The cricket of the 101st airborne
Since the end of WWII, stories and legends about the cricket's employment have grown and flowered, as such stories will. Many untruths were hawked by various media and other sources leading not only to deformation of history but also to an erroneous presentation of one of the most unwarlike and incongruous items of "battle gear" carried by the American parachutist !
This booklet, profusely illustrated, based on historical facts, interviews of key personalities related to the introduction of the cricket within the airborne units, and vintage documents tries to dismiss the generally accepted ideas and report the true history of the legendary cricket of D-Day. Who initiated it all, where were the crickets produced, and who produced them? What type was official issue and which units used them? For the first time, these questions have now been answered.
US airborne paratrooper helmet
In 1942, the US Army began to raise paratroop units and the M-1 helmet was deemed inappropriate for their missions. During the jump, air was sucked in-between the liner and steel shell, separating both components or strangling the paratrooper if the chin strap was too close to his neck. Measures were taken to interlock the liner and shell and to modify the chin strap. These improvements were embodied in the M-2 steel shell then its evolution, the M-1C, and into a series of modified liners.
The M1 rifle Garand
Chosen by the Supply Corps, from 1936 onwards, the Garand M1 was the only semi-automatic rifle to be issued regularly. Very solid and gas-operated, it was fed by an ejectable sheet metal magazine clip loaded with eight .30 caliber cartridges. Each 12-man American fighter squad was armed with 10 Garand rifles and these powerful, automatic weapons gave an undeniable advantage in the field. General Patton said that it was "the best weapon of war ever manufactured".