Timeline
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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
December 16 1944
Battle of the Bulge
Faced with numerous setbacks, Hitler launched a large-scale offensive to halt the advance of Allied troops in the West. This highly ambitious operation was given the name ‘Wacht am Rhein’ and was intended to enable German troops to break through the forest of the Belgian Ardennes, cross the Meuse and seize the port of Antwerp. Postponed several times, the offensive was finally launched on 16 December 1944 in the heart of the Ardennes forest. In the first days of the offensive, a force of more than 250,000 men overwhelmed Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges’ 1st US Army.
General Eisenhower decided to send to the rescue the XVIIIth US Airborne Corps, which he held in operational reserve. On 17 December 1944, Major General Ridgway was informed of the German breakthrough and urgently decided to send all available men to Belgium. Early on 18 December, the 82nd Airborne embarked on trucks, followed in the afternoon by the 101st Airborne. The All-Americans landed in the Werbomont sector, while the Screaming Eagles took up positions around Bastogne.
