 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(October 2015) |
| 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Branch | U.S. Army |
| Engagements | World War II |
The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was an African American United States Army unit that saw combat in Europe during World War II.
The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was a VLA (Very Low Altitude) barrage balloon battalion. It "was raised up in 1942 just a year after the Coast Artillery Corps took over responsibility for barrage balloons from the Army Air Corps." [1] The 320th trained at Camp Tyson in Paris, Tennessee. In November 1943, they relocated to England to prepare for the invasion of Europe. [2]
Their first assignment was Utah and Omaha beaches on 6 June 1944 (the D-Day invasion). The mission of the 621-man assault force was to raise hydrogen-filled barrage balloons to protect assaulting infantry and armor from being strafed by enemy aircraft. "They flew at an altitude of around 200 feet to defend soldiers landing on the beaches against strafing attacks by German aircraft." [1] A commendation by Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower cited the unit for conducting "its mission with courage and determination, and proved an important element of the air defense team". [3] The battalion served 140 days in France. [4] In late July 1944, Battery A of the 320th moved from Omaha Beach to the port city of Cherbourg. The remaining three batteries stayed on Omaha and Utah Beaches until early October, when deteriorating weather prevented ships from landing. The battalion's service in France came to an end on 24 October, when the men boarded ships bound for England. [4] "By the end of October 1944, the 320th VLA Battalion was on its way back to Camp Stewart, Ga., to train for service in the Pacific Theater. They eventually made it as far as Hawaii before the war ended." [1]
The 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion was unique at Normandy for two reasons. First, it was the only American barrage balloon unit in France and second, it was the first black unit in the segregated American Army to come ashore on D-Day. [5] Five battalion medics were the first to land on Omaha Beach at approximately 9 a.m. [6] A wounded medic, Waverly B. Woodson Jr., was nominated for the Medal of Honor, though he never received it. [7] In 2020 four members of U. S. Congress proposed legislation authorizing the President to award it posthumously. [8] He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the United States Army's second highest military decoration for soldiers who display extraordinary heroism in combat, in 2024. [9]
The VLA units used smaller barrage balloons weighing only 35 pounds (16 kg) that could easily be moved by a few men and transported across the channel on landing craft. A standard balloon crew was normally five men, but the 320th reduced crews to three and four men for the Normandy invasion. [10]
Henry Parham, the last surviving member of this unit, died in July 2021. [11]
Omaha Beach was one of five beach landing sectors of the amphibious assault component of Operation Overlord during the Second World War.
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France, and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front.
A barrage balloon is a type of airborne barrage, a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe risk of collision to hostile aircraft, making the attacker's approach difficult and hazardous. Early barrage balloons were often spherical. The kite balloon, having a shape and cable bridling which stabilises the balloon and reduces drag, could be operated at higher wind speeds than could a spherical balloon. Some examples carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up against the aircraft to ensure its destruction. Barrage balloons are not practical against high-altitude aircraft—the long cable required for a high-altitude balloon would be too heavy.
Gold, commonly known as Gold Beach, was the code name for one of the five areas of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. Gold, the central of the five areas, was located between Port-en-Bessin on the west and the Lieu-dit La Rivière in Ver-sur-Mer on the east. High cliffs at the western end of the zone meant that the landings took place on the flat section between Le Hamel and La Rivière, in the sectors code-named Jig and King. Taking Gold was to be the responsibility of the British Army, with sea transport, mine sweeping, and a naval bombardment force provided by the Royal Navy as well as elements from the Dutch, Polish and other Allied navies.
La Pointe du Hoc is a promontory with a 35-metre (110 ft) cliff overlooking the English Channel on the northwestern coast of Normandy in the Calvados department, France.
The 352nd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the German Army during World War II. Deployed on the Western Front, the division defended Omaha Beach on D-Day, 6 June 1944. In late 1944, the division was reassembled as the 352nd Volksgrenadier Division.
The 716th Static Infantry Division was a World War II, German Army infantry division. It was raised on May 2, 1941, and sent to German-occupied France in June 1941. Many of the division's troops were elderly Germans and conscripts from other German-occupied countries. The division also had some young German conscripts as well. As a bodenständig it was not equipped with the standard configuration of vehicles and heavy weapons. Much of the division's artillery and anti-tank guns were from captured armaments.
The Battle of Carentan was an engagement in World War II between airborne forces of the United States Army and the German Wehrmacht during the Battle of Normandy. The battle took place between 6 and 13 June 1944, on the approaches to and within the town of Carentan, France.
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Normandy landings. A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.
Major General Raymond Oscar "Tubby" Barton was a career officer in the United States Army and combat commander in World War I and World War II. As commander of the 4th Infantry Division during World War II, most notably during the Normandy landings in June 1944, Barton is one of only eleven U.S. Army general officers who commanded their divisions for the duration of their combat service. He commanded the 4th Infantry Division from 3 July 1942 to 26 December 1944 and led them into battle from D-Day at Utah Beach, to the Battle of Normandy, the Liberation of Paris, and into the Battle of Hürtgen Forest before leaving the command due to health problems on December 27, 1944.
The 48th Armored Medical Battalion was an American military medical/surgical unit attached to the 2nd Armored Division throughout World War II. The 48th participated in the invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Normandy.
USS LST-16 was a LST-1-class tank landing ship built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Like most ships in her class, she was not named and was known only by her designation. She was staffed by a U.S. Coast Guard crew throughout her service career.
The Provisional Ranger Group was a provisional regiment of U.S. Army Rangers that was formed for the D-Day landings in Normandy, France, in World War II.
A Distant Shore: African Americans of D-Day is a television documentary program that was produced for The History Channel by Flight 33 Productions in 2007. Executive Producers were Douglas Cohen, Louis Tarantino and Dolores Gavin. The program was written by Douglas Cohen and produced by Samuel K. Dolan.
Saint-Pierre-du-Mont Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield which is located in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northern France. It was one of the many instrumental airfields used to defeat Adolf Hitler's Axis powers in World War II.
The No. 6 Beach Group was a unit of the British Army during the Second World War. It was responsible for organising the units landing on Sword in the Normandy landings on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The Beach Group was tasked with establishing dumps of equipment and supplies including ammunition, petrol and vehicles. The Group controlled all policing and unloading in the eastern flank of the Normandy invasion area.
William Garfield Dabney was an African-American resident of Roanoke, Virginia, who served in World War II. He was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his actions during the invasion of Normandy. Notably, Dabney — one of the last known surviving soldier from the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, the only all-black unit in the D-Day landings — did not receive the honor until the sixty-fifth anniversary of D-Day – 18 days shy of his eighty-fifth birthday.
The 261st Medical Battalion is a Multifunctional Medical Battalion of the US Army located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, under the command and control of the 44th Medical Brigade. It provides a flexible and modular medical battle command, administrative assistance, logistical support, and technical supervision capability for assigned and attached medical organizations, which can be task-organized to support deployed forces.
Waverly Bernard Woodson Jr. was an American staff sergeant and medical professional. He is best known for his heroic actions as a combat medic for the First Army during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Henry Parham was an African American veteran of D-Day invasion and WWII.
