US AIRBORNE

Robert Dalrymple

The 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion (AEB) was constituted on March 10, 1943, at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. It was activated on April 15, 1943, at Camp Mackall under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Stanley Johnson. Company C of the 139th AEB was redesignated as the 596th Airborne (Parachute) Engineer Company. The 596th consisted of a headquarters and three platoons, with a force of 8 officers and 137 men. It was commanded by Captain Robert Dalrymple, who, along with his officers, was handpicked and attended a 30-day course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, before the company’s activation. The engineers were lightly armed and equipped but received extensive training in construction and demolition. This training, particularly in mine placement and booby traps, would prove essential on the battlefields of Europe.

When the 596th AEC was combined with the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment (517th PIR) and the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (460th PFAB), they formed the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (517th PRCT). In early May, the RCT was sent to Camp Patrick Henry near Newport News, Virginia, for further organization. On May 17, the men embarked, with the 517th aboard the *Santa Rosa* and the 460th and 596th aboard the *Cristobal*, which was docked in the Panama Canal.

The 517th PRCT saw its first combat as an attached unit of the 36th Infantry Division. During these operations, the 596th Parachute Combat Engineer Company provided direct support to all elements of the 517th RCT in action. In Italy, the 596th AEC’s primary mission was road reconnaissance and mine clearance.

During Operation Dragoon, the 596th AEC was part of the 1st Airborne Task Force. Its platoons were dropped with the 509th PIR. One platoon landed with the 2nd Battalion south of Les Arcs and another with the 3rd Battalion. Captain Bob Dalrymple’s 1st Platoon joined elements of the 509th near Le Muy.

The 596th AEC moved with the Combat Team to Soissons, France, in early December 1944. Soon after, the unit was placed on alert for the "Battle of the Bulge." Movement orders for the 517th RCT arrived on December 21 at 11:00 AM. The company was deployed near Werbomont, Belgium. The Combat Team was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps under General Ridgway. This led to a series of operations for the RCT, either attached to larger units or deployed in other sectors, sometimes by truck and sometimes on foot. On December 26 at 2:00 PM, orders were received at RCT headquarters to take Manhay. A battery of the 460th and a platoon of the 596th were attached to each battalion of the 517th PIR. For this mission, the 517th was attached to a battalion of the 7th Armored Division.

For the 3rd Battalion of the 517th, commanded by Lt. Col. Forest S. Paxton, the 596th AEC platoon, reinforced with a demolition section, was tasked with clearing a path through mines and other traps left behind during the German offensive.

At 6:00 AM on February 5, 1945, the men began their work. It was a difficult task carried out under direct enemy fire in open terrain. Over 36 hours, the 596th made a truly heroic effort.

In the 1st Battalion's sector, Company A sent patrols to Hill 400 near Zerkall. In the following days, American forces regained the initiative and began outflanking the enemy forces. The 596th AEC was able to recover enough equipment and heavy material from the battlefield to ensure that the company could respond to any part of the front as a tactical engineering support unit for ground forces.

Arriving in Joigny on February 21, the Regimental Combat Team was dissolved. The 517th became a parachute infantry regiment under the 13th Airborne Division, and the 460th PFAB became an artillery regiment also attached to the 13th Division. The 596th AEC was merged with Company B of the 129th Airborne Engineer Battalion.