17th Airborne Division (United States) Standish on 12 August 1944 before departing Boston Port of Embarkation on 20 August 1944. The 17th Airborne Division arrived in the United Kingdom on 26 August. Once in Britain the division was attached to U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, under Major General Matthew Ridgway, which commanded all American airborne formations, and which in turn became part of the First Allied Airborne Army when it was formed on 21 August, under the command of Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton. Although attached to XVIII Airborne Corps, the division was not chosen to participate in Operation Market Garden, a large-scale airborne operation intended
The Airborne Symphony under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. Orson Welles was narrator; Charles Holland was tenor soloist and Walter Scheff was baritone soloist, with the male section of the Collegiate Chorale led by Robert Shaw. The work was officially dedicated to the Eighth Air Force. "The New York Times" reported that the audience received "The Airborne Symphony" with enthusiasm at its world premiere, and called the performance "remarkably sure, brilliant and dramatically eloquent." Since then, the work has been rarely performed, owing to its massive orchestral forces, topicality, and lack of standing with musicologists. "The Airborne Symphony" has passages of stunning musicality,