Colonel Joseph W Harper
CO 327 GIR
Distinguished Service Cross(DSC) Recipient
Pvt Arthur Mayer
101st Airborne WW II
Medal
of Honor Recipients
Lt Col Robert G Cole
Pfc Joe E. Mann
(above picture)
327th GIR Crest
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The 327th Glider Infantry Regiment
Unit History
General Maxwell Taylor greets General Anthony Mc Auliffe after the German siege at Bastogne had been broken.
(picture right)
 (5 January 1945....Bastogne, Belgium)
 he 327th Infantry Regiment was organized in the Regular Army as part of the 82nd Infantry Divison on 17 September, 1917 at Fort Gordon, Georgia. (picture below left) After
training rapidly, the Division embarked to northern France, arriving in
early spring, 1918. The 327th Infantry moved on line at the end of
summer making it one of the first American units to see combat at St.
Mihiel. This was the first operation in World War I conducted
entirely by American forces. The Regiment then occupied defensives
positions on the Lorraine Front in eastern France. The final allied
offensive, in November, found the 327th Infantry engaging in the great
Meuse-Argonne offensive before any other unit in the Division. The
327th Infantry Regiment took a prominent part in the operation leading the
flank attack north of Sommerance. The 327th was the first unit of
the American Expeditionary Force to reach and pierce the formidable
Kriemhilde Stellung (the German's third and final defensive line on the
Western Front). With the termination of the "War to end all
Wars," the Regiment was demobilized on 25 May 1919, and then
reconstituted in the organized reserves in December 1921. It
remained in this status until the outbreak of World War II.
With the reactivation of the 82nd Infantry Division in March 1942, the 327th
regimental colors were again unfurled. The 327th was originally organized has an infantry regiment in the summer of 1942 as part of the 82nd Infantry Divison at Camp Claiborne Louisiana. As the airborne concept
was pushed into further development because of the coming of war, the 82nd was chosen to become the first of four airborne divisons to be created during World War Two.
During the final days of the units basic training, the men were to told by their commander,
Major General Omar N. Bradley that the Division was to be split to form
a second Division, the 101st. Furthermore, he informed the men that the two divisions
were to be Airborne, and the 327th was to be trained as Glider Infantry. The
men were not sure about flying in gliders. Most of them had never even
flown in a plane. Some men went AWOL, to return after a few days, but
all knew that war was approaching and that they had to fight for their
country. On 15 August, 1942 the 327th
Infantry became a Glider Infantry Regiment and was reassigned to the newly
formed 101st Airborne Division. The Glider Regiments had previously
consisted of two battalions each. Upon reorganization, they
consisted of three battalions each. The 401st Glider Infantry
Regiment (a sister Regiment) was deactivated and transferred its
First Battalion to the 327th (later the battalion would be consolidated
and redesignated as the 3rd Battalion, 327th Glider Infantry).
 In the
fall of 1942, the two regiments headed to Ft. Bragg North Carolina to
began training with the CG-4a Glider. Along the way the glidermen were introduced
to the paratroopers of the 502nd PIR. Many fights would break out between
these two groups, as the paratroopers thought they were the best and that
the glidertroopers didn't have the "Right Stuff" to be Airborne Soldiers. Nevertheless, in North Carolina
the men received glider training at Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base. The
first flights caused ill-effects on some of the men, who used their helmets, since air sickness bags were not available at the time. As training with the gliders progressed
it became more apparent that landing men by gliders was to be more dangerous
than landing by parachute. Some of the landings were to result in serious
injuries. Mostly broken arms and legs. On landing, gliders would slide
out of control and crash into trees or fences. Some, upon landing, would
slide in and the nose of the glider would dig in and cause it to tilt
up vertically on its nose section causing the contents of the glider to
break free of it's lashings and come crashing forward, injuring Glidermen
and Glider Pilots alike.
Normandy - D-Day
In June 1944, the decision to drop both the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions
simultaneously into Normandy reduced the number of available aircraft to
tow the gliders for a glider assault. The 327th Glider Infantry
Regiment was ordered to land across Utah Beach with the 4th Infantry
Division on D-Day. Its mission was to move to Carentan to cut off
the fleeing Germans. Although causalities were high, the mission was
accomplished and the Regiment moved back to England to prepare for its
next mission.
 The next combat operation the Regiment would participate in would be Operation
"Market Garden," the airborne invasion of Holland.The Regiment, along with allied units, endured 73 days of
continuous combat. After the fighting settled down, the 327th occupied the front lines for
48 days until ordered to withdraw from Holland.The Regiment went back to France to rest and recuperate before the
next operation.
The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
On 16 December, 1944, the Germans launched an offensive in the west through
the Ardennes Forest. The 101st Airborne Division was ordered to the vitally important town of Bastogne.Bastogne was the key to the German counteroffensive and had to be held at all cost by the 101st. The Regiment arrived at Bastogne on 19 December following a hundred mile truck march. The 327th
immediately assumed a defensive sector south of Bastogne. By 22 December the Germans had completely surrounded Bastogne and on the 23rd the German Commander offered terms of surrender to
General McAuliffe, the acting Division Commander. (picture top right)
His reply was "Nuts." The German delegation had come through the 327th sector and Colonel Harper was given the responsibility of relaying General McAuliffe's response.The Germans said they did not understand. Colonel Harper replied, "The reply is decidedly not affirmative - in plain English, it is the same as 'Go to Hell.'
Although encircled and outnumbered, American forces withstood all attempts by the Germans to take positions, including Germans dressed in American uniforms. The 327th Regiment held for nine days, until relieved by the 4th Armored Division. Despite suffering heavy causalities, the Regiment took 750 prisoners, knocked out 144 Nazi tanks and 105 other enemy vehicles. For its actions as a unit in the defense of Bastogne, the 327th the Regimental motto "Bastogne Bulldog."
(picture above: Men of A Company of the 327th GIR in Austria circa 1945.)
(^^ Click Picture to Enlarge ^^)
After the Battle of the Bulge, the 327th Infantry fought in the
Rhineland and Berchtesgarden Campaigns. Following the end of World War II, the 327th
Infantry Regiment was again deactivated on 30 November, 1945.
327th Glider Infantry Regiment - Pictures 
books
R E L A T E D B O O K S
Ambrose, Stephen E D-DAY June 6,1944:
The Climatic Battle of WW II. 6/93, Simon & Shuster ISBN: 0671673343
Ambrose, Stephen E Band of Brothers:
E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest.
Simon & Schuster, (June 2001) 336 p. ISBN: 0-743-21638-5
Ambrose, Stephen E Citizen Soldiers:
The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany, June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945.
Simon & Schuster, (Nov 1997) 528 p. ISBN: 0-684-81525-7
Badsey, Stephen & Chandler, David G (Editor)
Arnhem 1944:
Operation "Market Garden" (Campaign No.24) 1993
96p. ISBN: 1855323028
Bando, Mark A Avenging Eagles: Forbidden tales of the 101st Airborne in World War 2. Bando Publishing, (2006) 183 p.
ISBN: 0977911705
Bando, Mark A 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy. Zenith Press, (Apr 2001) 156 p.
ISBN: 0760308551
Bando, Mark A Vanguard of the Crusade:
The US 101st Airborne Division in WW II. The Aberjona Press, (June 2003) 320 p.
ISBN: 0971765006
Black, Wallace B.& Blashfield, Jean F. Battle of the Bulge
(World War II 50th Anniversary Series). Crestwood House, 48 pp May,1993 ISBN: 0896865681
Bowen, Robert Fighting With the Screaming Eagles:
With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne. Greenhill Books/Lionel Leventhal, (Sept 2001) 256 p. ISBN: 1853674656
Breuer, William B Geronimo! American
Paratroopers in WWII. New York: St. Martin Press, (1989) 621 p.
ISBN: 0-312-03350-8
Breuer, William B Unexplained
Mysteries of World War II. John Wiley & Sons, Sept 1998 256 p. ISBN:0471291072
Brooks, Kevin & Rich Donald J Glider Infantryman: Behind Enemy Lines in World War II (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series). TAMU Press, Nov 22, 2011, 320 p. ISBN:1603444246
Burgett, Donald R Currahee!.
Presidio Press, (Sept 1999) 256 p. ISBN: 0-891-41681-1
D'Este, Carlo
Patton: A Genius for War 1024 pp ISBN: 0060927623
De Trez, Michel
American Warriors: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers Prior to Normandy
July, 1998, D-Day Pub, 212 p. ISBN: 2960017609
De Trez, Michel
Cpl Forrest Guth: E Company 506 PIR 101st Airborne Division (WW II American Paratroopers Portrait Series)
March, 2002, D-Day Pub, 56 p. ISBN: 296001765X
De Trez, Michel
Orange is the Color of the Day: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Holland April, 2004, D-Day Pub, 506 p. ISBN: 2960017633
De Trez, Michel
At the Point of No Return : Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the
Invasion of Normandy 7/98, D-Day Pub, 200 p. ISBN: 2960017617
Devlin, Gerard S
Paratrooper! St Martin's Press, (P) c1976 ISBN: 0312596529
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Golden, Lewis Echoes From Arnhem Penguin
ISBN: 0718305213
Koskimaki, George E D-Day With The Screaming Eagles
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, 356 pp September 11, 2002 ISBN: 1932033025
Koskimaki, George E Hell's Highway: Chronicle of the 101st Airborne Division in Holland, September-November 1944
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, 453 pp March 1, 2003 ISBN: 193203305X
Koskimaki, George E The Battered Bastards of Bastogne: A Chronicle of the Defense of Bastogne, December 19, 1944 - January 17, 1945
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, 484 pp December 1, 2002 ISBN: 1932033068
MacDonald, Charles B A Time For
Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge Wm Morrow & Co
(P), 720 p. ISBN: 068151574
McKenzie, John
On Time, On Target Novato, CA: Presidio, May 15,2000. 304 p. ISBN: 089 141 714 1
Ryan, Cornelius
A Bridge Too Far 670p. ISBN: 0684803305
Webster, David Kenyon
Parachute Infantry: An American Paratrooper's Memoir of D- Day and the Fall of the Third Reich 352p. ISBN: 0385336497
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