29th Ranger Battalion

29th Ranger Battalion. National D-Day Memorial. In December 1942, Headquarters U.S. Army, European Theater of Operations, authorized the activation of the 2nd Provisional Ranger Battalion. That order was prompted by the void created among U.S. Army units in the British Isles by the departure of Lt. Col. William Darby’s 1st Ranger Battalion for the November 1942 invasion of North Africa. The new Ranger battalion, which would undergo intensive training for commando-style operations against enemy installations in occupied Europe, would be formed according to a highly selective admission process. Volunteers drawn from U.S. Army units stationed in England were expected to demonstrate superior physical conditioning and a passionate devotion to military service. Fewer than half the candidates met those tough standards. Of the approximately 250 men eventually accepted into the battalion, most volunteered from the 29th Infantry Battalion stationed in Tidworth to the British Army’s commando training depot at Achnacarry, Scotland, the unit was redesignated the 29th Ranger Battalion. , , Major Randolph Millholland, the 29th Rangers’ first and only commanding officer, was a skilled leader who inspired complete loyalty among his troops. A native of Cumberland, Maryland, Millholland had enlisted in the Maryland National Guard as a private in 1924 and had served with the 29th Division continuously for nearly twenty years. Throughout the late winter and spring of 1943, Millholland expertly guided his men through the challenging commando depot, supervised by British Army personnel. , , The stern English instructors, many of them veterans of the August 1942 Dieppe Raid, enforced standards of discipline, comportment, conditioning, tactics and marksmanship more rigorous than the Americans had experienced. The incessant training, which included countless six-mile speed marches, taxing obstacle courses, and sheer-cliff climbing practice, took place in Scottish highland terrain among the most picturesque in Britain. Just south of Achnacarry is the tallest peak in the British Isles, Ben Nevis, on the crags of which the British instructors frequently tested the Americans’ mettle. , , By summer of 1943, the 29th Ranger Battalion was fully trained and ready for service. Battalion components moved to various bases around Britain to prepare for missions, and a handful of its members did participate in British commando raids against Nazi occupied Norway and France. Ultimately though, no unit of the 29th Ranger Battalion ever took part in a raid as integral whole. In October 1943, the U.S. Army’s V Corps issued orders deactivating the 29th Ranger Battalion. Most of its members returned to former units in the 29th Infantry Division and promptly took up amphibious warfare training in preparation for Operation Overlord. , , Hundreds of the troops in the 29th Division’s Infantry Regiments that would assault Omaha Beach on D-Day were former members of the 29th Ranger Battalion. Their exceptional training had turned them into superb soldiers, whose skill, fitness, confidence, and determination would distinguish them on 6 June 1944. , , In tribute to John Robert “Bob” Slaughter, who served in the 29th Ranger Battalion until his return to Company D, 116th Infantry Regiment, with which he assaulted Omaha Beach. Given with sustained gratitude by the Bonsack/Blue Ridge Ruritan Club.