World War I
Overseas: 13 May 1918, as an Infantry Division.
Major Operations: St. Mihiel.
Casualties: Total-8,077 (KIA-995; WIA-7,082).
Commanders:
Maj. Gen. William P. Burnham (25 June 1918-4 October 1918)
Maj. Gen. George B. Duncan (4 October-11 November 1918).
World War II
Activated: 25 March 1942. Designated an airborne division on 15 August 1942.
Overseas: 28 April 1943.
Campaigns: Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Normandy, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland, Central Europe.
Days of combat: 422.
Distinguished Unit Citations: 15.
Awards: MH-2 ; DSC-37 ; DSM-2 ; SS-898 ; LM-29; SM-49 ; BSM-1,894 ; AM-15.
Commanders:
Maj. Gen. Omar Bradley (March-June 1942)
Maj.-Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway (June 1942-August 1944)
Maj. Gen. James M. Gavin (August 1944-14 March 1948)
Maj. Gen. Clovis E. Byers (14 March 1948).
Returned to U. S.: 3 January 1946.
Combat Chronicle
The 82d Airborne Division landed at Casablanca, 10 May 1943, and trained. Elements first saw combat in Sicily, when the 505th RCT and part of the 504th dropped behind enemy lines, 9-10 July 1943, at Gela. The remainder of the 504th RCT dropped, 11-12 July 1943, also near Gela, after running friendly naval and ground force fire. Scattered elements formed and fought as ground troops. The elements were flown back to Tunisia for reequipment and returned to Sicily to take off for drop landings on the Salerno beachhead. The 504th Parachute Infantry dropped, 13 September 1943, and the 505th the following night; the 325th landed by boat. These elements bolstered Salerno defenses and fought their way into Naples, 1 October 1943. After a period of occupation duty (and combat for some elements in the Volturno Valley and Anzio beachhead), the Division moved to Ireland, November 1943, and later to England, February 1944, for additional training. Moving in by glider and parachute, troops of the 82d dropped behind enemy lines in Normandy on D-day, 6 June 1944, before ground troops hit the beaches. Cutting off enemy reinforcements, the Division fought its way from Carentan to St. Sauveur-le-Vicomte, fighting 33 days without relief. Relieved on 8 July, it returned to England for refitting. On 17 September, it was dropped at Nijmegen, 50 miles behind enemy lines, and captured the Nijmegen bridge, 20 September, permitting relief of British paratroops by the British 2d Army. After heavy fighting in Holland, the Division was relieved 11 November and rested in France. It was returned to combat, 18 December 1944, to stem the von Rundstedt offensive, blunting the northern salient of the Bulge. It punched through the Siegfried Line in early February 1945, and crossed the Roer, 17 February. Training with new equipment in March, the Division returned to combat, 4 April, patrolling along the Rhine, securing the Koln area, later moving across the Elbe, 30 April, into the Mecklenburg Plain, where, 2 May 1945, the German 21st Army surrendered.
Assignments in the ETO *
19 February 1944: VIII Corps, but attached to First Army.
13 March 1944: VIII Corps, First Army.
6 June 1944: VII Corps.
19 June 1944: VIII Corps.
13 July 1944: At-
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tached to Ninth Army.
12 August 1944: XVIII (Abn) Corps, First Allied (Abn) Army.
17 September 1944: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the British I (Abn) Corps of the British 21st Army Group.
9 October 1944: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the British XXX Corps, British Second Army, British 21st Army
Group.
9 November 1944: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to. the Canadian II Corps, Canadian First Army, British 21st Army
Group.
17 December 1944: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the VIII Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
18 December 1944: V Corps.
19 December 1944: XVIII (Abn) Corps.
20 December 1944: Attached, with the entire First Army, to the British 21st Army Group.
18 January 1945: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the XVIII (Abn) Corps, First Army, 12th Army Group.
14 February 1945: III Corps.
19 February 1945: First Allied (Abn) Army.
31 March 1945: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the XXII Corps, Fifteenth Army, 12th Army Group.
30 April 1945: First Allied (Abn) Army, but attached to the XVIII (Abn) Corps, Ninth Army.
General
Nickname: All American. Shoulder patch: A blue circle, containing white letters "AA" superimposed on a red square. A blue arc is above containing word "Airborne." Association: 82d Airborne Division Association, Inc. (Mr. Irving H. Silver, secretary), 188 West Randolph Street, Chicago 1, Ill. Publications: All American, by unit members; TI&E, ETOUSA; distributor, secretary, 82d Airborne Division Association, 1945. Here Is Your Book, Saga of the All-American; by unit members; Albert Love Enterprises, Atlanta 2, Ga.; 1947. Paraglide; Publication of the Airborne Division Association; All-American Soldier; a record album by the 82d Airborne Division Association.
* See footnote, 1st Infantry Division.
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[Nota Bene: These combat chronicles, current as of October 1948, are reproduced from The Army Almanac: A Book of Facts Concerning the Army of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1950, pp. 510-592.]