Been rewatching Band of Brothers, and was wondering at what rank a soldier wouldn't jump in real life. Obviously generals didn't jump, but did colonels, lt. Colonels, or majors jump? Would very senior NCOs (e.g sgt majors) jump?
At least on the American side, soldiers of all ranks up to Major General jumped by parachute. Major Generals Matthew B. Ridgway and Maxwell D. Taylor, the commanders of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, respectively, jumped with their men. Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 502nd PIR, also parachuted out of a C-47, as did the commanders of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, (Lt. Cols Patrick J. Cassidy and Steve A. Chappuis) Colonel William Ekman (commander, 505th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division) recalls his experience:
"Jumping out after going through the clouds, I bailed out at about 0204 hrs. according to my watch. I had a very hard opening, because we were going at least 150 miles per hour."
Some other ancillary command staff followed in gliders, however. Brigadier General Don Forrester Pratt, assistant division commander of the 101st Airborne Division, became the highest-ranking Allied soldier killed on D-Day when his glider had an unfortunate run-in with trees.
Sources:
War Department Archives http://www.americandday.org/Veterans/Ekman_William.html
D-Day: The First 72 Hours, by William F. Buckingham
American Forces in Action: Utah Beach to Cherbourg, by Roland G. Ruppenthal, Historical Div., War Department
On the British side although the HQ of 6 Airborne Brigade deployed by glider, the commander of 3rd Parachute Brigade, Brigadier James Hill, jumped with his men.