First Allied Airborne Army

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Badge of the First Allied Airborne Army
Badge of the First Allied Airborne Army

The First Allied Airborne Army was part of the Allied Expeditionary Force in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945.

Contents

[edit] Formation

The First Allied Airborne Army was activated on August 2, 1944 and commanded by USAAF Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton; second in command was British Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, succeeded in January 1945 by British Lieutenant-General Richard Gale.

[edit] Operations

Although elements of what was to become the Allied Airborne Army (US 82nd and 101st and British 6th Airborne Divisions) took part in the D-Day landings, this was prior to the Army's creation.

[edit] Operation Market-Garden

The first and most famous combat operation of the First Allied Airborne Army, in September 1944, was Operation Market Garden during which the British 1st, US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, dropped in the Netherlands as part of a plan to outflank the Siegfried Line cross the Rhine and enter Germany.

[edit] Battle of the Bulge

Elements of the Airborne Army (US 82nd and 101st Divisions, British 6th Division) took part in the Battle of the Bulge although without aerial delivery.

[edit] Operation Varsity

The next and final airborne operation conducted by the First Allied Airborne Army was Operation Varsity, during which the British 6th and the US 17th Airborne Divisions landed in Germany, helping to secure the crossing of the Rhine.

[edit] Cancelled Operations

Several airborne operations were planned for the divisions under the control of First Allied Airborne Army after the end of Operation Varsity. The first was Operation Arena, which envisioned landing between six and ten divisions into what was termed a 'strategic airhead' in the Kassel region of Northern Germany in order to deny a large swathe of territory to the German defenders and give the Allied armies a staging area for further advances into Germany. The 13th was chosen to participate, along with the US 17th, 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, as well as the British 6th Airborne Division and the 1st Airborne Division.[1] A preliminary date for 1 May was set for the operation once all of the required airborne and air-landed infantry divisions had been located and supplied, but it was ultimately cancelled on 26 March due to the rapid movement of Allied ground forces negating the requirement for the operation.[2] Operation Choker II which was to be an airborne landing on the east bank of the Rhine near Worms, Germany, and during which the division was only hours from taking off before the operation was cancelled due to Allied ground forces overrunning the proposed landing areas. Operation Effective was designed to deny the Alps area from the Germans to prevent the creation of a last-ditch stronghold, but was cancelled when intelligence indicated such a stronghold did not exist.[3]

[edit] Constituent Formations

The First Allied Airborne Army consisted of

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Huston pp. 216–217
  2. ^ Huston, pp. 217–218
  3. ^ Flanagan, p. 290

[edit] References

  • Blair, Clay (1985). Ridgway’s Paratroopers - The American Airborne In World War II. The Dial Press. ISBN 1-55750-299-4. 
  • Devlin, Gerard M. (1979). Paratrooper - The Saga Of Parachute And Glider Combat Troops During World War II. Robson Books. ISBN 0-31259-652-9. 
  • Major Ellis, L.S. [1968] (2004). Victory in the West: The Defeat of Germany, Official Campaign History Volume II, History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 1-84574-059-9. 
  • Fraser, David (1999). And We Shall Shock Them: The British Army in the Second World War. Phoenix. ISBN 0-30435-233-0. 
  • Flanagan, E.M. Jr (2002). Airborne - A Combat History Of American Airborne Forces. The Random House Publishing Group. ISBN 0-89141-688-9. 
  • Gregory, Barry (1974). British Airborne Troops. MacDonald & Co. ISBN 0-38504-247-7. 
  • Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918-1945. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-30436-730-3. 
  • Hastings, Max (2004). Armageddon - The Battle For Germany 1944-45. Macmillan. ISBN 0-33049-062-1. 
  • Huston, James A. (1998). Out Of The Blue - U.S Army Airborne Operations In World War II. Purdue University Press. ISBN 1-55753-148-X. 
  • Jewell, Brian (1985). ”Over The Rhine” – The Last Days Of War In Europe. Spellmount Ltd. ISBN 0-87052-128-4. 
  • O'Neill, N.C. (eds.) (1951). Odhams History of the Second World War: Volume II. Odhams Press Limited. 
  • Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H (1990). The Second World War 1939-1945 Army - Airborne Forces. Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-90162-75-77. 
  • Ministry of Information (1978). By Air To Battle - The Official Account Of The British Airborne Divisions. P.Stephens. ISBN 0-85059-310-7. 
  • Norton, G.G. (1973). The Red Devils - The Story Of The British Airborne Forces. Pan Books Ltd. ISBN 0-09957-400-4. 
  • Rawson, Andrew (2006). Rhine Crossing: Operation VARSITY - 30th and 79th US Divisions and 17th US Airborne Division. Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1-84415-232-4. 
  • Saunders, Hilary St. George (1972). The Red Beret – The Story Of The Parachute Regiment 1940-1945. White Lion Publishers Ltd. ISBN 0-85617-823-3. 
  • Saunders, Tim (2006). Operation Plunder: The British & Canadian Rhine Crossing. Leo Cooper Ltd. ISBN 1-84415-221-9. 
  • Tugwell, Maurice (1971). Airborne To Battle - A History Of Airborne Warfare 1918-1971. William Kimber & Co Ltd. ISBN 0-71830-262-1.