As part of the 2nd Airborne Brigade alongside a sister unit, the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, the 507th PIR was assigned to the veteran 82nd "All American" Airborne Division, commanded Major General Matthew Ridgway, to replace the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, which had suffered many casualties while serving, with distinction, in the fighting in Italy. The regiment arrived in the United Kingdom in late 1943, and began training and preparing for the invasion of Normandy, scheduled for the spring of 1944. Their D-Day objective during Mission Boston, part of the American airborne landings in Normandy, was to help secure the Merderet River crossings. Although their target was supposed to be in Drop Zone T, north of Amfreville, the confusion caused by clouds and flak resulted in a wide scattering of the unit. During this action, Private Joe Gandara earned the Medal of Honor for single-handedly attacking three German machine-gun emplacements. Elements of the 3rd Battalion were involved in the Battle of Graignes. Colonel Millett, the regimental commander, was captured in Amfreville a few days after being deployed. Colonel Edson Raff, who had recently led the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion, then took command of the regiment. The 507th PIR later became known as "Raff's Ruffians". The 507th continued to fight in the Battle of Normandy, sustaining heavy casualties (losing almost 200 men in two days shortly before being withdrawn), before returning to England in July.