Part I: 1918-1943 

The Airborne Chronology is adapted for this Web site from the book, Into The Valley, by Col. Charles H. Young.

1918: Isolated French raids in WW I during which two-man demolition teams parachuted behind German lines to destroy communications.

1918, July-October: Small-scale Allied airborne resupply during the Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne campaigns.

1928: Italian pilots dropped supplies by parachute to the dirigible Italia, stranded at the North Pole.

1929-30: Italian paratroopers made mass jumps in North Africa.

1931: The U.S. Army Air Corps flew a field artillery battery complete with equipment to Panama as a demonstration of “hemispheric defense.” Two years later, in keeping with U.S. tacticians’ preference for airlanding rather than parachute delivery during this period, the maneuver was repeated in Panama, but with a full battalion. Then, in maneuvers near Fort DuPont, Delaware, AAC Capt. George C. Kenney “astounded his colleagues” by airlanding an infantry detachment behind “enemy” lines.

1933, 18 August: Soviet demonstration, Moscow; 46 paratroops jumped from two large bombers, and also dropped a small combat tank by parachute.

1935, 1 March: During Soviet airborne maneuvers at Kiev, two battalions of infantry were dropped; three 18-passenger gliders were also landed on these maneuvers. Gliders had been towed 1,170 miles—in triple-tow. All pilots involved were women.

1936, September-October: Soviet mass drop of 1,200 paratroops at Minsk, while 5,200 paratroops jumped in maneuvers at Moscow.

1938, 7 October: Germans airlanded a complete infantry regiment of 2,800 men in a wheat field near Freiwaldau, Silesia.

1940, 9 April: The first combat airborne assaults of the war. A regiment of German paratroops from General Kurt Student’s 7th Parachute Division, with air support, staged coordinated surprise assaults on airfields in key locations in Norway, and to a lesser extent, Denmark, followed by massive airlanding of troops and supplies and subsequent small-scale airborne operations. For these operations the Luftwaffe used the JU-52, the primary German troop carrier aircraft of WW II. This airplane had a length of 62 ft. and a wingspan of almost 96 ft. Its weight empty ranged between models from 12,610 lbs to 14,330 lbs; maximum loaded weight varied from 23,148 lbs to 24,250 lbs. It could generally carry into combat 18 equipped troopers or a maximum load of 4,409 lbs. The JU-52 was a tri-motor aircraft (one engine in the nose and two on the wings), with a corrugated metal skin. It’s engines were 9-cylinder BMW radials that generated between 725-850 hp depending on models. (The C-47’s P&W Twin Wasps, by comparison, were 1,200 hp 14-cylinder radials). The JU-52 had a top speed of 168 mph at sea level, and a standard range of 684 miles. It had no self-sealing tanks or armor plating, though it regularly carried an assortment of machine guns that were manually aimed, and sometimes had a cockpit roof cupola or a dorsal turret equipped with a 20mm machine gun.

1940, 10 May: Part of a reinforced company of Student’s forces staged the first glider assault of the war against the massive Belgian fortress, Eben Emael, 20 airline miles north of Liège on the west side of the Albert Canal. Included in the attack were also three key bridges over the same canal. JU-52s and Stuka dive bombers were used to tow approximately 50 gliders into the area for the highly-successful assault. The attack was staged at night on a small landing zone, with no advance artillery or aerial bombardment. (The glider used was the standard Luftwaffe combat glider of WW II, the DFS-230, which had been perfected in the days before the war as the Germans trained many Luftwaffe pilots under the auspices of a civilian sport glider program. The DFS-230 was a high-wing, fabric-covered craft constructed of tubular steel. Like the CG-4A, the German glider was equipped with spoilers, and made considerable use of stressed plywood in the wing construction. Unlike the CG-4A, the Luftwaffe glider had a machine gun mounted on top of the fuselage, immediately behind the pilot. The DFS-230 seated nine soldiers who sat single-file behind the pilot and could carry a maximum load of 2,800 lbs. It had a length of 37½ ft. and wingspan of 72 ft.) The same day that the glider raid on Eben Emael took place, the Luftwaffe used approximately 500 JU-52s to deliver five parachute regiments plus one airlanded infantry division. Objectives included key airfields in Holland and nearby bridges over the Maas, Waal, and Lower Rhine rivers in advance of invading German forces.

1940, 29-30 June: In the first combat use of Soviet airborne forces in an air assault, two airborne brigades parachuted from TB-3 bombers into Rumanian Bessarabia and captured the cities of Bolgrad, Kagul, and Izmail.

1941, 10 February: In the first British airborne action of the war, 38 commandos parachuted from Whitley bombers to locations high on Monte Volturno in an effort to disrupt the supply of water through the Tragino aqueduct to several Italian towns, including Taranto and Foggia. The result was temporary damage to the aqueduct and eventual capture of all commandos.

1941, 26 April: 1,500 German parachutists and gliderborne troops, transported by approximately 50 JU-52s and 12 gliders, temporarily seized the bridge over the Corinth Canal in Greece, a bottleneck in both the British escape route and the German advance. However, the bridge was soon destroyed, evidently by Australian or British soldiers who had prepared it for demolition.

1941, 20 May: German airborne assault, divisional in size, of the island of Crete, using both parachute and glider delivery. Air operations included ten Luftwaffe groups of JU-52s, plus hundreds of support aircraft. The plan was similar to that used in Norway and Holland: capture three key airfields on the island, then land ground troops by air and/or sea to consolidate positions. Poor planning by General Student, however, including dispersal of his troops and inefficient use of troop carrier aircraft, was superseded only by the mistakes and shortages of the defending Allied units. The result was a Cadmean victory for the Germans who captured Crete at the cost of 5,140 casualties (almost 4,000 of them killed), 170 of the Luftwaffe’s 600 JU-52s, and an utterance by Hitler that “the days of the paratroopers are over.”

1941, July-October: Soviet parachute raids on a small scale near Kiev, in the area near the Black Sea, and on the northwestern edge of the Caucasus.

1942, 3 January-6 March: Airborne troops of the Soviet IV Airborne Corps, totaling approximately 14,000 men, were dropped or airlanded into the rear area of the German forces attacking Moscow in the vicinity of Vyaz’ma, 130 SW of Moscow. The operations included six major drops that were often spread out over several days due mainly to shortages in troop carrier aircraft (including PS-84s, TB-3s, and probably even some Soviet-built C-47s). Initial objectives generally required troopers to secure—and in one instance, establish—an airfield for airlanding additional forces. The troopers of IV Airborne Corps were to link up with attacking Soviet ground forces and, along with partisans in the vicinity, cut German supply lines and strike a counterblow; in the drop of 6 March, parachutists jumped even farther west and directly attacked the supply base at Elnya. The overall effort suffered from poor coordination between units, bad weather, shortages, ineffective resupply, pilots who were poorly trained in night navigation and formation flying, and scattered drops; however, the effort threw off the German timetable in Hitler’s quest for Moscow. Troopers were isolated and eventually defeated in a battle during which some units fought in the line for four months, making this the longest-running airborne operation in history. Approximately 4,000 men survived.

1942, 11 January-23 February: The first airborne assault missions by the Japanese. A reinforced battalion, the Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, seized an airfield from Dutch forces near Manado in the Celebes on 11 January as an amphibious force landed nearby. Troop carrier aircraft used were the Mitsubishi Ki-57, an airplane that resembled the DC-3, though smaller, and a few of the similarly-sized Kawasaki Ki-56s (Japanese-built Lockheed Lodestars). The field was used by Japanese aircraft to extend the range of protection provided to their navy as the Emperor’s forces pushed through Indonesia. On 14 February, after establishing air superiority, Japan’s 1st Parachute Brigade staged two drops on Palembang, Sumatra: one at the airfield and another at the oil refinery. Though the airfield was taken quickly, fierce fighting continued near the refinery for over a day until Japanese airborne forces again prevailed. On 22 February about half of the Yokosuka Force was used to capture the Dutch-held airport at Penfoei, about 20 miles east of Kupang on the island of Timor. The following day the balance of this reinforced battalion jumped into the same location, subsequently moved toward Kupang and captured many Dutch and Australian prisoners. In all three instances a smaller force of airborne troopers surprised and defeated a much larger force of defenders—a hallmark of successful airborne operations. The Japanese military, however, did not realize the potential of airborne warfare until it was too late in the war for the required training and buildup to occur.

1942, 27-28 February: A company of 119 paratroops of the British 1 Airborne Division dropped from Whitley bombers in a commando-style raid on the German radar station at Bruneval, France (near Le Havre). Led by then-Major John D. Frost, the paratroopers successfully captured, disassembled, and transported the radar set down 300-ft. cliffs to the beach—under fire—and signaled waiting naval vessels to come in and make the pick up. The radar set was taken to England and studied by technicians.

1942, 7-8 November: In the first U.S. airborne operation of the war, the 60th Troop Carrier Group of the 51st Wing flew 39 C-47s non-stop in a night flight from England to points near Oran, carrying the 2d Battalion of the 503d Parachute Infantry (soon redesignated the 509th Parachute Infantry Bn), whose task it was to capture key airfields in advance of the amphibious Allied invasion force. Confusion regarding the intentions of the French forces in the region quickly compounded problems associated with poor planning, failed communications, excessive distances, and inadequate training. Soon, however, a number of small, improvised airborne operations were developed for key points, mostly airfields, across Algeria and eastward in the race for Tunis. These operations were conducted by the 60th, 62d, and 64th Groups of the 51st Wing, commanded by then-Col. Paul L. Williams. Airborne troopers for these operations included the 509th and the British 1 Parachute Brigade (comprising a total of three battalions), which began arriving in Algeria on 11 November, transported by the 62d and 64th Groups. (See Into The Valley, Chapter 1, for further information on Airborne-Troop Carrier operations in North Africa.)

1943, 9-14 July: The invasion of Sicily. First large-scale Allied airborne assault of the war, flown by groups of the 51st Troop Carrier Wing, the newly-arrived 52d Troop Carrier Wing, and approximately three dozen pilots of the RAF 38 Wing (later 38 Group). The first airborne units to be delivered—505th PIR and one battalion of the 504th PIR in the American sector, and the British 1 Airlanding Brigade in the British sector—served as the spearhead of the Allied invasion force. In later missions the balance of the 504th PIR was brought in along with the 376th Parachute Artillery Bn and other units comprising over 40 percent of the 82d Airborne Division in its first combat of the war. Also delivered in the latter time frame were troopers of the British 1 Parachute Brigade and attached units. All British units were part of the British 1 Airborne Division. Though Sicily was viewed officially as “a qualified success,” the problems that arose focused attention on critical deficiencies in the Airborne-Troop Carrier program. Poor coordination of unit headquarters, imprudent planning, especially on the glider tow to the British sector on D-Day, inexperienced air crews without proper training in night navigation and formation flying, and trigger-happy Allied naval and army gunners who shot down more than two dozen American Troop Carrier aircraft on these missions (23 on HUSKY II, and 2 on FUSTIAN) combined to place the entire Airborne-Troop Carrier program in jeopardy of being cut back or even cancelled. However, the proponents of the program prevailed (see Nadzab, below). From the Sicilian operations and from the Airborne-Troop Carrier emergency reinforcement drops on the beaches of Salerno, Italy on 13 September came the commitment to more thorough training in the current Stateside Troop Carrier buildup, and the creation of the Pathfinder School in the ETO. (See Into The Valley, Chapter 2 and 3, for more information on the Sicily and Italy missions.)

1943, 5 September: First American airborne operation in the Pacific took place at Nadzab, New Guinea. The American 503d PIR dropped from 85 C-47s of the 374th and 375th Troop Carrier Groups, 54th TC Wing, in a mission to secure the airfield at Nadzab and prepare it for airlanding the Australian 7th Division, which was to then push toward Lae from the west and link up with Allied amphibious invasion forces moving in from the east. The same aircraft that carried in the 503d and some Australian artillerymen who were hastily trained as parachutists, also airlifted 420 planeloads of infantry soldiers by 11 September. The paradrop, which took place in daylight as General MacArthur circled above in a B-17 observation plane, was well coordinated, accurate, and effective. Along with several key Troop Carrier maneuvers in the States during the summer and late fall, strong support by General Ridgway, and in conjunction with the soon-to-follow emergency missions at the Salerno beachhead, this mission contributed to a renewed commitment to Airborne-Troop carrier by American military leaders.

1943, 9 September-15 November: Battalion-size German airborne assaults on three locations ranging from Italian Supreme HQ northeast of Rome (9 September), to attacks coordinated with amphibious assault forces on the Greek island of Leros (12 November) and the Italian island of Elba (15 November). All were successful. The German airborne assault during this time frame that captured the most attention, however, was the small but daring raid to rescue recently-deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, then under guard by the Pietro Badoglio regime, which had moved Mussolini to a remote retreat in the Gran Sasso d’Italia mountains. Hitler picked Otto Skorzeny to lead the raid, which was to be carried out by a force of fewer than 50 troopers who would be landed on a small, rocky slope in six gliders. Five more gliders and their troops landed below and captured the hand-pulled cable car station. The mission successfully surprised the small force of guards at the resort and Mussolini was flown out after a hair-raising take-off down the slope by a small Storch observation aircraft.

1943, 24-25 September: Last Soviet operational-level airborne assault of the war. After the successful strategic defensive operation at Kursk in July 1943, the Soviet military quickly launched two counterattacks on German forces, which began a retreat westward toward the Dnepr River. In an effort to expedite Soviet crossings and develop bridgeheads, approximately 10,000 paratroops were to be brought in from the 1st, 3d, and 5th Guards Airborne Brigades (many troopers of which were veterans of the assault missions near Vyaz’ma in early 1942). Aircraft used included 50 PS-84s and 150 IL-4s (B-25s supplied by the U.S.), plus a handful of gliders and nearly three dozen sailplane-type gliders. Parachutists were to drop at night in the area near the pocket on the west side of the bend in the Dnepr River just below Pereyaslav, where partisans had maintained strongpoints. Jumpers, who included a number of nurses trained as parachutists, were delayed a day because of weather. Units encountered problems with aircraft unsuited for parachute delivery and in preparations and aircraft fueling. Finally, rather than attempting to form up, aircraft simply departed as they were ready, shuttling in troopers in widely dispersed columns. The 5th Brigade dropped in easy range of the German 19th Panzer Division that was moving east on the road through Dudari toward the river to provide assistance to German forces trapped there. Most parachutists were slaughtered in the air or as they reached the ground. Similar losses for related reasons occurred with 3d Brigade. The 1st Brigade landed in better position and went into action with infantry units, as planned. However, during October and November the forces in this area at the bend of the Dnepr River were driven out or eliminated. Ironically, the Germans poured in so many reserves to this contested area south of Pereyaslav that Soviet forces probably crossed the Dnepr more readily at points north and south than they would have otherwise. Losses were so heavy and results so meager, however, that the Soviet military confined its elite airborne units to infantry fighting for the balance of the war. Most of the difficulties in this operation arose from a combination of factors including expediency in planning, poor coordination, the use of transport aircrews rather than troop carrier aircrews, no joint training between airborne and air crews, ineffective intelligence, and improper equipment.

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Copyright © 2001-04 Charles D. Young. All rights reserved. 
Last modified: 27 Apr 2008