US Para Commanders We take a look at the American Airborne Commanders Brigadier General James Gavin and Major General Maxwell Taylor and how to represent them in Flames Of War.

Brigadier General James Gavin (USO117) Brigadier General James Gavin’s 82nd ‘All American’ Airborne Division was given the middle stretch of the highway. He had to secure the major crossings of Grave and Nijmegen, while also contending with the threat from Germany itself, which was only a few miles away from the battlefield.

Unlike Taylor, Gavin couldn’t rely on a speedy link-up with 30 Corp to provide artillery support, so he opted to bring his parachute artillery along with him. He also decided to parachute the guns into action, as opposed to the other two divisions which landed the guns by glider. Gavin reasoned that the daylight drop and the open terrain would allow the guns to be collected easier than they had been in Normandy (which was a complete disaster with only a couple of guns becoming operational). This gave him plenty of artillery support and freed up gliders for the rest of the division.

Gavin was an expert tactican and made sure that his division was landed as close to his objectives as possible. He then struck out and secured the Grave Bridge and then secured his flank at the Groesbeek Heights.

Though unable to secure the Nijmegen Bridge straight away, he launched a daring assault with the assistance of 30 Corps, capturing the bridge intact and getting the column moving again.

Major General Maxwell Taylor (USO118) Major General Maxwell Taylor commanded the American 101st ‘Screaming Eagles’ Airborne Division. He was assigned the lower portion of the corridor and would be responsible for securing the crossings of Son and Veghel. After that, his division provided corridor security for 30 Corps.

Taylor chose landing positions relatively close to his objectives, making sure that he put troops on both sides of the river crossings and attached airborne engineer support to each regiment so that it could quickly overcome the enemy and secure the bridges.

Since he could expect a quick link-up with 30 Corps, he opted to leave behind his division’s artillery in the initial drop, taking advantage of the nearby British guns to lend support. This allowed him to focus his first drop on delivering as much infantry as he could to the battlefield.

Once the initial objectives were taken, he took to the offensive, launching spoiling attacks against the Germans to keep them from attacking in concert. Despite a few instances where the Germans managed to temporarily cut the road, Taylor kept the corridor open for business from Eindhoven to Veghel. For history and how to field Gavin and Taylor in Flames Of War, please see page 30 of Wargames Illustrated Issue 269.