Lt Colonel John T Cooper
R E L A T E D
S I T E S
History of the 463rd PFAB
USAAF Airborne Troop Carriers in World War II
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The 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion
Unit History
  he 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion was organized on February 21,
1944, near the small Italian village of Borgo Bainsizza on the Anzio
beachhead. It was formed from the 82nd Airborne Division's 456th Parachute
Field Artillery Battalion, less Batteries "C" and "D", and commanded by Maj.
Hugh Neal, the first of only three men to lead the battalion in combat in
World War II. The 456th designation was transferred with the 82nd to the
European Theater.
Officer and men of the newly organized unit were veterans of the 82nd drop
into Sicily in July 1943, campaigns on the southern Italian front near Casino, and weeks
of bitter fighting at Anzio in support of the First Special Service Force along the Mussolini Canal.
Many had been members of the Army's original Parachute Field Artillery Test Battalion.
Rome
With its new designation, the battalion remained in support of the FSSF which,
in early June 1944, led the Allied Forces into Rome. A marble plaque in that city
commemorates the FSSF accomplishment, noting the assistance of "the armored
units of Task Force Howze, 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, and
the Italian Resistance." The battalion commander now was Maj. John T.
Cooper, Jr., (picture above left) formerly the executive officer, who has assumed command when
Maj. Neal was seriously wounded and evacuated form Anzio on May 31.
After the
fall of Rome, the battalion received some 200 replacements to fill out "C"
and "D" batteries and bring its rosters to full fighting strength. A month
later, the battalion was on its way to the invasion of Southern France with
the First Airborne Task Force as part of a combat team with the 509th
Parachute Parachute Infantry Regiment. Divided to operate as two separate
units, if necessary, the battalion flew from loading zones at Grosseta and
Follonica airports near Rome.
Southern France - Operation Dragoon
In the early
morning hours of August 15, one group under the command of Major Stuart M,
Seaton, the battalion executive officer, jumped near Le Muy, France. The
second contingent under Cooper's command were dropped across a wide area
around St. Tropez, France, some 12 miles from the drop zone, where they
fought as infantry against heavy German concentrations. Cooper was injured
in the drop; and the third person to command the unit, Maj. Stuart Seaton,
the executive officer, served as battalion commander until Cooper returned
October 14.
The
Battalion was credited with capturing 375 prisoners during the first two
days of the invasion, more than the remainder of the entire Task force over
the same period. As the seaborne invasion troops drove inland, the 463rd
moved eastward along the coast until on August 30, 1944, when it was shifted
northward to the Alps and attached to the 55Oth Airborne lnfantry. Its
mission was to cutoff an important German escape route from Italy.
The
Battalion was credited with capturing 375 prisoners during the first two
days of the invasion, more than the remainder of the entire Task force over
the same period. As the seaborne invasion troops drove inland, the 463rd
moved eastward along the coast until on August 30, 1944, when it was shifted
northward to the Alps and attached to the 55Oth Airborne lnfantry. Its
mission was to cutoff an important German escape route from Italy.
In
mid-November, the 463rd was relieved by the 6O2nd FA and moved into bivouac
near Nice. Over the three-month period of the Southern France campaign, the
battalion conducted 1,000 fire missions and fired approximately 35,000
rounds of 75mm ammunition. With the "Champagne Campaign" concluded, the
463rd moved northward by truck and train in December. Scheduled to join the
17th Airborne Division then on its way to Europe, the battalion arrived in
Mourmelon, France, on December 12, 1944, where the 101st Airborne Division
was recuperating from the Holland campaign. The German break through into
the Ardennes came just four days later. The Battle of the Bulge had begun.
The Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge
As the 101st
prepared to depart for Belgium, Cooper, by how a Lieutenant Colonel, offered
the services of the battalion to Gen. McAuliffe, who said the 463rd was
outside his command; but he suggested that Cooper talk with Col. Joseph H.
Harper, commanding the 327th Glider Infantry. Harper readily accepted
Cooper's offer, and the 463rd was off to Bastogne "attached" to the 101st
although technically A.W.O.L.
During most
of its existence, except for the airborne drop info Southern France, the
463rd, unlike most airborne units, had been utilized as a ground-equipped
unit provided with its own transportation. It had arrived in Mourmelon with
27 2 1/2-ton trucks, 26 1/4-ton trucks, and a sizable supply of 75mm
ammunition, including more than 200 anti-tank rounds, a factor to be of
significance at Bastogne.
Unlike some
units heading for the Ardennes, it had been fully supplied with wool
overcoats and "mud-pack" overshoes before leaving Southern France. With the
addition of 12 2 1/2-ton trucks attached from the 645th Quartermaster
Company, the 535 men of the 463rd headed north from Mourmelon at 9:30 p.m.
December 18. 1944. Although the destination listed on the Unit Report dated
11 p.m. of the same date reads "now enroute to Werboment, Belgium," the
101st would instead be shifted to Bastogne, Belgium, an important road
center.
At 9 a.m. on December 19, the unit reached an assembly
area near Flamizoulle, Belgium, and moved on later the same day to establish
positions around Hemroulle in support of the 327th. By December 20, the
101st Airborne Division, including the 463rd, was completely surrounded in
the three-mile wide Bastogne "doughnut", by at least five German divisions.
The fighting was intense. On December 22, the Germans delivered a note
demanding the 101st surrender, to which General Anthony McAuliffe issued his
famous reply, "NUTS". With the weather clearing on December 23, C-47
transport planes dropped badly needed ammunition and supplies. Finally, on
December 26, General Patton's 4th Armored Division broke through from the
south to relieve the besieged city.
During the Battle of Bastogne, the 463rd howitzers
conducted fire missions over a 360- degree sector. From December 19 through
January 17, its 16 howitzers fired 21,748 rounds. When the first aerial
re-supply mission was flown on December 23, the battalion was down to nine
rounds of high explosive shells, a small supply of anti-tank rounds, and no
rations. The battalion casualty report for the Ardennes campaign was 11
killed, 24 wounded, and one missing.
During the Bulge, Lt. Col. Cooper and Sgt. Joseph F. Rogan
were awarded the Silver Star. Cooper for action during the encirclement and
Rogan for action as a forward observer on December 25 and 26. In addition,
seven men received the Bronze Star, two posthumously. Thirty-two received
the Certificate of Merit, 29 of them for action during the German attack on
Christmas morning.
There is disagreement about the tank battle on Christmas
morning when one spearhead of enemy tanks attacked toward Hemroulle from the
west. Col. T. L. Sherburne, Jr., (picture left) the Acting Field Artillery Commander of the
101st credited the battalion with two medium tanks destroyed and one
captured. Cooper maintains that eight of 11 enemy tanks in the thrust at
Hemroulle were destroyed by the battalion, with one captured intact and two
escaping only to be destroyed by armored units. He tells the story this way:
"At the conclusion of the battle on Christmas mornings,
General McAuliffe, Col. Sherburne, and others of their staff came to our
headquarters and we inspected the battle area."
"General McAuliffe looked at each tank and asked the
question. 'Which gun got this one?' Only two of the tanks were in direct
line of fire as shown by 'ricochet marks in the snow.' The others were hit,
but had been moving and were not in line of ricochet marks. Also, all direct
fire does not hit the snow along its path of flight."
"Col. Sherburne took notes and wrote the commendation as
decided by Gen. McAuliffe. I did not object, as I was a new Lt. Colonel
unknown to any of the brass at the time. Nor was I looking ahead to 50 years
later. No other unit has ever claimed any of the Christmas morning kills in
our area."
Relieved in Belgium on January 17, 1945, the 463rd moved
with the 10lst to the French Alsace region on January 20 and went into
direct support of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment from positions near
Keffendorf and Winterhouse. The battalion was relieved by the 36th Division
Artillery on February 25, and moved from Sarrebourg to Mourmelon by train
and truck. It was at Mourmelon that General Dwight Eisenhower presented the
101st with the Presidential Unit Citation for its defense of Bastogne, the
first such citation to be awarded an entire division. Operating as a unit
attached to the 101st during the Bastogne encounter, the 463rd was formally
assigned to the division in March 1945.
Germany
 Remaining in Mourmelon until April 3, the battalion, still
in support of the 327th, moved to the vicinity of Neuss, Germany, where it
completed its last day of direct contact with the enemy at 4 p.m. April 17,
1945. It was then on to Schillingstadt, Schwabsoin, Starnberg, Thalham and
Bad Reichenhall --arriving at the last on May 12. The final moves were to
Saalfelden, Austria, on July 8, and Joigny, France, on August 2. Most of the
remaining members of the unit were transferred for deployment and discharge
in October, 1945. The 463rd was inactivated November 30, 1945.
 ( picture above right: Joigny, France circa Aug - Nov 1945.(^^ Click Above Picture to Enlarge ^^)
)
The Unit Citation and Campaign Participation Credit
Register of the U. S. Department of the Army lists the following campaigns
for the 463rd in World War II: Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland,
Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe.
( Source: The above historical summary of the participation of the
463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion in World War II was written by
Ken Hesler , Btry. D, 463 PFA. It is based upon more than 2,000 pages of documents copied from
the U.S. Military archives at Suitland, MD, and other historical materials, mostly documents
and personal interviews with members of the battalion, including Lt. Col.
John T. Cooper (Ret.), who read the article and concurred in its accuracy.)
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
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
Gabel, Kurt The Making of a Paratrooper: Airborne Training and Combat in World War II Univ Press of Kansas (Jan 1990), 282 p. ISBN: 070060409X
Gassend, Jean-Loup Operation Dragoon: Autopsy of a Battle: The Allied Liberation of the French Riviera August-September 1944 Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (May 28, 2014), 560 p. ISBN: 076434580X
Gavin, James M.
On to Berlin : Battles of an Airborne Commander, 1943-1946 ISBN: 0670525170
Golden, Lewis Echoes From Arnhem Penguin
ISBN: 0718305213
Hicks, Anne The Last Fighting General: The Biography of Robert Tryon Frederick Schiffer Pub Ltd, 320pp, ISBN: 0764324306
Inglesby, Leo C A Corporal Once Xlibris
2/2/2001, 108 p. ISBN: 0738838209
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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