T
he 52nd Troop Carrier Wing flew a similar route as the 505th Regimental Combat Team two nights before. The drop zone was the Farello airport behind the 1st Infantry Division’s positions. The 1st Battalion serial was in the lead, followed by the 2nd Battalion and the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion.After his plane took off from the airfield near Kairouan, Staff Sergeant Leonard D. Battles, with Headquarters Battery, 376th, felt it climb to altitude then begin making wide sweeping turns. “As far as I remember it was a clear, calm night, with a little moonlight, so that (it seemed forever) we were aware that we were in a giant circling pattern, with more and more planes joining us all the time.”1
Private Albert B. Clark, with Company A, was sitting near the open door of his plane talking to the crew chief as the 1st Battalion serial approached the island of Malta. “Suddenly, I noticed a fighter plane behind the three-plane echelon to our left. I made the comment, ‘What the hell, did we pick up a fighter escort tonight?’
“His reply was, ‘What do you mean?’
“My reply was, ‘Well look, there is a fighter in behind our buddies over there.’
“He took off to see the pilot, came back shortly, and said, ‘The skipper says that it isn’t ours. We have ‘Jerry company.’ We patiently watched, and presently he took off. Why he didn’t shoot us down out there, we could never figure out, but we were very thankful for that fact.”2
Lieutenant John S. Thompson, a platoon leader with Company E, stood in the door of his C-47 as it flew toward Sicily. “The 2nd Battalion was flying in a tight V-of-Vs as we flew over a calm Mediterranean Sea. As we neared the
island of Malta we could see a long convoy of ships edging their way toward the coast of Sicily.”3
As the serials made a left turn and then a second left turn, Company D trooper, Sergeant Warren Le Vangia, could see Malta in the distance “just after dusk, visible off to the right as the flight dog-legged toward the island of Sicily.
We flew very close to the water for most of the way. About fifty miles from the island, we stood, hooked our static lines to the cable, checked equipment of the man in front of us, and prepared to jump. The flight climbed to about 750 feet.
Most of the men unhooked and left their reserve chutes under the seat, as they would be of no use at this height.”4
Captain Willard E. Harrison, commanding Company A, was the jump-master in his plane. “I flew in the leading plane of the first serial and reached the coast of Sicily near Punta Socca at approximately 2230 hours, thence flew in a northwesterly direction along the coast toward Gela. The left wing plane flew just over the water line, and the squadron of nine planes continued perfect formation up the coast at an altitude of approximately nine hundred feet. We encountered no fire of any kind until the lead plane reached Lake Biviere, when one .50-caliber machine gun, situated in the sand dunes several hundred yards from the shore, opened fire. As soon as this firing began, guns along the coast as far as we could see toward Punta Socca opened fire, and the naval craft lying offshore, both towards Punta Socca and toward Gela, began firing antiaircraft guns.”5
Private Albert Clark, with Company A, waited for the red light to flash on as antiaircraft fire began to rake the formation. “I was fine until we stood up and hooked up and then became airsick. As we approached our DZ, the crew chief was holding a bucket for me, to keep from making the floor slick and causing us to fall. Someone made a comment about the sparks coming out of the engine. I looked and said, ‘Sparks hell—those are tracers coming up from the ground.’ About that time a shell burst under the plane and I hit my head on the top of the [inside of the] plane. I will admit I was never so scared in my life as I was at that time, not even since then.
“There were a lot of fires on the DZ, and we thought it was nice of those on the ground to light up the area for us. Little did we know that while we were in the air, the Germans had launched an attack and pushed our troops [back]
and had fallen back themselves. So, instead of landing behind our own troops as we expected, we actually landed in between the lines. We were surrounded by machine gun fire—there were red tracers on one side of us and green tracers on the other side. The fires we had seen were German tanks that were knocked out by direct fire from 75s and 105s at seventy-five to one hundred yards.
“I remember that the sky was full of tracers and bursting shells, along with a number of planes going down in flames.”6
Another Company A paratrooper, Sergeant Tom McCarthy, just wanted to get out of the plane. “I can remember going out of that door and saying to
“The Sky Was Full Of Tracers And Bursting Shells”
myself, ‘Just like watching the fireworks on the Fourth of July.’ Except they’re bouncing all around me. I said, ‘Oh, boy, glad to get to the ground.’
“We were badly disorganized. I didn’t join my unit for two days from the time I landed. I was disoriented when I first landed, because it was dark. I wasn’t too sure where I was, but I knew what to do—take care of myself and head for some high ground so I could see.”7
Major Robert H. Neptune, executive officer of the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, was the command liaison with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and was jumping with regimental headquarters personnel as part of the 1st Battalion serial. “I was on board of Colonel Reuben Tucker’s plane when we jumped into Sicily. There were seventeen or eighteen paratroopers in the airplane scheduled to jump. I think it was seventeen, because prior to jumping, the procedure was a ‘count off ’ order and with Colonel Tucker at number one and me to be the last one out, my recollection is that I was number seventeen.
“Thirty seconds after I got out of my seat, it seemed all hell broke loose.
Ack-ack was going off all around and tracer bullets were tearing through the plane. This was it, boy. I was not afraid. For some reason I felt secure. I joked with a lieutenant beside me and hooked up my static line. Just then a gob of shells came up through the seat I had just left and tore out through the top of the big transport airplane. They also tore up the seat next to mine. The airplane would lurch back and forth, and we had to hang onto our static lines to keep balance. The captain, Air Corps (not the pilot) asked the colonel if he was going to jump into this and was promptly told ‘Hell yes, our orders are to jump on Sicily, take us back over the island.’ This was after turning away from the island and the first ack-ack fire. There were three casualties in our plane before we jumped. In such a case, the casualty is unhooked and laid over on the seats, and the stick closes up.
“One senior officer who was wounded was Major Cook (at that time S-4 supply officer of the 504th). Whether Cook (seriously wounded) returned to Africa with the airplane or jumped, I do not recall. Colonel Tucker jumped, by insisting that the pilot who wanted to avoid the severe flak and not return over the drop zone (which was the airport at Gela) must again seek to get the airplane over the designated drop zone, which he courageously did do, after three passes back and forth over the area. The flight through the AA fire seemed endless and actually was rather long, because the pilot made three shots at the drop zone before he finally found it.
“Finally, the spot was hit and out we went, into the moonlight. My main interest was still the opening of that parachute, and when it opened with its usual neck-breaking jerk, I felt relieved. I was floating peacefully, alone—that ground down there was Sicily—about thirty seconds away yet. My main inter-est still was to get down without breaking an ankle or leg, at least to be in sound physical condition. The ground was nearing, so I prepared for the landing and took it in stride with a front tumble. Oh boy, I was not hurt, and a great hurdle
was gone. I lay still a moment and listened. All was quiet, I struggled out of my parachute harness, looked about me and saw no one. I then made an answer to a seemingly sudden call of nature. That completed, I began looking for other troopers from my plane, picked up a couple, determined a direction, [and]
started for the assembly point. Just then some tanks came around a corner, fifty yards away; we hit the dirt, sneaked our way to some bushes. Then I was scared. I pulled my pistol, cocked it, and lay motionless with my finger on the trigger guard. Three tanks buzzed by without seeing us and opened up with machine gun fire on another planeload a couple hundred yards away.
We crawled down a ditch to an assembly point where we joined the rest of the combat team, within our own lines, awaiting orders and without having joined in a real fight.”8
The pilot of one of the C-47s struggled to keep his plane in the air as it was hit by antiaircraft fire. “A shell smashed into the starboard side of the fuselage and knocked out a hole about four by six feet, while a fragment from the shell split the aluminum and every rib from hole to rudder. Passing through the plane, the fragment ripped off a door as a second ack-ack blast carried away a portion of the left stabilizer.
“The airplane spun at a right angle and nearly pulled the controls from my grasp. For a second I didn’t realize what had happened, then finding myself out of formation, I began violent evasive action. I saw three planes burning on the ground and red tracers everywhere as machine gunners sprayed us as if spotting a flight of ducks.
“Meanwhile, I had cut into a less dangerous spot to give the parachutists a fighting chance to reach the ground. But I’ve got to hand it to those boys; one who had been pretty badly hit by shrapnel insisted on leaping with the others, although he had been ordered to remain in the plane.”9
Private Keith K. Scott with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, had just received the order to stand up and hook up when “just over the beach we ran into AA fire. Our plane kept diving and banking. The pilot passed the word down the line to jump on the red light. At the time the word reached Lieuten-ant [Richard F.] Mills, the red light flashed on. We started out. Just as I got to the door, our plane was hit. I was knocked back against the opposite side of the ship. I finally got out.”10
As the 2nd Battalion serial flew along the coastline, Lieutenant John Thompson, with Company E, looked on in disbelief as “a sea of red tracers wound their way up through our formation, and we wondered why and of what origin they came. Some of the planes had been hit, and the formation scattered in many directions as we flew over the coast. We were flying very low now, and one plane on our left went down in flames. Looking out of the door, I found that there were no other planes in sight, and we were all alone in the air.
“The pilot sent back word that he thought we had just flown over our DZ and wanted to know if we should return by circling around and coming in from the water over the east coast. I told him to circle around and as soon as we hit the coastline to give us the green light. As soon as we were over land again, the green light went on. Picking out what I thought was a good jump field, out we went.”11
The plane in which Company F trooper, Private Joe Watts, was riding
“began taking flak and flat-trajectory fire while still over the ocean. I just wanted to get out of the plane and onto the ground as fast as possible.
“I always felt that if I was given time to land and thirty seconds to orient myself, no enemy could kill me. So, I felt it was necessary to leave the plane—it was the target, not me.
“We stood up and hooked up as soon as we understood we were receiving fire, and this happened when one of our guys got hit, first in the foot, then in the buttocks, through the aircraft floor or deck. We jumped as soon as we were over land, without regard for the DZ and without a conference with air-craft crew.”12
Jumpmaster Lieutenant Edward J. Sims, a platoon leader with Company F, watched helplessly as “a gradual buildup of fire—red tracers from below were engulfing our formation. I felt a shimmy go through our plane, and then pandemonium reigned as antiaircraft guns of our own forces, at sea and on the beaches, were blasting our slow-flying aircraft. As my plane flew through the heavy flak, I could hear the hits as they penetrated. From my door position, I scanned the sky for other planes, but could see only those going down in flames.
“My plane developed a distinct shudder and banked away from the flak with one engine starting to sputter. I had my men stand up and hook up then, before going forward to talk with the pilot. I instructed my platoon sergeant to get the men out fast if the plane started to go down before I returned.
“From the pilot I learned he had lost the formation and had a damaged starboard engine. We decided since there was land below, that he would stay our present course and allow me a few seconds to return to the door, then turn on the green light. We both realized that with the heavy load he had, it would be difficult for him to fly back to North Africa. I rushed back to the door, yelling to my men to get ready to jump. As I arrived, the red light came on, followed within seconds by the green light just as I hooked up. I immediately released the equipment bundles from under the plane, then jumped into dark-ness with my men following.”13
The plane carrying Lieutenant A. C. Drew and his stick of Company F troopers was badly damaged by antiaircraft fire. “The pilot of my plane gave me the warning twenty minutes out from the DZ. After the red light came on,
“The Sky Was Full Of Tracers And Bursting Shells”
he had to give me the green light in about one minute, due to the plane being on fire.
“We jumped into a steady stream of antiaircraft fire, and not knowing that they were friendly troops. About seventy-five yards from where I landed, plane Number 915 was hit and burned. To my knowledge, only the pilot and three men got out. The pilot was thrown through the window. Another plane was shot down on the beach, and another plane was down burning about one thousand yards to my front.
“There were four men killed and four wounded from my platoon. Three of these men were hit coming down, and one was killed on the ground because he had the wrong password. After landing, we found out this had been changed to [a challenge and response of] ‘Think’ – ‘Quickly.’ The antiaircraft fire we jumped into was the 180th Infantry of the 45th Division. They also were not told we were coming.
“We tried to reorganize, but found we didn’t have but forty-four men, including three officers. We searched all night for the rest of the men. After accounting for them, we took care of the dead and wounded and started toward our objective. We arrived at the 504th CP at 0200, July 12, 1943.”14
As his Company D stick waited for the green light, Sergeant Warren Le Vangia felt the plane shake violently as a burst of flak exploded nearby. “Two of the men in my plane were hit with fragments of flak that tore through the thin-skinned C-47. We unhooked them, laid them on the seats, and prepared to jump when the red light turned green. I could look down at an angle through the door and one of the side windows, and it appeared that thousands of guns were firing at us from below. Tracer fire streamed around us, and exploding shells rocked the plane. I could no longer see other planes beside us in the moonlight as before, when the firing stopped. The pilot had broken formation, as had most of the flight, and must have completely lost the objective drop zone.
When the green light went on, we jumped out into the blackness below.”15 The third serial, the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, was the last into Sicily. Staff Sergeant Leonard Battles, with Headquarters Battery, was in Lieutenant Colonel Griffith’s stick. “Our plane was in the front position.
I could look down and could see the reflection of moonlight off the water, so I knew we were still off-land and we had not stood up or done the equipment check. Suddenly I looked forward in the direction we were going towards the island and saw this stream of fire coming upward, and we seemed to be flying into it or over it.”16
From his position near the doorway, Battles “noticed other firing from the ground. I suppose it was along the beaches away from us. As soon we stood up and hooked up, I was then able to look back and to the left of me, and I believe our pilot also saw what destruction was going on out over the water. I
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could see, now that I was in a standing position, all the planes that were just exploding in the air behind us, some of them not exploded, but going down in a stream of fire behind them. I am sure that the planes I saw, exploded in the air, must have been from the firing batteries and were carrying ammunition in their payloads. I only had a short time to see all the carnage going on back
could see, now that I was in a standing position, all the planes that were just exploding in the air behind us, some of them not exploded, but going down in a stream of fire behind them. I am sure that the planes I saw, exploded in the air, must have been from the firing batteries and were carrying ammunition in their payloads. I only had a short time to see all the carnage going on back