The New York City Victory Parade of 1946 was held in New York City, United States, on January 12, 1946, to celebrate the victorious conclusion of World War II. [1]
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The New York City Victory Parade of 1946 was held in New York City, United States, on January 12, 1946, to celebrate the victorious conclusion of World War II. [1]
The parade was led by 13,000 men of the 82nd Airborne Division (including the African-American 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion [2] ) under General James M. Gavin. [3] [4] The 82nd was chosen as the All-American Division to represent the U.S. Army and the end of World War II. [4] The parade also included Sherman tanks and other armored vehicles, such as self-propelled howitzers, and a fly-by of a formation of glider-towing C-47s. [5] The 82nd also participated in the September Berlin Victory Parade of 1945. [6]
In preparation for the New York parade, the division mustered and trained three times a day since late 1945, after having finished their garrison duty in Berlin. [7] The division arrived in United States on January 3 aboard the RMS Queen Mary, and continued training for the parade at Camp Shanks. [7]
The parade, beginning at Washington Square, marching up Fifth Avenue, was reported to be four miles long. [3] [5] It was a ticker tape parade, and was covered by newsreels of the time. [1] However, Life magazine reported that it was "oddly subdued", and blamed it on the elimination of many military bands by the demilitarization. [4] Government officials witnessing the parade included the New York Governor, Thomas E. Dewey the New York City Mayor, William O'Dwyer, and the former New York City Mayor, Fiorello LaGuardia. [5]
New York was the site of the largest American Victory in Europe Day celebrations. [8] Two months earlier, on 27 October 1945, it also witnessed a naval victory parade. [9]
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the German-occupied Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a 64 mi (103 km) salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the Nederrijn, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by two sub-operations: seizing nine bridges with combined US and British airborne forces (Market) followed by British land forces swiftly following over the bridges (Garden). British General Bernard Montgomery was the architect of Market Garden.
The 82nd Airborne Division is an airborne infantry division of the United States Army specializing in parachute assault operations into denied areas with a U.S. Department of Defense requirement to "respond to crisis contingencies anywhere in the world within 18 hours". Based at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, the 82nd Airborne Division is part of the XVIII Airborne Corps. The 82nd Airborne Division is the U.S. Army's most strategically mobile division.
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James Maurice Gavin, sometimes called "Jumpin' Jim" and "the jumping general", was a senior United States Army officer, with the rank of lieutenant general, who was the third Commanding General (CG) of the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. During the war, he was often referred to as "The Jumping General" because of his practice of taking part in combat jumps with the paratroopers under his command; he was the only American general officer to make four combat jumps in the war.
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A victory parade is a parade held to celebrate a victory. Numerous military and sport victory parades have been held.
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James Megellas was a United States Army lieutenant colonel. During World War II, he was a rifle company platoon leader and is considered to be one of the most decorated combat officers in the history of the 82nd Airborne Division. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism and three other decorations for valor.
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