Carwood Lipton was the jumpmaster of one of the C-47 Skytrains that the paratroopers used to jump into Normandy. Lipton dived into Normandy and was able to rendezvous with then First Lieutenant Richard Winters, Easy’s executive officer, and several other men from the 101st, and two more from the 82nd Airborne Division. They were later joined by several more Easy members, and worked their way just south of their objective of Carentan.
Lipton was teamed with Private Myron Ranney during the Brecourt Manor Assault, where Easy Company was assigned the task of destroying four 105 mm howitzers (they were originally thought to be 88 mm, but it was discovered that they were 105 mm when they got there.) that were firing down on Utah Beach. Easy Company managed to destroy the four guns, and Lipton was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions.
Lipton was involved on the assault on Carentan and was injured by shrapnel. He was awarded the Purple Heart. Carwood was out of Easy for a few days and happily returned as soon as possible.
Around the time Operation Market Garden was scheduled to take off, Easy Company’s slowly depleting ranks became too much, and were refilled by replacement soldiers. Carwood Lipton is remembered by many of the replacement veterans as being one of the very few men who immediately accepted them as true soldiers. He helped the replacements along in Operation Market Garden. Lipton was with Easy when they liberated Eindhoven, and was part of an advanced scout team that scouted the bridge ahead of the rest of the Company.
Lipton was fighting with the Easy when they attempted to take Arnhem, but had to pull-out because of the German defences there. Lipton ran like a madman through part of the town that was swarming with German soldiers to reach all of the spread out soldiers and pass on the word that they were pulling out.
A small team of scouts were on the crossroads in Holland when a member of their squad was badly wounded by a German Model 24 Steilhandgrenate and Easy was called to action. They were assigned the task of destroying any remaining Germans at the crossroads. Lipton was not among the original assault team of around ten men, but joined up the next morning with Easy, bringing the rest of the company. Easy Company managed to destroy over two companies of SS situated at the Crossroads due to launching a surprise attack on their position.
Operation Pegasus was a small, and potentially low-risk operation where Easy Company were to cross the river on boats supplied by Canadian Engineers, and bring back over 140 British Red Devils who were trapped when Easy pulled back from Arnhem. Lipton and First Lieutenant Heyliger oversaw the Operation to success.
Under the new command of Second Lieutenant Norman Dike, a leader perhaps worse than the Company thought Herbert Sobel was, Lipton gave the men hope in the Ardennes Forest overlooking Foy, and became the unofficial commanding officer due to Dike’s incompetent leadership.
After Easy Company’s assault on the town of Foy, Carwood was told he would be given a battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant. Carwood Lipton received his official battlefield commission as a Second Lieutenant in Haguenau. Lipton later witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust at Landsberg, where he and the rest of Easy Company liberated the camp.
Lipton assisted Easy in the capture of the Nazi’s symbolic home, Berchtesgaden. While there, Lipton became acquainted with Ferdinand Porsche (responsible for the Panther and Tiger tanks), who could speak English very well. They ate their meals together while Porsche was at the POW camp L.A.G.A.R.
Lipton remained with Easy until the end of the war, up until Easy Company was disbanded (after the official surrender of the Japanese and the Germans). He remained in the army reserves through the Korean War, but was not deployed overseas again.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carwood_Lipton
http://wikiofbrothers.wikia.com/wiki/2nd_Lt._C._Carwood_Lipton
(http://carwoodlipton.com)
Carwood Lipton compilation on Youtube:
Check out our version of Carwood Lipton:
Carwood Lipton is now available in our shop and via our resellers.
In the meantime, join the Stoessi’s Heroes group on Facebook and possibly also our Facebook page, so that you don’t miss any announcements.
A brief correction: the 101st Airborne did not attack Arnhem during Market Garden. The 101st’s job was to secure the bridges as Eindhoven, some 50 miles south of Arnhem. This was the southernmost of the several airborne objectives. The 82nd Airborne’s objective was Nijmegen, closer to Arnhem, and the various British airbones forces dropped around Arnhem proper.
I think that the town where Easy was counterattacked (as depicted in the series) was somewhere between Eindhoven and Veghel, well south of Nijmegen, and certainly nowhere near Arnhem.