D-DAY - UNITS

9th Air Force - IX Troop Carrier Command


Lewis H. Breton

Paul L. Williams

Julian M. Chappell

Maurice Beach

Charles H. Young

Frank X. Krebs
 
IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC) was formed in October 1943 to carry out the airborne assault mission in the invasion. Brigadier General Paul T. Williams, who had commanded the troop carrier operations in Sicily and Italy, took command in February 1944. The 14 groups assigned to IX TCC were a mixture of experience ; Four had seen significant combat, Four had no combat experience but had trained together for more than a year in the US, Four others had been in existence less than nine months and arrived in the UK one month after training began, One had experience only as a transport group and the last had been recently formed.
By the end of May 1944, the IX Troop Carrier Command had available 1,207 C-47 and was one-third overstrength, creating a strong reserve. Three quarters of the planes were less than one year old on D-Day, and all were in excellent condition. Crew availability exceeded numbers of aircraft, but 40 per cent were recent-arriving crews or individual replacements who had not been present for much of the night formation training. As a result, 20 per cent of the 924 crews committed to the parachute mission on D-Day had minimum night training and fully three-fourths of all crews had never been under fire. Over 2,100 CG-4 Waco gliders had been sent to the UK, and after attrition during training operations, 1,118 were available for operations, along with 301 Horsa gliders received from the British. Trained crews sufficient to pilot 951 gliders were available, and at least five of the troop carrier groups intensively trained for glider missions.
The assault was divided into two missions, 'Albany' and 'Boston', each with three regiment-sized landings on a drop zone. The drop zones of the 101st Airborne Division were west of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont (A, C, and D). Those of the 82nd Airborne Division were west (T and O) and southwest (N) of Sainte-Mère-Église.
To achieve surprise, the parachute drops were routed to approach Normandy at low altitude from the west :
-Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division jumped first on June 6, between 00:48 and 01:40 British Double Summer Time. 6,928 troops were carried aboard 432 C-47s of mission 'Albany' organized into 10 serials.
-The 82nd Airborne Division's drop, mission 'Boston', began at 01:51. It was also a lift of 10 serials organized in three waves, totaling 6,420 paratroopers carried by 369 C-47s.
-Two pre-dawn glider landings, missions 'Chicago' (101st Airborne Division) and 'Detroit" (82nd Airborne Division), each by 52 CG-4 Waco gliders, landed anti-tank guns and support troops for each division.
-On the evening of D-Day two additional glider operations, mission 'Keokuk' and mission 'Elmira', brought in additional support on 208 gliders.
-Two additional glider missions ('Galveston' and 'Hackensack') were made just after daybreak on June 7, delivering the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment to the 82nd Airborne Division.
-Two supply parachute drops, mission 'Freeport' for the 82nd Airborne Division and mission 'Memphis' intended for the 101st Airborne Division, were dropped on June 7.
 
      
 
9th Air Force: Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton  [view folder]
  IX Troop Carrier Command (Grantham): Major General Paul L. Williams  [view folder]
     
    50th Troop Carrier Wing (Exeter airfield): Colonel Julian M. Chappell  [view folder]
      439th Troop Carrier Group (Upottery airfield): Lt. Colonel Charles H. Young  [view folder]
        91st Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Howard U. Morton  [view folder]
        92nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Cecil E. Petty  [view folder]
        93rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Robert A. Barrere  [view folder]
        94th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Joseph A. Beck II  [view folder]
      440th Troop Carrier Group (Exeter airfield): Lt. Colonel Frank X. Krebs  [view folder]
        95th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Irvin G. Anderson  [view folder]
        96th Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain William R. Cooper  [view folder]
        97th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Jack S. Southard  [view folder]
        98th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Bascome L. Neal  [view folder]
      441st Troop Carrier Group (Merryfield airfield): Lt. Colonel Theodore G. Kershaw  [view folder]
        99th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Walter T. Fletcher  [view folder]
        100th Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain James T. Cousin  [view folder]
        301st Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain Lloyd G. Neblett  [view folder]
        302nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Frederick Funston  [view folder]
      442nd Troop Carrier Group (Fulbeck airfield): Lt. Colonel Charles M. Smith  [view folder]
        303rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Robert O. Whittington  [view folder]
        304th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Kenneth L. Glassburn  [view folder]
        305th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major John A. Crandell  [view folder]
        306th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Royal S. Thompson  [view folder]
     
    52nd Troop Carrier Wing (Cottesmore airfield): Brigadier General Harold L. Clark  [view folder]
      61st Troop Carrier Group (Barkston Heath airfield): Colonel Willis W. Mitchell  [view folder]
        14th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Lewis S. Frederick, Jr  [view folder]
        15th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Lawrence C. McMurtry  [view folder]
        53rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Howard M. Betts  [view folder]
        59th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Marcus O. Owens, Jr  [view folder]
      313th Troop Carrier Group (Folkingham airfield): Colonel James J. Roberts, Jr  [view folder]
        29th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Quinn M. Corley  [view folder]
        47th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Paul W. Stephens  [view folder]
        48th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Edgar F. Stovall, Jr  [view folder]
        49th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Frank J. Lumsden  [view folder]
      314th Troop Carrier Group (Saltby airfield): Colonel Clayton Stiles  [view folder]
        32nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Halac G. Wilson  [view folder]
        50th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Joseph H. McClure  [view folder]
        61st Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Campbell N. Smith  [view folder]
        62nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Arthur E. Tappan  [view folder]
      315th Troop Carrier Group (Spanhoe airfield): Colonel Hamish McLelland  [view folder]
        34th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Donald G. Dekin  [view folder]
        43rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Otto H. Peterson  [view folder]
        309th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Smylie C. Stark  [view folder]
        310th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Henry G. Hamby, Jr  [view folder]
      316th Troop Carrier Group (Cottesmore airfield): Colonel Harvey A. Berger  [view folder]
        36th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major James R. Roberts  [view folder]
        37th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Leonard C. Fletcher  [view folder]
        44th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Benjamin F. Kendig  [view folder]
        45th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Mars Lewis  [view folder]
     
    53rd Troop Carrier Wing (Greenham Common airfield): Colonel Maurice M. Beach  [view folder]
      434th Troop Carrier Group (Aldermaston airfield): Colonel William B. Whitacre  [view folder]
        71st Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Glenn E. W. Man, Jr  [view folder]
        72nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Frank W. Hansley  [view folder]
        73rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Terry G. Hutton  [view folder]
        74th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Ralph L. Strean, Jr  [view folder]
      435th Troop Carrier Group (Welford airfield): Colonel Frank J. Mac Nees  [view folder]
        75th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Lewis A. Curtis  [view folder]
        76th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Robert C. Lewis  [view folder]
        77th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Henry H. Osmer  [view folder]
        78th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel Bertil E. Hanson  [view folder]
      436th Troop Carrier Group (Membury airfield): Lt. Colonel Adriel N. Williams  [view folder]
        79th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major John D. Kreyssler  [view folder]
        80th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Clarence L. Schmid  [view folder]
        81st Troop Carrier Squadron: Major David W. Brack  [view folder]
        82nd Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain Robert G. Johns  [view folder]
      437th Troop Carrier Group (Ramsbury airfield): Colonel Cedric E. Hudgens  [view folder]
        83rd Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain John White  [view folder]
        84th Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain John M. Campbell  [view folder]
        85th Troop Carrier Squadron: Captain Lester L. Ferguson  [view folder]
        86th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Ralph E. Lehr  [view folder]
      438th Troop Carrier Group (Greenham airfield): Lt. Colonel John M. Donalson  [view folder]
        87th Troop Carrier Squadron: Lt. Colonel David E. Daniel  [view folder]
        88th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Robert W. Gates  [view folder]
        89th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Clement G. Rochardson  [view folder]
        90th Troop Carrier Squadron: Major Harold I. Pawlowski  [view folder]