29th Ranger Battalion (United States)
Formed in December 1942 in England as a detachment of volunteers from the 29th Infantry Division, the battalion underwent commando training under British supervision and participated in raids on German installations, mostly in concert with No.
On Monday, 4 February 1943, ten officers and 166 enlisted men and NCOs of the 29th Infantry Division were sent to Achnacarry, Scotland.
Major Randy Millholland of the 115th Infantry Regiment, the battalion commanding officer, instructed his men to "keep their eyes and ears open and their mouths shut.
Soon after the proud Rangers completed their training, two of them accompanied a raiding force of British Commandos during an attack on one of the Channel Islands.
Many 29ers aren't aware that almost 500 volunteers from the 115th, 116th and 175th Infantry regiments were recruited into an elite hit-and-run strike force whose mission would be to gather enemy intelligence.
In December 1942, a memo was sent to troops stationed in England, most of whom were from the 29th Infantry Division, asking for volunteers for a Provisional Ranger Battalion.
The austere Commando Depot at Achnacarry House, Spean Bridge, was located in the highlands and near beautiful Loch Lochy.
Able to swim, immune from sea and air sickness, able to drive motor vehicles, with courage, physical endurance, initiative and resourceful, being active, expert marksmen, self-reliance, and an aggressive spirit toward the war.. .and must become expert in military use of scouting...to stalk...to report everything taking place day or night, silently and unseen ...and to live off the country for considerable periods.
This unit pre-ceded the 29th Rangers at Achnacarry Commando Depot, and a select few went on the August 1942 Dieppe Raid with Nos.
Basic Commando training consisted of getting into top physical shape by speed marching 7–15 miles; running the toughest obstacle course in the world; mountain and cliff climbing; abseiling down cliffs and buildings; unarmed combat; plus stripped-to-the-waist physical exercises using 10-foot logs to throw around.
British officers, prim and proper, carried a foot-long leather baton called a "swagger stick."
Speed marches were a British Commando specialty that propelled the troops into quick-hitting strikes that were designed to surprise the enemy.
Near the conclusion of these debilitating speed-marches and just before rounding the curve up the last hill to camp, Captain Hoar would yell in his curt British brogue, "Straighten up, mytees!
The first day was destined to be the worst—a 37mile speed march, quick-stepping 5 mph, with a five-minute break on the hour and 20 minutes for lunch.
I couldn't get the tent pegs to hold, so I sat on a folded shelter-half to keep my bottom dry and wrapped a blanket around my tired, aching body.
At the conclusion of the exercise, the battalion returned to Rude looking like survivors of the Bataan death march.
It was an all you-can-eat feast of powdered eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, syrup, jelly, bread and coffee.
She shared her meager food rations, depriving herself of the few "luxury" items such as eggs, butter, cheese and sugar.
Each side deployed huge artillery pieces which were sheltered in limestone caves and rolled out on railway tracks to firing positions.
This night the Royal Air Force Band was playing Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey-type music and everyone was having a grand lime until the loudest explosion I had ever heard.
While on nightly training exercises flak rained down from anti-aircraft guns, bouncing off the ground like white-hot hail.
Occasionally, Jerry dropped unspent bombs on Dover and the nearby countryside upon his return to der Fatherland.
Just prior to D-Day, High Command created a bogus army which was to fool the Germans into thinking the main invasion effort would be directed across the channel in the Calais area.
To answer the big question, did the 29th Rangers take part in three raids into occupied Norway and France as has been reported?
Ed McNabb, a former A Company officer, now living in San Antonio, said he was told Lt. John Dance and possibly Sergeant Toda might have.
I have often wondered if the 29th Ranger Battalion could have accomplished the daunting D-Day task of scaling the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc and then neutralize its gun batteries.
NOTE on MAJ Randolph Millholland from oral history given to COL (Ret) Michael Lewis, U.S. Army, circa 1979–1980.
When I was in high school and applying for admittance to West Point, BG Millholland told me stories of his exploits during WW2.
Both of the Americans were in their 30s at the time and Millholland remarked that the class was entirely made up of 18-year British kids, and keeping up with them was the most difficult thing he had ever done, yet they finished the course.
In the fall of 1943, Millholland led a raid to Normandy at Ile d'Oussant, an island off the coast of France destroying a German radar post and leaving his rifle symbolically stabbed into the ground with his helmet liner on top to send the message that the Americans had been there and would return.
