One of Miley’s lieutenants created a ceremonial mug: History of the Prop Blast, 130. The lieutenant was Second Lieutenant Carl Buechner.
“Thunder from Heaven” was inspired by a biblical quote: Mel Therrien, “Where Did the Words Thunder from Heaven come from?,” 7.
This structure, known as the triangular division: James M. Gavin, Airborne Warfare, 164.
“calling in a very large man and saying”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 125.
“The only thing to do was to ignore these limitations”: Ibid., 106.
The reorganization shifted Miley’s triangular formation: Steven J. Zaloga, US Airborne Divisions in the ETO 1944–45, 16. And see also James P. Lyke, “The Operations of the 17th Airborne Division in the Crossing of the Rhine River,” 24 March 1945.
After completing jump school: Frank Dillon, letter to the author, April 7, 2012.
to storm the heights of “Dead Man’s Ridge”: Ted Velikoff, “Velikoff Diary,” 53. And Bart Hagerman, 17th Airborne Division History, 8.
Denied the extra hazard pay enjoyed by paratroopers: Gerard M. Devlin, Silent Wings, 126.
“Join the glider troops! No flight pay. No jump pay”: Ibid., 126.
Oh! Once I was happy, but now I’m Airborne: Thirteenth Airborne Division, 24.
mailing copies of “The Gliderman’s Lament” to congressmen: “FDR Okeh’s Glider Pay Bill July 3rd,” 68.
same hazardous duty pay as paratroopers: Gerard M. Devlin, Silent Wings, 126.
cutting their trousers off at the knees: Bart Hagerman, Granddaddy Was Airborne!, 109.
when the men were called to formation on a rainy morning in Châlons: Eugene Herrmann, letter to the author, December 12, 2015.
regimental strength from 1,678 men to 3,114: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 38.
allocation of 81mm mortars soared: Steven J. Zaloga, US Airborne Divisions in the ETO 1944–45, 35, and James P. Lyke, “The Operations of the 17th Airborne Division in the Crossing of the Rhine River, 24 March 1945.”
yelling, “Pow! Pow! Pow!”: Frank Dillon, letter to the author, August 18, 2012, and February 7, 2012.
The safest place during a German mortar or artillery barrage: Antony Beevor, Ardennes 1944, 53.
glider fuselages recovered from the Dutch landing zones: James P. Lyke, “The Operations of the 17th Airborne Division in the Crossing of the Rhine River, 24 March 1945,” 16.
due to serving as scouts in the division’s reconnaissance platoon: 466 PFAB, “History of the 466th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion,” 1.
“You’re doing a fine job and that’s why”: Letter from John Chester to Charles Duree’s daughter, July 28, 2004.
outside Châlons where the Air Force provided aircraft: For simplicity’s sake I have shortened the reference of Army Air Force down to Air Force.
wanted one of Ridgway’s divisions to seize the town of Wesel: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 15, 1945.
“imaginative and bold in their thinking”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 93.
“adequate for a maximum of one division”: XVIII Corps (ABN), “War Diary,” February 14, 1945, CMH, MBR, Box 59.
Dempsey’s current plans for VARSITY: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 15, 1945. The Dempsey-Ridgway disagreements over VARSITY are based on comments made in Parks’ Diary and XVIII Corps (ABN), “War Diary.” See especially Parks Diary 2/9/45, 2/10/45, 2/15/45, 2/19/45; XVIII Corps (ABN) “War Diary” 2/14/45, 2/19/45, 2/20/45, 2/23/45.
“useless slaughter”: George C. Mitchell, Matthew B. Ridgway, 21, and Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 106.
“the hard decisions are not”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 82.
Brereton in particular, considered Dempsey: Lewis Brereton, The Brereton Diaries, 342.
“putting the cart before the horse”: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 19, 1945.
“insignificant and but a fraction”: Ibid.
“The ideal airborne landing is to” James M. Gavin, Airborne Warfare, 81.
the Airborne Army’s Ground Information Team: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 5.
Poorly chosen landing zones in Burma: Gerard M. Devlin, Silent Wings, 153.
over 700 planes short: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl,” report dated February 9, 1945.
noticed fresh paint concealing the unit identification: Frank Dillon, letter to the author, June 30, 2008.
Chapter 4 Deliberate and Disciplined
“a bitter slugging match”: Eisenhower quoted in Toby Thacker, The End of the Third Reich, 92.
undermanned and poorly equipped divisions: George MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 5.
every yard of ground: Ibid., 7.
by more than 40,000 forced laborers: Steven J. Zaloga, Defense of the Rhine 1944–45, 6.
He was convinced that with enough time: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 8.
take advantage of the river: Ibid., 294.
“My generals only look behind them”: Robert M. Citino, The Wehrmacht’s Last Stand, 23.
inflicting over 20,000 Allied casualties: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 183.
from Xanten in the north: Ibid., 179.
One observer offered “anthropoidal”: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 1.
Now as commander of the I Fallschirmjäger-Armee: Ibid., 5.
organizing his four parachute divisions: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 180.
an anxious preoccupation: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 12.
“[I was] personally responsible”: Alfred Schlemm. First Paratroop Army (20 Nov 44—21 Mar 45), 11.
violated Hitler’s order to hold the fortress: Franz Kurowski, Hitler’s Last Bastion, 99.
Without seeking permission: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 10.
“The disadvantage for the enemy was”: Alfred Schlemm, First Paratroop Army, 18.
could have overrun his defenses: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 11.
the corpses of 276 comrades: Franz Kurowski, Jump into Hell, 327.
“Not in the course of the entire war”: Franz Kurowski, Hitler’s Last Bastion, 93.
his life was saved by Schlemm’s intervention: Franz Kurowski, Jump into Hell, 330.
the abandoned equipment was pushed off roads and concealed: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 13.
each unit commander had to testify by signature: Ibid., 13.
a determined defense took out thirty-nine: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 183.
From altitudes of over 16,000 feet: 514 Squadron, RAF War Diary for March 6, 1945.
“The bullets didn’t worry us”: Ed Cunningham, The Ludendorf Bridge, 3.
shuttled every howitzer he had across the Rhine: “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 14.
On the morning of March 9: Ibid., 14.
the Oberstleutnant concurred: Ibid., 14.
they wouldn’t sell so cheaply: Ibid., 14.
He delayed the destruction by two hours: Alfred Schlemm, First Paratroop Army, 12.
shot at their own engineers: Franz Kurowski, Hitler’s Last Bastion, 102.
“in order to use the better defensive lines”: Franz Kurowski, Jump into Hell, 331.
caught the Allies by surprise: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 183.
executed according to Montgomery’s strategy: Ibid., 178.
The 3,000 German soldiers left: Franz Kurowski, Jump into Hell, 331.
had escaped with only thirty-five tanks: Justin L. C. Eldridge, Defense on the Rhine.
“From the enemy’s POV”: FAAA, “HQ Operations Reports 1944–1945,” report dated March 21, 1945.
managed to save almost all of I Fallschirmjäger-Armee’s remaining artillery: Alfred Schlemm, First Paratroop Army, 21.
Chapter 5 “Fifty percent of two is one”
returned from a week in
the hospital: Thad Blanchard, letter to the author, February 12, 2007.
he joined the regiment in July 1944: Ibid., March 12, 2007.
considered Raff a “miserable monster”: C. B. McCoid, letter to Clay Blair, January 16, 1984, CJB, CMH.
Raff as a loudmouth publicity seeker: Clay Blair, letter to Matthew Ridgway, August 14, 1984, CJB, CMH.
“The squad and platoon must be perfectly trained”: Edson D. Raff, We Jumped to Fight, 202.
Raff let his authority and rank: “Good God. Gaston.”
“clapped up”: Thad Blanchard, letter to the author, April 3, 2007.
abstained from drinking, gambling, and smoking: “Good God. Gaston.”
including two of Raff’s three battalion commanders: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 425.
inquiries by the House Appropriations Committee: Guy Richards, World War II Troop Type Parachutes, 56 and 72.
the men’s main chutes had failed to open: 224 AMC, “224th Airborne Medical Co., Accumulated Notes,” 4.
“Them bazookas were like swatting”: Kirk B. Ross, The Sky Men, 220.
Its rifled barrel, with twenty-four right-handed lands and grooves: FM 23-80, 3.
German engineers at Krupp: John Weeks, Airborne Equipment, 79.
Supreme Headquarters had requested 200 M18s: FAAA, Subject File, 411–45, February 20, 1945.
designating the 17th as the priority recipient: FAAA, Subject File, 411–45, March 5, 1945.
Two men were Normandy veterans: 507 PIR, “The Operations of Company H,” 8. Both men were transferred to another unit and both were decorated in subsequent actions in the Ruhr pocket.
Instead Dempsey selected Ridgway’s third option: XVIII Corps (ABN), “War Diary,” February 18, 1945.
“with practically no heavy weapon support”: Ibid., February, 18, 1945.
Initial plans called for the amphibious assault: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 161.
Luftwaffe night fighters posed a legitimate threat: Ibid., 161.
Ridgway liked Dempsey’s plan: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl,” report dated February 9, 1945.
It allowed more time for artillery and fighter-bombers: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 161.
Miley too conceded that the advantages: William B. Breuer, Storming Hitler’s Rhine, 295.
“disrupt the hostile defense of the Rhine”: XVIII Corps (ABN), “Operation Varsity, 23 March 1945 to 30 March 1945, 1.”
By Dempsey’s calculations: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 20, 1945.
“how it is intended to employ this additional division”: 21AG message to SHAEF, dated February 6, 1945, found in 21AG, “Operation Plunder, Airborne Operations, conference notes.”
wired Eisenhower requesting permission to reassign: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, March 6, 1945.
“held at all costs”: XVIII Corps (ABN), “Operation Varsity, 23 March 1945 to 30 March 1945,” 5.
division staffs commenced their detailed planning: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 80.
enough aircraft to drop about 17,000 troops in a single lift: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 440.
the Air Force told Miley they could give him 400 parachute aircraft and 588 glider tugs: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 158.
held together by over 500,000 rivets: http://www.dc3history.org/didyouknow.html, accessed on May 6, 2017.
agreed that the C-46 units would be made available: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 169. The 313th Troop Carrier Group flew the C-46s.
providing a total of 610 tugs: Ibid., 158.
pulling two gliders stretched the fuselage by several inches: Paul C. Fritz, “From the Glider Tower’s Point of View,” 30.
designed to expand by 40 percent before snapping: George A. Larson, “Alliance Army Air Force Base and the Training of Airborne Crews,” 21.
the Troop Carrier Commander . . . rebuffed the idea: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 16, 1945.
Ridgway favored double tow . . . Brereton was confident: Ibid., February 16, 1945.
“utilize double tow to the fullest possible extent”: Ibid., March 1, 1945.
The 610 C-47s would now be pulling 906 gliders: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 158.
Stirling and Halifax bombers to install the correct towing equipment: Ibid., 158.
The shortage reduced his lift capacity by 576 men: Ibid., 158.
two divisions would be simultaneously: Ibid., 157.
“Intelligence reports that it has captured a document”: Lewis Brereton, The Brereton Diaries, 367.
“stop this violation of security”: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, March 15, 1945.
“enclosed in a folder which gave no indication”: Ibid., March 10, 1945.
At least thirty-two copies of the report: HQ FAAA memo to HQ 21 Army Group dated March 8, 1945, found in 21AG, “G (Plans), Operation Varsity (Nov 44–May 45).”
assembled a formidable band led by Private Bill Keller: Verne Galbraith, A Little Music, 30.
tentmates pooled various ingredients from belated Christmas packages: Richard H. Haney, When Is Daddy Coming Home?, 77.
“nicest looking medal the Army has”: Ibid., 75.
was convinced they were off the hook: Ibid., 77.
dropping into the “Limey’s sector”: Ted Velikoff, “Velikoff Diary,” 53.
troops would be jumping in front of Patton’s advancing legions: John Chester, letter to the author, June 6, 2008.
“We are preparing for something big. . . . I can see it in the air”: Frank Macchiaverna Diary.
Miley’s three regimental commanders arrived: James P. Lyke, “The Operations of the 17th Airborne Division in the Crossing of the Rhine River, 24 March 1945,” 26.
briefings were conducted down to the level of company commanders: Ibid., 26.
visiting senior Air Force pilots were noticed: David P. Schorr, “Operation Varsity,” 13.
“Never yet has [there] been an airborne operation in which”: James M. Gavin, Airborne Warfare, 90.
“each marched half way around the tent”: Paul Reed, “Operation Varsity—As I Remember It,” 30. Reed never learned if the other trooper survived the war.
That same morning Eric Bols, the British general in command: Napier Crookenden, Airborne at War, 90.
his red beret confiscated and the airborne patches roughly cut off his uniform: Ibid., 92.
“clerks, orderlies and staff officers”: Ibid., 92.
“unruffled professionalism”: C. B. McCoid, letter to Clay Blair, January 16, 1984, CJB, CMH.
“The 507th are flying in west to east and jumping here”: Napier Crookenden, Airborne at War, 92, and William B. Breuer, Storming Hitler’s Rhine, 209.
He’d known Raff since early 1942: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 66.
Miley shook the hand of each man and presented him a bottle of liberated Luftwaffe brandy: Napier Crookenden, Airborne at War, 94.
Chapter 6 Every Hour a Gift
The description of Schloss Ziegenberg and Adlerhorst have been pieced together from multiple sources, including http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/adlerhorst.aspx/, accessed on August 20, 2017; http://markfelton.co.uk/publishedbooks/adlerhorst-hitlers-forgotten-headquarters/, accessed on July 2, 2017; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adlerhorst, accessed on May 16, 2017; and Winston G. Ramsey (ed.), “FHQu ‘Alderhorst.’ ”
Hitler now placed his confidence in Kesselring: Franz Kurowski, Hitler’s Last Bastion, 85.
“I am the new V3!”: Richard J. Giziowski, The Enigma of General Blaskowitz, 385.
far grimmer than the Führer had led him to believe: Brian Jewell, Over the Rhine, 12.
Hitler believed the more immediate threat lay to the east: Clay Blair, Ridgway�
��s Paratroopers, 444.
down to 7,000 men each: Brian Jewell, Over the Rhine, 12.
four American divisions had managed to push across: Brian Jewell, Over the Rhine, 7.
produced 65 percent of its crude steel and 56 percent of its coal: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 294.
After the Soviets seized Silesia: Ibid., 294.
manufacturing output that peaked in late 1944: Pierre Clostermann, The Big Show, 149.
25 new U-Boats. Almost 1,600 tanks and self-propelled guns: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 7.
Schlemm focused on reinforcing his defensive positions: Rolf Geyer, Army Group H, 2.
almost all of his artillery batteries intact: Alfred Schlemm, First Paratroop Army, 14.
his casualties were lighter: FAAA, “HQ Operations Reports 1944–1945,” March 21, 1945, and IX TCC, “Field Order No. 5 for Operation Varsity,” Amendment No. 2, dated March 22, 1945.
ordered the construction of defensive positions along the east bank of the Rhine: Richard J. Giziowski, The Enigma of General Blaskowitz, 384.
7-Fallschirmjäger-Division . . . severe losses: XVIII Corps (ABN), “Periodic Reports,” Annex No. 1a to G-2 Periodic Report No. 1.
I Fallschirmjäger-Armee’s Order of Battle is based on a combination of details from “Revised Outline Plan for Operation Varsity,” March 17, 1945, found in FAAA, “HQ Operations Reports 1944–1945”; Kurt Mehner, Die Geheimen Tagesberichte Der Deutschen Wehrmachtführung imZweiten Weltkrieg 1939–1945; and an Allied report dated March 19, 1945, found in FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl.”
with barely 3,000 soldiers each: Minutes for March 19, 1945, planning conference, found in FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl.”
three parachute infantry divisions on his right flank totaled just 11,000 men: Justin L. C. Eldridge, Defense on the Rhine.
eight new full-strength divisions had been drafted: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 8.
Among the replacements were thousands of Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe personnel: Steven J. Zaloga, Defense of the Rhine 1944–45, 13.
replacements received only rudimentary infantry training: Steven J. Zaloga, Defense of the Rhine 1944–45, 13, and “Special Interrogation Report of General Alfred Schlemm,” 15.
Four Hours of Fury Page 43
