517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team - Operation Dragoon

Operation Dragoon

The 517th had been sent to Italy in response to a Seventh Army request for airborne troops for Operation Anvil, the invasion of Southern France. Troops had been withdrawn from the line (including 517th's) and air and naval forces were assembling.

On 2 July the Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive to the CINC Mediterranean to go ahead with Anvil (renamed Dragoon) on 15 August. As a by-product of this directive the 517th RCT was released from IV Corps and moved to join the 1st Airborne Task Force in the Rome area.

The German Nineteenth Army was along the Mediterranean coast. Four divisions and a corps headquarters were west of the Rhone. East of the Rhone the LXII Corps at Draguignan had a division each at Marseilles and Toulon and one south-west of Cannes. There were an estimated 30,000 enemy troops in the assault area and another 200,000 within a few days march.

The planners decided early that an airborne force of division size would be needed. Since there was none in the Mediterranean, a force of comparable size would have to be improvised. In response, the 517th RCT, 509th and 551st Parachute Battalions and the 550th Airborne Battalion were provided. Other units in Italy were designated "gliderborne" to be trained by the 550th and the Airborne Training Center. By early July the concentration of airborne forces in the Rome area was almost complete. Two additional troop carrier wings totaling 413 aircraft were en route from England.

H-Hour and D-Day were tentatively set for 0800, 15 August. The 517th RCT had been allocated 180 C-47 aircraft in four serials. The Combat Team was sealed off on 10 August. Maps, "escape kits" and invasion scripts were issued. Radio beacons would guide the serials from Elba to the northern tip of Corsica. From there, radar and Navy beacon ships would lead them to Agay, where each serial should descend to 1,500 feet (460 m), slow to 125 miles per hour, and home-in on its drop zone by beacons and lights to be put out by pathfinder teams. Each plane carried six equipment bundles in pararacks beneath its belly.

Most of the pathfinders missed their drop zones. The 517th team dropped early at 0328. North of La Ciotat the aircrews dropped 300 parachute dummies and a large quantity of "rifle simulators" which went off in firecracker-like explosions as they hit the ground.

The four serials bearing the 517th RCT began drops at 0430. First to arrive was Lt. Col. Dick Seitz' 2nd Battalion in Serial 6 flown by the 440th Group from Ombrone. Lt. Col. Mel Zais' 3rd Battalion was due next in the 439th Group's Serial 7 from Orbetello. The 460th Field Artillery (less Battery C) in Serial 8 with the 437th Group from Montalto fared better than the 3rd Battalion but not as well as the 2nd.

Twenty plane loads jumped early and were spread from Fréjus to the west. Last in was Serial 9 at 0453, flown by the 435th Group from Canino with Major Boyle's 1st Battalion and Battery C of the 460th. One platoon of the 596th had dropped with the 509th. One platoon had dropped with the 2nd Battalion and one with the 3rd Battalion. All told, only about 20 percent of the 517th RCT landed within two miles (3 km) of the DZ.

Actions throughout the next three days threw the Germans into a state of chaos. Enemy convoys were attacked, communication lines severed and German reinforcements were denied access to the beach landing areas. Towns and villages were occupied as troopers fought toward their objectives, capturing Le Muy, Les Arcs, La Motte and Draguignan.

Part of the 3rd Battalion had proceeded toward Fayence shattering enemy lines and installations as they moved. Remaining troops of the 3rd Battalion assembled from Seillans, Tourettes and Callian. Those troops landing to the east of Tourettes were joined by troops of the British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade. The combined force annihilated a large German convoy speeding reinforcements to defensive positions near the beach.

Lt. Col. Boyle and a handful of 1st Battalion men made a gallant stand at Les Arcs. Remaining elements of the 1st Battalion captured assigned objectives.

The 460th Field Artillery, under Lt. Col. Ray Cato, had a bulk of its guns deployed and ready to fire by 1100.

The 2nd Battalion pushed through to join with the 1st Battalion as Germans began massing their forces on the outskirts of Les Arcs for an all-out counterattack. The 3rd Battalion completed a 40 km forced march as the RCT consolidated. The team attacked all assigned German positions clearing the way for Allied beach forces to push toward the north.

The 1st Platoon of Capt. Bob Dalrymple's 596th engineers had joined assault operations with elements of the 509th PIR near Le Muy. The 2nd Platoon conducted operation south of Les Arcs. The 3rd Platoon had joined attack operations with 3rd Battalion.

By D+3, German opposition within the airhead had ceased.

The Airborne operation was a remarkable performance, considered by many military historians the most successful of the war. Within 18 hours 9,099 troops, 213 artillery pieces and anti-tank guns and 221 vehicles had been flown over 200 miles (320 km) across the Mediterranean and landed by parachute and glider in enemy-held territory. Despite widely-scattered landings, all missions assigned had been accomplished within 48 hours. Airborne task force losses included 560 killed, wounded and missing, and 283 jump and glider casualties. 517th PIR losses included 19 killed, 126 wounded and 137 injured through D+3.