UNIT HISTORY

501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Division

The 501st Parachute Infantry  Regiment (501st PIR) can be traced back to the 29th US Infantry, who were fortunate enough to encourage a group of volunteers to enter into a parachute jump platoon that trained at Camp Toccoa under the command of Major William M Miley.

Camp Toccoa

After training, during January 1944, the regiment deployed to England where the 501st PIR became permanently attached to the 101st Airborne Division and was a vital part of unit for the duration of World War II.  On June 5th 1944, the 101st airborne division was dropped behind enemy lines into Normandy, France with the 82nd airborne division. This happened several hours before the seaborne landing was due to commence to ensure that vital facilities in France were taken from the enemy allowing safe passage for the ground troops.

C47 With D-Day invasion stripes

The drop zones were north and east of the town of Carentan. Two battalions were to seize key canal locks at La Barquette and to destroy the bridges over the Douve River, while the third battalion was in division reserve. Scattered across the landscape the soldiers came under heavy gun fire and stiff opposition awaited at every corner. Miraculously, the 101st managed to secure their targets and the Seaborne landing given a chance to succeed. The division was then given the dangerous task of taking the town of Carentan. After intense fighting and pressure on the Germans the enemy finally relinquished the stronghold. The division would continue fighting until the 27th June where by the 83rd US infantry relieved the men. They remained as a reserve first army in France until July when they were sent home to rest. Eisenhower quickly established the First Allied Airborne Army, controlling elements of the American and British (and Polish) Armies.

501st Boarding their C47's reading for a drop

In September 1944 the paratroopers were to return to Europe but this time going into Holland with the British Airborne to form part of the fighting force for Operation Market-Garden. The troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, thus cutting Holland in half and clearing a corridor for British armoured and motorised columns and gaining access to the German border.

The 101st mission was to secure the fifteen miles of Hell''s Highway stretching from Eindhoven north to Veghel. The 501st was specifically tasked to drop 4 miles south of Veghel and seize railroad and highway bridges over the Aa River and the Willems Canal. Although the 101st achieved their goals the rest of the fighting force was unable to gain the ground it fought so hard to take and the troops were captured, killed or withdrawn.

501st in action in Europe

On 16 December, 1944, The Germans launched a major offensive through The Ardennes (Forest) resulting in the ''Battle of the Bulge''. The 101st and 82nd were the reserve force and so the 101st were ordered into the town of Bastogne - vitally important it was the key to the German counteroffensive and had to be held at all cost. Rushed into Belgium the 501st were the first to arrive holding the enemy a few kilometers from Bastogne at a place called Neffe. The division was given the nick name the ''Battered Bastards of Bastogne'' after holding off against seven German divisions before finally being relieved by Patton. The 101st paid a dear price - 580 dead, captured or wounded.

On January 20 1945, the tired airborne division was sent to Alsace where Hitler’s "Operation Nordwind" offensive, under the personal direction of Heinrich Himmler, was threatening a sector of the Seventh Army front. The 501st PIR, now at only 60% strength, occupied defensive positions there until returning to France early in March.

The diamond insiginia of the 501st P.I.R

As the war came to an end, the division was sent to the Ruhr pocket to clean up areas of resistance. On 25 August 1945 the regiment was detached from the 101st and returned home for deactivation.