Original Items: One-Of-A-Kind. These are very beautifully put together frames featuring original WWII Airborne patches and incredible painted artwork.

Ralph Edward Yoho Jr. enlisted in the United States Army on January 8, 1943 with the commission of 2nd Lieutenant. During his time in the Airborne he served with Company G of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne, and with the 517th PIR. During his time in service he was wounded multiple times but unfortunately we have not been able to find what type of wounds were sustained, when and location. “REY” served honorably overseas from January 4, 1944 to September 11, 1945.

The framed displays:

The first display measures 15” x 13”, and features a piece of a camouflage parachute canopy cut into a smaller canopy with his awards and unit insignia hand painted just below it. In the canopy it features the text “1944 REY”, which is the year he was with the 101st Airborne and REY being his initials.

The second frame measures 14 ½” x 15”, and appears to be a chronological order or service from 1943, everything hand painted except for the patches. The patches featured are:
- Subdued OCS Patch: Ft. Benning Georgia October 11,1943 ro January 8, 1943
- 4th Army Patch: Camp Roberts California, January 18,1943 to February 23, 1943
- Airborne Command: Ft Benning Georgia June 9, 1943 to October 31, 1943
- 17th Airborne Division: Camp Mackall North Carolina November 11, 1943 to June 11,1943
- 114th Infantry: Ft Lewis Washington February 24, 1943 to May 27,1942
This is a lovely personal set of displays from a proud veteran of the famed “Screaming Eagles” during WW2. Both come ready for display and further research!

Ironically, the battle that ended Germany's paratrooper operations had the opposite effect on the Allies. Convinced of the effectiveness of airborne assaults after Crete, the Allies hurried to train and organize their own airborne units. The British established No.1 Parachute Training School at RAF Ringway near Manchester, which trained all 60,000 European paratroopers recruited by the Allies during World War II.

An Airlanding School was also set up in New Delhi, India, in October/November 1941, at the then-Welllingdon Airport (now the defunct Safdarjang Airport) to train paratroopers for the British Indian Army which had been authorised to raise an airborne-capable formation earlier, resulting in the formation of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade. The Indian airborne forces expanded during the war to the point that an airborne corps was planned, bringing together the 2nd Indian Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division, but the war ended before it could materialize.

A fundamental decision was whether to create small airborne units to be used in specific coup-de-main type operations, or to organize entire airborne divisions for larger operations. Many of the early, successful airborne operations were small, carried out by a few units, such as seizing a bridge. After seeing the success of other units and observing smokejumper training methods on how training can be done. In June 1940, General William C. Lee of the U.S. Army went on to establish the Army's first airborne division. The 101st would be reorganized into the 101st Airborne Division.

The Allies eventually formed two British and five American divisions: the British 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, and the U.S. 11th, 13th, 17th, 82nd, and 101st Airborne Divisions. By 1944, the British divisions were grouped into the 1st Airborne Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning, while the American divisions in the European Theatre (the 17th, 82nd, and 101st) were organized into the XVIII Airborne Corps under Major General Matthew Ridgway. Both corps fell under the First Allied Airborne Army under U.S. Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton.

The first U.S. airborne operation was by the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion in November 1942, as part of Operation Torch in North Africa. The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions saw the most action in the European Theater, with the former in Sicily and Italy in 1943, and both in Normandy and the Netherlands in 1944. The 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team was the principal force in Operation Dragoon in Southern France. The 17th Airborne Division deployed to England in 1944 but did not see combat until the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 where they, along with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were deployed as ground troops.

The U.S. 11th and 13th Airborne Divisions were held in reserve in the United States until 1944 when the 11th Airborne Division was deployed to the Pacific, but mostly used as ground troops or for smaller airborne operations. The 13th Airborne Division was deployed to France in January 1945 but never saw combat as a unit.