So Few Led by So Many

The 3rd battalion of the 501st had been dropped with General Taylor to serve as a division reserve and as protection for the division headquarters. By daybreak only about 40 men of the entire 600 man battalion had been assembled. …

1944-06-06

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The 3rd battalion of the 501st had been dropped with General Taylor to serve as a division reserve and as protection for the division headquarters. By daybreak only about 40 men of the entire 600 man battalion had been assembled. In addition, 45 men of the headquarters company had arrived. Many of these were officers including 2 generals, 3 colonels, 1 major, several captains, and several more lieutenants. Two battalions of the 506th had been assigned to take Causeway 1 & 2. Since not a single man from those battalions had been seen, General Taylor correctly reasoned that those battalions had been dropped in the wrong area. He decided that his group would have to go for Causeway 1. There were so many officers that even lieutenants were assigned as riflemen. As the group moved out General Taylor said, “Never have so few been led by so many!”

Poupperville, France

Mission Albany was a parachute combat assault at night by the U.S. 10ist Airborne Division on June 6, 1944, part of the American airborne landings in Normandy during World War II. It was the opening step of Operation Neptune, the assault portion of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord. 6,928 paratroopers made their jumps from 443 C-47 Skytrain troop carrier planes into an intended objective area of roughly 15 square miles (39 km2) located in the southeast corner of the Cotentin Peninsula of France five hours ahead of the D-Day landings. The landings were badly scattered by bad weather and German ground fire over an area twice as large, with some troops dropped as far as 20 miles (32 km) away. The division took most of its objectives on D-Day, but required four days to consolidate its scattered units and complete its mission of securing the left flank and rear of the U.S. VII Corps, reinforced by 2,300 glider infantry troops who landed by sea.

Wikipedia: Mission Albany

German

American