The 551^st Parachute Infantry Battalion

by Les Hughes

Panama

The 1^st Battalion, 551^st Parachute Infantry Regiment (Reinf.) was activated 26 November 1942 at Fort Kobbe, Canal Zone.¹ No other elements of the Regiment would be activated, and the unit, which would operate as an independent battalion, is generally known as the 551^st Parachute Infantry Battalion (PIB).²

At the time of its activation, the battalion consisted of a single company of men from the 501^st PIB. When the 501^st left the Canal Zone for Australia (to become the 2^nd Battalion, 503^rd PIR), Company C remained at Fort Kobbe as Company C, 1^st Battalion, 551^st PIR.³ At the same time, the balance of the battalion was forming in the “Frying Pan,” and it is there the battalion’s story really begins.

The Frying Pan, a part of Fort Benning separate from the Parachute School, was the home of the Parachute School Replacement Pool. Although a few of its personnel would be jump trained in Panama, and a handful would join the unit later in Sicily, the 551^st was formed mainly from graduates of classes 42, 43, and 44 of the First Parachute Training Regiment at Fort Benning. Each weekend a new class graduated from the Parachute School, and a portion of the class joined the growing battalion. In the meantime, life in the Frying Pan consisted mainly of a rigorous program of physical training.

Sgt. Don Garrigues : “It had more or less been expected that the battalion would begin scheduling 10-day furloughs along about this time. This had been pretty much the standard practice for those who had graduated from jump school. As each day passed and no furloughs were given, this became the major topic of every gripe session. It even took precedence over gripes about the food, which was saying a lot because the food was terrible and seemed to be getting worse all the time…

“Our hopes for furloughs went down the drain when, on the morning of December 8^th, the entire battalion was called out for formation in the rain and mud where we were told by the commanding officer that we would soon be leaving the continental limits of the United States. The approximately 450 men were told not to write or send anything home, and we were restricted to the limits of our area. Later, when we were allowed to write, all of our outgoing mail was censored.

“We were issued new combat jumpsuits and steel helmets. The helmets had liners and chin straps specially designed for parachutists. We stamped and identified each piece of clothing with the initial of our last name and the last four digits of our Army serial number. Any man with tattoos had to report to the medical area where any markings that would identify them as paratroopers were surgically removed or obliterated with additional tattoos. This was doubly painful to most of the guys as they had just paid to have them put on right after graduating from jump school.

“We left Fort Benning on the night of December 11^th , taking one last look at the most predominant feature there—the parachute training towers. The Southern Railway provided our transportation.

“…Our troop train traveled through South Carolina, North Carolina and into Virginia. We passed through Richmond and ended up at Camp Patrick Henry, which was near Newport News, arriving there on December 13.”⁴

While Camp Patrick Henry served as the port of embarkation, it was, in a practical sense, more of the Frying Pan. A full training schedule was instituted and camp security was rigidly enforced. All members of the battalion were restricted to camp. No one could wear uniforms or special insignia that would identify the wearer as a paratrooper.

T/5 Dan Morgan: “Something special happened to us at Camp Patrick Henry. We could not see it then—it was one of those little things: the addition of ‘Furlough’ to our ranks. She was a shorthaired dachshund, colored black and tan, and just a pup. Some of our men took her out of the yard of the port commander, and Jim Heffernan became her keeper—at risk of court-martial. Furlough would become one of the everlasting bonds that would hold us together, brothers in life and death.”⁵

Pfc Jim Heffernan: “They swiped her out of somebody's yard. They had been drinking. She couldn't have been but 10 weeks old. I can’t remember who got her. We got to the dock and started loading. Phil Hammack hid my gas mask in his barracks bag and I stuffed Furlough in the empty carrier. I left her nose poking out of the side of it until we started up the gangway, then I pushed her head in and hoped she wouldn't start squealing. She was discovered but the boat had left by then. The Colonel said he would take care of everything and he looked out for her after that...”⁶

On 27 December, the battalion, with Major Wood Joerg commanding, left Newport News aboard the troop ship USS Joseph T. Dickman and sailed for Fort Kobbe, Canal Zone, where it arrived six days later.

Fort Kobbe was a fairly new facility. Located near the ocean and the Canal's Miraflores Locks, it boasted a new airfield, Howard Field, as well as a battery of 18-inch naval guns. For the next eight months, Fort Kobe would be home for both the 551^st and the 550^th Airborne Infantry Battalion. (The 550^th Airborne Infantry Battalion was not a paratrooper unit. Originally intended to be an air-landed unit, i.e., one that would be flown to, and land on, captured airfields, the unit was used in combat as glider infantry.)

Drilling in Panama's heat (C. Fairlamb)

Immediately upon the battalion’s arrival at Fort Kobbe, Major Joerg was confronted with a problem. The officers of Company C, 501^st PIB, who had remained at Kobbe to be part of the 551^st, believing that they were the nucleus of the new battalion and that those coming from the States to join them were, in effect, fillers, had set up a complete battalion organization, from battalion commander on down. Major Joerg, the commanding officer of the “fillers,” had a different view of the situation. (Joerg would rise to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and is referred to as “the Colonel” by those who served under him.)

T/5 Dan Morgan: “A few serious mistakes were made at the very outset, the most regrettable of which was probably the Colonel's negative response to preparations made for him in Panama by the officers and men of Company C of the 501^st Battalion. This apparent slight may have been caused by feelings of insecurity, for the Colonel was then only 27 and this was his first overseas command. The slight feeling of unease that it generated between the 400 of us newcomers and 125 old guard then at Fort Kobbe was to last until we returned to the States eight months later. From that point on we were as one. Unfortunately, as a result of this incident, we lost one very good and dedicated officer: Bill Hickman. We GOYA's have to remember him because, in addition to been an outstanding officer, he was technically the first commanding officer of the 551^st.”⁷ (The respect that Dan Morgan accords William Hickman is noteworthy in light of the treatment Mr. Hickman receives in Gregory Orfalea’s book.⁸)

Wood G. Joerg (West Point class of 1937) was a strict disciplinarian who set high standards of performance for the Battalion. Respected by the battalion’s officers, although somewhat aloof from them, he was, in time, revered by the enlisted men.

The Colonel was given to calling the men his “birds.” Someone applied the Army's penchant for acronyms to one of the Colonel's favorite expressions, “get off your ass!”, and soon the men were referring to themselves as “GOYA birds,” or simply GOYAs. The nickname stuck.

Almost immediately upon arriving at Fort Kobe, the battalion embarked upon an extensive training program stressing physical conditioning, weapons proficiency, and, especially, jungle warfare and survival. The men were issued machetes and learned to use them for clearing their way through the jungle as well as for weapons.

The mission of the 550^th and 551^st at Fort Kobe was to provide a mobile strike force to protect the Panama Canal, and to deploy, if necessary, to Central American and Caribbean countries whose governments were at risk of being overthrown by pro-Nazi factions or that were providing aid and comfort to the Nazi’s U-Boat activities in the region.⁹ Security measures were instituted to minimize publicity regarding the presence of the units and their mission. The men's outgoing mail was censured to remove any indication of their location or their mission. The unit's address during this period was simply APO 832, c/o Postmaster, New Orleans, La.¹⁰

But on one occasion it was decided to publicize the battalion's presence and its combat readiness. Near the end of its stay in Panama, the battalion was turned out for a special review in Balboa for the president of Columbia. It was part of an American psychological warfare effort to destabilize the Vichy (pro-Nazi) administration governing the French island of Martinique, where, it was suspected, German U-boats were being resupplied. So serious was the American concern with Martinique that, on 13 May, the 550^th and 551^st were put on standby for an invasion of the island. The psychological pressure generated by the preparations was enough to topple the Vichy administration of the island, and the invasion was called off.

Gearing up for a practice jump in Panama. (C. Fairlamb)

In July rumors began to circulate that the battalion would be leaving Fort Kobbe. The rumors proved true, and on 20 August 1943 both the 550^th and 551^st boarded a troop ship and sailed from the Canal Zone. The speculation among the men was that they were bound for New York and then overseas, but the ship steamed into the Pacific and headed north. Ten days later, the battalion disembarked in San Francisco.

The voyage was marked by an incident that served to enhance the Colonel's popularity with the enlisted men. Furlough, the battalion's dachshund mascot, was smuggled aboard the troop ship, but her presence was soon discovered by the crew.

Capt. Ed Hartman: “A crewman, acting on the orders of the Master-at-Arms, attempted to throw Furlough overboard in compliance with Army Transport Service regulations, which prohibited animals accompanying troops. The crewman was immediately surrounded by a group of very quiet but angry troopers who made him realize that if Furlough went over the side, so would he.”¹¹

T/5 Dan Morgan: “At this point our Colonel called on the Master and a face-down and potential mass mutiny were avoided. Feelings were running high at that moment. It is possible that if the master of the vessel had attempted to have furlough thrown over, we would've taken over the ship. We were in no mood for games. So the Master wisely decided to bide his time until we got to San Francisco and then turned the matter over to the port authorities. The Colonel risked a court-martial and the loss of his of command over the incident. These were the things that marked him as our own.”¹²

Camp Mackall

On 3 September, the 550^th and 551^st boarded troop trains for a five-day cross-country trip that would take them to their new home, Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Camp Mackall, a temporary facility for airborne troops, was only eight months old when the 551^st arrived. (Closed in 1945, Camp Mackall today is again active and serves as a site of US Special Forces training.)

T/5 Dan Morgan: “A few weeks after our arrival, the Colonel arranged for our battalion to do the first experimental mass parachute jumps ever made from gliders. Notices appeared on the Company bulletin board calling for volunteers, and signature sheets immediately filled to overflowing, for we badly needed something to do.”¹³

Waiting to board gliders at Laurinburg-Maxton AAB. (C. Fairlamb)

Major Bill Holm: “Our Battalion pioneered the technique of snatching a glider, with troops, off the ground. And, of course, we tested the concept of jumping the battalion from C-47s and gliders simultaneously, with each C-47 pulling two gliders. We made a close pattern on the ground.”¹⁴

S/Sgt Jim Stevens: “We began making glider jumps. One of the problems was that we jumped from both doors of a glider. If one stick went out faster than the other, then the glider tended to heal over on one wing. It was important that both sides went out at the same time. Also, the anchor line fasteners and other pieces of hardware used in the gliders were substandard and would sometimes break loose.”¹⁵ (When jumping, the men were organized into groups of about 18 called “sticks.”)

A pose before boarding gliders, Camp Mackall.

T/Sgt Bob Van Horrsen: “I heard that when Sergeant Blaiszik jumped (he was pretty big) he pulled the anchor line cable right out of the glider with him. I was in that same glider and he was the last man out.”¹⁶

T/5 Dan Morgan: “That happened more than once. The cable bracket would pull out of the glider from the bulkhead. Fortunately, the cable bracket U-bolt remained fixed to the anchor line cable end, thus retaining all the anchor-line snap fasteners. When these particular gliders landed, the anchor-line cables were hanging out of their doors with all the static lines bunched at the end of the cable.”¹⁷

Paratrooper-laden gliders being towed from Camp Mackall airstrip. (C. Fairlamb)

When the 551^st left Fort Kobbe, it was a highly-trained, combat-ready unit, and it was into combat the men expected to be sent. Instead, they found themselves at Camp Mackall in what seemed to be an endless training program. Morale deteriorated, and to complicate matters, Lt. Col. Joerg left the battalion early in the fall of 1943 to assume command of the new 542^nd PIB, a unit that was intended to become a regiment. His replacement was Lt. Col. Rupert D. Graves, a career soldier and West Point graduate (class of 1925).

As morale continued to deteriorate, the incidence of AWOLs increased. Rumors began to circulate that the battalion would be broken up and the men assigned to other airborne units then at Mackall.

T/5 Dan Morgan: “Colonel Graves decided to correct our bad attitudes by force. ...One of the unusual after effects of Colonel Graves's efforts at reconstructing the 551^st has been the dramatic difference in the attitudes towards this well-intentioned commander of his officers on the one hand, and the men on the other...

“... the officers' view of Colonel Graves suggests a very mature, well-intentioned, likable, professional and tough-minded career officer. From our view he was distant, abusive, grossly unfair, inept and probably temporary. He had no charisma and seemed not to care. We could sense the threat we were to his career. We would have shaped up for him had he asked us in the right way, I think, but he was in the saddle and that was evidently not his way. Perhaps too much of the stick and too little of the carrot.”¹⁸

A 5-mile run each morning before breakfast was instituted in an effort, it was believed, to generate sufficient pressure within the ranks to reduce the AWOL rate. The tactic might have been effective with a new unit, but the men the 551^st were now a close-knit family, and the resulting hostility was directed a Colonel Graves.¹⁹

T/5 Dan Morgan: “In any event, we were restricted, furloughs were abolished, our noncoms were reduced in rank and minor infractions were dealt with summarily and harshly. We finally had over 200 over men in the post stockade.”²⁰

It was during this period the battalion was notified that it would be making a night jump—its first. Such training was considered essential because of the belief that daylight airborne operations in hostile territory would incur unacceptably high casualty rates.

Before a practice jump, Camp Mackall.

All four companies of the battalion were to jump simultaneously onto a drop zone 1600 feet wide and 2000 feet long, bounded on each side by a small lake or reservoir. Control of the jump was taken from the jumpmasters and given to the pilot or copilot, who would activate a red light and then a green light, indicating stand-by and jump.

At 1915 hrs on 16 February, the planes took off in conditions of light rain and mist. At 2030 hours the battalion began its jump.

Capt. Ed Hartman: “The Troop Carrier unit became disoriented during the final approach to the DZ and dropped the battalion over the western part of North Carolina. A major element of the drop went into a forested area. There was a lake in the center, and due to visibility conditions that night, the lake appeared to be the only cleared area, so the jumpers, as they descended, tried to slip in that direction.”²¹

1st Sgt. Bill Lumsden: “Well, we made a night jump and I was the last man out of the plane. It was a very, very dark night, and of course, our jump was controlled by the pilot or copilot. They turned on the switch and we went on the buzzer or light or whatever. When we jumped you couldn't see anything on the ground at all. It was absolutely pitch black, so that we were on the ground or in the water, as the case may be, before anyone could even see what was going on, so they didn't have a chance to slip out of their chutes. Being the last man, I landed in fairly shallow water and so I got out OK. So much of the rest of it is rather sketchy. I remember how terrible it was to come back to the barracks afterwards and to realize that much of my platoon was gone.”²²

Capt. Jud Chalkey: “It was about day light when we fished the first body out of the water. He was obviously dead, but his buddy was there with him. He kept saying, ‘help him Doc, he ain’t dead.’ I tried to convince him—rigor mortis had already set in—but he was really beside himself. We finally got him calmed down somehow. That was a hard thing to see.”²³

T/5 Dan Morgan: “The jump was a sad one for the battalion, for nine very good troopers were lost, eight of them being drowned in Reservoir South and one killed on landing. The jump was made with full combat load, so that the men who hit the reservoir went right to the bottom. One-man landed in about 7 feet of water and survived by repeatedly jumping up, gasping a lung full of air and then taking several steps towards shore along the bottom. At least 40 men landed in Reservoir South, and it is surprising that the cost was not higher.”²⁴

S/Sgt Jim Stevens: “At that time we were probably the oldest airborne unit there at Mackall and they didn't want the younger men to see the bodies, so we took care of everything ourselves. We got them all out and buried them with honors.”²⁵

T/5 Dan Morgan: “Drew Pearson, who for many years wrote a nationally published column called The Washington Merry-Go-Round, was advised of our unfortunate drownings at Camp Mackall. Pearson had been pushing for some time to get the armed services to adopt the British quick-release parachute harness, and in his column dated 17 April 1944 he noted that Colonel C. B. Degavre, second in command at Camp Mackall, came to Washington in March, following our accident. The Colonel's trip was made in order to secure the procurement of the British type harnesses for the U.S. Army paratroopers. Thus, it would seem that our men did not die entirely in vain, for the quick release harness was eventually adopted.”²⁶ (Modification of the T-5 parachute harness to accommodate a quick-release mechanism did not begin until after D-Day and appears to have been driven not by this tragedy but by the experiences of paratroopers who made the Normandy jump.)

On 23 March, Lt. Col. Joerg returned to take command of the Battalion and Lt. Col. Graves departed. (Graves would rise to the rank of colonel and command the 517^th PRCT, which role would again bring him into contact with the 551^st.) Almost immediately upon taking command, Joerg paid a visit to the nearly 200 members of his battalion confined to stockade (nearly all of them for having gone AWOL). He spoke to the men, ending his brief speech with a request for a show of hands from those who would pledge on their word of honor not to go AWOL if allowed to return to the battalion. A few minutes later, after gathering their belongings, the men marched back to the battalion.

Italy

The 550^th and 551^st boarded Liberty ships and sailed east out of Norfolk on 23 April 1944. Accompanying the men of the 551^st was the battalion's mascot, Furlough, whose passage had been arranged in advance by Lt. Col. Joerg. By the end the first week of June, the elements of the battalion had assembled in Naples.

Shortly after arriving in Italy, the battalion underwent a reorganization that converted Headquarters Company into a heavy weapons company; formed a Headquarters Detachment from the battalion’s staff and administrative personnel, and a Service Company Detachment to provide logistical services.²⁷

Initially, the battalion was to join the fighting at the Anzio beachhead, but rather than boarding a troopship, the men were loaded into old 40x8 railcars and soon were rolling south through the Italian countryside, away from the front. The battalion’s destination was Camp Wright, near Trapani, Sicily, and more training. (At least one of the 551^st veterans recalled that the battalion was tasked with establishing a jump school at Camp Wright.²⁸ This is an interesting claim, as the Fifth Army had established its jump school near Trapani, at Camp Kurtz, about six months earlier, and moved that facility to a location near Rome at about the same time the 551^st relocated to Lido di Roma.²⁹)

Although the battalion did not go to the Anzio front, one of its members did.

Sgt Bill Hatcher: “Joe Edgerly was an unforgettable person. After all, how many of us would go AWOL to the front? Joe was almost a perfect physical specimen: very muscular, adventuresome, carefree and gung ho. So when we got to Italy Joe went AWOL from the battalion, I think while we were in Naples, before we went to Sicily for training. He was gone a few days, maybe four, and then came back to the battalion. At this time he was not in Company B so I got to see him less frequently. The next time I saw him I mentioned that he had done this and I asked him why. He said he just had to find out what combat was like. He had gone up to the Fifth Army front. That would have been in early June 1944. To me that is derring-do of the highest order.”³⁰ (Edgerly would be killed in action during the Southern France campaign.)

In Sicily the intensity of the training increased.

S/Sgt Charlie Fairlamb: “The training in Sicily was the toughest in the world. They gave us no rest at all. We would go along on a hot night and they would tell you to empty your canteen. Then they would put a guard on any available water and make you hike for eight hours with full load, carrying all equipment, without water. I can recall lying on the ground trying to get dew off the grass, but there wasn't any. You couldn't chew gum or anything, it would just stick. We had pills that would keep you awake for a couple of days—benzedrine—but I never took any because I figured I might get to a place where I would be able to sleep.”³¹

T/5 Jack Affeck: “The training went along pretty well until they tried an experiment with benzedrine. It was supposed to make you very alert and give you extra strength. So we took one pill each and started out on a 20-mile hike. It was just great, and we were really moving along at a great pace. That was at night, and we were to go the 20 miles and then go into a simulated assault; however, by the time we got there the stuff had worn off and everybody was just completely pooped. I guess they decided the stuff wasn't so great after all.”³²

Major Ray Hermann: “After four weeks in Sicily, during which we became brown as natives and hard as nails, we again boarded boxcars and headed for the vicinity of Rome. I missed the train trip that time, having been chosen to take our small convoy to the new base. We had two beautiful camps there—first on the shore of Lake Albano, and then at Lido di Roma, which once was a swanky beach resort southwest of Rome. We had a hotel there, and a couple of villas on the beach for quarters. We cleared a path through the German-laid minefields so we could swim, and we made the occasional trip into Rome. Life was good. It wasn't all play, of course. It was at Lido that we were told we were to jump into South France as part of the First Airborne Task Force. That meant the study of maps and aerial photos, making sand table models of the area we planned to hit, packing of parachutes and equipment, and more training with a specific objective in view.”³³

Southern France

After the fall of Sicily in August 1943, the focus of Allied planning fell on Western Europe. A plan was proposed that included two invasions of France, one from the north, Operation OVERLORD, and one from the South, Operation ANVIL. By drawing German troops away from the north of France, ANVIL would help ensure the success of OVERLORD.

Before ANVIL could be implemented, it was first necessary to drive the Germans out of Italy, and that proved to be a much more protracted undertaking than Allied planners had envisioned. As a result, ANVIL was scrapped and OVERLORD proceeded as scheduled but without the aid of a diversionary of invasion of the South of France.

Soon after the Normandy invasion, Eisenhower pressed for the invasion of southern France. President Roosevelt accepted Eisenhower's arguments over the strong dissent of Churchill, who favored a thrust into the Balkans. Thus was ANVIL, now codenamed DRAGOON, resurrected.

DRAGOON, scheduled for 15 August 1944, was to consist of an amphibious landing by three US infantry divisions (the 3^rd, 36^th , and 45^th) and an airborne assault by a new division-size force, the First Airborne Task Force, commanded by Major General Robert T. Frederick and comprising the British 2^nd Independent Parachute Brigade and all the separate American airborne units in the Mediterranean Theater: the 509^th PIB, 517^th PRCT, 550^th AIB, and the 551^st PIB. A platoon from the 887^th Engineer Company (Glider) was attached to the 551^st for the operation.

Sgt. Don Garrigues: “A unit specially trained in camouflage work set up camp near our building one day and began the task of spray painting every jumpsuit and piece of equipment in colors of green and black. One platoon at a time was taken through the process, which consisted of placing a box over our heads and being spray painted all over. Our weapons and equipment were placed to one side and gone over systematically by two men with spray guns. It was a hurried job, but the effects were very good.”³⁴

Waiting to board aircraft for the invasion of southern France. (C. Fairlamb)

Cpl. John “Mel” Clark: “About a week before South France D-Day we got our clothing, guns and equipment camouflaged and ready. We left our college there in Lido di Roma by truck and went to the airfield north of Rome. Then we spent three days resting up, sleeping, swimming, going to movies and getting the 'big picture'—aerial photos, sand tables, maps, the works! The Colonel made sure every man was familiar with the whole operation. His assembly flag was the flag of the Confederate states. At 1300 we ate a big meal, put on our war paint, donned our camouflage suits and attached everything but the kitchen sink to us and walked about a mile to the planes.”³⁵

With the exception of the 551^st, the airborne units of the Task Force (and the pathfinders of the 551^st) parachuted into southern France during the predawn hours of 15 August. The men of the 551^st jumped from their planes over DZ/LZ A, near Le Motte, at 1809 hrs. The gliders of the 550^th soon followed. (Jumping with the 551^st was the Red Cross representative to the Task Force, David de Varona, whose daughter Donna would win two swimming gold medals at the 1964 Olympics.)

Capt. Jud Chalkey: “I was jumpmaster of our stick. It consisted mostly of mortar and bazooka men from Battalion HQ. The panorama of the invasion as we flew over the beachhead was a magnificent sight. You could see the assault boats going in and the guys crawling on the beaches. The battleships were firing and the battle was in full swing. We were flying at about 2000 feet but you could smell the cordite. We had just six minutes from the time we got to the shoreline until we were to jump. We got the red light, the plane dropped down some, and then lifted as we came in for the drop. So when the green light came on, the deck was sloping upward and the men had to climb a bit to get to the door. The pilot had to rev up his engines because of the upward slant of the terrain below. We were probably going 120 when we went out the door. That's when just about everything you were carrying that weighed anything tore loose and went flying. Panels blew; men lost their equipment. It was a very hard opening shock.”³⁶

551st jumps into southern France, 15 August 1944. (Signal Corps)

Lt. Col. (eventually Lt. Gen.) William Yarborough, CO of the 509^th PIB: “Your outfit came in at 1800. We got in there about 0430, before dawn. I saw the whole thing and the best drop of all was yours. It was beautifully done, there wasn't any doubt about it. Your battalion's role in the South France operation was a classic. Strategically it was for the purpose of taking the heat off the right flank of the Seventh Army, along with the other units of the First Airborne Task Force. In a larger sense, the operation was intended to keep the German coastal forces from getting north and impeding the movement of Allied forces across northern France. It was a beautiful use of the airborne. Also, the nature of the terrain and the situation in the South of France was such that regular, heavy infantry outfits would have had a lot more difficulty in accomplishing those missions. The airborne was more flexible. For instance, we chased the enemy up into the Maritime Alps and then deployed along the passes in small groups and engaged in mountain warfare. You couldn’t expect a regular infantry outfit to do that to the degree that we did.”³⁷

T/5 Dan Morgan: “It was our moment of glory. We had rolled the dice with the German—a broad daylight jump right in his backyard. We won. It was amazing. We took maybe five serious injuries and two killed, and we had over 800 men, combat ready and in position, waiting for the word to go. All our training was about to pay off.”³⁸

The battalion moved out toward its next objective: the city of Drauguignan, population 10,000. The city, headquarters for a German Army Corps, was garrisoned by a force of about 750 soldiers.

Capt. Ed Hartman: “On D+1 we were visited by a lovely French lady who bicycled in from the town of Drauguignan, which was about six miles to our north. She reported that the German troops who had garrisoned Drauguignan had evacuated the town under FFI sniper fire after observing our parachute landing. She said they had marshaled outside the town and were preparing to move back in, and that severe measures would probably be taken against the population in reprisal for the sniper fire. The Colonel was on a reconnaissance mission then, so the battalion staff relayed the information to HQ, First Airborne Task Force.”³⁹

Major Ray Hermann: “The day after the jump into South France the 551^st was able to shift from the defense to the offense. This is the way it happened. Ed Hartman, Battalion S-2, got word that the German troops had pulled out of Drauguignan and that French flags had been unfurled in the city. Now, the S-2 was told, the Germans were returning to the city and the French patriots would be placed in a precarious position. In the absence of the Colonel, the Battalion Executive Officer radioed the information to Task Force Hq. When the Colonel returned to our command post, the order from Task Force was waiting for him: ‘Hold present position with minimum force. Attack and seize Drauguignan.’”⁴⁰

S/Sgt Charlie Fairlamb: "On D+2 we took Drauguignan in one most grueling marches I've ever been on. Instead of going up the road into the city, which was about mile, we went around on the flank and up and down terraces. We got into the city at 0200 and the men could hardly stand up. It was pitch dark and we hadn't made a sound getting into town. Parties were organized to round up the Krauts and that night we got about 500.

“About 0400 we laid down in the streets to sleep, and imagine the surprise of the inhabitants when they saw their town full of GIs in the morning. The people were wonderful to us. They kissed us, hugged us and cried over us. We were a very sorry-looking sight after only two hours rest. The women came and mended our clothes and brought us water to wash in and did everything they could for us. They had no idea we were coming until the afternoon before, when we had quite a battle on the outskirts of the town.

“We set up our mortars in the town square and fired all day and night. Snipers were very active on the rooftops but no one paid very much attention to them. Most of the mortar platoon was lined up along the curb as the tanks came into town. They were sure they were the first and had quite a good reception, but when they got to the square and saw all of us already there, their faces dropped. We stood there and cheered them just like the civilians.”⁴¹

Cpl. Joe Cicchinelli: “The next day the battalion moved in. While we were going to the town I went in a cave behind the German headquarters and found four big burlap bags with German and French currency—it was probably their payroll. There was also some beer and cognac. I told some of the guys who were there with me to take the beer for the officers and keep the cognac for the enlisted men. Then we threw the sacks in a truck and took off down the street. I was in the back and as we drove along, I threw all the money out into the streets of Drauguignan, by the handfuls. People came from all over and picked it up, and that was the end of the German payroll. Boy, were we heroes!”⁴²

The presence of the Americans emboldened the French; everyone, it seemed, wanted to be a part of the act.

Sgt. Carl Noble: “Then we ran into this little French kid about 13 who was carrying a big 10-gauge shotgun. The guys kidded him, saying that if he ever fired it he would wind up over in Italy, so he motioned for us to come with him and shows us an old mattress. He turned the thing over and there was a dead German officer with a big hole in him. That kid had done him in good.”⁴³

A patrol of 14 men was led to a large château by a prisoner who reported that it housed an important headquarters. The squad, which was carrying two machine guns and a bazooka, surprised and overwhelmed the German perimeter defense. After a brief but intense firefight, during which several bazooka rounds were fired into the château, the Germans surrendered. Those captured—Major General Ludwig Bieringer and his entire LXII Wehrmacht Corps staff—were a rich haul for the Allies and an embarrassment for the Germans.

Major Ray Hermann: “This involves the Saturday Evening Post. Sometime in the period 1952-54 that magazine published an article entitled ‘They'll Never forget Mark Clark.’ The article concerned itself primarily with a tiff some members of that fighting Texas outfit, the 36^th Infantry Division, had with General Clark over a river crossing in Italy. But the author of the article went beyond that—he gave the 36^th the credit for the liberation of Drauguignan. Of course, a division is quite big and a battalion is quite small, so perhaps when the 36^th Infantry Division rolled through Drauguignan it did not know that the 551^st Parachute Infantry Battalion was already there. Subsequently, the 517^th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was given credit for the liberation of Drauguignan. That was based on the fact that the 460^th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, a part of the 517^th was ordered to provide artillery support to the 551^st in the attack; but the undeniable truth remains: the 517^th Regiment did not participate in the attack.”⁴⁴

MG R. T. Frederick (center) inspects a group of 551st men led by Major William Holm.

The Battalion moved on toward Cannes, and Hill 105.

Sgt. Emory Albritton: “Company B was the lead company in a dusk attack, with the 1^st Special Service Force on our right. We went up on this hill, before Cannes, in a frontal attack. There was a lot of firing in both directions and then we came back off the hill and went up a draw on the left side. It was a dry creek bed and by then it was dark.

“The artillery was as heavy as you can possibly imagine. …they were traversing up and down the draw and they were getting a lot of the guys. A dud landed right near me and I stuck my handout and touched the nose and got burned good. Everett Debarr was right in front of me, and all at once a shell exploded right by us and he took all the shrapnel. He had big holes in his back, so I figured he was a goner. They were using a lot of white phosphorus and it was almost like daytime—there were a lot of small fires burning around the area and I think Lt. Hecq got some phosphorus in the face. People were moaning and groaning all around.

“Anyway, I had noticed a sort of ledge above us—a bunch of rocks higher up. I asked Debarr if he was all right but all he could do was groan. So I got hold of him (he was one of the bigger guys in the company), and he was mumbling 'Help me, help me!' Then the two of us sort of climbed up and staggered up there, in all the artillery, and took cover the best we could. The artillery finally let up and soon I heard hobnail boots passing right below us as the Krauts came into the area.

“When it finally got light, I looked down on the darndest mess you ever saw. The bodies of Company B's 2nd Platoon were strewn all over the area down there. Across the draw was a German machine gun with a three-man crew and a couple of ammunition bearers. I had given Debarr a shot of morphine to keep him quiet so the Germans wouldn't hear us—although he was tough as nails. After I had sized up the situation I said to Debarr, ‘look, I can leave you here and try to get up the mountain or I can take you and try to get back to our lines.’ He just mumbled so I started carrying him out. I just got him up on my shoulder and started down the hill towards the Germans. I came very close to them and they were watching us, but they did not stop us. As we went past, one of them saluted me and I nodded my head.”⁴⁵

Major Ray Hermann: “On Hill 105, Company B was just simply caught in heavy artillery fire and suffered casualties. I think we may have had about 16 KIAs. That was a single night engagement... for the next few days we maintained steady pressure against the slowly withdrawing Germans, pushing them back toward the Italian border. There was some rather sharp fighting in that phase, but when we finally reached Cannes not a shot was fired as we marched into that beautiful resort city.”⁴⁶

From Cannes, the battalion proceeded to Nice.

Lt. Dick Durkee: “The S-2 called me in and directed me to take a patrol and find out if Nice was occupied by Germans. I was to go to the edge of the city, report back by radio and then return. When I got to the outskirts of Nice I didn't see any Germans and the city was quiet and appeared deserted, so I said to myself, 'Damned if I'm going to go back. We'll just go on in.' So we just kept going, right down the main street.

“Well, the first thing that happened was that a little girl came out a one houses, and she was standing there with her finger and her mouth—she was about five years old. She was just looking at me, so I said 'Americans!' Then she ran into the house crying 'Americaines! Americaines!' Then people started shouting and screaming. They came running out of all the houses by the hundreds. What had been a ghost town as we started in soon changed into a circus. We were joined by some FFIs and some local policeman, and then we found a Frenchman who could speak English and asked him where was the best hotel in town, and then we just moved in. That night the mayor came in—a band came and was playing in the street. They played our national anthem and we all stood out on the balcony and took the cheers of the crowd. Boy, they brought us wine and champagne—flowers—you can't imagine. Well, finally I called up our S-2 and reported in and the next day the battalion marched in. Our battalion was the first to enter Nice, and my patrol was the first American unit.”⁴⁷

LT Dick Durkee (far left) and his patrol enter Nice. (C. Fairlamb)

Lt. Durkee's patrol was welcomed by the people of Nice on the morning of 29 August. The next day, the city turned out to give the GIs a delirious welcomed on what has become the official liberation day of Nice.

Maritime Alps

Early in September, the battalion moved into the Maritime Alps, where, along with the 509^th and 550^th, it became part of the 509^th Task Force, the mission of which was to protect the right flank the 7^th Army.

As the 7^th Army rapidly advanced, the German forces retreated deeper into the mountains, leaving behind the Austrian 5^th High Mountain Assault Division to keep the Task Force occupied. The 551^st was responsible for defending a frontline near a 40-mile portion of the Italian border running from St. Etienne de Tinee in the North to St. Martin Vesubie in the South.

81-mm mortar position near St. Martin Vesubie. (C. Fairlamb)

The Austrians, by virtue of their position on the heights and their artillery superiority, held a distinct advantage over the elements of 551^st in the villages below. But aggressive patrolling by the battalion prevented the Austrians from mounting surprise attacks in strength.

T/5 Dan Morgan: “The patrols they did send down our way came to frequent grief, and so a stalemate of sorts ensued. The 5^th held the peaks and ridges, and we held the towns. Without a doubt, we had the best of it.”⁴⁸

In early September, the battalion’s rear elements, which had come across the beach in the amphibious phase, caught up with the unit. Among them was Furlough.

Sgt. Carl Noble: “Furlough got very combat-conscious while we were in the Maritime Alps. When she moved, if we were expecting action, she would sense the tenseness in the men and would go from cover to cover. She would turnaround and watch the guys, trying to figure out what was going on.”⁴⁹

Sgt. Don Garrigues: “On 5 October a howling blizzard swept over the entire area, blanketing everything with deep snow. Our patrols used white ski suits for camouflage, the same as the Germans. We also used skis and snowshoes when it was to our advantage. It was by a strange quirk of fate that we were fighting in knee-deep snow thousands of feet up in the Alps when we had been trained for so long in jungle warfare. Sometimes our patrols ambushed the enemy and sometimes we would be ambushed. Although we lost some men, the enemy lost more. They were fighting in their native surroundings but we were still beating them.”⁵⁰

Sgt. Jim Stevens: “Wintertime caught us then and we kinda suffered because we had our jumpsuits and they were thin. Supply finally came up with some white ponchos but they were just for the patrols, and you couldn't get shot in those because they had to be brought back undamaged for the next patrol.”⁵¹

I don't think we're in Panama anymore! 551st troopers on patrol in Maritime Alps. (C. Fairlamb)

As was so often the case during the war, it was the German artillery and mortars that took the greatest toll, physically and mentally.

Sgt. Charlie Fairlamb: “The shelling is beginning to tell on the men. German patrols have come down into town and we have only about 15 riflemen and 14 mortarmen. We've killed, wounded and captured our share of Germans while we've been here, but I think if the shelling keeps up much longer, some of the guys will go crazy. There is no place to go and nothing to do but wait for them to shell some more.”⁵²

On 18 November, after nearly three months of sparring with the Austrians of the 5^th Division, the battalion was relieved and pulled back to St. Jeannet to rest and re-equip before moving north across France.

The Bulge

Sgt. Don Garrigues: “Shortly after the first of December, we boarded 40 and 8 boxcars and departed from St. Jeannet on a French train headed north. The Champagne Campaign, as the invasion of South France was sometimes called, was successfully completed and now we were ready for our next mission. Our battalion had taken over 750 prisoners of war and had inflicted an unknown number of casualties on the enemy. All of our objectives had been accomplished in what historians have stated was the most successful airborne operation of the war. For this, the 551^st paid the price of 163 casualties, of which 21 were either killed in action or died of wounds.”⁵³ (The number of casualties suffered by the 551^st during the war remains a source of controversy, but Garrigues’s figure for the battalion’s dead in southern France is very close to the figure of 20 the author calculated after examining the battalion’s casualties records in 2006-2007. See Roll of Honor.)

US Airborne units were gathering in the area around Rhiems, where the XVIII Airborne Corps was headquartered, in preparation of a final airborne assault across the Rhine. On 8 December, the battalion arrived at its new home, a military Academy on the outskirts of Laon, 30 miles northwest of Rhiems. It was to be a short stay.

At about 1930 hrs on 17 December, Lt. Col. Joerg was ordered to report immediately to 82^nd Airborne Division Headquarters. When he returned, he assembled the officers and informed them that the battalion was to be ready to move out by 1000 on the following day.

At 0400 on 18 December, the battalion was notified that its destination was Bastogne. At 0900, one hour before departure, the battalion was notified that it was reverting back to XVIII Airborne Corps Headquarters under General Ridgway and that it would remain in reserve at Laon. At 1600 hrs the battalion was ordered to be ready to move out at 0200 on 19 December to the headquarters of the 30^th Infantry Division at Stavelot, Belgium, for assignment. At 0100 on 19 December, the trucks to be used to transport the battalion were recalled by Corps. Finally, the battalion was loaded aboard 2½-ton quartermaster trucks and set out for the Ardennes. The confusion that would characterize so much of the Battle of the Bulge was already in evidence.

T/5 Dan Morgan: “The trip lasted about two full days for most of the men and at least once and possibly three times the convoy was fragmented and its parts went off in different directions. Although a large part of Eastern Belgium was technically behind the German lines because of von Rundstedt's breakthrough, the roads through the German held area were frequently open, and if you are smart enough and lucky enough to avoid the occasional roadblock, you might travel quite a way—even get where you were going.”⁵⁴

Capt. Ed Hartman: “We were to link with the 101^st Airborne Division and our initial destination was Bastogne, but somewhere during that wild night ride it became obvious that Bastogne had already been surrounded. We were rerouted to the town of Werbomont to link up there with elements of the 82^nd. I'm not sure that the 82^nd was even there then. The 'Old Hickory' Division (the 30^th) was holding the line in that area and conditions were in a state of upheaval at that moment. We did arrive at Werbomont and from there we moved to towns like Spa and Malmedy. Total confusion reigned at that time. Eventually we were 'engulfed' by elements of the 82^nd, and from that point on, are fate must be considered as part of the 82^nd Division”⁵⁵

Men of the 551st moving up early in the Bulge, before the weather turned. (Signal Corps)

A truck loaded with mortar rounds was placed at the end of the convoy to minimize damage to the other vehicles should the load detonate. Its driver was Pfc. Milo Huempfner. Just outside Leignon, Huempfner lost control on the icy road and the truck plunged upright into a deep ditch. The cargo was off-loaded to another truck with the help of civilians from Leignon, and Huempfner was ordered to remain with his truck until a wrecker could get to him. It would be two weeks before Huempfner rejoined the battalion.

Provided with food by local civilians, Huempfner stayed with his vehicle for several days, until a German tank column approached, heading for Leignon. Huempfner destroyed his truck and entered the town where, for the next two days, he conducted a one-man war against the Germans, venturing out at night to shoot German soldiers or to destroy their armored vehicles, and warning approaching Allied columns of the German armor present. When elements of the 2^nd Armored Division entered Leignon, they found Huempfner with 18 German prisoners. For his actions in Leignon, Huempfner was awarded, at the recommendation of the 2^nd Armored Division, the DSC.

Fragmented during the trip to the front (a front that seemed to be everywhere), the battalion regrouped during the period 22-25 December in a series of bivouacs around Ster, Stavelot, and Werbomont. The scene in the area was one of complete devastation. Nighttime temperatures near zero (°F) and nearly a half-foot of snow on the ground drove the men to seek shelter in abandoned buildings and with civilian families.

The confusion generated by the rapid German advance created a near vacuum where hard information was concerned. The vacuum was soon filled with rumors, and this in turn fed the confusion.

T/5 Dan Morgan: “Major General Jim Gavin, commanding the 82^nd Airborne Division, visited our bivouac at Rahier on 27 December. He gave the battalion a pep talk after the style of General Eisenhower on the eve of the Normandy invasion. Gavin announced that the 551^st had been selected to make the initial ‘raid in force’ against the Germans in the Bulge. We were going to turn it around and start things going the other way. He stressed that we were receiving a signal honor and that we might take very heavy casualties but our mission was vital, and a great deal depended on the outcome. In short, we would pass through the US forward lines, penetrate about four miles into German-held territory, attack and reduce the German-held village of Noirefontaine, and then return to base with prisoners for interrogation.”⁵⁶

Capt. Ed Hartman: “On 27 December General Gavin came to the command post of the 551^st, walking across the snow-covered fields unaccompanied, his rifle over his shoulder. There, in late evening, he proposed that the battalion make an attack in order to determine whether conditions were right for an Allied counter-offensive. So he had, in effect, selected us to be his ‘pigeon’ for the testing of German mettle.”⁵⁷

Major Ray Hermann: “We were to pass through the lines of the 508^th Regiment and stage a night raid in battalion strength. We weren’t too confident. Taking six or seven hundred men into enemy lines is one thing, but getting them back after the fight has started and your presence is known is something else. Just before we jumped off, General Gavin called on us. He squatted down in the snow with us and talked over our plans. Things like that make a general a General. The realization that a two-star general was interested in our raid made us all feel better; we were eager to go.

Snapshot taken during night assault on Noirefontaine. (C. Fairlamb)

“It turned out amazingly well. We penetrated about 5,000 yards into the German lines, burned some buildings which they were using for barracks, and caught a lot of them with our surprise rifle, machine gun, and mortar fire. We had a few casualties, of course, but we made an orderly withdrawal as planned, carrying our wounded out with us, and from then on we definitely belong to the 82^nd Airborne family.”⁵⁸

After the attack, the battalion pulled back, through the lines of the 508^th, to Rahier, where it remained for the next six days. German artillery activity continued at a high level; it was not a peaceful six days.

VIII Corps Headquarter's war room situation map on 2 January 1945 showing the Bastogne pocket

in the shape of a man's head, his nose pointing at Koblenz. The 551st was located about 25 miles

north northeast of Bastogne, in the direction of the red arrow; the 550th AIB, sister battalion of the

551st, was six miles west of Bastogne, at the red X. This section of map is about 30 miles on a side.