In mid-1943, James Megellas, nicknamed "Maggie" by his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, which became his home for the duration of World War II. His first taste of combat occurred in the rugged mountains outside Naples.
In October 1943, when most of the 82d Airborne Division left Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lieutenant General Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, requested that the division's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, including Maggie's outfit, remain behind for a daring new operation. This operation aimed to outflank the stubborn Nazi defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On January 22, 1944, Megellas and the rest of the 504th landed on the beaches at Anzio. While there was initial success, the Allied amphibious assault, known as Operation Shingle, faced heavy German counterattacks that threatened to push the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a blood-soaked fiasco, becoming one of the deadliest Allied operations of the war. It wasn't until April that the remnants of the regiment were withdrawn and sent to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and prepare for their next mission.
In September, Megellas parachuted into Holland alongside the rest of the 82d Airborne as part of Field Marshal Montgomery's ambitious Operation Market Garden. Months of grueling combat in Holland were followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the long, arduous journey across Germany toward Berlin.
Megellas became the most decorated officer of the 82d Airborne Division and experienced more action during the war than most. However, "All the Way to Berlin" is not just Maggie's World War II memoir. Throughout his narrative, he skillfully weaves in the stories of the other paratroopers of H Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The result is a remarkable account of men at war.
