What was the actual percentage of losses in Airborne for Operation Overlord? Sis and I were watching "Ike: Countdown to D-Day", and they went into it expecting 70% losses, but on the morning of the 6th, they were estimating 20%. In the end, what percentage did Airborne suffer?

 

Thanks!

Elizabeth

Good question.

 

From Wiki:

"Paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division "Screaming Eagles" jumped first on June 6, between 00:48 and 01:40 British Double Summer Time. 6,928 troops were carried aboard 432 C-47s of mission "Albany" organized into 10 serials."

 

"The 82nd Airborne's drop, mission "Boston", began at 01:51. It was also a lift of 10 serials organized in three waves, totaling 6,420 paratroopers carried by 369 C-47s."

 

"D-Day casualties for the airborne divisions were calculated in August 1944 as 1,240 for the 101st Airborne Division and 1,259 for the 82nd Airborne. Of those, the 101st suffered 182 killed, 557 wounded, and 501 missing. For the 82nd, the total was 156 killed, 347 wounded, and 756 missing."

 

Using those numbers (which I don't think include the 300 pathfinders), the 101st had a casualty rate of 17.9% (1240/6928) and the 82nd at 19.6% (1259/6420).

 

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_airborne_landings_in_Normandy#Aircraft_losses_and_casualties

Very interesting! Thanks for providing the numbers.