WWII 82nd Airborne - Holland Report

8/9/2019 WWII 82nd Airborne - Holland Report

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82D x ,IRBQHKE D IV IS IO N

O H E R A T I G N LlARKET

HISTORICAL DATA

PART I PART II - GRi,PHIC PLATESPART I I I - yihPS OF LAI7DINGS.PART IV - o T A T I S T I G S

} . G A V IN ,M a j o r G e n e r a l , U . S . A . ,Coiiimandiiig


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'Jpon its return from' Nor man dy on 19 July 1944 th is D ivi sio nwas located in the Not tin gham -Le ices ter ^wrk et Karboro .area. Thereit remained and trained until its partic ipatio n in operat ion I-IARKET on 17 Septembe r 19 44 . Twenty-fou r, hours prior to take -off ,all airborne ele men ts of the Divisi on>wer e closed at se ven.airf ieldsin the Grin/kham-Cottesiaore-Langar ar ea. Bri efi ngs wxsre condu cte d,loading pl ans form ulate d, all 'final checks mad e, and the Divi siontook off for the Net her lan ds commencin g at 170950 Septem ber 19 44 .The missi on of,-the Divi sion in this operatio n was as follo ws:

"Land by parachute and glider comm encing D D^y South ofi^jme en; seize a nd ho 1 c! t he hi g hwa y br i d g e s a c r o s s t he>,ass Ri ver st G ra ve and '-Che Wa al River'- at Ki jm eg en ; seize,or ga ni ze , and hold tjfcie hi gh gro un d be twe en Ni,Imogen andGroe sbe ek; deny the roads in'the Divisio n area to theene my; and dominate the area1 bounded Nort h by line running f rom Be ek Wes t th rou gh Platert thenc e Sout hwes t to . Ei nd sc he st ra at , Soutir by Riv er iiass and the J :ook-Riethorst. highway, Host by Cleve-Kijmegen highway and Forst Rei chs wald,'and Vest.by line running Nort h and South throughEindschestraat. a

The first lift consisted of:Pr_cht GliderHq & Hq Co 82d A / B Div > 20Hq & ilq\ Bt ry Di v ^2 3 282d A / B Sig Co 6Btry jA 80th ^/B IL&. Bn 22307 ix/B "En&r Bn 27504 Prcht Inf 137505 Pxcht Inf 126508.Prcht Inf 130

325 Glider Inf 2376 Prcht 'F A Bn Ji . -.Total 482 50

All units dropped as planned except two serials of the505 Parachute Infantry, A mixuo in marshalling caused the 2dBattalion serial to drop before the 3d Battalion^serial, and esa consequence the' 2d Battalion serial was drooled two thousand-yards ivortheast of its scheclul@d drop zone,The entire flight was preceded by a pathfinder team," which1landed on DZ "0" ten minutes prior to the arrival of the firstelements of the main body, v/ith the exception in tne 505 Parachute Infantry indicated ab ove , all units landed on the drop zones,or in the immediate vicinity thereof, on schedule. Flak enroutev;as spotty and light. .FIGIC coming from DZ "0 " was initially heavybut inaccurate. The first parachutists to land destroyed all flakcrews and took over their weapons. IZ^emy dispositions along theMaas-Vaal Canal in the vicinity of all bridges and in the .woodedcountry around the N-ij-siegen heights and in the Reichswald were, asanticipated, well organized and of about a strength of eight battalions. Harassing fire continued to come from the edges of thedrop zones throughout all of the landings until overcome, inemyreaction was prompt and appeared to follow a definite pattern. Alllocal troops were committed immediately in 'piece meal fashion.Nearby "homeguard" type 'troops were thrown in ss quickly as theycould be rushed to the operational area his piece meal build upincreased until a coordinated a11ack wa s made by the German 6thPara. Division on D /4 .

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Local enemy u n it s were i n i t i a l l y overcome gnd destroy ed or , except.for those in th city of Nijmegen prop er, they -dispersed in thefi rs t several hours after, landin g. i-* day by day summary of the a c t i v i t i e s of each un it of the

D i v i s o n f o l l o w s : ( > ' ' <

Division parachute elements in four hundred and eighty-twoC~47's and a ser ia l of fifty glid ers le ft air po rts in the. areaof G-rantham, England, between 0950 and 1040. .,-,11 s e r ia l s exceptthose of 504 Parac hute Infa ntry landed-N orth, E ast, and South ,of Groesbeek, Ho lland, between 1250 and 1400. The s04 P arachuteIn fa ntry landed 'West of the Maas~V/aal Canal and North-, of th e MaasRiv er. All drop pa tte rn s were exc ellen t Personn el and equipmentlo ss es enrout sind during th drop were li g h t , and assembly wasthe be st in the histo ry of the Divisio n. '

Parac hute ' eleme^s~dropped'T3C61 glide rêlenlen te^lande d 1350 onzone South of Groeebeek,. moved-North through woods, and e s ta b li sh ed Div ision Command Po st a t predes.igna.ted l oc at io n 1000 yard sWest of G-roesbeeli a t 1700. .Parachute iInfantryDropped af te r the Path fin de rs a t 1300, ..seized Groesbeek, occupied i t s a rea of d efens ive r es po nsi b il it y from ji&mp Sou theast to Mook,cleared it s a rea of enemy, arid con tacte d 504 Parach ute In fa ntr yat the Maas-Waal Canal brid ge near Heuman. ,.11 i n i t i a l m issionswere accomplished by 2000,

504.(Py;3-chute InfantryDropped beg inn ing 131> ^ss-t of the Maas^v/aal Canal on th re e dropzones,, two North and one South of the- Haas id v e r. One ba tt a li o ndroped North east of O ver asse lt and at l6 Q 0 , after*, overcomingstr on g enemy re sis ta nc e* captu red i n ta c t the M&as-Waal Ganal br idg ea t Heuifan# The -si tes of the Canal brid ge s near Blankenberg andHatert.,.. bo-th of which had been destroyed by the enemy upon tineapproach 6f the ba tta lon , were captured before dark. One ba tta lio ndropped West of Cv er as se lt, blocked a l l Southward movement alongthe Grave~Nijmegen highway, and cleared the enemy from the Westernpo rtio n of the Division ar ea . One ba tta lio n dropped one r i f l ecompany South of the Haas at Gr^.ve and the balance of the battalionNorth of the river and>' ivest of 0verasse 1 1. Both 'forces movedag ai ns t the bridg e at G-rave immediately . Su rp ris e was completeand the br idge cap tured a t 1430, The town of C-rave was occupied-*a t 2300 af te r having been abandoned by 400 enemy. ^11 i n i t i a lmissio ns of 504 were accomplished by 1930.f8J?jr^huJke_I nfan taxDropped N or th el itô f G-roesbeek at 1328. Based on a report fromthe Dujbch that the tQwn and br id ge s were li gh tl y he ld, immediatelymoved in to Nijmegen to tak e the Waal Rive r .b ri dge s. At 2000 thea tt ack met heayy"enemy re si s ta nc e about 4G0 ya rds from the highwaybr idge and was stopped . The -regiment occup ied the ar ea imm ediately"Sast'of the Maas-Waal Canal and^c stab-lished road block s to p rev en tenemy mpvement South of a l in e running' Bast and 'west throughH at er t.' One company moved to c le ar the g lid er landing zone Northeas t of Groesbeek and met con side rabl e enemy res is ta n ce . Onebattalion, less a company, occupied the important high grou.net-inthe vi ci ni ty of Berg en Dal withou t too heavy an op po siti on . Onecompany advanced on the Bijmeên Bridges from the Southeast and at2400 had.reach ed H il l 64,% No rtheast of Ubberên. ~H i n i t i a lmis sion s of 508 were accomplished by 0 0


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^ p a r a c h u t e _ 4 . ^ y M i y ^ , J f iDropped 1335 on drop pone South of G-roesbeek, assembled thebattalion-with ten howitizers, and displaced 1000 yards to theposition area. The battalion, initially in support of 505Parachute Infantry, fired its first mission on call from theregiment at 1800 . . ;. _ . ,.^07 ^/B Engineer BattalionCompanies 3, 0, and*""D, &1JL parachute, dropiceS South of Groesbeek at 1320.* Companies 3 and D.furnished cover on routemarch to elements of Division Headquarters and protectedDivision Command Post when' it was. .established at 1715. Company C moved cout. to contact 504 Parachute Infantry West ofMias-Waal Qan al, . Battery^^^BOth^^B ,.>ntlair craftr Bat tallonEight 57mm AT guns allotted as follows: Two, 5'05 ParachuteInfantry;. Two , 503 Faraehuto Infantry; Two, 504 ParachuteInfantry upo& making coi.t ct; Two, Div-. si on reserve invicinity of Division Command Post.

504,Parachute f;nfantryContinued to hold th e Maas Kiver br idg e a t Grave and the Maas-Waal Canal bri dg e a t Heurnan, Vigorous p a tr o ll in g was. con tinued on the "'West' and Northwest of the r egi men tal area along theGravQ-Nii]meg6n highway, ,-,t 1200 one platoon moved North c^lpngthe W est bank of: the Maas-W&g-l Canal and a ss is te d in the ca p. tu re of ohe bri dg e on the C?raye~Ni jmegen highway near Itcninghu ti e ' .505 Parachu t InfantrvMaintained it s area' of defensive res po ns ibi lity % repelled enemyat ta ck s a t Hors t,. Grafwegsn, and H is th cr st ; captured an enemyp at ro l try in g to work i t s way North to the. Haas-Waal bridg e a tHeuman, and captured a train attempt-ing to escape.into Germany.Jt% 1240 the regiment attack ed and clea red the g lid er land ingzone South and Southeast of G-roesbeek.,50$ Parachute Infantry; 'Withdrew""b&t(t^lion' in NijrBegen and at ta ck ed to cl ea r the gli de r,lan ding zone No rtheast and E--st of G-rbesbeek.' The at ta ck c ro ss ed the sch eduled lin o of dep ar ture a t 1310,. completely sui^prisedthe. enemy, and the landing area was swept by 1400. Sixteen a n ti a ir cr af t guns and 149- pr iso ne rs of. war were cap ture d. Maintained1i t s defe nsive sec tor throughout the 18th , Wt 181200 a pla too n,with the a ss ist an ce of 504 Pa r-ch ute In fantry which advanced upthe Ma ag^ aa l Canal from the West, cap tured the Mass-Waal Canalbridg e a t Honingh utie. Regiment held the- high Oround vicinityBerg en Dal throughout the 18th against enemy patrols and spora^die enemy a r t i l l e r y ac ti on . One company moved in to Nijmegen a t0900, advanced to the same spot to which the regiment had reachedon the 17th , fought aga in st a stro ng enemy force through theen ti re day, and a t 1500'was withdrawn into the sec tor near Berge n D a l . . .

r Elem entj :Be tween 1000 and 1100 a l i f t of 45-0 gl id er s c arr yin g an a n t itank ba tte ry of the 80th k'/Q an tia irc ra ft Batta l ion , 319 GliderField Ar t i l lery B attal io n, 320 Glider Field ar t i l le ry Ba ttal io n,456 Parachute Field a rt il le ry Ba ttaH on, and 307 airborne-Med ical

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ny departed from fields in the Unite'd Kingdom and flewthe same route as tlie lift of the'previous day. Gliderslanded in. zones cleared bj the 505 Parachute Infantry and 508. Par-?'chute Infantry in the'vicinity o-f Groesbeek. Severalgliders overshot the landing zone alia landed""beyoncL the Dutch-German border, but a substantial number of personnel made theirway back to the Division area* The overall glider recoverywas very satisfactory c After landing and assembling, 319 Glider Field Artillery Battalion was put in direct support of508 Parachute:Infantry. 456 Parachute Field Artillery BattalionIn direct support of 505 Parachute Infantry, end 320 GliderField Artillery Battalion in general support of the Division."

Following the glider lift by 20 minutos, a flight of 135 B-24bombers dropped rosupply on drop -zone South of Groesbeek.. Droppattern was good. Recovery was estimated to be at 8Q;oa

Guards -.rmored Divisio n reache d Grave and the 504 Pa rac hu teInfantry at 0820,504 Parachu te Infan tryReglên tT l e s s one "company le f t .to gu&rd the b rid ge a t Grave,one company l e f t to guard each of th e Haas-Waal C^nal. br id ge sat- Keuman and Ko ning hut ie, and one company le f t to p a tr o l andguard the highway from Grave to the Hcni:rghutie bridge, wasmoved Ea st of the Maas~:{aal C^nal, ; relie ved 2d Ba ttali on 508Para chu te In fa nt ry , and occupied th e. Jonker Bosch Woods. 3dBattalion was moved to vic in it y Maiden as Division rese rve *IJi2iLJlx îSiiliteÎn_fanjtryRegiment, le ss 2d Ba ttal ion , maintained i t s sector of respons i b i l i t y on the South of t ;e Division a rea throughout th e 19th,2d Ba ttal ion 505 Parachu te Infan tryA tt ac hed to Guards -Armored 'Divis ion a t 191100 and moved Northto ass au lt the Ni3megen br id ge s. The ba tt al io n reached theedge of Nijmegen v/ithout incident and, in moving through theou ts ki rt s of the town, received only ar ti ll er y f ir e . When thebattalion reached the center of the town, on e company supportedby seven tanks turned^ Northwest and moved a gai nst the ra ilr oa db ri dg e. The balanc e of the be tt-3liony. the remainder of thetanks of the 2d Ba ttB lion Grenadie r Guard s,-and one company of'B ri tis h ..rmored Infan try advanced ag ain st the highway b rid ge .The as sa u lt w^s stopped at the Maria p le in , cibcut 400 yar dsSouth-of the tetidge; . vi ole nt engagement la st in g throughoutthe evening..and nig ht of th e 19th fai le d to- break the stro ngenemy def ensiv e, ar c , snd &t midnight acti vity co nsi ste d ofpa tr ol li ng Into the strong poin t -nd mortaring it from thecemetery South of the friendly po siti on s*

Held lan din g zone Est of Groesbeek- u n t i l 1800. Cleare d enemyfrom and occupied high ground aIons Nijffioson-Gieve highwaybetween Ubherp;en and -'tfyler..- E st ab li sh ed ro ad b loc ks a t W yler,Beek, and Im Thai . Reliev ed by 504 Pa rach ute In fa ntr y in JonkrBosch and occupied ^sector between Kamp and Vo xh ill . Rein force dSeek road b lock w ith p la to on of Gomp3..rr7 D, 30? A/B> EngineerBat t a l i on ; rcp&bled counterattacks against Teufeis Berg throughou t en t i r e day.

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Attached Units v . 1st Coldstream Gu ards , Armored, end , 5th Coldstream Guards, Infantryattached t& Division and moved to Dekkerswald in Division Re servet'Re supply.'Dropped at"1 500, approximately 30 C-47fs from excessively high altitude', recovery negligible'.

Ti "OT TTfi O O OTP lirTTOc jL J

5 04 Pars chute- InfantryWith. 2d Irish Guards attached, cleared area between Jonker Boschand Waal Ri ver. 3d Battalion relieved as Division Reserve.. Regimentat 1500 effected crossing of Waal River East of Mass?- at 1800 captured North end of railroad bridge over the Waal River, seized andcleared bridgehead North of Waal.insuring passage of Guards ArmoredDivision. Mopped up Western outskirts of Ni.i&egen and area South ofrailroad bridge, . .505 Parachute Infantry .Regimentf less 2d "Eeittalion, repelled sharp enemy attack at Horstand Heikant during morning. Prom 1300 to 2000 repelled at Mook enemyattack of an infantry regiment strongly supported by artillery"afterattack had penetrated Division perimeter to depth of 1000 yards on a1000 yard front. Division perimeter restored at 2000. Regiment reinforced with attachment of 185 glider pilots.2d Battalion 505 Pare, chute InfantryAttacked enemy "strong" point's la t So-at hern ends of Nijmegen bridges.during morning. At 1400 stormed strong point South of highway bridgecleared area of enemy, and reached bridge by 17C0. Eirst tank ofGrenadier Guards crossed 1830.50B Parachute InfantryAttacked "at lOocTaif Wyler by one company of enemy infantry movingNorth and two companies of enemy Infantry moving South, all supportedby artillery and armor. Porced to withdraw to high ground to West.Enemy immediately occupied Im Thai and Lsgewald. Attacked a Beekat 1200 "DJ 2 battalions of enemy parachutists .supported by armoredvehicles, .and forced to withdraw 1000 yards to high ground to Southwest. By counterattack drove enemy from and reoccupied Eeek at 21^0.Attacked again at Beek 2300 bv enemy now reinforced and compelled towithdraw,, leaving & detachment surrounded by the enemy In the town.Captured document-from prisoner of war which revealed that enemyattacks at Moo k, Be ek, ,#nd Wyler were part of a coordinated Divisionattack intended.to split Division area and sever the Grave-NIjmegenhighway.'Attached IJhlfesSherwood Rangers Yeomanry and one squadron of the Roy als , Its reconnaissance unit, attached to Division at 1700 and moved into Dekkerswald. ,

p PLTIS 4; 21 SEPTEMBER

504 Parachute Infantry,- Continued"'defense "of bridgehead over Waal and on mission of moppingup South bank of Waal from outskirts of Hijmegen to Haas-Waal Canal,

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5,05 Parachutfi Infantry (less^ 2d Battalion) Continued to hold defensive sector on Soixth of Division area fromSamp to Mcok. ' ,- ' . ' ~2d Battrlion 505 Psracliute InfantryRelieved "of mission of" close In defense of Ni(imegen bridges andassumed defense of line from Eastern exits of Nijmegen to Ubbergen.508 Parachute Infantry . ' > 'CounteraVfcackeaTBeek at first light from Northeast, East and Southeast. '.Initial attack: foiled, and enem-;r, pressing his temporaryadvantage, penetrated to within 200 yards of Eerg en Dal, but washeld there. Attack.renewed.at 1300, and at 1800 Beek cleared of .enemy and all defenses reestablished, .R e s u p p l y . "At 1500'supplies dropped from approximately 400 C-47?s on drop zoneWest of the'Maes-Waal Canal, prop pattern wss. six miles in lengthby two miles in width. Recovery est lifted at 60$ was accomplishedwith assistance of Dutch civilians,

5Q4 Parachute Infantry (less 2cL Battalion)Relieved1 of mission'to Hijmegen bridgehead and displaced to^Dekkerswald as Division Reserve.2d Battalion 504 Parachute InfantryRelieved 2d Battalion 505 "Para"chute Infantry in s ector betweenNipieger. and Ubbergen and, upon Division order, with Royals, clearedby 1700 area between Nijmegen-Cleve highway and vraal River .East toline Ubbergen - Pals.505 .Parachute Infantry (less 2d Battalion)Reestablished 'road block at Mook. Witvh Royals, reconnoitered toRiethorst and found road clear of enemy.2d Battalion 505 Pars chute Infantry .Relieved in Nijmegen - Ubbergen sector by 2d Battalion 504 ParachuteInfantry, reverted to regimental control, end relieved ColdstreamGuards af Heuisen Bridge. . - 508 Parachute Infantry Held Wyler Berg throughout day and night against persistent enemycounterattacks. With one company-Royals attached, effected a reconnaisssnce in force to Wercheren and high ground V'est of Srlekom.Met strong resistance and withdrew to high ground vicinity Berg enDa 1, ' " .Attached-UnitsColdstreem Guards; relieved to attached to this Division and movedSouth to Vegel to1 restore line of communication of Second BritishArmy * . '


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On tills date the third glider lift of the Division took: off fromsix airfields in the Greptham~Cottesmore ha ng ar area bearing325Glider Infantry; 80th A/ Anticiroraft Battalion, less BatteriesA and B; Company A 307 A/B Engineer Battalion; and elements ofDivision Special Troops, and landed on end in the vicinity of LZ"()". A-number''of glider?g did not land on the proper landing zone;gtwo l n d e d i n England anetv'eed t>etv'een ththeewo landed-in England, an< forty-three were ncoast aud the LZ. 'Ten gliders ere- still unaccounted for. Innedistely ";)on landing, the 325.Glider Infantry was closed in the owooes West of Groesbeek preparatory to taking u"o a sector on thef r o n t . . ' ' ~

D PIUS' 7 to D PIUS 30

The Division continued on its mission -assigned by 30 Corps of holding :the area between the Waal River and the Haas River , with its .::-front generally that of I) plus 6. ' njhs 325 Glider Infantry cleanedout the larger portion of. the Eleicberg Woods*and advanced the rightflank of the Division. ; '

OF 17 SJ;;PE.IBEK TO l60CT0BSHa. Parachute Lift .Planes coiiiniitted i~S2'

Bro'Toed on or v/ithin 1000 yards of 1)7, 39.2.Failed to drop on or within 1000 yards of DZ .52 10.SUnaccounted for 0 0t>. . Glider Lifts __

Gliders committed 90 2Landed on or v/ithin 1000 yards of LZ 763 SL .6Failed to land on or within 1000 yards of LZ 102 11.3Unaccounted for 37 4 . 1 Our l o s s e sKi l l e d 469 3 .4Wounded 1933 14.0Missing 640 4.7

K i l l e d . 2490Prisoners of War 2977Results QAll missions accomDlished

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WWII 82nd Airborne - Holland Report