82 Airborne Division Archives - World War Media

82 Airborne Division Walk 2018

Reg Jans — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 21:08:49 +0000

In 2018, the 36th edition of the annual walk, organized to honor the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge, takes you to the sites of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion.

The march will take you to the Belgian towns of Fosse, Grand-Halleux, Dairomont and Rochelinval. Some 82nd Airborne Division’s Veterans Families intend to come over to participate as well as several European re-enactment groups. The logistic support will be provided by WWII vehicles from the 82nd Airborne “All American“ Jeep Group.”, founder and organizer Emile Lacroix says.

When: February 24, 2018 Time: 09h30

Start/Address: Restaurant Ferme Bodson – Mont Saint Jacques, 15 – 4980 Trois-Ponts

Distance: 18 Km (11 Miles) Registration fee: 7 Euro pp

Info + Reservation Accommodations: Freddy Vanput via email: freddy.vanput@skynet.be Phone: + 32 (0)495 427392

Website: www.inthefootstepsofthe82ndairbornedivision.beOn December 16, 1944, the Germans launched a surprise offensive through the Ardennes Forest which caught the Allies completely by surprise. Two days later the 82nd joined the fighting and quickly blunted General Von Runstedt’s northern penetration of the American lines.

Despite a lack of cold weather equipment once again airborne spirit, courage, and hard-nosed determination won the day as the 505th withstood the bleak winter and stopped the fanatic German attacks at St. Vith and the Salm River.

By the end of the war, the 505th was awarded three foreign distinguished unit citations: the French fourragère, the Netherlands Military Order of William, and the Belgium fourragère.

GOYA– Stands for ‘Great Outstanding Young Americans’ but there are other translations of GOYA known by the troopers themselves. The 551 PIB was activated in 1942 with 800 men and deactivated in 1945 when just 110 surviving men were absorbed into the 82nd Airborne Division. On 3 January 1945, the Battalion’s Co A, under the command of Lt Durkee, launched one of the two bayonet charges performed by the US troops during the Battle of the Bulge. While victorious in capturing Rochelinval and eliminating the last German bridgehead for over 10 miles (16 km) on the Salm River, the unit was virtually decimated, having suffered more than 85% casualties. Relieved on 9 January 1945, of the 643 men who entered the battle on 3 January, only 14 Officers and 96 men remained. “Nowhere were casualties higher than in Lt Col Wood Joerg’s (KIA in Rochelinval), 551st ‘LOST’ Battalion.”

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And Suddenly They Were Gone-By Adam Berry

Reg Jans — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 20:31:08 +0000

Adam Berry’s new book, And Suddenly They Were Gone, is a remarkable addition to the collection of books about the history of the 82nd Airborne Division during the Second World War. It does an incredible job of filling a rather large gap in that history, which is the division’s time spent in England prior to the invasion of Normandy and then again after the Normandy campaign until Operation Market Garden, the invasion of Holland.

by Phil Nordyke

Virtually all other histories of the division and its units skim over these periods, mostly because no one until now has done the huge job of research to uncover this rich vein of untapped history until Mr. Berry’s groundbreaking work.

The book itself is a feast for the eyes, chocked full of large high quality black and white and color photos, many of which have never been previously published. There are many photos of the troopers and the local civilians who both developed a such a great bond during the division’s time spent in England. The book dedicates sections to cover each of the division’s regiments and battalions’ encampments around Leicester and Nottingham.

Mr. Berry has somehow found rare period photographs of the buildings used for headquarters, the pubs, the vast tent cities, and other significant landmarks for each of the encampments. High quality maps in the book orient the reader as to their locations. The book includes a section dedicated to the embarkation airfields, showing the division’s troopers preparing for two combat jumps and glider assault missions. It also features amazing aerial photos taken during the war of the encampments and the embarkation airfields.

There is a superb section of the book of then and now photos of the encampments, training areas, and buildings. Throughout the book, Mr. Berry includes many first person accounts by veterans of the division and the local citizens recounting their experiences.

There are a myriad of other great features in this massive book, too numerous to mention. The readers of this excellent book will be taken on a visual time travel back to that time and continually surprised with new information that is skillfully woven through this great book. And Suddenly They Were Gone is an absolute must have for readers of the history of the 82nd Airborne Division and no collection of books about the division will be complete without this tremendous work.

82 Airborne Division-Victory Parade on 5th Avenue NYC

Reg Jans — Sun, 02 Oct 2016 21:27:37 +0000

Newsreel

General James Gavin leads his 82nd Airborne Division at the January 1946 Victory Parade on 5th Avenue in NYC.

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