US Airborne Formations 1942 – 1945

The 82^nd Infantry Division had recently completed its basic unit training and had begun conversion to a motorised Division in July 1942.  It was soon decided that it would be split and used to form two Airborne Divisions.

On 15^th August 1942 the 82^nd split to form the first two Airborne Divisions, the 82^nd Airborne “All American” and the 101^st Airborne “The Screaming Eagles”.

After re-organisation and initial training, the 82^nd Airborne Division departed the States in late April 1943 and arrived in French Morocco on 10^th May.  Preparations began for Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily.  The eventual combat jump in July 1943 proved a disaster, with most sticks miss-dropped by poorly trained transport crews.

After fighting as ground troops on Sicily, the 82^nd moved back to North Africa then returned to Sicily and soon assaulted in to Italy at Salerno.  The 82^nd shipped to England in February 1944 to prepare for the assault into Normandy on 6^th June 1944.  The Division returned to England in July to prepare for the Market Garden operation and assault into the Nijmegen area in September 1944.  Committed to the Ardennes counter offensive in December, it fought there until February 1945, and in Germany from April until hostilities ended on 7^th May 1945.

101^st Airborne Division

The 11^th Airborne Division was activated at Camp Mackall NC on 25^th February 1943.  It was the only Airborne Division to retain all its originally assigned Regiments and Field Artillery Battalions.  In January 1944 the Division moved to Camp Polk and arrived in New Guinea in May 1944, where it undertook extensive training, during which time the Parachute and Glider units within the Division cross-trained.

The Division was shipped to Leyte in November and fought there until January 1945.  On 3^rd February 1945 elements of the Division conducted a combat jump at Taqaytay Ridge.  Operations shifted to Southern Luzon in late February, where the Division fought until July 1945.  On 23^rd February 1945 elements of the Division jumped at Los Banos, in conjunction with a ground operation led by the Divisions Recon Platoon to undertake the most successful US POW occupation.

13^th Airborne Division

The 15^th Airborne was scheduled for activation in 1943, along with nine Infantry Divisions.  These proposed formations became known as ghost Divisions.  Five other Divisions – 6^th, 9^th, 18^th, 21^st and the 135^th – were notionally to be activated to play their part in OPERATION FORTITUDE in 1944.  This was a deception plan to mislead the Germans into believing the Allies would land in the Pas de Calais rather than Normandy.

17^th Airborne Division

The “Golden Talon” Division was activated at Camp Mackall on 15^th April 1943.  In March of the following year the 17^th moved to Camp Forrest, then in August 1944 it arrived in England where it trained extensively before being flown into France in December, where it engaged in ground combat until February 1945.

The entire Division air assaulted across the Rhine at Wesel during OPERATION VARSITY on 24^th March 1945, and fought until the next month.  Fortunately, it was not required in the Pacific and returned to the States in September 1945 for de-activation.

2^nd Airborne Infantry Brigade

The First Allied Airborne Army (FAAA)

The FAAA was formed from the combined Airborne forces, a joint US/British Command, on 18 August 1944 at Ascot, England.  It was tasked with planning future airborne operations and unit training.  Under its Command Control were the US XVIII Airborne Corps and 1 x Troop Carrier Command.  It oversaw the Holland operation in September 1944.

The FAAA was also responsible for re-supplying the 101^st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge, moving the 17^th Airborne from England to France and planning the Rhine Crossing.  On 20 May 1945 the FAAA was disbanded and the US element formed into the 1^st Airborne army, which doubled as the Berlin District Headquarters.

The first Airborne Army was disbanded in December 1945.

The formation originally activated as 11 Armoured Corps on 17 January 1942 was re-designated XVIII Corps on 9^th October 1943 and tasked with troop training.  Upon arrival in England it was re-designated XVIII Airborne Corps on 25 August 1944 and was placed under the control of the First Allied Airborne Army and given command over the 17^th, 82^nd and 101^st Airborne Divisions, and later the 13^th.

Additionally, it commanded nine Infantry and Armoured Divisions at different times.  All non-divisional Airborne units in Europe were attached to the Corps in Nov/Dec 1944.  The Corps were involved in the Holland operation in September 1944, followed by the Battle of the Bulge in December.  In March 1945 it launched the Rhine Crossing and fought through Northern Germany until VE Day.

The Corps returned to the States in July, where it was to prepare for the invasion of Japan but was de-activated on 15 October 1945.

The purpose of Phantom Divisions were to make the Germans believe that there were additional divisions combat–ready in Britain.  They were to be worn by a limited number of troops in England with the hope that Axis agents would then report it to German intelligence.

There were also one Army, two Corps and fourteen non-airborne “Phantom” units.

From top left, 16th, 18th, 19th, 21st

and 135th Airborne Divsions (Phantom)