US Airborne Pathfinders in World War II

On approaching France, the Pathfinder pilots were surprised by an unexpected bank of clouds that extended from the western shores of the Cotentin peninsula almost to the drop area.  This disrupted navigation to the extent that only two batches of Pathfinders were dropped close to their targets: those of the 101st Airborne allocated to mark Dropzone C, and those of the 82nd Airborne allocated to Dropzone O.

The Pathfinders for the remaining four dropzones were dropped so far away from their targets that they did not have enough time after their landing to reach their planned landing zones.  Some teams decided to set up their guiding equipment wherever they could, in an effort to achieve concentration of their battalions in one area.  Not all of the teams were able to set up their marker lights because German troops were too close, and they could only use their Eureka beacons for guiding the aircraft to the zones.  When the Pathfinders had completed their marking tasks, they sought to re-join their parent battalions and resume their infantry roles.

As in the Mediterranean, the airborne troops' initiative and courage over the next few days were outstanding.  Despite widespread scattering, they managed to combine themselves into temporary groups and pressed on to achieve most of their objectives over the following few hours.  Ironically, the widespread scattering of the drops helped deceive the Germans into believing that the airborne assault force was bigger than it actually was.

The Pathfinders took some heavy casualties on D-Day but these were not evenly distributed among units.  For example, a few Pathfinders of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (82nd Airborne Division) suffered jump injuries but no combat fatalities, as there was negligible opposition where they landed; in contrast, the 508th Pathfinders lost approximately two-thirds of their men.1 

• 1

  Jeff Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II (Atglen, PA, 2004), 40.

US Troop Carrier aircraft had been sent to Normandy with 13,348 US paratroopers on board; later analysis of drop reports gave an indication of how far from their targets some of the paratroops had landed 2:  

• On the target dropzone: over 10%.
• Up to 1 mile of the target zone or Pathfinder beacon: 25%- 30%.
• 1 to 2 miles away from their zones or beacons: 15%-20%.
• 2 to 5 miles away from their zones or beacons: about 25%.
• 5 to 10 miles away from their zones or beacons: about 10%.
• 10 to 25 miles from their zones or beacons: 4%.
• Missing: 6%.

The wide dispersal of the paratroopers prompted senior officers once again to query the value of night parachute operations.  Was drop accuracy or protection by darkness more important?  It was soon concluded that accurate navigation was the priority and, as a result, all large-scale airborne assaults were carried out in daylight for the rest of the war.

After Operation NEPTUNE, the Pathfinder School at North Witham began training Polish airborne troops belonging to the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade.  This Brigade would be attached to the British 1st Airborne Division for Operation MARKET GARDEN in the Netherlands in September 1944.  As it happened, these Polish Pathfinders were not used in the Brigade's drop on 21 September.

Apart from continuing training, the expertise of IX Troop Carrier Command's Pathfinders would be needed in the Mediterranean before their next major European operation.

• 2

  John C Warren, Airborne Missions in the Mediterranean 1942-45, Defense Technical Information Center (Air University, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, September 1955) <https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA522511.pdf> [accessed 2019].

The Allies decided to invade southern France to gain important ports for the delivery of supplies from the USA and to open up another thrust into enemy-occupied territory. The aim was for Allied forces to push northwards from the French Riviera into the French heartland, and eventually join up with the Allied armies moving eastwards from Normandy.

The invasion – codenamed Operation DRAGOON – was set for 15 August 1944.  It would comprise an airborne and seaborne assault.  To boost the number of troop carrier C-47s available for DRAGOON, the 50th and 53rd Troop Carrier Wings in England sent 413 of them to Italy. 3

By now, Pathfinders were considered vital for a successful airborne assault, so experienced Pathfinder paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were sent with their equipment to Marcigliana airfield to train locally based US paratroopers in Pathfinder techniques.  In addition, 12 Pathfinder C-47s and their aircrew were sent.

At 1.00am on 15 August 1944, nine Pathfinder aircraft took off from Marcigliana, carrying nine teams of US and British paratroopers (121 paratroopers in total) to mark three zones, two American and one British. 4 The aircraft reached the French coast on schedule and approximately on course, but a thick blanket of fog played havoc with navigation inland. 

• 3

  Office of Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Intelligence, The AAF in the Invasion of Southern France, New Imprint (Washington DC, 1992), 24–40.

• 4

  Jeff Moran, American Airborne Pathfinders in World War II (Atglen, PA, 2004), 70.

The navigational aids on board the Pathfinder C-47s did not prevent wide scattering of the Pathfinder paratroopers.   Only two of the nine teams were dropped on or close to their intended targets.  The British Pathfinders were dropped accurately on their assigned dropzone and were able to set up their navigational aids according to plan.  On one US zone, some Pathfinders were dropped prematurely but were close enough to set up their navigational aids in time for some missions later in the day.  On the other US zone, the Pathfinders were dropped more than 10 miles away from their target and were unable to complete their mission.  

Nonetheless, many of the main force of British paratroopers were not dropped on the intended zone, despite the accuracy of their Pathfinder drop and deployment of navigational aids.  This showed that it was still important that aircrew could visually identify landmarks from the air, in addition to receiving guidance from electronic aids.

Despite the widespread scattering of the paratroopers, all the objectives of the Allied airborne forces were achieved within 48 hours of their landings, and the foothold in southern France was consolidated.  This was to be the final Allied airborne operation in the Mediterranean theatre during the war, with the various component forces being reassigned throughout their respective national armies.

On 14 September 1944, the status of the Pathfinders was enhanced when the Pathfinder School was transformed into an independent operational unit, the IX Troop Carrier Command Pathfinder Group (Provisional), with Lieutenant Colonel Crouch remaining in command.  This showed the importance of the Pathfinder concept had finally been accepted.  On the same day, the Pathfinders moved from North Witham to Chalgrove in Oxfordshire.  The move would come just three days before the next major Allied airborne operation was launched on 17 September 1944: Operation MARKET GARDEN.

Operation MARKET GARDEN's aim was for a 'carpet' of airborne troops to be landed near Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem in the Netherlands to capture and secure key bridges over rivers, so that follow-up British ground forces could drive northwards from their frontline in Belgium.  Within Operation MARKET GARDEN, the airborne assault was known as Operation MARKET, while the ground assault was known as Operation GARDEN.  If successful, these operations would allow Allied ground forces to sweep north to Arnhem and then pivot eastwards towards the crucial industrial Ruhr region of Germany.

Only small numbers of US Pathfinders were used to support the 82nd and 101st Airborne landings near Nijmegen and Eindhoven.  At 1025 am on 17 September 1944, the first pair of Pathfinder C-47 aircraft took off from Chalgrove, followed at ten-minute intervals by the other two pairs. 5

The Pathfinders of the 82nd Division were in the lead and had an easy trip as far as Grave before anti-aircraft batteries opened up on them.  They were under intense fire as they made their drop at 1247 pm from an altitude of 500 feet. The two pathfinder teams landed side by side in open fields about 500 yards north of dropzone.  While one team stood guard, the other set up its equipment: its high-visibility panels were laid, and beacons were operating within three minutes. 6

The Pathfinders of the 101st Division had a harder time.  Their aircraft ran into heavy fire over the German lines.  Evasive action was forbidden, so all the pilots could do was to speed up to 180 mph.  One aircraft heading to dropzone A was shot down near Ratie, leaving only one Pathfinder team to mark that dropzone.  Fortunately, the remaining aircraft reached the dropzone and also dropped its team at 1247pm.  The paratroops met no resistance and were able to put the Eureka in operation in a minute and to lay out the panels in 21/2 minutes. They had trouble with the radio antenna but had that set working within five minutes. 7

The other Pathfinder teams of the 101st Airborne were tasked with marking dropzones B and C.  They dropped with pinpoint accuracy at 1254pm.  The Eureka beacon was in action in less than one minute, and panels and radio were ready within four minutes.

The Pathfinders' mission was highly successful, allowing the main airborne assault forces to land in their planned areas.  Powerful Allied air support had cleared the path for the American and British troop carriers and the initial landings had been successful beyond all expectations.  The airborne commanders were unanimously enthusiastic in their praise of the accurate and efficient delivery of their troops.

• 5

  Ibid.

• 6

  Ibid.

• 7

  Ibid.

On 16 December 1944, German ground forces launched Operation WACHT AM RHEIN (WATCH ON THE RHINE).  German units attacked US forces in the Ardennes region of Belgium, aiming to drive a wedge between the British and US Armies and recapture the port of Antwerp, which was vital to the flow of supplies to Allied forces.

German forces made deep inroads into US lines, but they could not capture the vital road junction town of Bastogne, which was held by the US 101st Airborne Division.  The town was besieged and there was an urgent need for supplies to be air-dropped to the 101st.

At 11.30am on 22 December, the call went to the Pathfinders at Chalgrove to launch an immediate two-plane operation to Bastogne.  Their mission would be to drop into the US perimeter at Bastogne and coordinate resupply drops into the perimeter.  

At the time, there were no permanently assigned Pathfinder paratroopers at Chalgrove but – by amazingly good luck – there was a Pathfinder training course being run for student paratroopers.  Despite virtually no notice, two teams of Pathfinders were selected and prepared, and took off at 2.52pm.  However, the aircraft were recalled because weather and time did not permit subsequent resupply missions to fly that day, and the mission was rescheduled for the next day.

At 6.45am on 23 December, the aircraft took off again and successfully delivered the Pathfinders to the planned drop zone.  Lt Col Joel Crouch was flying the lead aircraft, and he checked the results of their work by flying back on course half-an-hour after dropping the Pathfinders, using the aids as set up by the team on the ground.

During the emergency resupply period, which lasted until 27 December 1944, a total of 911 aircraft parachuted supplies to the beleaguered 101st Airborne, with a further 61 aircraft towing gliders to land within its defended perimeter.

IX Troop Carrier Command concluded that the Pathfinders and their specialist equipment played a key role in the successful resupply of the 101st Airborne Division, thereby preventing the Germans from capturing Bastogne.

In early 1945, airborne resupply was called for again as US troops advanced into Germany.  Elements of the 4th Infantry Division had captured the town of Prüm but found themselves cut off from their supplies because the bridges and roads along the lines of communication had been washed away by heavy rain and early thawing.

On 13 February 1945, a team of Pathfinders from the 101st Airborne dropped into the area and coordinated resupply missions to a dropzone selected nearby at Bleialf.  As a result of the Pathfinders' successful operation, over 243 tons of supplies were received by the cut-off troops.

In March 1945, the Pathfinders moved from Chalgrove to Chartres airfield in France, which would be their final location in Europe before the war ended.  They would be used in just one more operation before the final German surrender in May 1945: Operation VARSITY, the airborne landings on the east bank of the River Rhine near Wesel on 24 March 1945.  

Operation VARSITY would be carried out on 24 March 1945 in support of Operation PLUNDER, the amphibious landings of British, US and Canadian troops on the east bank of the River Rhine.  Two airborne divisions would be involved: the British 6th Airborne Division – a veteran of D-Day and the battle for Normandy – and the US 17th Airborne Division.

The US 17th Airborne Division had arrived in England in August 1944.   The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment – which had seen action in Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division – was transferred to the 17th Airborne Division to boost the levels of combat experience within it.  The Division first saw combat in January 1945 in the Ardennes.  

The 17th Airborne Division created just one team of 12 Pathfinders during the war.  Some of these men were 'volunteered' as Pathfinders because of their disciplinary history.  They were sent to train first with Normandy veterans of the 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne Divisions, before moving to Chalgrove; their training lasted around three months in total.

Operation VARSITY would be a daylight operation.  The Pathfinders would not be dropped ahead of the main force for a variety of reasons:

• Navigation was not expected to be a problem in daylight with the Rhine as an obvious terrain feature and Pathfinder equipment would be deployed on the American-held side of the Rhine.
• The complexity of the routeing of the air armada, which would be converging from airfields in England and France.
• The suicidal nature of dropping small numbers of paratroopers on heavily defended dropzones.  
• The compromise of any surprise by the early arrival of the Pathfinders.  
• The scale of the assault required every possible aircraft to carry troops, so Pathfinder Group aircraft – led by Lt Col Joel Crouch - were used to carry paratroops of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment instead of the usual Pathfinder teams.

On 24 March 1945, some of the Pathfinders set up their equipment in friendly territory on the west bank of the Rhine to guide their comrades to the dropzones on the enemy side of the river.  Other Pathfinders from the Division flew in the lead aircraft of each wave and jumped with the first troops; once landed, they laid out high-visibility panels and smoke markers to help guide the rest of the force.  

Poor visibility - caused by the smoke screen laid to assist the simultaneous amphibious crossing of the Rhine - contributed to some serious navigational errors.  Although the Eureka beacons performed well (they could be detected from 16 miles away), visual aids on the friendly side of the Rhine were at times obscured by the smoke.  On the enemy side of the river, the haze and smoke made visual navigation difficult; although compass and Gee transmissions might guide the aircraft towards the dropzones, it was essential for pilots to visually identify their dropzones to ensure drop accuracy.

Despite the challenges, the landings in VARSITY were more accurate than those in Operations NEPTUNE and MARKET, with the vast majority of paratroops and gliders landing within two miles of their zones.

There would be no more large-scale operations before the war in Europe ended on 8 May 1945.  The continued existence of the Pathfinders could not be justified, and it was not long before their personnel and equipment were reassigned to the units from which they had originated.

In the Pacific theatre, the US 11th Airborne Division also employed Pathfinders in two successful operations on Luzon in the Philippine Islands in early 1945.  One team moved through enemy lines on foot and the other landed by boat to locate and mark dropzones for the assaulting parachute forces.