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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. Activated in April 1943, the division took part in the Knollwood Maneuver and other exercises that helped ensure that the U.S. Army would retain airborne divisions.
The 17th Airborne Division suffered a similar casualty rate, reporting around 1,300 casualties out of 9,650 personnel who took part in the operation, while the division claimed to have taken 2,000 POWs, a number similar to those taken by 6th Airborne. [2] This made a total of around 3,500 POWs taken by both airborne formations during the operation.
517th Parachute Infantry Regiment: attached to the 17th Airborne Division and the 13th Airborne Division 457th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion : attached to the 11th Airborne Division 295th Ordnance Heavy Maintenance Company (FA) : completed basic training at Camp Toccoa, from July 21, 1943, through November 24, 1943.
As part of the 17th Airborne, the 507th was not utilized in Operation Market Garden in September 1944 and was still in England training with the new division when the Battle of the Bulge began in December 1944. The 507th redeployed to France on 25 December and was used in the counter-attacks against the Germans in January and early February 1945.
During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the 17th Airborne Division was held in reserve, and continued to train at Camp Chisleden in England.Almost three months later, on 16 December, the German Army launched a surprise attack, known as the Battle of the Bulge and the 17th Airborne Division, including the 193d Glider Infantry Regiment, were finally sent to combat.
The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was formed from units of the 17th Airborne Division, which was activated on 15 March 1943. The division's parachute units were the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 460th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and Company C, 139th Airborne Engineer Battalion.
The regiment, later reassigned to the 17th Airborne Division, then went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Varsity – the airborne assault across the Rhine River. In September 1945, the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment returned to the United States and was disbanded.
In April 1943, Miley organized the activation of the 17th Airborne Division at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. He was the sole commander of the 17th Airborne Division during the war, leading the division through such actions on the Western Front as the Battle of the Bulge and Operation Varsity. The division was deactivated in late 1945, but ...