a third battalion and an antitank company, and both types of regiments fielded heavier weapons. In the engineer battalion the number of parachute and glider companies was also reversed. The four battalions in the division artillery, both parachute and glider units, were authorized 75-mm. pack howitzers, but a note on the tables indicated that one glider artillery battalion could be equipped with 105mm. howitzers if more firepower was necessary. As in the other divisions, the field artillery was authorized observation and liaison aircraft. The number of trucks jumped from 400 to 1,000, and the authorized strength soared to 12,979. Approximately 50 percent of the men were parachutists.[1]
To adopt the new structure, the overseas commands were forced to rely on their own resources because the War Department made no additional men available. Existing nondivisional parachute infantry and field artillery units were assigned to the airborne divisions, and other units, including 2d Airborne Infantry Brigade headquarters, were disbanded to obtain personnel. In March 1945 the European Command reorganized the 13th, 17th, 82d, and 101st Airborne Divisions. The 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific was reorganized in July but, unlike the European divisions, the unit was authorized two 105-mm. howitzer glider battalions in place of two 75-mm. pack units, and one glider infantry regiment was converted to parachute infantry. Throughout the war Maj. Gen. Joseph Swing, the 11th's commander, had insisted upon cross-training glider and parachute troops. Only the 17th Airborne Division participated in an assault landing after the reorganization; all others served as infantry for the remainder of the war.[2]
Combat experience also led to alterations in both the infantry and armored divisions after the 1943 revision. The most significant change took place in the armored division, where the small headquarters of the division artillery command was expanded to a headquarters and headquarters battery, providing the division with a fire direction center. Because of the many minor changes, the War Department published new tables for both types of divisions in January 1945, incorporating all the changes since 1943. At that time the strength of the infantry division stood at 14,037 and the armored division at 10,700.[3]
Correcting Organizational Problems
Neither infantry nor armored divisions proved to be completely satisfactory during combat because they lacked all the resources habitually needed to operate efficiently. In the European theater, when an infantry division conducted offensive operations it almost always had attached tank, tank destroyer, and antiaircraft artillery battalions. Because of the shortage of tank and tank destroyer units, these units were not available to serve regularly with the same division, resulting in considerable shuffling of attached units, which diminished effective teamwork. The cannon company in the infantry regiment was hampered by the limited cross-country ability of the 105-mm. howitzer's prime mover. Often tied to the division
- ↑ Memo, G–3 for CofS, 15 Dec 44, sub: Reorganization of the Airborne Division, WDGCT 322 (15 Dec 44), RG 407, NARA; TOE 71, Airborne Division, 16 Dec 44.
- ↑ SS, G–3 for DCofS, 16 Dec 44, sub: Reorganization of Airborne Divisions, 322 (16 Dec 44), RG 407, NARA; Ltr, TAG to CG US Forces in the European Theater of Operations (ETO), 16 Jan 45, sub: Reorganization of the 101st Airborne Division, AG 322 (8 Jan 45) OB-I-GNGCT-M, Ltr, TAG to CG, US Forces in the ETO, 22 Feb 45, sub: Reorganization of the 13th, 17th and 82d Airborne Divisions, AG 322 (18 Feb 45) OB-I-GNGCT-M, and Ltr, TAG to CinC, USAF, Pacific, 4 Jul 45, sub: Reorganization and Redesignation of Certain Airborne Units, AG 322 (30 Jun 45), OB-I-GNGCT-M, all AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO; Edward M. Flanagan, The Angels: A History of the 11th Airborne Division 1943–1946 (Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1948), pp. 1–2; also see 11th, 13th, 17th, 82d, and 101st Abn Divs files, DAMH-HSO.
- ↑ TOE 6–160–1, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery (HHB), Division Artillery, Armored Division, 12 Feb 44; TOE 7, Infantry Division, and TOE 17, Armored Division, 24 Jan 45.
