Paratrooper applies war paint 111-SC-193551cropped

The Filthy Thirteen was the name given to the 1st Demolition Section of the Regimental Headquarters Company of the

506th Parachute Infantry Regiment The 506th Infantry Regiment, originally designated the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (506th PIR) during World War II, is an airborne light infantry regiment of the United States Army. Currently a parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regime ...

101st Airborne The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operatio ...

Division, of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, which fought in the European campaign in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. This unit was the inspiration for the 1965 book and 1967 film ''

The Dirty Dozen ''The Dirty Dozen'' is a 1967 American war film directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Lee Marvin with an ensemble supporting cast including Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, Richard Jaeckel, George Kennedy, Ralph M ...

''.

History

The 1st Demolition Section was assigned and trained as demolition saboteurs to destroy enemy targets behind the lines. Inspired by Sergeant

Jake McNiece James Elbert "Jake" McNiece (May 24, 1919 – January 21, 2013) was a US Army paratrooper in World War II. Sergeant McNiece was a member of the Filthy Thirteen, an elite demolition unit whose exploits inspired the 1965 novel and 1967 film ''The ...

, the unit had a tremendous mission focus but their disregard for aspects of military discipline that did not contribute to the mission became the bane of their officers. The 13-man unit acquired the nickname the Filthy Thirteen while living in

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of Corrugated galvanised iron, corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British ...

s in England, refusing to bathe during the week in order to use their water ration for cooking game poached from the neighboring manor. Photos of the men wearing Native American–style "

mohawks The Mohawk people ( moh, Kanienʼkehá꞉ka) are the most easterly section of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy. They are an Iroquoian-speaking Indigenous people of North America, with communities in southeastern Canada and northern Ne ...

" and applying war paint to one another excited the public's interest in this unit. The inspiration for this came from McNiece, who was part Choctaw. During the

Normandy Invasion Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

of Europe in June 1944, the group was airdropped with the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment by aircraft of the

440th Troop Carrier Group 44 may refer to: * 44 (number) * one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military *44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II *44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas t ...

of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. They were ordered to secure or destroy the bridges over the Douve River. Half were killed, wounded, or captured on the jump, but the rest, led by McNiece, accomplished their mission. Most of the 3rd Battalion leadership had been killed on the jump, so without any contact with the 3rd Battalion, senior officers assumed the battalion had failed its mission and ordered the Air Force to bomb the bridges. The Filthy Thirteen also helped capture

Carentan Carentan () is a small rural town near the north-eastern base of the French Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy in north-western France, with a population of about 6,000. It is a former commune in the Manche department. On 1 January 2016, it was me ...

. During

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...

, the Demolition Platoon was assigned to defend the three bridges over the Dommel River in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Pathfinders, thinking he would never make another combat jump. These were paratroopers sent in ahead of the main force to guide them in or guide in resupply drops. Half the surviving members of the original Filthy Thirteen followed him into the Pathfinders, thinking they would sit out the rest of the war training in England. To their surprise they parachuted into the encircled town of

Bastogne Bastogne (; nl, Bastenaken, ; german: Bastnach/Bastenach; lb, Baaschtnech) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Bastogne ...

at the height of the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in ...

. Anticipating casualties as high as 80–90%, the 20 pathfinders lost only one man. Their CRN-4 beacon enabled them to guide in subsequent airdrops of supplies crucial to the continued resistance of the trapped 101st Airborne Division. McNiece considered that any activities not directly concerned with his mission were irrelevant, an attitude that got him in constant trouble with the military authorities. Nevertheless, McNiece finished the war as the acting first sergeant and with four combat jumps, a rare feat for an American paratrooper. His combat jumps included

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as part of Operation Market Garden, the pathfinder jump into Bastogne during the

, and as an observer with the

17th Airborne Division The 17th Airborne Division, "The Golden Talons", was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley. It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1943 bu ...

during

Operation Varsity Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest a ...

. Of the activities of the Filthy Thirteen, Jack Agnew once said, "We weren't murderers or anything, we just didn't do everything we were supposed to do in some ways and did a whole lot more than they wanted us to do in other ways. We were always in trouble."

Members

* Jack Agnew ( W.I.A, Normandy) *Bastogne Pathfinder* * George Baran (W.I.A, Normandy) * Roland "Frenchy" R. Baribeau ( K.I.A, Normandy) * Robert S. "Ragsman" Cone ( P.O.W, Normandy) * Charles "Maw" Darnell (P.O.W, Normandy) * John Dewey *Bastogne Pathfinder* * Charles "Trigger" Gann (P.O.W. Bastogne) * James F. "Piccadilly Willy" Green (P.O.W, Normandy) * John "Peepnuts" Hale (K.I.A, Normandy) * James E. "LaLa" Leech (P.O.W, Normandy) * Louis "LouLip" Lipp (W.I.A, Normandy) * Thomas "Old Man" Lonergan * Max Majewski *Bastogne Pathfinder* * Miguel "Mike" Marquez * Lieutenant Charles Mellen (K.I.A, Normandy) *

*Bastogne Pathfinder* * Frank "Shorty" Mihlan *Transferred to HQ* * John H. "Dinty" Mohr * Joseph "Joe" Oleskiewicz (K.I.A, Holland) * Frank Palys * Herb "Herby" Pierce * Charles "Chuck" Plauda * George "GoogGoo" Radeka (K.I.A, Normandy) * Andrew "Andy" Rasmussen (W.I.A, Normandy) * Brincely Stroup (Injured in Practice Jump, Pre-Invasion) * Clarence Ware (W.I.A, Normandy) * Jack "Hawkeye" Womer * Tom Young The list includes original members from 1943 and the newer members during Operation Overlord and Operation Market Garden. An interview with Jake McNiece and Jack Agnew can be found on the two disc version of the ''Dirty Dozen'' DVD. Jack Agnew died aged 88 on 8 April 2010. Jake McNiece died aged 93 on 21 January 2013. Jack Womer died aged 96 on 28 December 2013.

Literature and cultural influence

The 101st Airborne Division issued a press release on the unit, but war correspondents embellished the story. War Correspondent Tom Hoge started the ball rolling when he wrote the first article about these paratroopers and coined the name "The Filthy Thirteen" in an article for the Stars and Stripes, June 9, 1944, "Filthy Thirteen Squad Rivaled by None in Leaping Party." Arch Whitehouse wrote an article for ''True'' magazine that had some of the myths that would eventually find their way into E. M. Nathanson's book ''The Dirty Dozen'' which was the basis of the 1967 film of the same name. Whitehouse wrote, "They called themselves the 'dirty dozen,' and took pride in the reputation they had of being the orneriest, meanest group of paratroopers who ever hit this base..." Whitehouse also claimed the original 12 members were full blood Indians who had sworn not to bathe until they jumped into combat and it required their new lieutenant to beat each one in a fight in order to win their respect. This addition of this new member changed their name from the Dirty Dozen to the Filthy Thirteen. E. M. Nathanson was informed by a friend,

Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fe ...

, who worked on documentaries for the war about a unit of condemned prisoners who were sent on a suicide mission—more likely one of the Filthy Thirteen myths. Searching the archives of condemned prisoners, Nathanson found no evidence of such a unit (more likely since he was searching the wrong path), but used the information gathered for his novel published in 1965, which was later turned into a blockbuster movie in 1967. Barbara Maloney, the daughter of John Agnew, told the ''American Valor Quarterly'' that her father felt that 30% of the movie's content was historically correct, including a scene where officers are captured. Unlike the Dirty Dozen, the Filthy Thirteen were not convicts; however, they were men prone to drinking and fighting and often spent time in the stockade."Filthy 13" Squad Rivaled by None in Leaping Party: whereabouts Not Known But Pity the Nazis Who Meet Them", Tom Hoge, Stars and Stripes Staff Writer, page 4, The Stars and Stripes, June 9, 1944

Richard E. Killblane Richard Eldon Killblane (born April 15, 1955) is an American military historian, author and martial arts instructor. A West Point grad in 1979 and a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School. He has served in the U. S. Army and became an Intelligen ...

wrote Jake McNiece's version of the unit in ''The Filthy Thirteen'' (2003), and Stephen DeVito wrote Jack Womer's version in ''Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen; The World War II Story of Jack Womer – Ranger and Paratrooper'' (2012). Killblane followed up both books with a more accurate history of the unit that included nearly all surviving member's accounts in ''War Paint; The Filthy Thirteen Jump into Normandy'' (2013). Jerome Preisler wrote an excellent account of the Bastogne jump in his history of the World War II pathfinders, ''First to Jump; How the Band of Brothers was Aided by the Brave Paratroopers of the Pathfinder Company'', in 2014. ''The Filthy Thirteen'' has been translated into French, Swedish and Spanish. Maurin Picard included a chapter about Jake McNiece and the Filthy Thirteen in his book, ''Des Héros Ordinaires; Au coeur de la Seconde Guerre mondiale'' (''The Ordinary Heroes of the Second World War'') published in 2016. Constantine Nsar produced a documentary, "The Filthy Thirteen, Real Stories Behind the Lines," with interviews of Jake McNiece and Richard Killblane for a DVD release of "The Dirty Dozen" in 2006. The cover of ''War Paint; The Filthy Thirteen Jump into Normandy'' shows a copy of a commissioned painting by Joel Iskowitz, depicting the Filthy Thirteen getting ready for their jump into Normandy. The Stephens County Currahee Military Museum in Toccoa, Georgia commissioned a bronze bust of Jake McNiece. Réal Desmarets commissioned a memorial to the 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment and Filthy Thirteen at Brevands, France (their D-Day mission). It includes a bronze statue of a kneeling member of the Filthy Thirteen. Andrew Jones wrote and directed a low budget film about the unit titled ''D-Day Assassins'', released in 2019.

References

External links

''The Filthy Thirteen: The True Story of the Dirty Dozen''
Amazon.com *

*

Enidnews.com {{The Dirty Dozen Military units and formations of the United States Army in World War II

History

Members

Literature and cultural influence

See also

References

External links