the 101st was activated Aug. 15, 1942, as the Army’s first airborne divisions. The 11th, 13th and 17th Airborne Divisions were activated by 1943.
The mission
The paratroopers were assigned what was probably the most difficult task of the initial operation – a night jump behind enemy lines five hours before the coastal landings.
The 82nd and 101st were dropped to protect the invasion zone’s western extremity and to facilitate the Utah Beach landing force’s movement into the Cotentin Peninsula. The British and Canadian attacks also accomplished their primary goal of securing the left flank of the invasion force.
The paratroopers were badly scattered. Low clouds and fog over the peninsula made navigation difficult, and even trained pathfinders had trouble locating and marking the desired drop zones.
Despite the adverse conditions and antiaircraft fire, most of the transports and gliders reached their designated areas. Those who came down outside their intended drop zones tended to confuse the enemy.
Big dummies
One of the least-known episodes of the Allied invasion was the use of straw-filled and inflatable rubber dummy parachutists for deception and diversion. They were fitted with explosive devices fused to detonate near the ground, which gave the illusion of gunfire to confuse German defenders. Thousands of dummies were dropped at night in the area of Marigny, France. They were successful in diverting the German 915th Infantry Regiment toward the fake drop zone.
Carry that load
Paratroopers wore specialized jump suits with large pockets to carry extra rations, ammunition or grenades. The paratrooper helmet had a modified liner with forked straps to secure the chin cup.
Since airborne troops had to fight with what they could carry or what could be airdropped to them, each paratrooper jumped with an average of 70 pounds of equipment.
The T-5 parachute assembly, was the type used by most U.S. Army paratroopers during World War II. When the paratrooper jumped from an aircraft, the static line pulled the cover from the backpack and released the parachute. Americans were the only airborne forces to use reserve parachutes in World War II. Paratroopers carried a length of rope to lower themselves in case they landed in a tree.
Most paratroopers carried the standard M1 Garand rifle. For the drop, paratroopers carried their disassembled rifles in quilted cloth containers called Griswold bags.
Words to remember
“If die we must, we ask that we die as men would die, without complaining, without pleading and safe in the feeling that we have done our best for what we believed was right.”
Lt. Col. Robert L. Wolverton, 29, praying with his 750 troops of the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infanty Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division before taking part in the drop.
Hours later, Wolverton was killed by German machine gun fire as he hung tangled in a tree in an orchard outside of St. Come-du-Mont.
Sources: “Spearheading D-Day,” by Jonathan Gawne; Britain at War Magazine; Time magazine; “World War II: The Definitive History,” published by Dorling Kindersley; the National WWII Museum; U.S. Navy; the Naval History & Heritage Command; The U.S. Air Force Museum; The U.S. Army; The Associated Press
Former Focus Page editor Charles Apple contributed to this graphic.
