US AIRBORNE

Raymond L. Cato

The 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion was activated on March 15, 1943, as part of the 17th Airborne Division. Initially, the 460th's strength consisted of 39 officers and 534 men. The battalion commander was Lieutenant Colonel James C. Anderson. The Executive Officer was Major Bert Nash, and Major Cleo V. Hadley was S-3.

On March 2, 1943, 84 men were enlisted from the 377th Parachute Artillery Battalion. They were sent to Camp Toccoa, then to Camp Mackall where the 17th Airborne Division was being formed. After training at Camp Mackall and then at Fort Bragg, the men of the 460th were sent to Fort Benning to be trained in parachuting. They arrived there in August 1943.

On Monday, September 13, the men of the 460th made their first of five jumps before receiving their silver wings.

On February 5, 1944, the 460th left Camp Mackall to participate in large maneuvers in Tennessee organized by the Second Army. These maneuvers simulated actual combat as closely as possible. After these maneuvers, the battalion was fully prepared for actual combat.

On Saturday, March 4, 1944, the battalion left the 17th Airborne to be attached to a Regimental Combat Team (RCT) comprising the 517th PIR and the 596th EAC for overseas combat. During the next two months, the battalion prepared for combat, with weapons, cannons, and vehicles being made ready. Two weeks before embarkation, the commander and staff were replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Raymond L. Cato and 8 officers from the 466th PFAB. The fire control center would be led by soldiers who had been well-trained to execute their assigned tasks. The gunners had proven themselves at the Fort Bragg artillery range. The officers were an exceptional group, graduates of the Artillery School at Fort Sill. All the men of the 460th were selected and trained for their duties.

In early May 1944, the 460th moved to Camp Patrick Henry near Newport. On May 17, they were joined by the 596th Airborne (Parachute) Engineer Company. They embarked on the Cristobal, while the 517th boarded the Santa Rosa. The odyssey of the 517th RCT had begun.

After 14 days of travel across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, they arrived at the port of Naples, Italy.

It was during a dark night that the ships passed through the Strait of Gibraltar. It became clear to the RCT that the objective was Italy. The Santa Rosa and the Cristobal docked at the port of Naples on May 31, 1944. The RCT was to be sent to the Neapolitan suburb of Bagnoli. On the way, Lt. Col. Graves received orders to send his Regiment to participate in the Battle of Valmontone towards Rome the following day. The Regiment was ready, but they were missing all their artillery and vehicles, which had been loaded separately. The order was canceled, and the regiment continued its journey towards "The Crater" (not named after the bed of a long-extinct volcano) to wait for the arrival of the vehicles and artillery pieces.

In "The Crater," 1st Lieutenants Fred L. Fadely and George F. Morris and Staff Sergeant Victoria Miskimins were busy assembling two Piper Clubs, reconnaissance aircraft. Fadely and Morris were pilots, and Miskimins was a mechanic. Shortly after, the planes were ready. Fadely received orders from the 5th Army to fly over Anzio to search for artillery targets. They were the first men to "fight" from the entire RCT. They called themselves the 460th Air Force. Gradually, the weapons and vehicles arrived. On June 14, the regiment received tents. They then moved to a beach to board LCTs heading for the beaches of Anzio. The 517th RCT was attached to the 36th Infantry Division under Major General Fred L. Walker, which, as part of the IV Corps, was operating on the left flank of the 5th Army. By truck and on foot, on June 17, the regiment arrived south of Grosseto.

On June 18, the rifle battalions converged on Grosseto via Route 223. The mechanized troops who had passed through had found the area clear. When the main company of the 1st Battalion reached the Moscona Hills, the Germans, entrenched in farm buildings in a small valley, opened fire. The 460th fired its first shells with the 75mm howitzers. The Germans withdrew, leaving more than 100 prisoners and a large number of dead and wounded.

On June 24, they observed an advancing enemy panzer column heading directly toward their positions. Lieutenant Fadely sprang into action, flying over the concentration of panzers and other vehicles, and was able to guide the fire from the guns. During the brief combat of the RCT in Italy, 4,746 shells were fired from the 16 howitzers of the 460th and 559 shells from the 105mm batteries.

The RCT was relieved on June 26 and sent to the Frascati sector southwest of Rome. They prepared for the big jump into southern France. During this time, the 460th was able to relax, swim in the lakes, and visit liberated Rome.

On July 18, the 517th RCT was assigned by the 7th Army to the 1st Airborne Task Force. On August 11, the 460th bivouacked in the Montalto de Castro region west of Rome. Other units of the RCT were dispersed in the Rome area. By August 10, the 460th was completely isolated, with no contact from either military or civilians.

At 1:00 AM on August 15, 1944, the 460th, without its C Battery, boarded C-47 planes of the 437th Group of the 53rd Wing of the USAAF Troop Carrier Command. One by one, the planes rolled down the runways and took off for Operation "ALBATROSS," the parachute drop of 5,628 paratroopers in southern France. Battery C, assigned to the 1st Battalion, took off from Canino. Only a few men from the 460th landed on the drop zone, with most finding themselves more than 30 km away. An error with a "lamp" in a C-47 caused one stick (20 paratroopers per C-47) to land near Fréjus, causing significant difficulties. Early in the morning, between 18 and 20 men from the HQ, along with much equipment, set off in search of the rest of the battalion. By mid-morning, Major Frank and about 30 others from HQ managed to regroup. By noon, 100 paratroopers from the 460th, with four 75mm Howitzers and other equipment under the command of the Major, moved west. After halting for the night, the Major was informed about the presence of a German 88mm battery. By dawn, seven German guns were silenced by 75mm fire from Task Force 100. Satisfied with the result, the task force, with German prisoners taken the day before, resumed its march. After some skirmishes with the enemy, the small battalion finally rejoined the bulk of the 460th.

D-Day +2, Lieutenants Fadely and George F. Morris flew from Italy to Corsica. There, they loaded their aircraft onto LCTs. Approaching the French coast, the Lieutenants launched their planes directly from the LCTs, using them as aircraft carriers. They became the eyes of the RCT. Over the next two weeks, the RCT moved northeast. Towns and villages fell one after the other, and the RCT reached the Alpes Maritimes by September. During this time, the 460th fired between 300 and 400 rounds at Col De Braus. German forces continually targeted the battalion's positions. On September 5, five shells hit, killing one man and injuring nine others, forcing HQ to relocate into a railway tunnel. The RCT continued to fight in the Alps for the next two and a half months, pushing the Germans north into Italy. During this period, the 460th's guns wreaked havoc on German ranks, with 75mm Howitzers deployed to cover a wide sector from L'Escarne to the highest peaks. The battalion was always ready when artillery requests came in. After the liberation of Sospel, the last German stronghold in the Alps, after 90 days of combat, the RCT was relieved by the newly arrived 114th Armored Division. During these battles, the 460th fired over 9,130 rounds of 75mm.

On November 18, the 460th was stationed at La Colle, approximately 10 km west of Nice. On December 1, the RCT was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps and headed towards Soissons in northern France. They were transported in old First World War-era wagons. The first two wagons arrived in Soissons on December 9, and three more the following day. The soldiers eagerly awaited Christmas and its famous turkey. All forecasts predicted the end of the war by the end of the year. However, those predictions proved wrong. On December 18, the RCT was put on alert, ready to move within two hours.

During the night of December 15–16, the German army launched its final major offensive on the Western Front, attacking with three armies weakly defended by American GIs in the Belgian and Luxembourg Ardennes region. The Allies were completely caught off guard. Movement orders arrived for the 517th RCT at 11:00 AM on December 21. One battery from the 460th and a section from the 596th were attached to each battalion. The RCT traveled in trucks through rain and snow toward Belgium. For the next 37 days, the RCT would face off against SS units, Panzer divisions, and Fallschirmjäger (airborne troops).

On December 22, the RCT (minus its 1st Battalion) was assigned in support of the 30th Infantry Division near Malmedy. The 460th fired over 400 rounds in missions to the south and east of Malmedy. On Christmas Day, the RCT was detached from the 30th and returned to the XVIII Airborne Corps, which moved to Ferriere. Near Ferriere, the 460th reinforced artillery fire. The capture of Manhay by the 2nd SS Panzer Division on Christmas Day shocked the entire Allied command. From Manhay, the Germans could push north toward Liège and threaten the flank of the 3rd Armored and 82nd Airborne divisions. Urgent orders arrived for General Ridgway of the XVIII Airborne Corps to retake Manhay at all costs.

On December 27, the 460th coordinated fire from eight battalions, and approximately 5,000 rounds were concentrated on the German positions in Manhay. Afterward, the infantry moved into action. The Germans, stunned by the barrage, either surrendered or retreated, and within an hour, Manhay was retaken. By the New Year, the RCT was attached to the 82nd Airborne and put on alert to attack enemy positions in the area near the Salm River. On the other side of the river were elements of the 1st SS Panzer Corps and Fallschirmjäger. The attack began on January 3 with a concentrated barrage from the 460th. Due to a shortage of ammunition, the battalion was limited to 500 rounds per day. Taking advantage of the darkness, the Germans attempted a counterattack across the Salm, but 75mm fire from the 460th blocked their advance.

At Saint Jacques, Lieutenant Tommy Thompson and his team established an observation post in a building with a clear view. They were joined by Company B under Captain Robbins. During the night, a column of Panzers entered the town. Lieutenant Thompson contacted the 155mm battery to open fire on the Panzers, forcing them to retreat and saving the men of Company B. In Bergeval, Company C engaged the Germans in a fierce battle that continued throughout the night. One observer from the 460th, Lieutenant Henry Covington, called in fire within 45 meters of Company C's positions. Despite being outnumbered, the Germans withdrew, leaving 50 dead and many more wounded. Company C lost 24 men, including its commander.

On January 7, the 3rd Battalion was tasked with holding the line along the Salm, with the 460th providing support. The rest of the RCT moved with the 82nd near Abrefontaine. The next objective was the capture of an important road junction at Saint-Vith. The mission was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps. Colonel Graves received orders on January 11, and by the 13th, the 460th had moved to take position north of Stavelot. Ten days later, the objective was secured. The role of the 517th RCT was crucial, with the 460th providing support to the RCT and other units. The RCT fought for 37 consecutive days, covering nearly 50 kilometers from the Ourthe River to Saint-Vith. From December 22 to January 27, there wasn't a single day without contact with the enemy.

Despite the end of the Battle of the Bulge, the war was far from over. After ten days at Stavelot, resting and replenishing its ranks, the 460th and the rest of the RCT were ordered to move to Hansfeld, Germany, to join the 82nd. A few days later, on February 3, the RCT was attached to the 78th Infantry Division.

In the following days, the RCT participated in some of the most violent battles of the war. During the fighting at Bergstein-Schmidt in the Hürtgen Forest, the 460th coordinated its largest concentration of fire of the entire war. After being relieved by the 508th PIR, the RCT left the front line at Aix-la-Chapelle. After a two-day train journey, the RCT arrived at Laon, France, for a two-day rest. On February 15, Colonel Graves learned that his RCT had been officially assigned to the newly arrived 13th Airborne Division, stationed about 110 km southeast of Paris.

Arriving at Joigny on February 21, the Regiment Combat Team was dissolved. The 517th became a parachute regiment under the 13th Airborne Division, and the 460th PFAB became an artillery regiment under the same division. The 596th AEC was merged with Company B of the 129th Airborne Engineer Battalion.

On March 12, 1945, the 13th Airborne Division was assigned to the 1st Allied Airborne Army for Operation "VARSITY," the crossing of the Rhine. However, a lack of transport aircraft canceled the 13th's participation in favor of the 17th Airborne Division. Operation "VARSITY" was the last airborne operation on the Western Front, leaving the 13th with hopes of distinguishing itself in a Pacific operation. This operation, named "CORNET," involved a jump from the Aleutian Islands onto Japanese islands.

Some soldiers from the 460th were able to join the 82nd Airborne in Berlin, while others had accumulated enough points for discharge. The rest were aboard a ship heading toward New York when the announcement came of the end of hostilities with Japan. The 460th was one of the best artillery battalions in the U.S. Army. It supported, among others, the 517th RCT, as well as other units, and acted as the "eyes" for many artillery units. During nine days in December in Belgium, the 460th fired over 4,759 shells, not counting the massive barrage at Manhay. Over the course of the entire campaign, the 460th fired more than 19,000 shells (not including Manhay), proving the old military adage, "Artillery is never in reserve," meaning artillery is never placed as a reserve unit, and thus, never gets a rest.

On February 25, 1946, the 460th was deactivated at Fort Bragg. Its legacy endured, remembered for its bravery and remarkable contributions during the war.