William Orlando Darby

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William Orlando Darby (8 February 1911 - 30 April 1945) was an officer in the United States Army during World War II. Darby led the famous Darby's Rangers which evolved into the US Army Rangers and was also made famous as a major motion picture staring the American actor James Garner in the role of Darby.

Darby was born in Fort Smith, Sebastian County, Arkansas on 8 February 1911. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1933. Darby had reached the rank of captain in 1940. Early in the war, Darby served in staff positions, but in 1942 he was assigned by his commander, Major General Russell P. Hartle, to form a new unit that was modeled after the British commando units. Darby's unit bore the title "Rangers" and gained the nickname "Darby's Rangers". The unit was famous for its daring night raids and hit-and-run tactics.

Darby was eventually promoted to the rank of colonel and he led the new unit into combat in North Africa, Sicily, and Anzio. Darby returned to the US after the destruction of the 1st and 3rd battalions at Cisterna.

Darby was killed by an 88mm artillery fragment on 30 April 1945 (the same day Hitler chose to kill himself) while attached to the US 10th Mountain Division near Torbole, Italy. Darby was posthumously awarded the rank of Brigadier General and is buried at Fort Smith National Cemetery. He was the only US Army officer so honored in WW2.

Darby's records, medals, military records, and uniforms are on display at the Old Fort Museum in Fort Smith, and his boyhood home is open for tours. One U.S. Army installation is named for Darby: Camp Darby, near Ft. Benning, Georgia, which is home to the second part of Benning Phase for Ranger School. Two U.S. Army installations in Europe were named for Darby: W.O. Darby Kaserne in Fürth, Germany (closed in 1995) and Camp Darby, near Livorno, Italy, which remains in use today.

William O. Darby Junior High in Fort Smith, Arkansas is named in his honor.

In 1958 Darby was the subject of the motion picture Darby's Rangers [1], starring James Garner (some assume the 30-year-old Garner was too young for the role, but Darby was only 34 when he died). Wayde Preston played a character based on Darby in Dino De Laurentiis's Anzio (1968).

A book about Darby's Rangers was published in July 2007, titled Onward We Charge: The Heroic Story of Darby's Rangers in World War II, by H. Paul Jeffers.

See also: Battle of Cisterna