The 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion served with the 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. Its history connects airborne operations with the work of bringing artillery into action on the ground. An Army historical overview identifies its conversion to glider field artillery in August 1942. Army historical overview
This collection introduces the battalion's wartime service, explains its connection to Normandy and Mission Elmira, and helps families follow a name toward supporting records. It brings together selected historical sources and research leads, with an explanation of what each can establish.
It is a starting point for discovery and remembrance, not a complete personnel database. A soldier's own service must be traced through evidence specific to that person.
Explore Battery A: Missions, soldiers and records.
Explore Battery B: Missions, soldiers and records.
In this collection
- Unit identity and organization
- Wartime timeline
- Normandy and Mission Elmira
- Soldier Directory & Research Index
- Researching someone who served
- Records and photographs
- Sources and corrections
Unit identity and organization
The correct name is 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion. "319th Glider Division" confuses the battalion with the larger division to which it belonged.
The number alone is not enough to identify a military unit. For example, the 319th Infantry Regiment belonged to the 80th Infantry Division and has its own records. Its Company A records are not the records of Battery A, 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion. 319th Infantry Regiment record index
The Army's historical overview dates the activation of the 319th Field Artillery Battalion to March 25, 1942, and its conversion to the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion to August 15, 1942. These are organizational milestones; they do not establish when any particular soldier joined. Army historical overview
Battery assignments also need dates. In a recollection reproduced by 319Gliderman, Captain John Manning describes Headquarters, A and B Batteries and a temporary C Battery that had been dissolved before Normandy. His account is useful evidence of changing organization, rather than a reason to apply one battery arrangement to the entire war. Captain John Manning's recollection
When reading a roster, letter or discharge document, preserve the unit name and battery exactly as recorded. Differences may reflect a transfer, reorganization, abbreviation or error that needs further investigation.
Wartime timeline
This timeline separates organizational milestones from documented activity. It is not a formal list of campaign credits, and it should not be used as an individual soldier's itinerary.
- 1942 — Organization for airborne service. The activation and conversion dates above establish the battalion's wartime identity.
- 1943 — North Africa and Italy. The specialist collection 319Gliderman traces the battalion from North Africa to a seaborne landing at Maiori in September and support of Rangers around Chiunzi Pass. This portion of the story is presented here through that collection's historical account. Italy, 1943
- June–July 1944 — Normandy. The battalion's reproduced historical record covers arrival, recovery and artillery operations, followed by its return to England in July. Normandy historical record
- September 1944 — Operation Market Garden. Official Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announcements place battalion members in this operation. The two entries below provide specific, individually documented connections. Clifford M. Mills announcement and William D. Hedtke announcement
- Winter 1944–45 — Belgium and Germany. The specialist history at WW2-Airborne describes artillery support during the Battle of the Bulge and subsequent fighting in Germany. 319th battalion history
- May 1945 — The closing operations. 319Gliderman's summary of the battalion's May records describes activity near the Elbe and the transition to occupation duties. Central Europe collection
Unit campaign credit recognizes a unit's service under the applicable military criteria. Establishing an individual's participation requires evidence of that person's assignment and circumstances during the relevant period.
Normandy and Mission Elmira
The battalion's Normandy story includes several distinct events: movement into France, recovery after landing, and the establishment of an effective artillery force.
John C. Warren's Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater, published by the USAF Historical Division in 1956, places the 319th in Mission Elmira's second echelon on June 6, 1944. The study identifies a formation of the 436th Troop Carrier Group departing Membury with the battalion and other personnel. Its cargo included howitzers, jeeps and ammunition.
Warren describes a difficult arrival under fire, with scattered landings and small fields complicating the operation. He places the 319th in action near Chef-du-Pont at 5:15 p.m. on June 8. That distinction matters: landing in Normandy and becoming ready to provide artillery support were separate stages. Read the Air Force study, printed pages 68–69
The battalion's June historical record, transcribed on 319Gliderman, adds a unit-level perspective. It describes an advance element traveling separately from the main evening glider movement, recovery of equipment and care of wounded men on June 7, and artillery support for the 508th Parachute Infantry on June 8. The record is attributed to battalion headquarters and signed by Lieutenant Colonel James C. Todd. The accessible text is a hosted transcription, rather than an archival original inspected for this collection. Read the transcribed June historical record
Personal recollections offer another view of the journey. A collection held online by the New York State Military Museum includes Gale R. Ammerman's account, "Operation Elmira or My Longest Day," describing his experience flying a Horsa glider carrying artillery ammunition from Membury. It helps readers understand one participant's experience; it does not identify the occupants or movements of every glider carrying the battalion. Read the Operation Elmira recollections, including Ammerman's account on PDF page 43
For families, these sources establish the operational setting. They cannot, by themselves, establish a relative's glider, landing field, injuries or route after landing. A personal letter, casualty record or dated personnel entry may provide that missing connection.
Soldier Directory & Research Index
For the dedicated Battery B list, visit Battery B missions and soldier directory.
For the dedicated Battery A list, visit Battery A missions and soldier directory.
These selected entries connect named soldiers with relevant historical sources. Some draw on official announcements; others use compiled lists, reproduced documents or attributed recollections. Each entry explains what its sources establish and where the evidence is limited. Inclusion does not imply that this is a representative or complete roster.
Clifford M. Mills
Recorded rank and scope: Private First Class; member of the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, in September 1944.
What the source establishes: DPAA reports that Mills was reported missing on September 18, 1944, near Wyler and Zyfflich, Germany, during Operation Market Garden. He was accounted for on January 29, 2019.
Source: DPAA: Soldier Accounted For From World War II — Mills, C., an official announcement published February 22, 2019.
Limit: The announcement does not identify his battery or supply a complete service chronology.
William D. Hedtke
Recorded rank and scope: Private; Battery B, in the battalion DPAA names as the 319th Glider Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, in 1944.
What the source establishes: DPAA reports that Hedtke died from injuries following a hard glider landing near Groesbeek, Netherlands, on September 18, 1944. He was accounted for on October 17, 2019.
Source: DPAA: Soldier Accounted For From World War II — Hedtke, W., an official announcement dated November 25, 2019.
Limit: This is a casualty and identification account, not a complete personnel file.
Steven “Steve” Zwerko: Battery B
Family information supplied to WorthFighting identifies Steven Zwerko as the contributor's grandfather. The public historical collections examined here record his name as Steve Zwerko.
A draft registration card reproduced with his 319Gliderman profile preserves a glimpse of his civilian life. It records a Chicago resident employed by P. B. Price Brothers, Inc., lists September 26, 1919, as his birth date, and gives his age as 21. His signature appears at the bottom. These details belong to the registration document, rather than an Army enlistment record. Read the reproduced draft card
The compiled Battery B list at Airborne in Normandy identifies Private Steve Zwerko, Army serial number 36629095, with the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. The list is scoped to June 6, 1944. Its name and serial number match those published in his 319Gliderman profile. A second, later roster also lists Steve Zwerko in Battery B, although it supplies no serial number for that entry. Battery B list · Compiled roster, page 13
The account of his Normandy service includes a distinction between an event and its later reporting. Under its morning-report summaries, 319Gliderman describes an entry dated June 15, 1944, recording that Zwerko had been wounded on June 6 and moved from duty to hospital. WorthFighting has examined the published summary, not the underlying Army report. 319Gliderman's Steve Zwerko profile
The collection also preserves a recollection attributed to fellow soldier Milton Goldfarb. In that account, Goldfarb describes helping Zwerko after a severe leg wound, applying a tourniquet and moving him into cover before seeking a medic. This is a later recollection as reproduced by the collection, rather than a contemporary medical record. The account attributed to Milton Goldfarb
Together, these sources connect a named Battery B soldier with a civilian registration document and an account of help given under fire. They leave much of his individual service and later life outside the documented story presented here.
Finding additional names
The Battery B list at Airborne in Normandy is explicitly labeled for June 6, 1944. Treat that date and battery as part of the reference.
A broader compiled 319th roster hosted by WW2-Airborne credits Dominique Potier and Xavier Van Daele and carries a December 21, 2009 date. It is a later compilation, not a wartime personnel roll.
Use both as leads. A matching name needs comparison with other identifiers, and absence from either list does not establish that someone never served in the battalion.
Researching someone who served
Begin with the person, then connect that person to a dated unit record.
Build a small identity file. Record the full name, spelling variants, Army serial number if available, home address, approximate service dates and every unit or battery appearing in family papers. Keep copies of envelopes and the backs of photographs. Separate information written at the time from later identifications.
Look for the personnel record. An Official Military Personnel File can document matters such as assignments, training and separation. It is not usually a detailed narrative of a soldier's experience in each battle. Use the National Archives' explanation to understand what the file may contain before treating it as the answer to every question. About Official Military Personnel Files
Plan for gaps without assuming total loss. The 1973 National Personnel Records Center fire destroyed approximately 80 percent of Army personnel files for people discharged between November 1, 1912, and January 1, 1960. That statistic cannot determine whether a particular file survives. NARA describes the use of auxiliary sources in reconstruction. The 1973 fire and affected records
Use morning reports for dated changes. These can help trace events such as a transfer, hospitalization or change in status. The 319Gliderman explanation includes a Battery A example dated January 9, 1945. A report entry may connect a person to a battery and date without describing what that person experienced in combat. Understanding company and battery morning reports
Do not confuse missing rosters with missing records of every kind. NARA states that Army rosters for 1944–46 were destroyed under an authorized records schedule. That is a different circumstance from the personnel-records fire. Morning reports and other record series have their own survival and access histories. Consult the current guidance before planning a visit or requesting assistance. NARA morning reports and unit rosters
Connect the person to the operational setting. Once a dated assignment is supported, consult the battalion's historical records for that period. Those records can explain the unit's activity. They do not automatically place every assigned soldier at every location described.
Keep a simple research log with four fields: the question, the evidence found, its date and source, and what remains uncertain. For example, a Battery B name-list entry may suggest where to look next; a dated personnel document is needed to strengthen the identification.
Records and photographs
The following resources offer different kinds of access. Some contain readable material online; others describe records held elsewhere.
319Gliderman — specialist document and family-history collection. Its Normandy page provides historical-record text. Its Belgium collection lists journals, firing reports, messages and maps by period. Read each item's heading and provenance: a transcription, a scanned document and the website's own narrative are different forms of evidence. The collection's preservation work makes it a valuable starting point.
WW2-Airborne — history, names and portrait references. The site provides a unit history, the compiled roster linked above, and a 319th portrait collection. A portrait credit can help identify a contributor or family lead. It does not, by itself, establish permission to reproduce the photograph.
National Archives — operational records. The Record Group 407 guide, particularly section 407.3, describes World War II operations reports and related material. This is a guide to holdings, not a digitized 319th file.
Eisenhower Presidential Library — a specific finding-aid lead. Its U.S. Army Unit Records finding aid lists a 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion unit history dated 1946 in Box 6. The listing identifies material to pursue; the underlying history is not reproduced in that finding aid.
National Archives — earlier Army rosters. NARA provides an access guide to Army rosters for 1940–43, including links to digitized material. This collection has not verified a particular 319th entry within those scans.
Photographs remain with the linked source collections unless identification, provenance and reuse terms have been established. NARA also cautions that material in its holdings is not uniformly free of restrictions. NARA guidance on still-picture permissions
Sources and corrections
This collection distinguishes official announcements, official retrospective histories, reproduced wartime records, compiled lists and personal recollections. A finding aid establishes that a repository lists an item; it does not establish everything the unseen item contains.
Sources repeating the same underlying account are not treated as independent confirmation. Where a detail remains unresolved, the collection narrows the statement or leaves it out. It does not assign an individual a campaign, rank, award or experience merely because it appears elsewhere in the battalion's history.
The coverage is selective. Additional names and records may change or deepen the account. To suggest a correction, use WorthFighting's existing contact page. Identify the passage and, where possible, include the document title, date and source that supports the correction.
Sources checked September 30, 2026.