{{Infobox military unit , unit_name=193rd Glider Infantry Regiment , image=File:193rd GIR patch.png , caption=Insingia of the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment , nickname= , motto= , colors= , march= , ceremonial_chief= , type=

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

, role=

Glider infantry Glider infantry (also referred to as airlanding infantry esp. in British usage) was a type of airborne infantry in which soldiers and their equipment were inserted into enemy-controlled territory via military glider. Initially developed in the l ...

, branch={{army, United States , dates=1942–1945 , country={{flag, United States , allegiance= , command_structure= , size=

Regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

, specialization= , current_commander= , garrison= , battles=

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, notable_commanders= Maurice G. Stubbs , anniversaries= , identification_symbol_2= GliderInfantryBadge

, identification_symbol_2_label=The

Glider Badge The Glider Badge was a special skills badge of the United States Army. According to the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry, the badge was awarded to personnel who had "been assigned or attached to a glider or airborne unit or to the Airborne Departm ...

: Worn by U.S. Army airborne soldiers who rode gliders into combat The 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment was an

airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

. It was part of the

17th Airborne Division The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley. It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1 ...

and fought during the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

Formation

The 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment was created during

on 16 December 1942. It was officially formed at

Camp Mackall Camp Mackall is an active U.S. Army training facility located in eastern Richmond County and northern Scotland County, North Carolina, south of the town of Southern Pines. The facility is in close proximity to and is a sub-installation of Fort ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

on 15 April 1943 under the command of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Maurice G. Stubbs. The regiment was assigned to the

and sailed to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1944 in preparation for fighting on the Western Front.

World War II

During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the 17th Airborne Division was held in reserve, and continued to train at Camp Chisleden in

. Almost three months later, on 16 December, the German Army launched a surprise attack, known as the

and the 17th Airborne Division, including the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment, were finally sent to combat. The 17th Airborne Division was attached to

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

George Patton's

U.S. Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

and ordered to immediately close in at Mourmelon-le-Grand Airfield. After taking over the defense of the

Meuse River The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

sector from

Givet Givet () (german: Gibet Walloon: ''Djivet'') is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France surrounded on three sides by the Belgian border. It lies on the river Meuse where Emperor Charles V built the fortress of Charlemont. It ...

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

on 25 December, the 17th Airborne Division moved to Neufchateau, Belgium, then marched through the snow to Morhet, relieving the

U.S. 28th Infantry Division The 28th Infantry Division ("Keystone") is a unit of the Army National Guard and is the oldest division-sized unit in the Department of Defense. Some of the units of the division can trace their lineage to Benjamin Franklin's battalion, The Pen ...

on 3 January 1945 and establishing a Division Command Post. A howling blizzard with below freezing temperatures greeted the 193rd on the morning of 4 January 1945. Patton had ordered the 17th Airborne Division to seize the town of Flamierge where the 11th Armored and the 87th Infantry Divisions had encountered brutal resistance from the Germans. Two regiments, the 513th Parachute Infantry on the right and the 194th Glider Infantry on the left attacked the town of Flamierge while the 193rd GIR and the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment were held in reserve to counter an anticipated German

panzer This article deals with the tanks (german: panzer) serving in the German Army (''Deutsches Heer'') throughout history, such as the World War I tanks of the Imperial German Army, the interwar and World War II tanks of the Nazi German Wehrmacht ...

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

. In the ensuing days, the 193rd GIR, as well as the rest of the 17th Airborne Division, would gain their baptism of fire that would have tested the mettle of the most experienced airborne units. The fighting was so intense that the area would forever be called "Dead Man's Ridge" because of the high casualty count sustained in order to take the strongly defended German emplacements. By 11 January the German lines were crumbling and all of the 17th Airborne units regrouped except for the 193rd which drove on with American armored units to seize the town of

Houffalize Houffalize (; german: Hohenfels; wa, Oufalijhe) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium.Sven Vrielinck: De territoriale indeling van België 1795-1963 Volume 1. Universitaire Pers Leuven 2000. page 48 ...

. On 16 January the 193rd rejoined the rest of the 17th Airborne and relieved the 11th Armored Division in pursuit of the

9th Panzer Division The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Weh ...

, the

Panzer Lehr Division The Panzer-Lehr-Division (in the meaning of: Armoured training division) was an elite German armoured division during World War II. It was formed in 1943 onwards from training and demonstration troops (''Lehr'' = "teach") stationed in Germany, t ...

, and the 26th Infantry Division. This took the 17th Airborne through Flamizoulle, Gives and on to

Bertogne Bertogne (; wa, Biertogne) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. On 1 January 2007 the municipality, which covers 91.67 km², had 3,002 inhabitants, giving a population density of 32.7 inhabitants p ...

as the Germans continued retreating toward the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the west ...

. Beyond Bertogne, 193rd GIR split into "Task Force Stubbs" and "Task Force Bell" with the combined objective of seizing the town of Compogne and the high ground in its immediate vicinity. Turning east from that area the 193rd along with the 507th PIR led the continuing attack across

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

to the

Our River The Our (; , ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. It is a left-hand tributary of the river Sauer/Sûre. Its total length is . The source of the Our is in the High Fens in southeastern Belgium, near Manderfeld. It flows southwards, ...

on the border of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. The German 5th Parachute Division made a vain attempt to maintain a bridgehead at the Our but the 507th managed to cross into Germany and probe the Siegfried Line. The 17th Airborne Division was finally relieved by the

6th Armored Division The 6th Armored Division ("Super Sixth") was an armored division of the United States Army during World War II. It was formed with a cadre from the 2nd Armored Division. History The division was activated on 15 February 1942 at Fort Knox ...

and returned to camp at Chalons-sur-Marne in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on 11 February 1945. The 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment was disbanded on 1 March 1945 in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in a reorganization of the

XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is referred to as "America ...

, of which the 17th Airborne Division formed a part. The 550th Airborne Infantry Battalion was also disbanded. Both units had suffered heavy casualties during the Ardennes Campaign and the remaining troopers were consolidated into the 3rd Battalion of the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment.

References

1. http://www.ww2-airborne.us/units/193/193.html United States Army regiments in World War II 193 Airborne units and formations of the United States Army Military gliding