Operation Market Garden
A few months ago, I made a post about a recently acquired M42 Jump Jacket that was reinforced and CC2 impregnated. Initially, I made the assumption that it was a Normandy/D-Day jacket, but when I was able to ID the vet, my hypothesis was wrong. The jacket belonged to a 504th PIR vet.
The 504th fought hard in Italy, but were unable to make the Normandy jump because once they arrived in England to prepare for Operation Overlord, it was determined that there were not enough men in the regiment to make the jump. A little known fact is that 504th used their reinforced M42 jump suits during the Holland jump (Operation Market Garden). So, although this jacket wasn’t used in Normandy, it was likely used on the Holland jump.
I wrote to NARA and requested service information for the paratrooper who wore this reinforced jump jacket. Here are my findings:
- He served from 25 November 1940 to 23 September 1945
- He was in the following units:
- Company L 156th Infantry, Parachute Battalion
- 504th Parachute Infantry
- HQ & HQ 504th Infantry, 82nd Division
- HQ & HQ Co 507 Parachute Infantry
- He served in the following Campaigns:
- Sicily
- Naples-Foggia
- Rome-Arno
- Rhineland (Invasion Arrowhead)
- Ardennes
- Central Europe
- He is credited with the following awards , but may have more according to a note on the NARA document:
- ETO Campaign Medal w/ a silver star, bronze star, and one invasion arrowhead
- Good ConductMedal
- American Defense Service Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- Combat Infantry Badge
- Bronze Star Medal
- WWII Victory Medal
Since this veteran was never wounded, it is likely he made the Sicily, Salerno, and Holland jumps. I checked Pay’s book Thunder From Heaven to see if he made the Varsity jump when he was with the 507th, but he was not listed. His participation in six campaigns gave him enough points to go home after Germany surrendered. He must have been transferred to the 507th just before being sent home.
Posted in WWII US Militaria | 1 Comment »
Operation Market Garden
Here is a WWII uniform from my personal collection. It is not for sale.
This uniform grouping was worn by a PFC in Service Company 401st GIF, 101st Airborne. The vet was a post D-Day replacement and fought in Holland (Operation Market Garden), where he was seriously wounded and spent the next year and a half in hospitals recovering.
His uniform has a three-place ribbon bar an with ETO ribbon w/ two campaign stars, Good Conduct ribbon, and Purple Heart ribbon. The ribbon bar pin is broken and the insignia was sewn to the uniform upside down, causing the ribbons to be in reverse order, but that is how the uniform was received from the vet, so it was left as is.
Included with the group are several V-Mail and regular letters he sent home, a 101st Airborne unit history book and booklet, and recent photos of the vet holding the uniform pieces. His overseas cap has an interesting para/glider patch variant.
Posted in Airborne, WWII US Militaria | 7 Comments »
Operation Market Garden
This Ike jacket was worn by a 101st Airborne trooper who served in 504th Bn (later 509th), then the 501st PIR. While with the 501st, he served in Headquarters Company, then got transferred to F Co prior to the Normandy jump. In addition to jumping in Normandy, this soldier jumped in Holland and fought in Bastone and Southern Germany. He received two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.
Interesting features on this Ike Jacket include a wool Allied Airborne patch, an English made wool Airborne tab over the 101st patch, English made overseas stripes, and modified Belgian fourragère.
Posted in Airborne, WWII US Militaria | 3 Comments »
Operation Market Garden
- Members of I Co. 504th prior to the Holland jump. Note the reinforced M42’s being worn.
As a follow up to my research on the recently acquired reinforced M42 jump jacket, a fellow WWII Airborne collector was kind enough to run the partial Army Serial Number (H-0608) through his database of 43,000 WWII 82nd Airborne personnel and locate a perfect match!
The paratrooper was an enlisted man attached to Regimental HQ&HQ Company of the 504th PIR. It is very common for uniforms to trade owners, which explains the removed officer insignia on this jacket.
Ironically, I had the opportunity to handle a documented reinforced jump jacket at the Kansas City militaria show in May, 2007 worn by T4 Clarence W. Harper HQ&HQ/HQ 2nd Battalion 504th PIR. The jacket reinforcements were identical in construction to my modified jacket. In fact, this trooper may have even known T4 Clarence Harper, being they were both HQ of the 504th!
The 504th PIR did a lot of heavy fighting in Italy and returned to England on 04-22-1944. However, their rosters were depleted, so the 504th was not ordered to stand down and not participate in the Normandy jump. A handful of 504th personnel volunteered as Pathfinders and made the Normandy jump. However, this paratrooper was not one of them.
Since the 504th did not jump in Normandy, they were able to hold onto their reinforced M42 jump suits and subsequently used them on the Holland jump. They were the only entire regiment to wear reinforced M42’s in the Netherlands and on the Holland jump. By then, the other regiments were issued and wearing M43 field jackets and trousers. So, although the veteran did not wear this jacket on D-Day, it was more than likely worn on the Holland jump.
Posted in Airborne, WWII US Militaria | No Comments »
