this video is brought to you by squarespace u.s paratrooper world war ii the western front america was late to develop airborne infantry but once it did development was rapid the first us airborne unit was tested in 1940. in 1942 the 82nd infantry became the first airborne division followed by the screaming eagles 101st airborne the 11th 13th and 17th paratroopers were volunteers who were motivated by the

chance of becoming an elite unit and receiving extra pay if they made it past selection the recruit would go through a vigorous training process at jump school physical training exercise such as forced marches running and obstacle courses would test their endurance and make or break the recruit the next stage would focus on skills-based training recruits were taught how to pack a parachute how to guide the parachute and how to land properly they would leap from 250 foot or 76 meter high jump towers to practice parachute jumps

but the main test would come when the recruit would jump out of an aircraft for the first time any hesitations would prove if they were airborne material or not paratroopers were dressed in special clothing and equipment which would help them in their dangerous missions they were encumbered with a lot of equipment to carry necessary for long drawn-out combat without support behind enemy lines the uniform consisted of jump boots an m1942 jump jacket and trousers sometimes with knee pads an m2 helmet and gloves

some of the equipment consisted of a parachute an emergency reserve parachute life preservative vest webbing musette bag and rope a canteen an entrenching tool rations a compass a cricket noisemaker camouflage paint and an m2 switchblade to cut themselves out of parachutes their weapons included an m3 fighting knife attached to the lower leg the m1 garand the m1 a1 carbine with a folding stock variation ideal for paratroopers

the m1 a1 thompson submachine gun the m1918 browning automatic rifle the m3 grease gun the m1911 a1 colt pistol the m9 bazooka and mark ii grenades u.s airborne troops first fought in north africa then the invasion of sicily in 1943 most would be sent to england in preparation for d-day in june 1944. in preparation some of the paratroopers would camouflage their faces and shave their heads into mohawks

the 82nd and 101st would do a nighttime drop into normandy france with the objective of holding areas inland from the invasion beaches the c-47 aircraft holding the paratroopers would come under heavy flak and fog and in the chaos the men would jump out in a wide scattered radius separating from each other on the ground in pitch black darkness to identify themselves from the enemy the paratroopers used their clickers followed by a code word the unlucky ones either lost their equipment drowned or became stuck in trees or utility poles

while being shot at by the enemy before they could even undo their parachutes the paratroopers were successfully able to prevent german counter-attacks on the d-day landings sabotage gun emplacements and create great confusion behind enemy lines the 82nd and 101st would then take part in further airborne operations next was operation market garden in the netherlands as part of the first allied airborne army they fought off continuous german counter-attacks the british had failed to capture rnm bridge and as a result

the germans were able to move defenders to the nijmegen bridge the 82nd airborne division went on a suicide mission crossing the val river in unsuitable boats while being fired upon but successfully captured the north end of the 9 megan road bridge at the cost of very high casualties the 82nd and 101st would then take part in the battle of the bulge from 1944 to 45 fighting off heavily armed german counter-offensives against the odds in the bitter winter following this u.s paratroopers would participate in the allied invasion into

germany in 1945. thanks for watching we really appreciate squarespace for supporting the channel and making it possible to create more epic detailed episodes for our fans if you want to easily make your own website that looks good they have some incredible templates to use there's nothing to install patch or upgrade ever and they have award winning 24 7 customer service it's also really easy to set up or transfer your own domain name head over to squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to launch

go to squarespace.com simplehistory to save 10 on your first purchase of a website or domain