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
August 15 1944
Operation Dragoon
On 15 August 1944, the 1st Airborne Task Force under Major General Robert T. FREDERICK dropped 5,607 American paratroopers, 300 Rupert dolls and hundreds of gliders in Provence as part of Operation Dragoon.
To ease the pressure on Operation Overlord in Normandy, SHAEF planned a second landing of Allied forces in the South of France. Initially called ‘Anvil’ and scheduled for 6 June 1944, this operation was postponed due to a lack of resources. There were not enough landing craft or aircraft available to carry out two large-scale operations simultaneously. The Allies thought that opening up a second front in France could cause the German defensive system to collapse. General Eisenhower therefore insisted on postponing the operation until 15 August 1944, under the code name ‘Dragoon’. The objectives were to capture the ports of Toulon and Marseille, then to move up the Rhône valley and link up with the troops coming from the west.
