On the morning of June 6, 1944, more 160,000 allied troops landed along a 50 mile stretch of beach in Normandy. The event is famous for the size of the seaborne attack, the ferocity of the fighting, and the high number of casualties. The movie Saving Private Ryan depicts the action.
Six hours earlier, the largest airborne operation to date was launched a few miles inland. The job of the paratroopers was to blow up bridges, sabotage rail lines, and generally prevent the Germans from rushing reinforcements to the landing beaches. The series Band of Brothers depicts the airborne assault.
Lesser known, but even earlier and even more dangerous was the task of the pathfinders. A group of 300 men parachuted into Normandy a full hour ahead of the main airborne assault. Once on the ground, their mission was to identify, seize, and mark usable drop zones for the subsequent airborne operation. They were expendable, and not expected to survive, but if they did they would improve the odds of success for the incoming airborne assault.
We will be playing this mission as troopers from the 504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division. They had fought at Anzio from January to March 1944. The 504th did not go to Normandy, but 50 of its Paratroopers volunteered for the perilous duty of pathfinding on D-Day. These are some of the bravest Soldiers of World War II.
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