D-Day: 101st Airborne
Image taken from wikipedia.org
On D-Day, June 6 1944, the Allied forces launched the largest invasion of the Second World War. The aim was to take back Europe from Nazi Germany’s oppression. The invasion plan included dropping airborne troops behind enemy lines to clear the way for the troops landing on the beaches of Normandy. One of these divisions was the 101st Airborne Division. They had trained for three years in America and England for the invasion. The division was full of young men with the average age of 21. Their training included jumping out of planes and parachuting to the ground, gathering together to move out, and tactics for fighting behind enemy lines.
On the night of June 5 1944, thousands of these troops loaded onto planes for their flight over France. As they flew over the English Channel, they could see thousands of ships below them. They flew into a cloud bank over France and began to be fired upon by anti-aircraft guns. The pilots banked left and right trying to evade the ground fire. This caused the troops to be separated. When they got to the ground, they realized that this was not where they were suppose to be. The scattering of planes in the air had caused the a dispersion of all the airborne soldiers. Troops from different battalions had to complete different objectives than what they would have if they landed in the right drop zone. However, through all the turmoil, the American paratroopers were able to throw the Germans into complete confusion and the ultimate objective of distracting the enemy was completed.
