CPL Richard R. Hibbs
We honor and remember CPL Richard Randolph Hibbs of Easy Battery, 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 101st Airborne Division.
Corporal (CPL) Richard Randolph Hibbs of Easy Battery, 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion (AAA), 101st Airborne Division, was born in Lexington, McLean County, Illinois, to Dorsey R. and Minnie M. (Blagg) Hibbs on April 23, 1920. He had two sisters, Margaret V. and Mary A. Hibbs.
At an unknown date, the family moved to Secor, Woodford County, Illinois, where Richard attended Secor Grade School and El Paso High School, graduating in 1938. He registered for the draft in Eureka, Illinois, on July 1, 1941. At the time, he was employed as a mechanic by Caterpillar Tractor Co. in East Peoria, Illinois.
Richard enlisted in the United States Army at Camp Grant, Illinois, on March 24, 1942. On September 3, 1942, the 81st Airborne Anti-Aircraft Battalion was activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and on September 22, Richard was assigned to Easy Battery. He was also appointed Private First Class that day and Corporal on November 24, 1942. He received his basic training at Camp Claiborne, after which he was transferred to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he received his glider training.
After finishing his stateside training with the 81st AAA, CPL Hibbs left for England on the HMS Samaria with his battalion on September 5, 1943. The ship arrived at Liverpool Harbor, England, on September 15, 1943, and the 81st AAA men were moved by train to Basildon Park, Berkshire, England.
After more intensive training in England to prepare the men for their first battle, Richard received his baptism of fire on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Due to the shortage of tug aircraft for the gliders, the men of Easy Battery were not inserted by glider into Normandy. Dog, Easy, and Fox Battery landed by water on Utah Beach with the assault waves of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, at H plus 15 minutes on D-Day, in water from 3 to 10 feet deep, under intense enemy artillery and machine gun fire.
CPL Hibbs survived the harrowing moments on Utah Beach and fought in Normandy until Easy Battery returned to England on July 11, 1944. After his return to Basildon, he was granted a 7-day furlough, effective as of July 14.
For Operation Market Garden, Easy Battery was again part of the seaborne echelon, alongside Dog and Fox Batteries. The batteries landed at Omaha Beach and made an overland move to Son, the Netherlands, arriving on September 24, 1944, a week after Operation Market Garden had started. Easy Battery, together with Dog and Fox Battery, was attached to the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion for ground and air defense of the Division Service Area.
At the beginning of October, the 81st AAA moved to a small strip of land between two large rivers, dubbed “The Island.” The men of Easy Battery were in an area close to Elst when heavy enemy artillery fire fell on their positions on October 6. Four men were injured, and four were killed that day, including CPL Hibbs.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
CPL Richard Hibbs died at 24 years of age in the Netherlands.
He was buried at the temporary military facility Molenhoek #1 on November 21, 1944. His body was returned home under the “Return of the Dead Program”, where he was reburied at the Secor Cemetery in Secor, Woodford County, Illinois, on Friday, January 28, 1949. CPL Hibbs was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.
Happy Birthday in Heaven, Richard.
Lest we forget! 🇺🇸
Sources:
Find a Grave
Family Search
NARA
After Action Reports of the 81st Airborne AA Battalion
The other sources used for this article are known to the author and available on request.
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My father, PFC Tom Farmer, fought in battles while attached to the 81st and 101st like so many young men. From what I have been able to piece together, a glider dropped him somewhere in Holland during Operation Market Garden. I have telegrams informing my grandmother that my father was MIA, then POW, injured while forced to labor, and finally a telegram saying my father was liberated. My father died when I was a child so I never had the opportunity to talk to him about his time in the military. His military records were destroyed in the St Louis Archive fire. The Red Cross had some information about his injury, but that is all of the information I have been able to find. I have a letter a fellow soldier sent him after the end of the war. This fellow soldier’s name was Hal Johnson. The postmark on the letter Mr Johnson sent was from Anaconda, MT. I wonder if descendants of Mr Johnson follow this substack and if they have war stories to share. Thank you for what you do!