Activation

The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated on 1 May 1942 in Fort Benning, Georgia. First regimental commander was Colonel Theodore L. Dunn who was succeeded by Colonel Reuben H. Tucker on 1 December 1942. Reuben Tucker had served as a captain in the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion and when the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was activated, Tucker was appointed as executive regimental commander.

In the Autumn of 1942 the regiment was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division. After a long and thorough training the regiment boarded the troopship George Washington in New York on 29 April 1943 and sailed to Casablanca. Shortly after its arrival there on the 10th of May, the regiment moved again. This time to Oujda in Algeria.

At Oujda the training was further intensified and several parades took place. It was clear that the first combat jump wasn’t far away. The 3rd Battalion saw first action and was dropped together with the 505th Parachute Regiment Combat Team on 9 July 1943 near Niscemi, northeast of the 505th at Gela. The troops were not all dropped on the actual D.Z.s and the majority of them were spread out over a wide area and had to fight against an overwhelming number of German and Italian troops. Despite this major setback, all the assigned objectives were captured within three days.

 

Sicily

In the night of 11 on 12 July the rest of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was flown in as reinforcement. The 144 transportplanes were fired upon by American gunners when they flew over the American ships that were positioned before the coast.

The result was that 23 planes were shot down by “friendly fire” with the paratroopers in it being either killed or wounded. The plane formation broke up and the regiment came down over a very large part of Sicily. Captain Willard Harrison's A Company was the only company of the 504^th to come down together that night.

The following morning it appeared on the actual dropzone that only 400 men had gathered out of the 1600 who had took off the previous evening from the airfields in Tunisia. The widely spread out paratroopers caused confusion by attacking German and Italian columns and cutting telephonelines.

On the 13th of July the 3rd Battalion reverted to the command of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which had gathered about 800 out of the 1600 paratroopers at Agrigento. In the weeks that followed they chased the Germans and Italians till Castellamare del Golfo in the west of Sicily. Several lost paratroopers were able to rejoin their regiment during that time.

A few weeks later the regiment returned to Kairouan in Tunisia for rest and recuperation. The next action took place on the Italian mainland. At Salerno the American 5th Army of Lieutenant-General Mark Clark hadn’t been able to create and hold a large and safe bridgehead due to heavy German resistance.

 

Salerno

On 9 September 1943 H Company of the 3rd Battalion landed with a battalion of Rangers at Maiori, northwest of Salerno, and were ordered to capture the vital Chiunzi Pass and its important railway tunnel. There was almost no resistance when the troops waded ashore from the landing craft and the assigned objectives were quickly taken. The rest of the 3rd Battalion landed with LCI’s at Salerno where it joined the 5th Army in the hard struggle to create a firm bridgehead.

The remaining part of the 504th Regiment at Comiso and Trapani in Sicily received the news that pathfinders would jump that same night near a big “T” made of burning oil barrels, made by engineers of the 5th Army. They would immediately follow the pathfinders. All the paratroopers knew was that their help was desperately needed.

On 16 September 1943 the regiment, comprising the 1st and 2nd Battalions, captured the city of Altavilla. That night the Germans carried out a heavy counterattack and the regiment was surrounded. Lieutenant-General Ernest J. Dawley, commander of the 6th US Corps, gave Colonel Tucker the order to break out and redraw. His legendary respond was: "Retreat, Hell! - Send me my other battalion!" The 3rd Battalion was sent and the regiment captured Hill 344. Shortly afterwards they were relieved by the 36th US “Texas” Infantry Division of Major General Fred L. Walker.

In the three days fighting at Altavilla the regiment lost 30 men killed, 150 wounded and one MIA. The losses were mainly caused by the enemy artilleryfire. In the morning of 20 September the regiment, without its 3rd Battalion, was pulled into the reserve. The 3rd Battalion boarded LCI’s at Paestum and were ferried to Maiori where they joined H Company at the Chiunzi Pass.

Five days later the rest of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment were also ferried to Maiori and on the 28th of September they made contact with the British 10th Corps of Lieutenant-General Dick McCreery. The advance to Naples went on with the 504th in the lead.

The chasing of the Germans continued after a week of well deserved rest, but without the rest of the 82nd Airborne Division which was preparing for the journey by ship to England. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment stayed on special request of General Mark Clark, the commander of the American 5th Army, to help the 5th Army in the advance and fightings in the mountain terrain north of Naples.

From 30 October till 23 November the regiment advanced in the direction of Isernia, where it was relieved by the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infanry Division of Major General Charles Ryder. In Ciorlano more than 200 replacements were added to the regiment and Thanksgiving was celebrated.

 

On 10 December the regiment was sent to the front, this time to the north of Venafro. The battle in the mountains continued till January 1944. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment was again moved to Napels, but did not board a ship bound for England.

 

Anzio

The landing at Anzio on 22 January 1944 was preceeded by landings from British commando’s, the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment (only a battalion strong) and the 1^st and 4^th Battalions of the US 6615^th Ranger Force (Provisional), commanded by Colonel William O. Darby. Target of this operation was to create a bridgehead southwest of Rome and to advance to Rome, thus cutting off the Germans who were fighting at Monte Cassino. The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 3^rd Ranger Battalion of Major Alva Miller landed with landing crafts in the second assault wave.

Till 24 March 1944 the war of attrition at Anzio and Nettuno, southwest of Rome, continued. In that period the regiment was i.e. harassed by a big German 240mm gun that was mounted on a train unit and was nicknamed “Anzio Annie”. During a patrol in enemy territory a group of para’s found the diary of a German soldier. In his diary he described the America para’s as “Devils in baggypants”. It soon became the offical nickname of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

Troopers of the 2nd Battalion at the Mussolini Canal, 26 January 1944.

US Army Photo.

 

England

In April 1944 the Capetown Castle arrived in Liverpool, England, with aboard the battle seasoned veterans of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. They had incurred about 25 percent casualties at Anzio and therefore the division commander decided to leave the 504^th in England during the Normandy Campaign.

After several weeks of rest and recuperation the regiment received the badly needed reinforcements and new airborne operations were planned and subsequently cancelled. Colonel Reuben H. Tucker still commanded the 504^de Parachute Infantry Regiment with Lieutenant Colonel Warren R. Williams Jr. as his excutive officer. Williams had commanded the 1st Battalion in Italy and was succeeded as battalion commander by the newly promoted Major Willard E. Harrison. The 2nd Battalion was commanded by Major Edward N. Wellems. His E Company of Captain Walter Van Poyk would jump on a small DZ south of Grave, to capture the long bridge over the River Maas. The 3rd Battalion was placed under command of Major Julian A. Cook, who had served as Battalion Adjutant of the Battalion in Fort Benning and had executive offficer of the 1st Battalion at Anzio.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION