HISTORY OF 502 PARACHUTE BATTALION

​​1941

502nd troopers ready for Market Garden​

​​Shortly after 1315 hours on the afternoon of 17th September 1944, after an uneventful daylight drop, the men of the 502nd gathered up and headed for their objectives. First Battalion went north to capture the little town of St Oedenrode. Third Battalion sent patrols through the Zonsche forest, trying to move toward the town of Best and the bridge. German resistance was tough in the vicinity of Best but the 502nd fought their way to within 100 yards of the bridge before the Germans blew it up. In fierce fighting around the bridge, Private Joe Mann, who was seriously wounded twice during the fighting, was killed when he threw himself on a German grenade to save his fellow soldiers who were in the same foxhole with him. Mann was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honour for this act of selfless heroism. Ironically, the only other Medal of Honour recipient of 101st during the war, Col. Robert Cole, was shot and killed by a snipers bullet in the action around the Zonsche Forest. This left the fate of the third battalion now in the capable hands of its executive officer, Maj. John Stopka. On 22nd September, Lt Col Michaelis and three of his staff were seriously wounded by an artillery shell outside of his headquarters and command of the 502nd passed to 2nd Battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Chappuis.

After securing their hard-won objectives, the men of the 502nd moved north with the rest of the 101st to take hold of defensive positions on 'The Island', south west of Arnhem. It was here that the 101st would fight some of its toughest battles during its time in Holland before being relocated to Mourmelon, France to recover and refit.

The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge​

At dawn on the16th December 1944, the Germans launched a surprise major offensive west through the Ardennes Forest, in the lightly held sector of our VII Corps. Their goal was the port town of Antwerp where they hoped to choke off the allied supply lines. At that time SHAEF's Reserve consisted of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. The 101stwas ordered to the vitally important town of Bastogne, which was the key to the German counteroffensive. From Bastogne radiated several roads that were essential to the German juggernaut. The 101st was jammed into trucks for an overnight rush to Bastogne in Belgium on 18th December. The hard fought defence of Bastogne by the 101st presented a formidable obstacle to the surging Fifth Panzer Army of Hasso von Manteuffel. In the ensuing days the encircled 101st engaged in vicious fighting. The 502nd held positions on the north and northwest portion of the envelopment.

After the Germans had failed to break through in other sections of the circle, they sent probes, which attempted to penetrate the areas defended by the 502nd. In an attack that took place on Christmas morning in the Hemroulle area of Belgium, numerous German tanks penetrated the line. Simultaneously farther north strong German infantry elements infiltrated the town of Champs. Two of the German tanks, which drove north from Hemroulle, attempted to bypass the 502nd Regimental C.P. at the Rolle Chateau. In this attack Sky Jackson of the 502nd won the Silver Star for single handedly hitting the two tanks with bazooka fire, knocking out one. The other tank escaped only to be destroyed at Champs by another 502nd member John Ballard of A Company, who was killed on January 3rd 1945 in another action. Finally, on December 26th General Patton's 4th Armoured Division broke through the encirclement and the lifting of the siege of Bastogne began.

On 3rd January 1945, the 2nd Battalion 502nd PIR, engaged in heavy fighting around Longchamps, Belgium. The Germans pressed forward and as many as forty jumpers, mostly from F company, were rounded up and taken prisoner that day. On January 14th 1945, 3rd Battalion 502nd PIR would again suffer the loss of its commander as Lieutenant Col. John Stopka and some of his troopers, advancing through a pine forest along an elevated rail line, was killed. Enemy tanks were spotted advancing along the edge of the forest and air support was called for.  However, the planes strafed too close to the friendly positions near Michamps, resulting in the death of Col. Stopka and thirty other soldiers. With that unfortunate incident, the command of the 3rd Battalion was given to Cecil L Simmons who would lead the unit until the end of the war. The 101st Airborne held a line along the Moder River for over a month as part of the US 7th Army. On 23rd February 1945, the Screaming Eagles were relieved and returned to Mourmelon, France. Here General Eisenhower spoke to the 101st Airborne Division when the unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its stand at Bastogne. This was the first time in the history of the United States Amy that an entire Division had been so honoured.

As the war in Europe was nearing its end, the 502nd moved to the Ruhr Pocket on 2nd April 1945 to help mop-up the remnants of Field Marshal Model’s Army Group B. Here the 502nd went on the line facing the Rhine River south of Düsseldorf, Germany. On the 4th and 5th of May, the 502nd received and carried out its final wartime mission - the capture of Berchtesgaden, Hitler's Eagles Nest.

The 502nd spent the summer of 1945 on occupation duty near Mittersill, Austria but returned to France in September, where the soldiers waited for transport stateside. The 101st Airborne Division and the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment was deactivated in December of 1945.

 Flying out of Membury and Greenham Common in the first wave to depart, the 502nd PIR headed for drop zone (DZ) A. Their mission was to secure two northern causeways leading inland from Utah Beach and destroy a German coast-artillery battery (122 mm Howitzer) near Ste Martin-de-Varreville. In the predawn hours of D-Day a combination of low clouds, and enemy anti-aircraft fire caused the break-up of the troop carrier formations. This scattering of the air armada was such that some troopers jumped while still over the English Channel and drowned. Consequently, the sporadic jump patterns caused most of Col Moseley's battalions to land far away from their designated DZ, with some sticks landing as far away as 5 miles from their designated area. Unfortunately during the drop Col Moseley broke his leg and had to relinquish command to his Executive Officer, Lt Col John H Michaelis. The 3rd Battalion, led by Lt Col Robert G Cole, was responsible for securing the two causeways and undaunted by the confusion, Lt Col Cole gradually collected his men and achieved his objective.

The rest of June found the airborne troops fighting as infantry. After regrouping the 101st received the new objective of seizing the city of Carentan. It was during this operation that Lt Col Robert Cole received the Medal of Honour for leading his battalion in a fix bayonet charge on the Ingouf farmhouse, a German stronghold defending one of the bridges over the Carentan Causeway. His Executive Officer, Maj John P Stopka, led the charge on Cole's left and received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Lt Col Cole never got the chance to wear it as he was killed by a sniper’s bullet 3 months later in Holland. Maj Stopka was killed two weeks after receiving his medal at Bastogne.

On 29 June 1944 the 101st was relieved from the VIII Corps and sent to Cherbourg to relieve the 4th Infantry Division and the 502nd PIR returned to England shortly thereafter for rest, training and replacements. At about the same time General Eisenhower called for a headquarters that would oversee the Allies' airborne troops, so in August 1944, he established the First Allied Airborne Army, controlling elements of the American and British (and Polish) Armies. The 17th, 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were therefore assigned to the newly created U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps under the command of Gen Matthew Ridgway. This new army structure was put to the test in September 1944 during the Allied thrust in northern Europe: Operation Market-Garden.

Operation Market Garden

Market Garden was an audacious plan conceived by British Field Marshal Montgomery that would see the first major daylight air assault attempted by a military power since Germany's attack on Crete. Similar to the Germans assault of four years earlier, the Allies initial plan for September 17th 1944, was to use the paratroopers and glidermen of the 82nd and 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions and England's First Airborne Division in a daring daylight drop into Holland. The airborne Allied troops were to seize roads, bridges and the key communication cities of Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, cutting Holland in half and clearing a corridor for British armoured and motorized columns to move all the way to the German border. The 101st, still under the command of Col Michaelis, was given the mission to secure a fifteen mile stretch of ‘Hell's Highway’, reaching from Eindhoven north to Veghel.  The unit was to land in Holland on DZ C and as well, seize the small highway bridge over the Dommel River north of Saint Oedenrode and the railroad and road bridges at Best. The 502nd was also given the mission of guarding DZs B & C for the subsequent glider landings.