OPERATION "ALBANY"

IX Troop Carrier Command - 101st Airborne Division


Lewis H. Breton

Paul L. Williams

Julian M. Chappell

Maurice Beach

Charles H. Young

Frank X. Krebs

Maxwell D. Taylor

Howard R. Johnson

Loyal K. Bogart

Patrick F. Cassidy

Steve A. Chapuis

Fred O. Drennan
 
'Albany' was the first of two parachute missions, with 'Mission Boston' following it by one hour to drop the 82nd Airborne Division. Each mission consisted of three regiment-sized air landings. The drop zones of the 101st Airborne Division were east and south of Sainte-Mère-Église and lettered A, C, and D from north to south (Drop Zone B had been that of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment before changes to the original landing plan made on May 27).
The main combat jumps were preceded at each drop zone by three teams of pathfinders that arrived thirty minutes before the main assault to set up navigation aids, including Eureka radar transponder beacons and marker lights, to aid the C-47s in locating the DZs in the dark.
The 101st Airborne Division's objectives were to secure the four causeway exits behind Utah Beach, destroy a German coastal artillery battery at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville, capture buildings nearby at Mésières believed used as barracks and a command post for the artillery battery, capture the Douve River lock at la Barquette (opposite Carentan), capture two footbridges spanning the Douve at la Porte opposite Brévands, destroy the highway bridges over the Douve at Sainte-Come-du-Mont, and secure the Douve River valley.
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 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.
 
      
 
6 June 44
Hour Unit #Plane Air Force #AC Airfield DZ - LZ
0020 101st Pathfinder 1 - 2 - 3 1st P/F 3 North Witham (479) DZ "A"
0025 101st Pathfinder 4 - 5 - 6 1st P/F 3 North Witham (479) DZ "C"
0027 101st Pathfinder 19 - 20 1st P/F 2 North Witham (479) DZ "C"
0030 101st Pathfinder 7 - 8 - 9 1st P/F 3 North Witham (479) DZ "D"
0048 2/502nd PIR 1-36 438th TCG 36 Greenham Common (486) DZ "A"
" 3/502nd PIR 37-81 438th TCG 45 Greenham Common (486) DZ "A"
0055 1/502nd PIR 1-36 436th TCG 36 Membury (466) DZ "A"
0108 377th PFA Bn 37-90 436th TCG 54 Membury (466) DZ "A"
0114 1/506th PIR 1-45 439th TCG 45 Upottery (462) DZ "C"
0120 2/506th PIR 46-81 439th TCG 36 Upottery (462) DZ "C"
" 3/501st PIR 1-45 435th TCG 45 Welford (474) DZ "C"
0126 1/501st PIR 1-45 441st TCG 45 Merryfield (464) DZ "D"
0134 2/501st PIR 46-90 441st TCG 45 Merryfield (464) DZ "D"
0140 3/506th PIR 1-45 440th TCG Exeter (463) DZ "D"