A military history detailing the key role two US Army special forces commanders and their infantry divisions played in during the second world war. Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd “All-American” and the 101st “Screaming Eagle” Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than forty percent casualties. The Paratrooper Generals is the first book to explore in depth the significant role these two division commanders played on D-Day, describing the extraordinary courage and leadership they demonstrated throughout the most important American campaign of World War II.

* A gripping account on an exceptional man - the life of Jim Gavin, America's best paratrooper leader throughout World War II World War II, which occurred precisely at the juncture between air transport capability and the invention of the helicopter, saw history's first and only mass use of paratroopers dropped into battle from the sky, perhaps the most courageous combat task seen in modern warfare. And "Jumpin' Jim" Gavin was by all accounts America's best paratrooper leader. His first combat jump was in Sicily, where as a battalion commander he found his men scattered all over the landscape in one of airborne's greatest fiascos. Yet his stand with a few stalwarts at Biazza Ridge is credited with saving the U.S. invasion front. In Normandy, as assistant division commander of the 82nd Airborne, he won the eternal affection of his men for continuing to lead in combat, M-1 slung over his shoulder, even as his paratroopers were similarly scattered and faced German fire on all sides. His cool leadership served to coalesce the paratrooper bridgehead behind enemy lines until infantry from the beaches could finally reach them. During Operation Market Garden, now as commander of the 82nd, Gavin wrote a new chapter in paratrooper heroism, seizing all his objectives despite a serious spinal injury on landing. With hardly a respite after the grueling campaign in Holland, Gavin and his men were called upon for perhaps their most dangerous task - stemming the German onslaught during the Battle of the Bulge. After the war Gavin continued to earn as much respect from policymakers as he had from his men, providing commentary on our Cold War stance, the war in Vietnam, and as Kennedy's ambassador to France. He was not an unflawed individual, as this comprehensive biography reveals, but an exceptional one in every sense, especially during his days of combat leadership during history's greatest war. ILLUSTRATIONS: 16 pages

"Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties. This is the first book to explore in depth the significant role these two division commanders played on D-Day."--

Airborne warfare reached its peak during World War II - the only war in which the potential gains of using airborne tactics ever justified the great costs, both material and human. The revolutionary developments in tactics and equipment meant that whole divisions could now be inserted behind enemy lines to initiate surprise attacks. However, the risks taken by these brave soldiers, both Allied and Axis, cannot be overstated, with horrific losses suffered by both sides. This book gives an overview of airborne warfare during World War II, looking not at the German, American and British paratroopers involved in the war, covering their recruitment, training, tactics and battle conduct, and the battles they fought. Covering Operation Mercury - the German assault on the island of Crete in 1941 and the first strategic use of airborne forces in history - the tragic British attack on Arnhem in 1944 and the American airborne assault near Utah Beach on D-Day, this book traces the evolution of airborne warfare throughout the war and gives an insight into the experiences of the brave men who dropped into battle.

This powerful study of Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway offers both a detailed account of the legendary general's illustrious World War II career and a comprehensive history of American airborne operations in Europe. Considered one of the Allies' brightest and most forceful commanders, the general fought in every major battle in the Mediterranean and Europe, and his 82nd and 101st airborne divisions came to be called the best in the U.S. Army. But the book makes clear that Ridgway had to justify his faith in airborne warfare because the first drop by the 82nd-during the invasion of Sicily when the pilots were still green and the equipment faulty-had been a fiasco.

Blair tells the story in gripping battlefield narrative to capture the experiences of the soldiers who served in these elite units at Salerno, Naples, Anzio, Normandy, and elsewhere. At the same time he provides a frank analysis of the development of the airborne techniques and of the attention given to the political-military-strategic issues that influenced their deployment. Densely packed with information, the book, first published in 1985, is widely acknowledged for its engagingly honest analysis of Ridgway and airborne operations in Europe.

Contents: The Prewar Experience; Evolution of Airborne Forces During World War II; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, January-February 1942; Operational Employment: Vyaz'ma, February-June 1942; Operational Employment: On the Dnepr, September 1943; Tactical Employment; The Postwar Years.

Although it is known that Allied airborne forces landed into a German buzzsaw on D-Day, far less is known about the troops they encountered in the dark night of June 6, 1944. One of the formations they encountered was a similarly elite group of paratroopers, who instead of dropping from the skies fought on the defensive, giving their Allied counterparts a tremendous challenge in achieving their objectives. This is the complete wartime history of one of the largest German paratrooper regiments, 6th , from its initial formation in the spring of 1943 to its last day at the end of the war. With numerous firsthand accounts from key members, reporting on their experiences, they describe the events of 1943Ð45 vividly and without compromise. These accounts reveal previously unknown details about important operations in Italy, Russia, on the Normandy Front, Belgium, Holland, the last German Parachute drop in the Ardennes, and the final battle to the end in Germany. With over 220 original photographs, many from private collections and never before published, this book fully illustrates the men, their uniforms, equipment and weapons. Also included is an appendix with maps, battle calendar, staffing plans, a list of field and post-MOB-numbers, and the Knight's Cross recipients of the regiment. Having earned the respect of the Allied forces who fought against it during World War II, this work will inform current readers of the full record of FallschirmjŠger Regiment 6, and why the Allied advance into German-held Europe was so painstaking to achieve.