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RARE 82nd Airborne 376th PFAB WWII Parachute Base Jump
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RARE 82nd Airborne 376th PFAB WWII Parachute Base Jump
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For Sale: Extremely Rare WWII Pin from the 82nd Airborne Division's 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (PFAB). In good, used original condition. Back of pin reads "R. Newcome & Co. N.Y.C." Excerpt from book... The 376th Parachute Field Artillery BattalionUnit History n 25 March 1942 the 376th Field Artillery was reactivated and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisana. Later that year on 16 August 1942 the 376th was redesignated the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (PFAB) and attached to the newly designated 82nd Airborne Division under General Omar N. Bradley. They would train for the next 11 months before they would see action under the command of Lt Col Wilbur Maben Griffith, who took command of the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion in November of 1942 . In September of 1944, Lt Col Griffith became Division Artillery Executive Officer of the 82nd Airborne Division, a position he held until war's end. The 456th PFAB Executive Officer, Major Robert H Neptune, was promoted to Lt Col and assumed command of the 376th PFAB until the end of the war. Sicily - Operation Husky After arriving in Casablanca, French Morocco on 10 May 1943, the 376th PFAB began the gruelling preparations for the drop into Sicily from their base in North Africa. After a day of heavy fighting, Patton decided to reinforce his battle-weary center with over 2,000 additional paratroopers from his reserves in North Africa. He ordered that the 1st and 2d Battalions, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), the 376th PFAB, and Company C from the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion be dropped near Gela on the night of 11 July. Finally, On the night of 11 July, the 376th PFAB along with the 504th PIR and Company C 307th Airborne Engineers were ordered to jump on Farello Airstrip, which was held by the Americans. However, disaster soon struck. When the transport planes arrived over the beaches in the wake of a German air raid, nervous antiaircraft gunners ashore and afloat opened fire with devastating effect. Allied antiaircraft guns shot down 23 and damaged 37 of the 144 American transport planes. The airborne force suffered approximately 10 percent casualties and was badly disorganized. Later investigation would reveal that not everyone had been informed of the drop despite the Seventh Army's best efforts. After Sicily the 504th PIR,the 376th PFAB and Company C 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion were formed into the 504th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) and fought together throughout the rest of World War II. 
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