515th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)
| 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment | |
|---|---|
| [[File:DUI at [1]|frameless|upright=1]] | |
| Active | May 31, 1943-February 25 1946 |
| Disbanded | February 25 1946 |
| Country | United States of America |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Type | Parachute Infantry |
| Garrison/HQ | strategic reserve {ETO} |
| Nickname(s) | Jumping Wolves |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Battle honours | Central Europe |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Harvey J. Jablonsky |
The 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment was a Regiment of the US Army during the Second World War. The unit was used to provide replacements for overseas, but was later assigned to the 13th Airborne Division and sent to France in anticipation of combat with the Germans and was later en-route to the Pacific Theatre when the war came to an end.
Activation At Ft. Benning, Ga
The 515th was activiated on May 31, 1943 in the Alabama Area of Fort Benning, Georgia, initially the Regiment was used as an administrative agency pool for Officers and Men fresh from the Parachute School. It was only on December 1 1943 that orders came down from Airborne Command placing the 515th in full activation. It is for this reason that the 515th is considered the most junior of the US Armys Parachute Regiments.
Colonel Julian B. Lindsay was the Regiments first CO of the 'Jumping Wolves', taking command of the 184 man cadre provided by the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment. It didn't take long for the 515th to come to full strength.
The unit took its first casualty in mid June of 1943 when it's First Battalion CO Lt. Col. J. C. Hite plunged to his death over the Alabama Area. As a result the Ampitheatre in that area is now named after him.
Initially only the First Battalion was Jump Qualified, the Second and Third Battalions being composed of unqualified men from Special Units, however by the end January 1943 the whole Regiment was wearing its Jump Wings.
It was during this early period that the Regiment lost some men as replacements overseas, famed General John K. Singlaub returned from an exercise to find his Platoon having been sent overseas as replacements, an event which led to his eventual transfer to OSS Jedburgh Team JAMES, beginning his long career in Special Operations.
Assignment To The 13th Airborne
On March 7, 1944 the 515th joined the 13th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, replacing the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which had been reassigned to the 17th Airborne Division.
In April and May of 1944 the Regiment was hit hard, again being stripped for replacements overseas, drastically setting back the Regiments training schedule. To replace these losses the 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment was ordered to provide men to fill the holes left by those who went.
The 515th began to train in earnest for an overseas deployment with the 13th Airborne. Indications where for a deployment to the Pacific Theatre, a rumour which was further fuelled when 23 Japanese-Americans where attatched to the unit to asist whith Regimental training. Half these men would play the enemy, the other half would be interpreters. These men gained great respect fromt he men of the 515th and later, when it became apparent that the Regiment would not go to the Pacific, these men where missed.
Manuevers
By mid September 1944 the 13th Airborne was ready for its final exams for movement overseas, taking the form of a large Airborne Manuever. The 515th was based out of Laurinburg-Maxton Army Airbase, with the initial assignment of capturing 'enemy' airfields, allowing glider reinforcements to land.
Not all went according to plan as high winds and Air Corp inexperience resulted in bad scattering of the jumpers, however the 515th recovered and moved out capturing the Camp Mackall Airport. The rest of the manuevers proceeded somewhat smoothly, with one exception being a trooper who was in the lead of a creek crossing falling asleep against a tree resulting in his buddies halting and waiting for him to move out, despite being up to thier waists in swamp.
Upon completion of the exercise the 13th was cleared for deployment overseas. In December of 1944 the Battle of the Bulge was in full swing and the 13th was ordered to move out to the European Theatre of Operations immediately.
By January 30th, the men of the 515th where on thier way.
Strategic Reserve ETO
The 13th Airborne Division docked at Le Harve on February 8, 1945 and moved out to Camp Lucky Strike near St. Valery en Caux, France. It was here that the 515th acquired it's new CO Colonel Harvey J. Jablonsky, who was already in Europe awaiting the mens arrival.
Life at Lucky Strike was miserable, the men where tasked with sprucing the area up, creating gravel paths in mud which simply swallowed up any gravel the men tried to lay down. Moral was low and the rain water high. Mercifully the men moved out to Auxere, France nine days later.
Auxere was a former French Army Garrison, consisting of four story barracks, surrounding a quadrangle, which was full of trash, left by the Germans. The men set about fixing the place up.
It was at this time that the men participated in Operation Comet, a training mission in anticipation of jumping the Rhine. The men where not told this was an exercise until they arrived at the marshalling area. The Exercise was a success and the men returned to Auxere.
The Regiment sent some volunteers to England to participate in the 18th Airborne Corps Pathfinder school, which was held Chalgrove, Oxford, England. One of these men remained with the Corps and eventually was one of the first men to Jump into Germany.
The men where called out to Marshalling areas again for more Operations which would never come off. This being the essense of thier role as Strategic Reserve, to be ready to jump anywhere, anytime, they where 'Troopers of Opportunity'.
Time and again the men kitted up, boarded thier aircraft, only to be told that the DZ had been overrun by friendly forces and it was back to the Marshalling Area Blues.
In May the war ended, with the men still sitting behind the barbed wire, the war passed them by.
Redeployment To The Pacific
After a period of celebration, sports and training, the 13th Airborne was the second division earmarked for deployment to the Pacific Theatre of Operations. In July 1945 the men left Auxere for Camp Pittsburgh near Reims. The men boarded Liberty Ships at Le Harve and started for the United States, a stop over to the Pacific.
While at sea the Atomic Bombs where dropped ending the war in the Pacific. The men of the 515th where jubilant, the war was over and they where alive. The Ships docked at Piermont Pier on the 23rd August and the men where sent home on leave, or discharged.
Deactivation
While the war had passed the 13th Airborne Division and the 515th by, no one will ever know how many lives where saved by not going into action. The 515th was on the Army's Roles and still functioning when it was shut down on February 25, 1946, it's men transferring to the 82nd Airborne Division.
References
The US Airborne In WW2
13th Airborne Division 1943-1946 by The Turner Publishing Company
USA Airborne 50th Annaversary by Bart Hagerman