The Filthy Thirteen was the nickname of the 1st Demolition Section of Regimental Headquarters Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. They were airborne demolition soldiers trained to destroy or capture bridges and obstacles, and they served across the 1944–45 campaigns in Europe.
The unit behind the name
The 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was raised and trained at Camp Toccoa, Georgia — the “Currahee” of Band of Brothers fame — before staging in England ahead of the Normandy invasion. The demolition section was a small group, roughly a dozen men at any one time, which is where the “thirteen” comes from. Their specialist job was the hazardous airborne task of blowing or seizing bridges and clearing obstacles.✓ Verified
Where the name came from
According to accounts, the nickname was popularized by war correspondent Tom Hoge of Stars and Stripes in June 1944. The often-repeated explanation is that the men bathed only once a week, saving their water ration to cook game they poached from the surrounding English countryside. It’s a story that appears in nearly every account of the unit, though it rests on the men’s own recollections rather than an official record.◆ Well-attested
The Mohawks and the war paint
Before the Normandy jump, several of the men cut their hair into Mohawk-style strips and painted their faces. The idea is attributed to Jake McNiece, who was of Irish and Choctaw descent and framed it as a nod to his Native American heritage and a way to steady the men before the jump. The most famous photograph shows Clarence Ware applying war paint to Charles Plaudo in England on June 5, 1944 — an image that did as much as anything to fix the unit in the public memory.◆ Well-attested
The Dirty Dozen question
The unit is often called “the real Dirty Dozen.” It’s an appealing link — but, as the dedicated page explains, it is a later popular association rather than the documented basis for the novel or film.✦ Legend