Commando News Edition 17 Dec2019

Colonel Darby was awarded the Distinguished Service
Cross and was promoted by General George Patton; Darby,
wanting to be closer to his men, turned down this promotion.
Members of 5th Ranger Bn @ Pointe du Hoc, D Day
6 June 1944
Darby, knowing that the best man for the job was not
always a volunteer, sought out men around Oran. Although
he was still limited in that he could only accept volunteers, he
began to find ways around this. For instance, he began to
give speeches, put up posters and encouraged his officers to
scout around for eligible candidates. By June 1943, the three
Ranger battalions were fully operational. 1st Rangers were
still under Colonel Darby; the 3rd under Major Herman
Dammer, the 4th commanded by Major Roy Murray.
1st and 4th Ranger Battalions were paired together, and
positioned to spearhead General Terry Allen's 1st Division,
on the Sicily campaign. Landing outside Gela, the Rangers
took the town just after midnight, and were quickly sent out
to San Nicola. The Rangers seized the town with the help of
an armored division. Despite the fact that they were under a
constant attack from enemy artillery, tank, and air forces, they
still succeeded in the completion of their mission. This 50
hour barrage would be one of the most unbearable
experiences for the Rangers.
Following their success, the two Ranger battalions were
then ordered to take the town of Butera, a fortress
suspended on the 4,000-foot (1,200 m) high edge of the cliff
at Butera beach. After almost withdrawing from the battle,
and requesting artillery to level the city, a platoon of Rangers
volunteered to breach the city. Two privates, John See and
John Constantine, sneaked in behind enemy lines and tricked
the Italians and Germans into surrendering the city.
Meanwhile, the 3rd Ranger Battalion headed out into the
area of Agrigento, where they marched through Campobello,
Naro, and Favara, successfully occupying each town. The 3rd
was ordered to back track to the shores of Porto Empedocle.
The beach itself was not occupied, but high in the cliffs heavy
machine gun and cannon fire poured onto the Rangers.
Scrambling, the Rangers made their way to each machine
gun nest and disabled all enemy opposition before the
supporting infantry battalion even hit the shore.
Fall of the 1st 3rd & 4th Ranger Battalions
On 30 January 1944, after Christmas break the Rangers
were put together for a joint operation, to occupy the town
of Cisterna, before the main infantry division moved in. That
night the 1st and 3rd battalions moved into the town, passing
many German soldiers that did not appear to notice the
Rangers slip by. The 4th Ranger Battalion met opposition
almost immediately taking an opposite route by the road.
During the night the 1st and 3rd Ranger battalions separated
out about 2 miles (3.2 km), and when daylight caught the 1st
Ranger Battalion out in an open field, the Germans began
their ambush. Completely surrounded and unable to escape,
the two Ranger battalions fought on until ammunition and
resources were exhausted. The 4th Ranger Battalion tried to
make a push to save their comrades but were unsuccessful
and had to withdraw. After five hours of fighting, German
tanks and motorized infantry defeated the Rangers. Out of
the 760 men in the two battalions, only six escaped and the
rest were killed or captured. US Army records indicate over
700 Ranger prisoners.
This marked the end of the three Ranger battalions. The
remaining 400 Rangers were scattered around the 504th
Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 137 original Rangers
were sent home. On 26 October 1944, the three original
Ranger battalions were deactivated at Camp Butner, North
Carolina.
2nd & 5th Ranger Battalions
The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions were trained at Camp
Forrest, Tennessee, on 1 April 1943.
They first saw action 6 June 1944, during Operation
Overlord.
During D-day 2nd Rangers companies D, E, and F, were
ordered to take a strategic German outpost at Pointe du Hoc.
This coastal cliff was supposed to have several 155 mm
artillery cannons aimed down at the beach. Once they arrived
at the bottom of the cliff, they had an enormous climb to
make up rope ladders while receiving a barrage of
machinegun fire from the Germans above. The 2nd Rangers
were successful in taking the area even with the intense
German resistance but the guns were not in sight. A patrol
scouting the area found the 155 mm coastal guns a mile
away; the patrol party quickly disabled the guns and any
resistance in the area. In the article "Rangers take Pointe"
Leonard Lomell and Jack Kuhn are interviewed on the events
that took place that day. Lomell explains;
The guns had to have been taken off the Pointe. We were
looking for any kind of evidence we could find and it
looked like there were some markings on the secondary
road where it joined the main road. We decided to
leapfrog. Jack covered me, and I went forward. When I
got a few feet forward, I covered him. It was a sunken
road with very high hedgerows with trees and bushes and
stuff like that. It was wide enough to put a column of
tanks in, and they would be well hidden. We didn't see
anybody, so we just took a chance, running as fast as we
could, looking over the hedgerow. At least we had the
protection of the high hedgerows. When it became my
turn to look over, I said, "God, here they are!" They were
in an orchard, camouflaged in among the trees.
Meanwhile, the rest of the 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions
spearheaded the 2–16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry
COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 17 I 2019 39