#82nd airborne

[sgtgrunt0331-3]

Three members of the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team display the typical loadout of gear worn by US Paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions on D-Day.

The WWII ADT was one of several groups of airborne re-enactors that jumped in period-correct uniforms and gear, with authentic military canopy parachutes, from a fleet of C-47 ‘Dakotas’ onto original D-Day drop zones during the 75th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, 2019.

(Photo by: Gary Daniels)

[mads-weasley]

U.S. Airborne & Special Operations Museum!!!

My dad and I took a day trip to the Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, NC!! It was beyond amazing and I highly recommend visiting it!! I loved learning more about the 101st and 82nd Airborne. I also nerded out the whole time, rambling about different BoB things to my dad, who listened to all of them lol!!

100/10!!!

[skywarriorupham]

Easy Company

[sca-nerd]

So. About that time my Dad claimed Grenada for Atlantia.

The Canton presented it to the Crown at 12th Night as a gift.

[taraross-1787]

This Day in History: 82nd Airborne Division rescues Nazi prisoners

On this day in 1945, the 82nd Airborne Division liberates a concentration camp just outside Ludwigslust, Germany. The Wöbbelin camp hadn’t been in operation for too long: It was established in February 1945 as the Nazis sought to move prisoners away from the Allied advance.

Even at this late stage of the war, the Nazis did not want those prisoners rescued.

At this point in the war, of course, the writing was on the wall. Adolf Hitler had committed suicide mere days earlier, and an Allied victory was just around the corner. Allied forces were discovering and liberating thousands upon thousands of Hitler’s prisoners.

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-82nd-airborne-liberation

[thingsmk1120sayz]

My grandfather WW2 82nd airborne

[randomredneck]

Gonna be one of these nights I see...

[maddog3032]

[gillespiejr]

comfort song:

[nebula1734]

This just in: Scrolling through tumblr at 02:15 while jamming to the non-military playlist of 82nd Airborne Choir songs after being the only sober person at a party I forced myself to attend to try to be more social is a vibe.

Yeaaaah… probably not going to do that much anymore. The party part, I mean.

[gods-blade]

[skywarriorupham]

Uniform so far

I haven't purchased anything else to add to my reenactment kit, I should probably start saving up to buy webbing since I'll buy the pants sooner or later

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

U.S. Army Airborne Snipers in WWII

In my admittedly not especially extensive research, I have only seen one image (above) indicating that the US Airborne used M1903A4 sniper rifles in WWII, in Bill Rentz’s book Geronimo! 

The above, as its caption indicates, shows a GI with the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne division holding an M1903A4 in North Africa, presumably in advance of jumping into either Sicily or Salerno in 1943.

As far as I can tell the M1903A4 has a mixed reputation; few really want to come right out and say that it was terrible but people make a lot of interesting faces trying to describe its effectiveness. Some people insist it’s a legend like everything else the U.S. cranks out of its armories. 

There seems to be unanimous agreement that the Weaver 330C scope, designated the M73B1 for military use, was not very good for field use as it was fragile and not waterproof.

I have one piece of anecdotal evidence that would by no means prove admissible in court but that nevertheless colors my feelings about this rifle. A friend with whom I used to re-enact had one of the Gibbs M1903A4s for a while and at one event he “took a hit” and in the process of falling to the ground holding said rifle, the reticle in the scope broke away. Granted, the earlier replica scopes they used on those were notoriously fragile even for Weaver style scopes and I am not sure whether he had the earlier or later model scope on that rifle. But I have handled other scopes of that era of comparable quality and they do not inspire tremendous confidence.

As other points of anecdotal data, I have myself felt the shock of an opening parachute and the impact of a comparatively light landing. Static-line jumping of the WWII (and modern) variety notoriously involves much harder landings; broken legs prove(d) a common injury.

So I have a hard time imagining that a 1940s scope like the Weaver 330 could handle the forces involved in jumping out of an airplane. Granted, the Enfield No. 4 Mk I (T) that the British used was issued en masse to the Airborne and survived, but the scope on that thing was built like a tank and--critically--we have plenty of evidence of that rifle’s use among the British Airborne. The M1903A4 does not appear with that kind of regularity in the records I’ve seen related to the U.S.

All that’s to say, I wonder how many jumps the above rifle survived.

But also, as this guy had the foresight to tote an M1A1 Carbine for backup, I am left with the tantalizing albeit unobtainable object of an M1903A4 with an M1A1 Carbine as an accessory

[thingsmk1120sayz]

82nd airborne WW2 parachutes (my grandfather took the photo)

[dietmar44]

US Trench Knife model 1918 from WWI US AEF (WWI)

First one : L.F & C- 1918 US Made .

Second one : « Au Lion » P.O. to a French maker by the US AEF Ordnance Corps (scarce model from 1918)

These knives will be seen also in the hands of paras and gliders of the 101st (screaming eagles) and 82nd (All American) Airborne divisions during the D-Day !

Poignard de tranchée US modèle 1918 du corps expéditionnaire américain (AEF) :

1er : fabrication US par L.F & C en 1918 .

2ème : fabrication française pour l’armée US marquée : « Au Lion » sur la lame et juste U.S.1918 sur la poignée en bronze (version rare)