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WW2 US Paratrooper militaira

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Book review: Jump into the Valley of the Shadow

Paratrooper.be Posted on August 5, 2024 by Wouter HasSeptember 6, 2024

The second book from my summer reading list is another one about the 508th PIR. This book is not as big as the previous one and is told from the perspective of one paratrooper, the author Dwayne T. Burns. He wrote this book with his son Leland Burns.

The title comes from a personal prayer that the author adapted from Psalm 23 […Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…].

A lot of flashbacks interrupt the combat story line and make the book a bit hard to follow at times. But they serve the point of making the story human and relatable. He often tells about his youth in Fort Worth, training in California and Georgia, and his young fiancee Minerva, whom he feels destined to return to after the war to get married. It’s what keeps him going.

There is a lot of soldiers’ humor in it. You will have a good chuckle in every chapter.

One detail that stood out to me is Burns’ description of the modified T-5 parachute for Market Garden. He mentions training with it in England, as well as using the quick release on his combat jump near Nijmegen. It was my understanding that only the 101st Airborne were issued with the modified T-5s, due to insufficient available quantities.

Burns was the only one from his company to come out of the war without a scratch. The other 140 men who had made the Normandy jump had been either killed, wounded or captured.

The next review will be of “Surrounded by Heroes”, by Len Lebenson.

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Posted in Books | Tagged 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne, book review | Leave a reply

Book review: Put Us Down In Hell

Paratrooper.be Posted on August 2, 2024 by Wouter HasSeptember 6, 2024

Yes, I am actually reading that big stack of books I posted in June.

First is this book by Phil Nordyke about the 508th PIR, all the way from its formation until leaving from Germany at the end of 1945 as the last remaining Parachute Infantry Regiment in Europe.

As you can tell from the many strips of yellow notes, I found a lot of new information for my own research. I was hoping to find information about the 508th regimental surgeon, Maj. David E. Thomas. And I did. It filled some gaps in the bio I had made, but the parts of Nijmegen in Holland and Erria in the Ardennes are still a bit sketchy.

In the notes, the author refers to “Military Career Memoirs of Brigardier General David Edward Thomas, MC”, by Normand E. Thomas. I think this is his son. I have tried to reach out to him to get hold of a copy of these memoirs, but no luck so far. Hopefully some reading this can help me!

Back to the book then: Apart from it being a treasure trove of information about the history and members of the 508th, it is also very enjoyable to read. The index is also practical, as are the many helpful situation maps throughout the chapters.

Next up: “Jump Into The Valley Of The Shadow“, by Dwayne T. Burns, also about the 508th PIR. Coming soon (I’ve almost finished it).

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Posted in Books | Tagged 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne, book review | Leave a reply

Visiting The Bridge at Remagen

Paratrooper.be Posted on July 14, 2024 by Wouter HasAugust 16, 2024

On our trip to the Middle Rhine area, we stopped by the remains of the famous Remagen Bridge, or the Ludendorff Bridge, as it was called. The bridge is gone, but the towers are still there, and on the Western bank, they house the Remagen Friedensmuseum.

Fun fact: the museum was financed in the 1970s, largely by selling stones from the bridge. It was built from stone form the hill on the other side, which is a black lava-like stone, as you can seen in the photo gallery.

There isn’t that much to see, but I liked the explanation about how the bridge came to be built, and the exhibit about the making of the 1969 movie ‘The Bridget at Remagen’, which was for the most part filmed in Chzechoslovakia, right until the invasion of the Russians. This meant the crew had to tail out of the country. This story is also explained in detail in the ‘After The Battle’ magazine, number 16.

As a first stop that day, we also visited the Arp Museum at Rolandseck, which is nearby. This is a very nice art museum. In case your wife or girlfriend is coming along, I can really recommend it 🙂

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Airborne summer reading list

Paratrooper.be Posted on June 28, 2024 by Wouter HasSeptember 6, 2024

And well into the fall too… It’s a big stack of unit history books that landed on my doorstep last week.

It started while looking for a used copy of ‘Put Us Down in Hell’ by Phil Nordyke. I received a tip that it contained new information for me about the 82nd Airborne officer I have been researching: David E. Thomas. He was the 508th PIR regimental surgeon and would later become a general in Vietnam. Sure enough, this book mentions him a number of times and I am thus able to fill some gaps in his WWII period.

The other books are also mostly about the 508th or the 82nd Airborne, but sadly, they don’t all have a decent index, so I may have to actually read these books to find what I’m looking for. Anyway, that’s no punishment.

The books on the Battle of the Bulge and the 17th Airborne Rhine Crossing are a bonus. I already had a quick look in the latter, but I’m afraid there’s nothing in it about ‘our’ Jack Beatty, who was with the 513th.

When I have actually read these books, I will update the Books section, which is very much outdated.

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Posted in Books, History | Tagged 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne, books | Leave a reply

Alamo in the Ardennes

Paratrooper.be Posted on June 18, 2024 by Wouter HasSeptember 6, 2024

This book was originally published in 2007, but I only read it just recently, in preparation of my latest battlefield tour of the Ardennes. I can highly recommend that you read this if you are interested in the Battle of the Bulge. And since you’re on this website, I am assuming you are very interested in this important battle.

I have learned quite a bit from it that I didn’t know yet. In Band of Brothers, you just see those poor infantrymen walking up to the Easy Company guys, dropping all their kit. They are almost written off as inexperienced troops who were expecting some peace and quiet on R&R in the Ardennes, but instead got run over by the Germans.

For sure, the German counter offensive came as a surprise, and indeed these men weren’t considered to be on the front line, but at least in the Bastogne area, the soldiers that were relieved by the 101st had fought long and bravely in bitter conditions. The men of the 28th Infantry Division, whom this book centers on, had first seen hell in the Hürtgen forest, only to be hit again in Luxembourg and Belgium. These brave men held off the Germans long enough for the Allies to get reorganized.

Mc Manus doesn’t focus on the paratroopers in this book, but of course they do play a big part in it. The one surprise for me was that McAuliffe, whose jeep rode well ahead of the column only arrived in Bastogne by chance. And an even bigger surprise is that his unit found him there. Because MPs directing the traffic were not aware of the change of plans. The 101st had originally been assigned to Werbomont, on the North Western side of the Bulge. That is were the 82nd would end up.

So, go ahead and read it for yourself! And stay tuned for more book reviews.

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Posted in Books | Tagged Ardennes, Battle of the Bulge | Leave a reply

Gas detection brassards – new markings

Paratrooper.be Posted on March 10, 2024 by Wouter HasMarch 10, 2024

Adrian Davies kindly sent me this photo of 3 gas detection brassards. All came from a British lightweight respirator bag.

On of the markings was already in the list, which is the first time I have come across an identical marking twice.

Please keep sending me the markings of your brassards, so I can add them to the list. Maybe a pattern (other than month/year) emerges that can tell us a bit more.

Read the full article here

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Soldier’s Medal for paratroopers – looking for stories

Paratrooper.be Posted on February 22, 2024 by Wouter HasFebruary 22, 2024

I’m looking for accounts of US paratroopers who earned the Soldier’s Medal. I recently bought an original WWII slot brooch Soldier’s Medal and case, and I thought it would be interesting to create a kind of ‘hall of fame’ of all paratroopers who received one.

This medal is quite rare compared to all other combat decorations, because it was awarded for heroism not involving combat. For example, in the 508th PIR, only 7 were awarded the Soldier’s Medal.

The Soldier’s Medal was worn after the Medal of Honor (1), the Distinguished Service Cross (14), then the Distinguished Service Medal (0), the Legion of Merit (3), the Silver Star (118), and before the Bronze Star (378). The numbers between brackets are the numbers of awards for the 508th PIR during WWII, in order to give an idea of the rarity of this decoration.

Heroism not involving combat often involved rescuing civilians or other servicemen from fire or drowning, but surely, each citation will be worth reading.

Read the full article

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Updates on John Urbank

Paratrooper.be Posted on February 10, 2024 by Wouter HasFebruary 8, 2024

My earlier post about SSgt. John (‘Jack’) Urbank from 2017, and again in 2020 has just been updated with some new (old) information.

The information I received from Gary Grand included some newspaper clippings from Jack’s local newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal. I completely overlooked the attachments at the time and only noticed them when I was contacted about Jack again.

It includes a piece from 1963 when he attended the première of The Longest Day, an interview from June 1964 about his D-Day experiences 20 years earlier, and an interview with his wife Edna Urbank from 1990 about her wartime job as a riveter at Goodyear Aircraft.

The picture on the right is from the Akron Beacon Journal, June 6, 2014. 

Read more in the full article

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Posted in History | Tagged 501st PIR, D-Day, Normandy | Leave a reply

Canadian made gas detection brassard

Paratrooper.be Posted on November 20, 2023 by Wouter HasNovember 20, 2023

This picture was sent to me by Karel Menard. It came from a Canadian soldier who was trained in Canada during WWII, but was never deployed overseas.

This gas detection brassard looks identical in shape and construction to the British made ones, but the colour is more dark brown and the stitching is brown instead of white.

What mainly stands out is the different stamps on the inside. It is marked with a logo in an oval with a J, R and C? It’s hard to make out, but presumably, this would have been the manufacturer. The date stamp is NOV 13 1942. There’s also a Canadian broad arrow stamp on the inside, not visible on the photo.

These Canadian brassards are quite rare. More so than the British made ones.

Read the full article about gas detection brassards

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Fourrageres awarded to US paratroopers

Paratrooper.be Posted on August 17, 2023 by Wouter HasAugust 17, 2023

Have you also struggled to keep the different French and Belgian fourrageres apart? They all seem to be red and green, don’t they? Or is it green and red? Photos in ads and articles are often of low quality and are a poor aid for hunting down the right ones for your collection.

Who was awarded which type of fourragere? How to identify an original WWII fourragere? In a new article on this website, I try to shed some light on this.

Read the full article here

Different types of WWII fourrageres
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Posted in Collectibles, Re-enactment | Tagged dress uniforms, fourrageres, insignia | Leave a reply

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About me

Wouter Has

I have been collecting WW2 militaria since I was a boy. About fifteen years ago, I decided to focus on WWII US Army, specializing in the history and equipment of the US Paratroops.

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New memorabilia in the Battle of the Bulge collect New memorabilia in the Battle of the Bulge collection. A marble and bronze ‘Nuts’ statuette made in the early 1950s and the complete series of Bastogne commemorative airmail stamps from 1946. #1945 #1944 #ww2history #paratrooper #wwiisouvenir #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #airborne #101stairbornedivision #battleofthebulge
Remembrance at the Flanders Fields American Cemete Remembrance at the Flanders Fields American Cemetery, Waregem, Belgium. #freedomisnotfree
Following the footsteps of the ill-fated “Golden Following the footsteps of the ill-fated “Golden Lions” 106th Infantry Division at Schönberg, Prümerberg and Saint-Vith. #1945 #1944 #ww2history #militariacollector #ww2collections #battleofthebulge
Some more US patches arrived in the mail. Clockwis Some more US patches arrived in the mail. Clockwise: 4th, 84th, 30th and 99th infantry division. All units that served in the Battle of the Bulge. #1944 #1945 #battleofthebulge #militariacollector #ww2collections
Catch of the day at the Ciney militaria show. #ww2 Catch of the day at the Ciney militaria show. #ww2history #paratrooper #militariacollector #ww2collections #battleofthebulge
Latest finds: an early US Paratroops pocket patch Latest finds: an early US Paratroops pocket patch and Robins jump wings. In the background is a Fort Benning (now called Fort Moore) photo booklet with a paratrooper on the cover and an early lieutenant’s overseas cap. #1941 #1942 #101stairbornedivision #82ndairbornedivision  #paratrooper #militariacollector #currahee #fortbenning #bandofbrothers #ww2collection #airborne
Short stop at the Margraten American Cemetery on t Short stop at the Margraten American Cemetery on this beautiful spring day. We also saw this M8 Greyhound at nearby Gronsveld. #1945 #ww2history #101stairbornedivision #paratrooper #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #freedomisnotfree
Photo report from Robert Capa in the LIFE magazine Photo report from Robert Capa in the LIFE magazine issue of 9 April 1945 showing paratroopers from the 17th Airborne Division before and during Operation Varsity. #1945 #ww2history #17thairbornedivision #paratrooper #airborne #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #ww2collections #operationvarsity
The birth of the US paratrooper program with the P The birth of the US paratrooper program with the Parachute Test Platoon, formed with members of the 29th Infantry Regiment. #1940 #ww2history #militariacollector #ww2collections #ww2collector #ww2militaria #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #ww2collection #airborne #paratrooper #501stparachuteinfantryregiment #501pir
Warm wool balaclava, gift from the American Red Cr Warm wool balaclava, gift from the American Red Cross, Carmel California. #1944 #1945 #ww2history #paratrooper #airborne #battleofthebulge #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #ww2collections #bastogne
One the right is Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, One the right is Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, commanding general of the 101st Airborne. On the left the assistant commander Brigadier General Gerald J. Higgins. Photo taken at Berchtesgaden, but the Field Marshal was captured at Zell al See. #1945 #ww2history #101stairbornedivision #paratrooper #airborne #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #ww2collections
Pictures of reenactors at Bastogne Barracks and Ma Pictures of reenactors at Bastogne Barracks and Manhay during the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge #1944 #1945 #ww2history #paratrooper #airborne #battleofthebulge #militariacollector #bandofbrothers #ww2collections #bastogne #manhay
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