401^st Glider Infantry Regiment

The 401st Glider Infantry Regiment was activated with the 101st Airborne Division in August 1942, but its World War II combat record is best understood through split battalion employment. By the Normandy campaign, 1st Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry, functioned as the third battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry, while 2nd Battalion functioned as the third battalion of the 325th Glider Infantry in the 82nd Airborne Division. That arrangement makes the regiment less visible as an independent tactical headquarters, but it places its personnel in the main glider infantry actions of the airborne assault.

In Normandy, elements of the 401st fought in the Carentan operation. As the 101st tried to join the Utah and Omaha lodgments, the glider infantry crossed near Brevands and moved against the eastern approaches to Carentan. On June 10, 401st elements made contact with V Corps troops at Auville-sur-le-Vey, helping close the gap between the corps while the 502nd fought on the causeway and the 327th pressed toward the canal and Bassin a Flot. Through its 327th connection, the regiment's 1st Battalion shared in the final June 12 capture of Carentan and the subsequent defense of the junction.

The regiment, less 2nd Battalion, went into Holland with the 101st on September 17, 1944. Its practical role again lay inside the division's glider infantry structure, supporting the defense of the landing area and the Veghel-St. Oedenrode corridor as German attacks repeatedly cut Hell's Highway. After the division moved to Bastogne, the 401st's remaining assets continued within the 327th Glider Infantry framework on the southeastern perimeter, including the Marvie sector and later January operations toward Bourcy. On March 1, 1945, the regiment was disbanded in France and its remaining personnel and assets passed fully into the 327th organization.