A well-deserved break for the 101st Screaming Eagles

It had been a very intense and tough period for the 101st Screaming Eagles in the Netherlands. The soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division had been fighting many arduous battles with its enemy from September 17 until November 26, 1944. For days in a row, the Screaming Eagles had been tasked with frontline duty or patrols in occasionally miserable autumn weather. But at the end of November, it was time to leave Dutch territory for a place far away from the combat zone. 

Featured image: Men of the 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles” ready for transportation in November 1944 (Source: Battledetective.com). 

The last tasks 

After PVT Emmert Parmley had left on November 12, the time of his fellow Fox Company buddies in the Netherlands also drew to a halt. Several times, F/502 was given the task of reserve unit like on Wednesday, November 22, when its paratroopers returned to Andelst for the last time. Fox Company became the battalion reserve for 3rd Battalion, 502nd PIR, that day. The company remained at Andelst until Sunday, November 26, 1944. During the morning of the 26th, the men boarded trucks and went to Mourmelon, France, where they arrived the following day. 

Reflections of a campaign 

After more than two months, the Fox Company paratroopers finally left Dutch soil. Their time in the Netherlands had been filled with heroic actions and occasional merciless battles. From their first arrival on September 17 to their last day in the Netherlands on November 26 – a total of 69 days on the line– they had fought heroically, sometimes meeting their enemy face-to-face in hand-to-hand combat. The F/502 men also frequently had to endure perilous mortar and artillery shelling. But now, they were granted a prolonged and well-deserved break from combat. At least, those were the plans. 

An unwanted surprise