Bio
Born at Fort Smith, Arkansas, William O. Darby graduated from West Point in 1933. A Field Artillery Officer, he organized and trained the 1st Ranger Battalion at the British Commando School in June 1942. MAJ Darby led the battalion during Operation TORCH, the invasion of North Africa.
On 18 March 1943, 1st Ranger Battalion attacked and captured El Guettar, Tunisia, which prompted the theater directive to form the 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions in North Africa in May 1943. In July, all three Ranger battalions led the amphibious assaults on Sicily (Operation HUSKY).
‘Darby’s Rangers’ enjoyed combat successes in Sicily and Italy until the Battle of Cisterna (30 January – 2 February 1944), when the three battalions were rendered combat ineffective. Afterwards, COL Darby was reassigned to Army Ground Forces headquarters and the War Department. COL Darby returned to Europe in March 1945 as the Assistant Division Commander, 10th Mountain Division.
He was killed in Italy on 30 April, and posthumously promoted to BG. ‘Darby’s Rangers’ epitomized what dynamic leadership and tough, realistic training can produce—the hallmark of today’s Rangers.
