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. 193rd. GLIDER INFANTRY REGIMENT |
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<- Colonel Maurice G. Stubbs
The 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment was formed on December 16, 1942. It
was activated at Camp Mackall, North Carolina on April 15, 1943
under the command of Colonel Maurice G. Stubbs. The 193rd GIR was
immediately assigned to the 17th Airborne Division.
It
participated in
Tennessee
maneuvers
in February 7, 1944 before being sent first to
Camp
Forrest,
Tennessee
on March 24, 1944, then he made one step at Camp Myles Standish,
Massachusetts
on August 14, 1944 before From
Boston
on August 20, 1944 to embark on a boat to
England
on August 28, 1944.
Arriving
in
England,
the 193rd was sent to
Camp
Chisledon,
area where stationed throughout the 17th Airborne.
There, they continued
training with additional training and flight tactics and maneuvers at night.
When the Operation Market Garden was began, the 17th was still in
training, So, it served to reserve unit.
On December 16th, 1944, the Germans launched an offensive by The Belgian Ardennes surprising the Allied. The 17th Airborne Division was still in England. The 82nd and the 101st who were resting in Sissone, France were sent hurriedly by trucks to contain the German advance.
Between the 17 and the 23 December, the 82nd blocked the German advance close to St-Vith. Concerning the 101st, it was surrounded with the 7th Armored Division in Bastogne. To help to reinforce Bastogne, the 17th was sent to the front.
From the 23 to the 25 December, the 17th Airborne’s units were sent by plane to France, in Rheims’s area. But meanwhile, Patton’s 3rd US Armybroke the surrounding of Bastogne.
Once in France, the 17th was attached to Patton’s army and got the order to take up position in Mourmelon. It insured the defense all along the Meuse River going from Givet to Verdun until December 25th then was sent to Belgium in Neufchateau, and from there, walking in the snow, they went to Morhet to relieve the 28th Infantry Division on January 3, 1945. This was where they established the HQ Division.
Patton
ordered to the 17th to take the city of
Flamierge
where the 11th Armored Division and the 97th Infantry Division met
fierce resistance. The 513rd PIR and 194th GIR was leading the
attack. While the 193rd and 507th were kept as reserve unit for
the any counter-attacking.
Once the regiment at the front, they were took under fire from mortars.
On January 11, the 193rd was separated from the 17th to follow
a unit of armored with the objective of making the town of
Houffalize.
On 16 January, it joined the rest of the division and raised the 11th Armored
Division in their pursuit of the 9th and 130th Panzer Division and the 26th
German Infantry Division.
The 17th liberated Flamizoulle, Bertogne while the Germans
were retreating to the "Siegfried Line".
After Bertogne, the 193rd was divided into two Task Force, the
Task Force Stubbs and Task Force Bell with the objectif of making
Compogne and its heights. To the east of this area, they pushed their lead with
the 507th through
Luxembourg
to the Our River to the German border. Here, the 5th Division
Fallschimjäger vainly tried to maintain a bridgehead, but the 507th
repulsed.
The 17th was finally relieved by the 6th Armored Division and
returned to Camp at
Chalons-sur-Marne
in
France
on February 11, 1945.
The 193rd
GIR was dissolved on 1 March 1945 in Belgium when the reorganization
of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 193rd was the unit that had the
greatest loss during the Ardennes campaign, the remaining men were included in
the 194th GIR.
