TRAINING AND PREPERATION

Paratroopers learn how to land, from MacDonald p. 114

            Before launching an airborne invasion of the historic scale undertaken by the allies on D-Day, extensive training and preparation was required of the airborne divisions. The 24,000 paratroopers which comprised the American 82nd and 101st and the British 6th Airborne Divisions were the finest quality and most highly trained soldiers of the allied invasion army. In addition to normal infantry training, these airborne troops also had to complete special airborne training. Specific training for the paratrooper was termed “jump school” and consisted of several stages of actual jump training as well as extra endurance training. The jump training started with free jumps off raised platforms to practice landing technique and then progressed to 30 ft. and then 250 ft. towers from which the recruits would be suspended in full parachute and harness and then released to simulate a real plane jump. Jump training culminated in five real jumps from a C-47, which earned the recruit his parachutist wings upon completion.

Recruits train in full harness and parachute on static dropper, from MacDonald p. 112

The successful airborne operation of the 503rd Parachute Infantry at New Guinea, in the Pacific theater (September, 1943), demonstrated the importance of joint training between the paratroopers and the troop carriers which brought them into combat. This strategy was applied in earnest in preparation for D-Day as airborne troops and their carriers flew scores of coordinated practice jumps over Britain in both daylight and nighttime training missions.

Churchill and Eisenhower watch a parachute drop practice on March 23rd 1944, from Goldstein p.62.

Index     Introduction     Training and Preparation       Equipment     Anti-paratrooper Defenses      US 101st     US 82nd    British 6th     Conclusion     Bibliography