BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY RANGERS
With the onset of World War Two, Ranger battalions were being formed and were to have the same specialized training as British Commandos in guerrilla warfare. The task of training these new men, along side the British Commandos fell on Major General Lucian Truscott. Truscott felt that this new unit deserved a name different from that of the British "commandos". He chose Rangers after the infamous Roger's Rangers of the French and Indian War in 1756. Rogers Rangers were skilled frontiersmen and excellent marksmen. As would be Darby's Rangers.
Colonel William Orlando Darby was the commanding officer of the 1st Ranger Battalion. He handpicked the members of his unit, built completely of a volunteer force. Trained by British Commandos, these volunteers earned the Ranger diamond after enduring months of hard pressing physical and mental challenges. Speedmarching up mountains, scaling sheer cliffs, and training under live mortar and rifle fire was an everyday occurance. In the end, the 1st Ranger Battalion was the Best of the best in the United States Infantry.
Having completed their training, these new Rangers were originally intended to be folded back into regular Army units. The idea being, that these new breed of men would share their training and knowledge amongst the regular GIs,for the anticipated invasion of occupied France. The Rangers were never used in this way, and were instead formed into independent combat units.
2nd RANGER BATTALION
The 2nd Ranger Battalion was first constituted on 11 March 1943, and activated on 1 April 1943 at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. In command would be Major James Earl Rudder. Along with the 5th Ranger Battalion, the 2nd Rangers participated in the D-Day assault on 6 June 1944, as well as the campaigns in Northern France, the Rhineland, Central Europe, and Ardennes-Alsace. The 2nd Rangers Battalion earned a Presidential Unit Citation and French Croix de Guerre with Silver-Gilt Star for the assault of Pointe du Hoc and on Omaha Beach.
In September 1944 the Rangers assisted in clearing out the German resistance from the Crozon Peninsula, and rescued 400 American prisoners of war in accomplishing the task.
In November, 1944 the 2nd Rangers were moved into the Huertgen Forest and on into Germany's Brandenburg area to assault Hill 400. This icy, slippery hill was 1,322 feet high and steep, laden with numerous pill boxes and had the highest OP in the Roer Valley for miles around. The Rangers were told to hold the hill for 24 hours or until duely relieved. On December 7th, D and F Companies launched an assault on Hill 400 at 0730. A bloody battle with heavy casualties proceeded, but on December 9th the 2nd Rangers, still fighting, were succesfully relieved.
The Rangers did not rest long after Hill 400, as they were immediately sent to defensive positions on the left flank during the "Battle of the Bulge". Here they maintained a front line until Mid January 1945, at which time the Allied forces penetrated the German Offensive. Replacements for the Rangers arrived soon after and were trained by veterans amidst snow and below-freezing temperatures.
The entire history of the 2nd Rangers of World War Two is far too extensive to be covered here in these pages. A highly recommended source for additional information concerning all of the Ranger units is the book written by Robert W. Black, Rangers In World War II. The book is published by the Ballantine Publishing Group. For a detailed account of the original Rangers, we recommend the Spearheaders by James Altieri. And for 2nd Ranger Battalion specifically, we suggest Ronald L. Lane's Rudder's Rangers .
2nd Ranger Harold PLank has published his memoirs online.
You will find his daunting journey through Europe at this link: http://haroldplank.media-spring.com
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