Down From Heaven: The 11th Airborne Division in World War II: Volume 1 Camp Toccoa through Leyte Campaign

BEFORE THEY BECAME LEGENDS, THEY HAD TO PROVE THE AIRBORNE COULD SURVIVE.

Before the 11th Airborne Division fought its way across the Pacific, liberated prisoners at Los Baños and became one of General Douglas MacArthur's most trusted fighting forces, the Angels were part of an experiment that would help determine the future of American airborne warfare.

In Down From Heaven: The 11th Airborne Division in World War II — Volume 1 , 11th Airborne Division historian Jeremy C. Holm chronicles the remarkable origins of the Angels—from their formation and training in the United States to their baptism of fire in the mountains and jungles of Leyte.

Drawing upon years of archival research, military records, photographs and firsthand accounts from the men who served with the Division, Holm reconstructs not only the battles and operations of the 11th Airborne, but the experiences of the young Americans who became Angels.

Volume 1 follows the Division through:

The formation of the 11th Airborne Division in 1943 Training at Camp Toccoa and Camp Mackall The critical Knollwood Maneuver and the fight to prove the viability of American airborne divisions Training and preparations at Camp Polk and Camp Stoneman Deployment across the Pacific to New Guinea The Division's introduction to combat on Leyte Weeks of brutal fighting through Leyte's mountains, jungles and monsoon rains The journey that transformed newly trained airborne soldiers into combat veterans The Angels fought an enemy they could rarely see across some of the most unforgiving terrain of the Pacific War. Their experiences on Leyte forged a Division that would soon play a remarkable role in the liberation of the Philippines and the final months of World War II.

Yet compared with America's more famous airborne divisions, their story remains surprisingly unfamiliar.

Down From Heaven tells that story.

This first volume begins where the history of the Angels began—following the men, units and leaders of the 11th Airborne Division as they trained for a new kind of warfare, crossed the Pacific and entered combat together.

They came Down From Heaven. Their story deserves to be remembered.