Timeline
-
January 14 1944
The 507th and 508th PIR in Northern Ireland -
Beginning of February 1944
SHAEF - Operation Neptune -
February 8 1944
Major General William C. Lee is replaced temporarily by Don F. Pratt -
February 13 1944
The 82nd Airborne Division settles in England -
February 28 1944
The IX Troop Carrier Command's US Airborne Pathfinder School settles in England -
March 1st 1944
The Airborne Command becomes the Airborne Center -
March 14 1944
Brigadier General Maxwell D. Taylor is appointed commander in chief of the 101st Airborne Division -
April 1944
Creation of Airborne "Phantom Divisions" -
End of March 1944
The 504th PIR joins England -
May 18 1944
The objectives of D-Day -
May 28 1944
D-Day objective changes -
Night of the 5 to 6 June 1944
Operation Titanic -
June 6 1944
D-Day: The longest day -
June 6 through 7 1944
Gliders landing -
July 3 and 4 1944
Drop in Dutch New-Guinea -
July 10 1944
The 101st Airborne Division returns to England -
July 13 through 14 1944
The 82nd Airborne Division returns to England -
August 2nd 1944
Activation of the 1st Allied Airborne Army -
August 15 1944
Operation Dragoon -
August 27 1944
Ridgway at the head of the XVIII Airborne Corps -
September 17 1944
Operation Market Garden -
End of October 1944
Brigadier General James M. Gavin receives his second Major General star -
During November 1944
82nd et 101st Airborne Division: ordered to rest -
November 29 1944
The 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines -
December 16 1944
Battle of the Bulge -
December 25 1944
The 17th Airborne in the Battle of the Bulge
May 18 1944
The objectives of D-Day
On 18 May 1944, as part of the operations in Normandy, the 101st Airborne Division was assigned 4 drop zones (A, B, C and D) inland behind the beach exits between St-Martin-de-Varreville for the 502nd PIR and Audouville-la-Hubert and Pouppeville for the 506th PIR. The 501st PIR was given the difficult task of taking Sainte-Mère-Eglise and the bridges over the Merderet. Then the division had to make contact with the 82nd Airborne Division, which had to jump over 3 zones (W, N and T) between the marshes of La Sangsurière and St-Sauveur-le-Vicomte!
