Among American planners the need to provide some combat experience to the American soldiers designated for OVERLORD remained a significant concern throughout the long planning process. Although Marshall had envisioned raids as a means of providing that experience, the departure of the 1st Ranger Battalion for the Mediterranean in October 1942 had left the British Combined Operations Headquarters without an American commando unit for its raiding program. To replace that unit, the U.S. European Theater of Operations (ETO) activated another provisional Ranger formation in December 1942. Designated the 29th Ranger Battalion, the new unit consisted of a tiny cadre from Darby's original group and volunteers from the 29th Infantry Division, an inexperienced National Guard formation from Maryland and Virginia. Under the leadership of Maj. Randolph Milholland, a Maryland National Guardsman who had attended the British General Headquarters Battle School, the volunteers trained for five weeks at Achnacarry. In joint exercises with commandos they impressed the British with their performance in amphibious landings, cliff scaling, and a few practice raids.

Through the summer and fall of 1943 the 29th Ranger Battalion joined the British commandos in a series of raids on the Norwegian and French coasts. The first, an attempt to destroy a bridge over a fjord, ended in failure when the Norwegian guide dropped the magazine for his submachine gun on a concrete quay, alerting the German guards. The Rangers met with more success in their second mission, a three-day reconnaissance of a harbor, but a third foray to the Norwegian coast proved abortive when they found that their objective, a German command post, had been abandoned. After more amphibious training during the summer of 1943, the entire battalion landed on the Ile d'Ouessant, a small island off the Atlantic coast of Brittany, and destroyed a German radar installation. As the raiders departed, they left Milholland's helmet and cartridge belt on the beach as calling cards. Despite the battalion's success, the European theater, in line with the original concept, deactivated the unit on 15 October and returned its members to the 29th Division.

The 2d and 5th Ranger Battalions

By the time of the 29th Ranger Battalion's deactivation, the European Theater of Operations had determined that it would need more permanent Ranger-type units to spearhead the cross-channel invasion. At first, the activation of such formations found little support in the Regular Army. Lt. Gen. Lesley J. McNair, the crusty chief of Army Ground Forces and the man most responsible for building and training the Army, preferred versatile standard units to specialized formations for special jobs. Permanent Ranger units, he feared, would constantly seek unprofitable secondary missions to justify their existence, absorb too many of the Army's better junior combat leaders, and cause a host of administrative problems. Marshall, however, deferred to the judgment of his field commanders and in March 1943 ordered the formation of at least one Ranger battalion to replace the 29th.4

During the early spring of 1943 volunteers from units throughout the continental United States assembled among the dusty streets, long white barracks, and green pyramidal tents of Camp Forrest, Tennessee, to form the 2d Ranger Battalion. Many had heard of the exploits of Darby's Rangers and were eager to belong to a similar unit; others simply wanted to move overseas more quickly. All generally possessed above average physical and mental ability. Some had served with the 1st Ranger Battalion, while others had attended Ranger-type training programs in the United States. The battalion also received a number of recruits who were too old for Ranger duty and a few eccentrics. All came under the command of Maj. James Earl Rudder on 30 June. Rudder, a genial former football coach from Texas, proved a popular leader, hosting monthly "gripe" sessions with his troops and improving their food and quarters. For all his affability, he insisted on high standards in the unit.

Through 1943 and early 1944 Rudder pushed his men through an intensive training program, focusing on amphibious assaults and infantry fighting. At Camp Forrest the training combined physical conditioning with basic infantry tactics and fieldcraft. The marches, log-lifting drills, and obstacle courses helped to weed out those lacking in strength and stamina. In early September the battalion attended the Scout and Raiders School at Fort Pierce, Florida. Camped on an insect-infested island, the Rangers practiced small-scale amphibious raids with rubber boats and similar craft. From Fort Pierce they moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey, for training in advanced tactics. After arriving in Great Britain in early December the Rangers worked on cliff climbing, weapons training, navigation, and night maneuvers. Meanwhile, Rudder and his staff officers, in consultation with Combined Operations Headquarters, laid plans for a pair of raids against German installations near Calais and on the Isle of Herm. Rough weather forced cancellation of the two missions, but individual Rangers later accompanied British commandos on several similar operations.

Meanwhile, in response to ETO's need for a stronger assault force for OVERLORD, Army Ground Forces formed the 5th Ranger Battalion in September 1943. Since the European theater command wanted the battalion in Great Britain by the end of the year, the training of the new unit was rushed. After initial physical conditioning and combat training at Camp Forrest, the 5th moved to Fort Pierce in November for two weeks of amphibious training, and then proceeded to Fort Dix for more speed marches and five-day tactical problems at the company and battalion levels. Following their arrival in Great Britain in January, the Rangers moved north to Scotland for amphibious training specifically tailored to match the Normandy coastline.

In January, as the two battalions trained along the coasts of Britain, Rudder and Maj. Max F. Schneider, the commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, arrived in London to receive their mission for D-day from Col. Truman Thorson, operations officer of Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley's U.S. First Army. Four miles west of OMAHA Beach, the main American landing area, was Pointe du Hoe, a peninsula of steep, rocky cliffs jutting out into the Channel. There the Germans had emplaced a battery of six 155-mm. guns which dominated the invasion beaches. Destruction of the battery was critical to the success of the invasion. Although planners had provided for naval and air bombardments of the Pointe, a direct infantry assault was the only certain way of neutralizing the fortification. To reach the position by sea, the attackers would first have to land on a narrow shoreline and then scale an 83- to 100-foot cliff. One intelligence officer remarked, "It can't be done. Three old women with brooms could keep the Rangers from climbing that cliff." Although initially stunned by the magnitude of the task, Rudder and Schneider stepped up their training program, focusing on cliff climbing and amphibious tactics as the date of the assault drew near.

The intense training of the Rangers paid off. Early on the morning of 6 June 1944, the first assault wave of Rangers, consisting of three companies of the 2d Battalion under Rudder's personal leadership, pounded through heavy Channel seas toward the Normandy coast. After a course error that put them about thirty-five minutes behind schedule, Rudder's force finally landed at 0710. Covered by naval gunfire, the Rangers used ropes fired by rockets to scramble up the cliff. The incredulous German defenders kept up a withering fire, cut the ropes, and tossed grenades down the slope, but within ten minutes of the landing the first Rangers had reached the top and secured a precarious foothold. As more soldiers reached the summit, Rudder expanded his perimeter and began sweeping the area. One patrol quickly found and destroyed the guns, which the Germans had hidden for protection during the bombardment. The cost had been heavy. Of the 230 Rangers who had made the assault, only 70 remained by the late afternoon of 6 June. Lacking men, supplies, and ammunition, the remainder grimly prepared to hold out against enemy counterattacks.

 
Photo: Route used by Rangers to get to the top of Pointe du Hoc

To the east the 5th Ranger Battalion and the remaining companies of the 2d had joined the 29th Infantry Division's assault on OMAHA Beach (Map 4). Heavy German fire raked the beachhead, pinning the Rangers and troops of the 29th behind a seawall. At this point, according to legend, Brig. Gen. Norman D. Cota, the assistant division commander of the 29th, roared, "We have to get the hell off this beach. Rangers, lead the way!" Whether under Cota's inspiration or not, small parties of Rangers and infantry scrambled over the seawall and, under cover of the rising smoke, carried the heights. After linking up with another Ranger company that had seized Pointe de la Percee, Schneider's force finally relieved Rudder's battered contingent on 8 June.

Having accomplished the task that had been the basis for their creation, the two Ranger battalions spent much of the rest of the war in search of a purpose, performing few missions which line infantry could not have handled. Both battalions had lost heavily on D-day, and Rudder, as senior battalion commander, unsuccessfully petitioned for their return to Great Britain for reorganization and the training of replacements. Instead, the Rangers trained their new personnel as adequately as possible while guarding prisoner cages and acting as a reserve against a German attack from the Channel Islands. In August the two battalions supported the campaign in Brittany, securing the flanks of the American advance, filling gaps in the line, and assaulting minor strongpoints. In the assault on the forts and pillboxes surrounding Brest a four-man patrol from the 2d Ranger Battalion infiltrated the Lochrist Battery and forced the German commander to surrender the position. After a two-month respite following the fall of Brest on 18 September, the 2d Ranger Battalion joined the bitter struggle to clear the Huertgen Forest. Holding a defensive position in the snow and mud, a role ill suited to their organization as a light assault force, the Rangers suffered heavily from enemy artillery and exposure.

When Rudder complained to higher headquarters about the misuse of his Rangers, he received orders to move the battalion to the outskirts of Bergstein and assault Hill 400, also known as Castle Hill. Troops and tanks of the 5th Armored Division clung to a tenuous position in Bergstein under heavy fire directed from the hill, which commanded the village and surrounding region. After a Ranger patrol reconnoitered the height in the predawn darkness of 7 December, one company took position to provide fire support, while two others charged up the slope. Catching the Germans by surprise, the Rangers seized control of the crest and captured twenty-eight prisoners with only light losses. Almost immediately, however, they were hit by enemy shellfire and two counterattacks. By late afternoon only twenty-five Rangers remained on top of the hill. Reinforced by a platoon and supported by artillery fire, they managed to hold until a battalion relieved them on the evening of 8 December. In the end, the battle for Bergstein cost the 2d Ranger Battalion over half its strength, most of which was expended in defense of the hill.