squadron-signal - 3009 - in action - british paratroopers

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  • 8/4/2019 Squadron-Signal - 3009 - In Action - British Paratroopers

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    300' ,

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    in action

    Color II ustration byKen M,8cSwanlustrated by O,onGreer

    c.m b a . . r o . . O . p . 1 5 , . . . . N ' - m .b e r ' 9 . ". ... . .., l. '. .. " . .. . r . .- . . ' I . .~squadron/sig,--_I oubllca Ions

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    COPRIG.HT@ 1989 SQ .tIDKON/SIGJ\-A PUBLICATTONS,. INC.1115CR:O"~Ey'DRIVE CARROLLTON', T8'XAS 15011-501UA U rights reserv ed , N 'J P40iIT t~l th i~'ipuh 1ica l inn n :mH)l br..:: ep r )uucecil stnred in a rc Ira L: val s . y = - - l c : r n ortraasmiued illany form by any means electrical, mecha nlcal orotherwise ..withou Iwritten permis-:-.-iora 'C ~ f the publ ix beT ' .

    l S RN 1 1 -8 97 4 7 -2 :~ \_ l- O

    ' l ryou b a l ' e ID l J [ p li a tl t g n qJ i ls tlf lbe . a . i r e r an~ , a rmo r_ . , o o . L m e - n : Qr'sllrp5 o f a .m ) 'nOO (HJ I . p l l r l i ( lD . h u fy war t imesnspshots, w by Do r Sh ; re rilem with lIS :and help tmakeSqu . : l n u I i /S ignu l l " s hO(liks all ~Iu~m.tne itllteRl'Iliingallde0Dlpl~te to ~h~ ru{ lJJ ' e . ,An} pooto~apb sent ~Q1UV ' l i l l be copjed u(i,thie ori.gim:illl re.urned. 'fthf' doDa.rw in be fu l l y credJ led for an y photos IllSCd.. Ple~ send ith~m tu:Squailrom!Signa.l.Publi; dOllls~Iae,111:5 Cm'wieJ Drivo~(illnuUtoo, T X . 7 51 ) I I- 5 0 1 0 ..

    Th 1 British recruiting poster was used durnng 194'2 '10 aHract recruits 'for the Aj'rborna for-C9S. The POSt9' L1sa -da combl'nalia n of an actio.n!!~nlerlted lpa1nt lng wlthl the promise 0'addttlonaJ pay to apJ)eal to. prospectwe app lieants.

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    'THE. ,A ! lRBOfH~:JEFORCES OF tH E " B. RIi 11 SH ARMV C~NBIST OF P AR AC HU TE T RO OP S' A ND GUDER~80RNE TFlOOPS OF M..L ARMS OF ' THE SERVICE.Otf ICe rs an a men i n a n y Re g imen t or C or ps (e~t R.~C.) , whcr:areJ118di~ally fit ma y apptyfGt lransferto a para~tlUte'orgUder-bome ufllt of me Airoorne, Forces, Ard~iti0nJJ pa.y IS g r a m E d t o aU.airborne.~rtne~ at lh'e rate' c d 2::.per d a y ~ f; o_ rarachute; foops, a nd , - per dgy ' fqr Q Heer-be me troo ps A ~rm i t e q r numbar'm offl ~fS arl~other r a n R s ar e urgently ' reQ.ui ret i l or t ra in in g . a s g l id e r Plflots.App~mt-ioo fo r t rahsfer or. tu 1 1M. . l n1 0 [~ tlo n s na ul d, b E ma d 8 to_uni t OBadqusders. 0 0 r I i j t f f i O f L of service ar e raid 00wn in th e foUovl ]ng A.C . l s . = 1fitt 91 1941 . 275 & 1490 oli 94 2

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    Parachute CommandosThe Russians" lralia:ns and Germans had experimented with parachute troops longbefore the' British gave serious consideration to the furmation of parachute units. TheBritish Prime Minister, Winston. Churchill, was always interested in new techniques,.especial ~yho s e that woutd i1i Is t i l la n ~tggr e .S5 . ive spirit a nd take tile w ar V O lbeenemy, Dur-in g Ju n e o f 1 94 0, 1 1e sugges led th a t a c o rp s o f,a t least 5: ro .OOpa r a c h u t e ~TOOpS b e formedtoea rry o ut c o mm an do sly f.e raids against the , e ne rny,.Initia l l Y ' t ti l e concept was 0rpn~e.d by.the' R O y i c 1 J l . A i r Force! 'which feared that such a force would put a drain on Its severelyIimited resources oftransport aircrafl. The Prime Minb t e< r . , I IOwt .""VCt , was hard. to bucka n d U1,eR./l finally agreed 1 . 0 . t . f u e establishme11tofajoilntAmlyiRAFp'arachute trainingfacility, to be known as the Centra) Landi.ng School, at RAF R i n gw a y ,Initially -; ih e men of #2 Co m rn ando, wh i c h had.been fo rm ed du ri ' I n .g t h e : Summer o f1 94 0 I ro m re cru i t s in tere sred in parach uti ng .we r e assigned to u n dcrgo parachute t r a in-m g . These men had gone through the same interview and selection process as bad o t h e rCommandos, wi t lJ about seventy-five p e r c e n t being r e je c te d f o r. v a r i ou s reasons, Thosewho were selected for Ccmm ando training w ere a lso a s ked if they P lI"eferredairborne orseaborne servi ces, and those selecting the airborne servicewere a s s i g ne d - to #2 Com-

    rnando.T O ' pro vid e th e fo rc e l \ 'i th the necessary 11 'a n s .p o J 1 a s se t s. m e RA eF c o m m i tted toassigning sufficient numbers o f 'Wbi t J i . ey bombers to drop a force of720 men plus theirarmsand,equip'mentInacluality,"however~onlyrour.~ircrraftwcre[nitiaUyassignedandthe remainder were s10win coming. Duri ngthhl e , a r l 1 - ' st~~ge,twas also-decided to includcglide! t r a i n i ng for so m e o f the t r - oop s " with this trainin g also ccnducte d. at the CentralLanding School.On .91uJy 1940,the firslcou~ingent ottrainees, made up' ofB and C Troops of #2 Com-mando, began their ground training. Their instructnrs included. members of the R1\Fdrawn hom the' training cadre ai RAP Henlow where pilots and aircrews receivedparachute training, and Army Physical Training Corps instructors. PHo~Officer LouisStrange ",'asia charge o;ftheRAP instructors at the parachute school. Later, a number ofprofesslnnal exhibition parachute jumpers joined the RAF and were assigned as Para-chute Jumping Instructors (P Jls) all:Ringway.A few days after ground training began, the- instructors began l e s t jumps from theWhitle)(to establish propel" jump techniques for the aircraft, The technique worked outw a s - for the jrumper to, exit the - aircraft from li t pl.alforrn fitted in place of the be;mber's rearbluet This method W8 , s found tohe both slow and rat er frighteJllng for a new trainee,since the parachute was deployed white the men stood on the platform ~n.dthey werera t h e r Iorceab ly pulled 0ff the ir pe r c h , Later, itCl rcul a r exit ha teh ' wa s c u t in the floor n fthe Wh itley 10 - allow for a more rapid exit using a static line.T o a l lo w th e fledgling parachute tro o ps {}use a static l in e '! t he 2 8 .foot d i am leT Irvinparachute u s ed by RA F p ilo ts w a s altered to incorporate a 1,]toot 6 i n L" :h sta tic line.Dur i ng the f ir st t wo m n n th s a t. th e Central Landing S c b o o l abou lJ S Otroops g ra du a te d ,at t h o u g h ove r fift)" t r a i nees had been) ost jn trai n igfrom inj u r ie s, d e atns, Of by fail i ' ng tojump. Although the deaths were regrettable. ' chey were unavoidable in the rusih to trainparachute troops with untried techniques and. equipment. Each death w as studied tofind out what had gone wrong.and improvements inequipment and/or techniques weremade to a ,oid a repetition of the-accident,To support the men o n c e they we r e on t i le ground, a method of landing heavy'weapons aml equipment was needed and, to this end, 4 0 0 I otspur gliders were ordered.In September of ]940, the Central LandingSchool was renamed becoming the Central4

    Landing Establishment, under th e command ,o f (1rro1lllJ' Captain L,'G. I Jor \ i ey . , w i t h . LTCJ.F. R{)Ckas the senior Armyofficer .. 'he Centra] Landing Establishmentwasorganizedin In ,~Pal;il!Cflu.teSquadron, a GI,i,tierSquadroa an d a Technical De\relop rnenr Unil. LTCR o c k ' wo r ke d on develn p i n g sped a l u n i fo r m 5, and eq uipmentfor tJ) e paratroop 5, ! includ-ing bulky, heavily padded clothing' patterned after the uniforms worn by the GermanFa lise hir rn jaegeF , This ,clothing later evolved into the jump smock: which became 8.hallmark of the . fJritisb.paratrooper,Mte ' f completing their initial pMracnllte training, the members of #1 Commandow e re a s signed [0th e Commando course at A , c h n ic a l ll 'r y t o complete their training ~'SCo:nmando s,O n 2 1 N ov em be r 1 9 40 , the Pa r a c t UW t1nd G li de r S qu a dr on s we r e . r e - d e s igni1.[, t ; ::J.#11Sp e c i a l Air Servi ce .Ihttl:al io n (this unit designation shou]d not 11e confu sell with theSpe-c ia l A i r S ervicc formedin th e Western. Desert byDavi d : s terling), ~ 1 ' 9 40 came toan end,about 2~OOOumps had been made by the men of #11 SAS Battalion in preparation fortheir first operatio 0 01 deployment,This,member of the 6t'h Royal Welch lPsrach ute 8attidlon 'wears the' regulation cloth 'coveredIiUbber 1tai~nill1g'1elme1l'used by'b'al'n:ees atR'ingway. IH,has written amessag'I;!'to his I 'nstruc-tors on it iln Black..

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    Since th e men of#2 Commando were the first pilae hute t roops tr a ined, the trainingsyllahus of th e bas it parach ute course evn lved w i tl'~ them Initially ~ :s ix jumps wererequired to qua1 i . fy for parachute wings; however, lhi~ was later increased to eigbt.to tenjump s,Much of rh e initiel g r o u nd training" inva lu ab l e asit wa s , ~"'3 s i n c J u d e d because ofa 1act of oS uIficie fit numbers of'available training airel 'aJt.&1 result, various' tral n1ngd ev ic es to simulate a parachute j um p were designed, some more s u c c e s s fu l lhan others,Among the training aids at Ringway was the "Gallows," which consisted of a harnessartacbed to a weight to simulate the shock of (he' parachute opening. 'The use of the"Oi:lllO'w~lI'tSl..Jl~din so.many sprains, twists., dislocations, andother injuries, tharits usewas eventu ~lUyabandoned.'W l n gC o tm : l 13 jn . d e. r J .C , Kilkenny, who had,been Chief tns t ruc tor al ~ .R.AFP- i ITachuteT:ralning Schno] = i s cred! ted 'with deve lopi ' i l l g th e Hnal Il1ining prQgra m whie)) wou l d ,eo ntinue 'W i t h l i t tl e change throughout the remainder d : f . tb e wa r , Kilte1lll."y continued theuse of ground training fo!' physical fitness and 'to reach baSic skills, Two hangars wereconverted for this portion o f the con rse; one con r a i n e d the f u s e l a g e s . of.diU~e[eJillypes, oftroop transport a i r c r a f t and door moerup~which we r e used to teach p : r 1 ( ) p e T , eK i t , t eChn i~ '' lue s f.Oji"v , a 1 ' 1 0 lL8 i r c r a f t L)pe :;"The second hanga r CJ)]} r a i n e d various tr aining devi ces,incl udjn:g the lOne known 35 the ~Fan," w h i ch a ll o w e d a tramee tomake a DOn t rolled d e s -cent f rom a twenty-five fOOT ; p l a t f o rm by b Jowing a cnns tant stream of air into the'deployed p araeh ure ca t " ! l J o p y .Dnring tra ining, the fledgling airborne ~mopf'i w e : re broken luta groups" known assticks, of ten men 'Under 1 : 1 . Sergeant instructor, The' c a l l r se normally J asted tw o to threewe ek s , with. approximately . f o r ty trai ned paratroops graduati ng e ac h ~k,. This number'WOu l d in c r e as e dr a r n a t i cally as t1 rs tan airborne brigade and than an airborne di "115ionW "C [it;created.T he la ck o f training a i rc ra f t was at least partiallyovercome t h r ou gh the use ofcaptiveballoons, The first ballnoa experiments we're'carried out by 'i nstruetors in November of194U~,nd by Ap ril of 194l~the balloons had been ins ta lled alLhe Iacili ty for use duri Ilgthe tndrun~gcourse, With th e balloons, the course e v ol ve d f ur lb :e ,r , lrith a trainee's firsttwo trainingjumps bei ' l l _ g made "from the balloons. The 'balloon 'was found to be v e r y use-f il l f o r th es e' e ar ly ju m p s b ec au se the l uc k of a , s l i p s t r e am cut th e nu mbe r o f ' o sc i 1a t io n s ofthe parachu te and made tlh e t ra : a n e e ? s first landings, ~ bit sofler,A]tbough American airborne trainieg has normally included the toughening and.we e d i n g .out p [ODeS'~ as part o f'p ar ac h ute training, the Bri t is h s ys te m differed in b avingth e r e c r u i t s ; already put t h r ou gh jill. plilysi,c,8;1 t o ughe : n i n gc c o u r s e at . t 1 l : 1 e A i r b o ru e " R O f C ' C S'Depot before report i ng for pa r a c h u t e tra ining, 'This \WfS 1he predecessor (0 tod t ' l J y ' s ~ ~P(:.'0mpa fly.~attended by members 0f th e P ar ach nte R e g im : e n t before ti l ey rep ott fo r thepa r a e h u te e o u r se , The ea rl ie st trainees, o f c o ur se , we r e gradu ~l : .e iSof th e Comma ndocourse and w e r e ' in . exoell en! ,p'h}~ical co1i1 djti0' 1 " 1 . ,

    Although thereweceslightchangeaduring the waryears the hasieparachutetrainlngcourse bocame failldy : ! ! l L~ iHJ ardized, Ground trainirrg consisted 01 '" a n vc day course.inclu rung exit t r a in i : n , g , . contro1of the parach ute, landing i t : e ( ; lm. iqu e.s~ parachute 'U sage~' p hys ica l t r a i n i ng , an d observations of a c t v an c ed s w d , e nm making' the i r p e r a c hm e ju.mp~"this w a s fo l lowed by th e parachute tM'fJj , iningcourse which included; two day balloondes,oe:nIs , o ne Il]g JU balloon deseen L~and Iiit': d a "I aircraft descents, Advanced training~:cl uded, aircrafl drill, 'use of the ki tbag" Iifehelt, eq uipmen.t container, :hUi .n ,~ 'o f para-chutes, 'and dragging. Physlcal training was not neglected with ob s ta cl e c o ur se runs,ro ute m a re he s ~a nd ~apo I],S. drills, From this cou rs e graduated the airborne troops whowould ruake h is.tory at 'N'or'lna;ndy~Arnhem, and the 'Rh~.n'e_

    As cla-s.unates watch, a n R A F P amt :: hme Jum;pif l lQl nstructOJ tpJI) I~ li'8Ct'Uita at "Ringwayimfhe p ro pe r m a 1J 1 od o f dcdng a Parsm Urte landing Fa (Pl.F).A ;pamtroop traill1ea perfonns e,UsJning d ro p b i; t he , h a ngar at ,Ringway~ Dur,ing' th Is partl!(;ullardrop, hels prad.ldng fhe proper m&tbOd for sh ie l d l 'ng his face if his paracluJt.e d rifts into't h e , t r ee s . .

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    (Above!FAn RM Pa~hlute Jumping Instrucsor instructs ,a'tra~nee'Inproper IIIoSinonLing his,feet and knees, during a drop by the UB9 01a kaitf'Rg swing. The P.JIwear.s 'the PJt IderrTlfica~tinn,badp O J l 1 his Upp~ r right ,shirt' sleeve.(RIght) W8arl"9 dummy' parachute IpackJj a group D f ttrainees pmc:tica the COrrect"lfIlBnrUIr ofboard ing a Wh hley bomber ~by using IIWhb ley lu8el8g& modk.-lIIp'~

    (Abc\p~l One 1)1t)hetraini ngr,aids at Ringw,a,y was a trap~e' device which aJ IGwed U 'aJnees . 'toe,xp-eienee 3ndllearn to Iccultr'ol th,e, oscillatiDns ~ h a , t callEd occur du~llIlga pa:rach ute j ump,The tra p9~eWBS,us~d to ii:-&aehproper body ,cont~ol' during such ,osclUatlons,

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    {AOOvtlJ) An Oth;e :r gmu nd tra ln~1l9 deYJ lcewas t ile 'b'alnlng towerr 'w h 1 0 0 released! 'ttte Ir a "neebelow a fully deployed parachute\. Tha ,descent from the 'towel' was U:!lU,; lSlly stow and 'Ree'of ,os

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    (AbOi"9) Four recru itSac~mpal':iiE!id by '~h8:itimtructor pr1eparfi!'to a~eflld lin , C I , tralnlm)balloonfo r their Tilrst static l:;I!alloon l u m p . Trilll'nH S made a total of H il 'ie e b a l1 0 0 n j u m p s , two . y andone at niglht.

    (Left) The slatlc baUOOflS kOlin wh lei,.the para:ehute,tr-al nees lnade the Itflrst J urnpaVi'EiI'Ell' mod-ifled barraga baDoafls, with thR training b.a9Icat'$I~ ur&ly 1etheri)d beneath the baUoon.

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    (Above)' Whil'E!!the classmates [push the Wh iller exi t mg.ckup back 'Bnft f,ol1hQ\IIell"he malaWesses+h.1 neeS praotl'ce the proper way of 'exUing' through the Whltley"s lha t t:h . .

    (Right) R&Cfuiite:m:ade.their Hl'St_t",al paraGhuta Jump kom 'tile 'stUic balloon.The !balloonbask, ,had P Glreular exit 't'hro,ugh wlltic'h the recruit dropj ~_d using a statiC rlUi attacn'cI tothe balloon basket. EaClhrecruit was ,observed and ,assisted by ,a n RAF PJI...

    - " - : : ; -i - '! - - ; ~ ~ " : : " - : . _ - . ~ , _ '. ~ - . . . .

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    t A b o v - : J Pllys.lcal training of 'paratroop t$.Enees wa,S.,hard. The log,e~'not onlY toughened1h'8 111lQp&,t taught team work, all~I ;Jndwall lid'become '8 Iklng_ndlng tmdHon wtthE l J r 1 f t s h AJrborne troops,.J O

    I ~ .

    (Above) Women parachute Ir,iggers ~c k tr,aini n : Q 1 p . u ; a e : h uiles-in 'Rlngwe,y':; pBt[acliiute packingshed. 'Tha warn ing ~igJnabove "their heads 'was a pobited' remi nder 'Dr the In'ilpl'Jftalnce Of' th e l l! " J o ' b s .,

    Parachute Quali'fication W'ings

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    (I; COperation .......ossusAs the training ofrhe first British airborne forces eontinued, British military o , f f i c i a1~[cit that a ra id w as n ee de d to test the effecti VelH!SS of 1h e s e QC\\r-Iroups, Mter a s u c ce s sf u ldeman s t n ~ . t i { )n j 1L l n : t p 011 Sali~huj'yPlajn by members o f #2 CJmma~do perfor:ned in'fro,ot of ,a number o f blgh ranking officers of r J t e Gene1" ' aJ Staff~ 11 was decided ttlaatborize the us~uf it~mruln umbe r QrP,aJrachutists for a raid aga ins t a; , t a :Fge t tn occupiedEurope. Since this raid would 'most H.kel.ybe; done at night, the paratruops ooghIn! practio-ing nigh II ! jumps, wh.ile plana in g for the raid g o t unde~y.. "By late 1940,,;t!he General Staffhadl selected Imly to be the target CQ,uutry.for tbe"lrud~

    since i t was considered a sofieI' o b j < t l ( : ; r i v f : ' than Germany or GenIDIn-OOCUpled. tern tory.The actual tar:get was selected both because of its military vnlue and as a poli tiealdemonstration of Il[aly';s wJnerabiliw to attack The, 'target was ,the Tragiuo A~uaduc~'Which earned water to ]lrin:disi~,Ben, an.d Fogg i a . The aqueduct had been buill by aBritish firm, sa there was ample m D forrnarlon avallable about Iesoon:stn.tr~'onandwea~poi net Another (actor was tfu at itwas a diffieu Lt UH"gC!Lo destroy by born bing because Itra n th ro ug h m o un ta in 1 ' ; : 1 5~~:5 a . n . d 'ry a l1 .e j- '5 : . . , ,By ear 1y January ef 194]'I the parachuti sts = a n vo lunteers -ltad ~eflfi_selected forO ' U : : raid. I 'fact, e v e r y member of'the #2 Ccmmando b.a~ yulunt~e~d" , 8J l thou ;gh o~Ytlth1y.~onewere selected, The unit was commanded by M.AJ'TAG. Pritchard, second 11 1command of #2 Commando. Dravm f rom the, va r i ous troops o f #2 'C o mm a n d o , d1cvolun jeers were designated as X'Iroop. Once selected, they~:re ke ; S : l ' V e Swere re~\",eredl to' blowone pier, The junior engineering officer, LTPaterson, managed to'bring down haIl the aqueduct by carefelly placi nghis charges whe re they W U U l .l d d D . themos t d ham. ag e.The twenty-ni ne raidess li\O.,i~,otitac'kied t he ' aquaduot then b roke up In'tO

    three gn:m.psto make theirescape. The party that had been drupped off course heard th!eexp ,]()s.ruo:n sand also began. to make their way t owa r d s tb e c o as t.

    ']'he Ital ians Iaunched an inffi~ntdveseaech, and within a fewdays had captured allfour partles. The raiders were threatened with being shot, butwith the exception of oneItal ian who had ju m p ed Y 1ith th em " they were treated as prisnners of war, LTDeane-Dn l'rnmond escaped but was re-captured; heevenrua llyescaped again and made it backtorejoin theparacaute forces"Some of the otberranks also managed ito e: s :cap~ a~'r-ejoi[tBri tish units after the Ani ed land 1ngs in Italy. Other memb en of the raid mE force'escaped and joined 'with Italian, 'partisans. LT Paterson, the junior e n gi ne er in g o ff ic er ,was one of these and became weUknown among the part isa ns,The raid had proven Ute vi.abUity of parachute troops by showing that tbey couldstrike importa Itt objectives deep in enemy territory. Italian mu rale had also suffered as a.result, of the raid, an d. both the Italians andGermans, we re forced 'to tie down troops ongarrison duty to guard M g : a _ i n s l possible fu r o r e ' attacks. More importantly, lIowe~er~wasthe fact. that the raid's success prompted the' Army to begin training paratroops In even,Iarger numbers, ~ying the gmLW,nd i .WQrk for the future airborne divisions which would,jump over occupied Europe"

    Bren, Gun

    Th,ompson JSu'bmaehine Gun Model 1928 A1 1

    11

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    -orce ExpansionIn. September of 1940. anord e r w as pl a c e d b y the ,M I~.nstry o f . ~ ~r e r a f t Produc l i o nwith General Aircraft Ltd for 400 Hotspur gliders, The Hotspur was intended to serveprima r i l y as a support aircraft, moving supplies andlarge weapons such as anti- tank

    guns and howi tzers jnto battle w i thout '0eving 0 break the equipment down :fOJparachutedrop. The Hotspur could carry six fully equipped troops and had a crew ottwo,The Hotspur was fullowed by the Airspeed Horsa, a larger troop/Ireight glider with acapacity tor twenty-five troops (although most mi ~sionswere f lown with f ifteen troopsand. freight), The Horsa became the main glider used by. the airborne forces and "vasimproved throughout the \V'' 'U". The Mk n 'W1i;$ equipped with a hhlgcd nose 00 easeIt ) a d i ng/u nloadi n g o f e qu i p m e at . a nd vehicles,The largest glider USitJ by the Airborne Forces was the General Aircraft Hamilcar,Th is was designed tobe able to lift a ligh t tank or two Bren carriers: although. "i t Was usedmainly as a large resupply glider on most operations. The Iarge s ize of [he Hamilcarrequired the use of our' engine tow aircraft such as the Halifax or StirHlll:,With gild ers [0carry them, the first' a irlandi I 1 g ' troops could b eformed toromp] imentthe paratroops, and, -inOctober-of 1941~the 31st Independent Brigade Group, which hada lr ea dy r ec ei v ed speci alized tra in ing ~:l mo u ~ 1 Jt .an w a rfare , wa s re-designs ted as the 1 liB LAir Landing : R r i g a d ~ Britain's fust glider-burne infantry, By 1942, training had been

    (Below} A mnem'bGr'ofvl9Jting Indian I!'OJ8lty taoks ID tll1: pilot o f . p , Hotsp ur 9 I erwearl ngtheearly version of ihe G l1er Pl Dt~'5helDlN. Tlhe Brigadier in the fOl"egrou nd wears onsof thevarratlons at the ail l'OOrne il"lSilgnl9, a ,straight IVRBDRNE tab w'Om below the Pegasus patoh.

    (Above)'The1m ~r ofa Hotspur gilder was cramp d,with the tr,DOPSseated on bench 8aat8,along the. starboard Sid 'Qfthe" gel h, HDtBpurCQUfd carry' eight Mfyequlpped troops;Ih.oweviir, It was ely' Ul&ed In the b'alnlng fQ I ' e~

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    accelerated and full bartal ions of glider infantry were beh1lg formed, These troops, likethe paratroops, were considered as el ire Hg~ll inlj:lnlry units and. were trained to ahigh degre e.To fly th e g]iders; large nurn bers of glid er p i l o rs w e re n ee ded tIJ]din l}ece rn her of"1941; the Glider Pilot Regiment was formed. Since these pilots WQ u 1 d have to Iighlalongside th e infantry until relieved, the founders at the regi ment i n : s b l . e d that. gliderpilots also he qu E L JHied i fa ntry sol diers able tnba n (1 ]e fl . ' R J ' t . , ' . 1 l gun. rifle, or anti-tank gunonce they had sa fe ly landed their gliders .l r l ' i t i aUYl"the ~1lll[ey bomber se rved ::IS; theprimary low aircraft for theglider force ...-~:;;toads beea m . r e ' hea vier and the gliders became larger, the Albemarle, Halifax, Stirling,a n d : Ua ko ta (C - 4 7) w e re a il u se d to ro w m e gli d e r s , An important step for01c fu lure of theairborne forces took place in Feb ru i lL ry of]942", when No]8 Wi ng ofilie1b\F was, f o rm e d .This unitwas specltically tasked to provide aireraft ]or theairborne troops. To keep theirnavigatienal skills at the high level needed for proper troop delivery, No 38 Wi ng a1;;0flew p r ee i si e I:l bombing' missions a g a i n s t l i l : : e iy airborne targets such a s bridges itn t . lpowerplants, The' unit also was tasked with dellvering personnel and supplies to there s istance fo F ee s ; n OCCll_]J 1ed Eu r ope .As t r a inim,g ' progressed at . Ringway and suff ic ient numbers of trained men becamea va i1abJe , the 1 . st Fa r ac h u te Brigade w a s formed in . September of '1'~ I u n d cr 'LTCRic h a rd , N . G a le (. J atel ur igadier), A~m i[[J Septem h e l i" th e '1 1th BA S Battalion w asredesign i 1 ! . t e d as the "]st P a l . raeh ute Batta l ion. ~ik {he Training es tabl ish ment a '[Ringwaygeared up (0 train the,numbers of'parachutists to meetthe needs ofthese newforrnations.th e Is! Airb 0rue Division under M'G'EN F.A.M" Browni ng bega n to take 1)ha pc d IIring1942, wirh the .A.rbome Forces .Depnt being establisl tcd at Hardwick Hall during Apri lof 1942.Tobe lp me et the growing man power needs ofthe' airborne' forces, infantry b 11 ttal ion~fro m s ele cte d l in e r e g imen t s we r e sent through the parachu te s e l ec t i on CQU ' I ' s ea s uni t s ,The first two sueh banal ious..th e 7th Batta! ion,Queen" sOwn C 3moron Highlanders andthe 1nth Barta 1on, R o y al 'W e lc h Fusiliers we re trained a n d , reforme d . ,Mthe 5th fSoottlsh.)and 6th (Vlelch) P a r a c h u t e Battalicns. Along with the 4th (Wessex) Parachute ~a t t a l i o : n " i ithese units we r e formed i n t o the 2nd Parachute Brigade under the command ofRr'isaiHerEric : D Q I \ V U in July of ]942, Normal complemcn t. of a paraeh u~~banal ion '~~'a~betwee n600 and SUOmen" whne glider bau a lin ns were comprised of 976 men, 'With th me bat-talions assigned! the Brigade ' h ad a strength of between 1.800 and .2,400 m e n .T o . ,~.iye these new pa r a c h u te tro o p s a se n Seeo f elite n es s: a 1 11 .0 r id e, B r o w n i' n g he 1pedgainauthorization, during l Y 4 2 ; for disttnctive unifermjtems 1 ,0 ' Jenlify[b.~ trooper. Themaroon beret and. the Hellerophon-nn-Pegusus shoulde r sleeve i n si g n ia w e : re a u t h o r iz e dfor '(heParach ute troops who, in Au:gust of 194:2~ff icially became the Parach u te Regi-ment..

    t Right) iFJeld!Marsha'i MOl l1 t ,gometY observes the wl!1loading Qt ' a Mark, VII Tetrarch lig ht Tankfrom tal HaM I F c a r glider ~TIle eight l ' O n 'tank c a r r i e d a.,2pOunder mailil gun and a 1.',2M .. B&aaC08J!I[ial lm!8C hili'll;!g ; ur n~H am _ c a fS cO lj ,i lt d ca rr y G n 9 tan k or tw o Bran gun carrl ,rs.

    [Above) The HOrb !i "deli cm,lJd Garry Yehlcles as well as troops. and cargei. These airbornetroops 'Q1oveout aft'Sr randii i f ig~ina jeep 'towing,a ~rgo' railer Iaceompanled by a tree par OnIIUg h t walg!ht motorcycle.

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    His Roya1Highness, The King" Inspeds alrboma I r, oo .p s d ll ln ng lM a y of ".42 .iFhesa1rOQpswear fhe 'Pegasus insignia on their left :shOtlld:er and :ateequrpped with the ear1yversion 01'tile 1941 steell parachutist's, helmet, wtllch has rubber n l l n beneatt. tha IMttlng.Glid1er Pilot Regiment Tab

    Jeepg. were used for a varf. :ety 01 s810 ns Including rocoJ1:M.lssance, cargo haulIn'll and alitow vehIcles. This,anti-tank gun craw uses a J .' p to l'Ow'tll I'rIpounder ATgun away fremUland1ng z,one. .1'he aircraft In t ile background ,sre.Hotn 9 iders

    Hotspur ~ E : J~~-...::;;~

    H'orsa D

    Hamilcar~I

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    WhLla a Bren 'g'u'n t'B8!m s ta i1 ' ds. gua rd u ' nde i" t'h & . nOH" a Slqllad of airborne t rJaoiPs .unl,oad a'jeep!from (II Horsa ig Ude f ,. ' The name,on ttte' nose O iI 't he Ho rs a , (in White) is'~Gf8BON'$SCOFERS:~

    ' f ihi,S,8pedia Ypadt'f&d co n ta ine :r was U&&d by pam(:hute troops f;Dr dmppilltg radio sets.. Theooniainer"s bot'toml [left) was, designed to ,serveas t e l , shook absorber" and collai_eeI anIsnd'lng ..

    Tra,nsport/Glider Tow AircraftWhItley

    Albemanle

    St~rUng Mk, IV

    H a I lta x A , III

    Dakota (0-47) ~-~ _ ' 1 " " ' " - - . . . .-.--

    1 .5

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    Th is para troope. is d'emonstratlng th .p reper Jump uniform. The clrcu object on ' the har ..ness Is the I Ul lck f1eleasehamess catch, his Stan su bmac:hlna Is tucked Into the pua

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    AJrborne reco,nnal'ssaJliiCe troops wore 8 Speelal Id'ennfi-catlon tab to diM Inguisih them fromD~W AI'rbornt8 I r o o p a . These tr:gops~sta nding ,at'aHa n t l o n :befof.e boardl ng 1hell"transport,al"II"iIH.~,wear thl8 R'ECQNNAlSSANr:E : "tab QA tine left shauidell" and a helrnet Idenilificatlonnash.

    Whi e the Sergeant In the famgrou nd ,provldsss~lUriity wlt.h aSten sutllnQchl n D' gunj, 'tilr,ooother par.achu!i8ta, includ Ing one armed with a ,bren gun j retll1ie"Yethsnr equi pmenf. from i: tcontainer. The IBran gwnner ba_s'iI hetme'tf la-s_h painted an his.helmet.Pega~sus,Sho,ul'derI Slgn,~a

    AiriborneTab...

    A IR BO R I~ \lE .

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    Bruneval/ \. few months before t h e . paratroeps received their official :n ' , e ,g imen ta l designation.they took part in their seeon d. raid 0n the Ell ropea Inmainland, Theraid was planned as acommando type operation Intended to gain scientific. inteHigenc.e on German radardevelnpmerr ts, On 21January [942, Lord Mountbatten had submitted a proposal for 3'raid against a : German radar site 0.1.1 the French coast , TI le si te had been focated byRAF'photographic: reconnaissance and offered a unique possibility to learn just how advan-ce d the Ge rm ELn ra d E li I' 'va s . T o carry I) { the raj d , 'M ountb atten asked fOT () ne '0n pa ttl' ofparachute troops a seetion of' airborne engineers and several l~~Afradar technicians(who wnukl be put through a quick parachute training O O U I " s . e ) .C Company of the 2nd Parachute Batralion, a: L UDincomposed primarily of Scotsunder the command of MAT John Frusl, was selected Ior the mission, To maintainsecurity, the paratroops of'C Company were told that they were training for-a demonstra-

    t]o n ju m p for C h u r c h i ll and t he . W ~ r r C a hinet. As C Company tra i n ed fo r the o p eration,they w en : is su ed th e MW S te n su h [Illac l h f ne g u n,beeomi ng one o f the f i r s t B r it i s h u n i ts toreceive this weapon. O~lly one of I .h . e~~ technicians actually joined the company forthe mid, In i'llgfr g OlU raiding force to 120 men (the second RAF technician had beeninjured duringparachute training). b aid him. .the radar technician trained a number-ofthe' airborne. engineers to disassern blc a radar' set. although it was expected that theywould do so under his supervision during the actual raid.Sinee the men of C Company would be' evacuated by sea after the operation, theyPr to r t o boarding Ihelransporl,aifQ'8ft lo ra Ju m P, the offlcersnd se r ' g e a n t s,yn.chranlz9 th_'lrwak:tuiliS.The parad'i ldisl'S winged brevet' 15visible on ttle IiJPperrigHt shoulder of a numbero f lR e & e troOp.s~

    moved to. averaray, Scotland, tO r practice landing craft embarkation. \Vh,~lethe] r train-i ng p ro gr es se d, t he Frencr. Resists 1 1 ce and.British ph o to re co n na is sa nc e e xp er ts a ss em b le dt he la re s t i l l Ie ] 1 igell c c o n the B rune va l l radar s i t e " As a t ri ll ]ni ng ,a d d l~ the p h o t o . r e c o n -naissance specialists bui lt a detailed scale model of the fad-a site fOF the troops tostudy.l ' dAJ Frost's force Was nrokell up into three bl"fOUPSconsisting of forty men each,These groups would he dropped at fntervals, with the rust group jumpi n g at o c n ) . Thefirst P , a Ji: y had the 1 1 r l ~ 'ssion of securing the unit's line ofretreat to Ule b each, T he s ec on d.par ty mctudcd the technicians who would d i s a s s emb l e the radar. set. along 'With . theircover ing Iorce, while the third paf t} ' \iIl'as made up o f the l a n dw a rd screen, -w 1h i c h 'wou~d.also function M, a rear guard during withdraw ...l, The company was dropped tn sticks often men using' cam nuflage pa raehutes.Landing in snow, the men o f th e fir sil : party found that half their fo rc e b ad , beendropped off course and was separated, "lith Of'lly twenty men, they had to secure thebeach and their other objectives, After landing. the second group qu ickly seized thehouse near the radar set and began photographing and sketchi ng the installation priorto disassemblingi j. Since. they could not take' the enti Fe site, only the most critical com-paucnts were removed to be taken hack for study. A seeundary missionwas the captureof one or more German radar technicians, and. two prisoners we r e secured.During their M1hdra'!.\'allhe paratroops began taking heavy nrc from the Germangarrison located about 400 yards from ti1e site, As MA_l Frost and his men reached thebeach, iap p ea r ed that the irefforts VIOU 1d. prove to be in v ain since til e J .an .di .ngcraf t thatwere to evacuate them were not there. Fmally, at 0230 the landing craft arrived andextracted the raiders Frost's. force had carried out a highly successful laid both for' i l l tclligence ga{bering and for prepagan da pu rposes since an imports nt piece of Ger-man militaryequiprnenr had been seized and spirited back to Great Britain. Unlike theearlier raid in Ju:dy the Bruncval raid also proved thatparatreops could be safely extrac-ted after carrying out a mission, The 'successful mission was not without cost; during thecourse of the ra id C Company suffered two killed, s ix rni s s l l lM and six wounded.1 ' A i - b D\'t t ~'T, orne I V - SIO,OThe success of the paratroops at Bruneval led British planners tu schedule the IstPa rae Itute Brigade to he part 0f a much la rger raid planned. against 0,' eppe dUDng.Iuneof 1942. AEX . ."OHJi n g t o ![ he plan. the paratroops ~missio n would be to destroy the coastalbatteries east and west of the town. When the raid was postponed until Augusl of 1942.however. the Commandos took nverthis mission fro In 'theparatroops. The 1st Parachute

    Briga ..! ' . ; : 'was now assigned ,C \ different miss ion as the . .\ ll ies prep.ared ro drive FieldMarshall Rommel o ut o f N orth A fric a , In September of '1"142~MGEN Bww n im . g wasordered to prepare th e: ] st.Airhome Brigade' for ~combat jump in North Africa.Duri ng November of 1942, another commando type opera tion was attempted usingglidcr-horue troops. TwO'Horsa gliders carrying ~aJlpers.were, s en t against the Germanheavy water plant in Norway, which WB . . . < ; j , critical to German ~forls to produc an ate 11 1 icbomb. Both gliders, however, crashed in badweather shortoftheir objective and the SUf'-vivors were ''iuikJ y ~ap lured b y the G ermans . .All these men were ]ater killed by theGestapo.The training program at Rin~'ay was now graduating some ] ,500 new troops eachmonth (including Allied personnel, SOE and ass agents). This ill crease in trained per~sonnel allowed the Brltish 10 form the lst Airborne Division, which became fun). 'operational in ~ray or 1943under MGEN G.F. Hopkins. MjjjorCllallpo'llcnu~ oflhe divi-

    sion were the 1stParachute Brigade, 2n,d Parachute Brigade. Isr(Air-Landing) Brigade,and the 1st.Airborne Light Regiment RA. {Royal Artillery).

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    The 6th Airbnrne Dlviston also began lbrming in M~y of r94J.~under MGERichard Gale. The lrd Paract UI,c Brigade. eumprising the 7tb! 8th and 9th Parachu1eBa t t a J i o n s . (drawn primarily from the S om e rs et L i,g ht Infantry Royal Wam,ckshiir'cRe g i r n e n t , and E s s e x R eg im e n t), was the 6 th ~$ initi a L c om p o - n e at, fo11ow e d by th e 5 fuParachute Brigade which comprised eh e Division's other parachute brigade. The 1st::ana d m an Parachu te Battal ionwas also as~igned to the 6lh Division, 11 1e glider- bome~Jemenlwas the 6th (.A.ir~LandiIlg) Brigade, while 'the 53rd (Wore stershire Yoeruan ry)Airborne Light Regiment R A formed m e artille rycornpo near, equipped with 75MMpackiowitze s,A f ai rl y su.bstantial number ofthe air landing (ghde,r) troo ps had :also t~ken ashortened version offhe parachute eourse (4jumps] and enuld be parachuted lJltobattleInecessary.

    fll,alrbornetroop.ris Garryln th _Hum~.1 1 " 2 2 wlRl~ 5et In I canvaseantelnerattached'0his hamas!. , He s wear ing the parachuta brevet on his I!.IIJ'peright 819&"'8.

    A 'Variety ,of speclel equ pt!n811tisC81lii'iiedy' this airborne trooper inc:lud ins ill i:Dglgle ropE;IFalrba1rn""Sykes dagger ~camo_uflag. I!lettlng face V_If and binoculars.

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    (AboYe't HisRoyalHgh ~J the Kino! ,examlnes anaIrborne 'Dees JeeparMed with illVk:k'8NMG carried an iii pintle mount on ' the pa'S:Sl!ng&r 5lde~The jeep e8rrles the Birtxnne rorcesshield on the front bumper. Betwsetli missions, the paratroops :put OIl dernonstmtions for anumber of high r.a,nldng offIo1als.

    (Above) Aspart of' heir contln I,Ilrng recruHJng etrortst A i rb o rn e t r- oo pa p U ll On dl ' la:y.501th ellspecial eq pmenli' AI'. g:wi i t h items of -,- ~anal e "ulp' e-n' 'the display, 80 Included a fuSlZ pamchuttl" a _ rk I parachute. contil!l~neT'and, the W Iblk~a oollapslbre motorbikem

    (Le1t')Agroup, of glkter'lroops move out from a glld'&llandlng zone t~wtng their heavier equlpmaRt on a l ightweight carl develo]led espacIeiq. 10rth, ,rborne Forces.

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    ='1eIdlraf f inl ng exerdses ,o:I'tefl were ~isiOOdby high ranking of fEiB_Is" , GEN Ber,l'iiiUciMenfgamE!lJnspeCtS a.'iroorne troops andl 'their ,.qu~,pme!lf during a lra'irnimgexert i'H . .The two me n in theor'8grou mid.au,carryling the b~pod (left) and tube ~ight) f,(n a 3 : inCh mortar, MG E N G ale !, CC t m m a n der of 1tte 6th AJr bo l ' n e DI,vblon, dl60USS'e4 tile layout of a p8J rat roo ;pnerd headquafters with '0EN MOI1Q1C1t.liiE!!1y dun rig a large scale field tr-ain i i l 1 Q : e xe r:c lS9 .

    con .32 CaliberAu, tomat-c ..38 CaliberWeble'y Mk nlR,evDlver '

    '9MM Bro,wnlin'QHi Power Automat,iC

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    A numb9.r' of !items 10"Special eq u Ip:mer:rt were developed for the Airborne F-nrees inc1udirngthis special l ife]acl

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    (Abov.) A 'pamlrOOpetl" rides off from a drop zone. QA a :seClonti pattern foltUng bicycle.liheee,bicyc .,were Bqujpped 'with a rack omthe frame to hold 8..303 Lee En; aJld Mk 4 riIfl',e*(Right) A lpanrb'ooper demonstrates th o t ight ' we .'ht of this spool mQton;JQfodesignedSp&etficalty 'for UBe by the airborne folfCS&. Thsse mot~ff;ls were primarily usedlby recon"nalssance tea rn s a n d d~Bp*11 rldt8fS.

    FoldingBicycl.e

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    Th"s para1moper'! staJt1dlngl in the door ready to J ump , is . c:arryl'ng a Rr&n m chine gun valisfia'ttached'to his harness..The Brenl gun was, the standard ~ightmaehlna gun 1I8Bdby the Air-b(wne, -forces.

    Ptior to O aJump" eac h para1rcop.r hoo.ked up hiSstatic l ine te the lE I Ircraiftand checked1lt tobesure that the IinElwould deprDY pmpel 'fy lOinle-a'l[ng the ail'Craft.

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    :A . .~er9eant illnd ,9 trooper" hi3\i'1;!l)'a' b r ev tu J P I Do th l w e a r t h @ alrbDrnA)beret with P a ra c hu te R e g im e nt beret .badge. Tina.setgeant wears battk:difeSs wlrtih hrs Faf.rba Im""\Sykes k.n~ife,carrled.lin a :specltall p~ket: on th et.mu~ers~mdthe strap , b uU , oned to k,eep' ft in place.

    A paJ1aChute padre (ahapfin~wean:;the eai1yairborne h al! iDel' with 'I1erubber l li im.Even when dressad inhis ,alroome unifOrm he :stillwears,his mlnlst .r 's col rar .

    A PlAT gunn M a n d nig ,Ibsn~erhiding.n th e r u btll,at : A . r n . hem pr~PfJ1e'10engage a Germa n tank.. T h e PI,.J has,8 car ry l lbg strap Mfacl1ed to :it a nilboth paratroop.s wear the' eJrbUI 'n9 helmet" and 'Den ise n 81"1 ' :1OCtb

    A mom bar 01 the 5th [ScotHsti) ,Parachute BattalIon W8i.tr5 his dls.Unc.rtlv9 Ba~1 bonnet with t l1e,Army Air Corps cap badge on B : ,Iamond

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    of Muntin,g Stewart tarta iR. Atf lhough ,his headgear was distinct to hisbalta on! the Denison smook and St8n gun were typical o r thes usedby ather arrbotne 'roops at Arnhem.

    Af ter dl_mbar lidng from his Horsa gl ider , this Mem-bar of Ihe Glider Pilot Regiment' loads his Web,leyrevolver prior to J a r n Ing tha 9 d'er t r o o p s he hi.deliwu&d '0 NDI'lmandy. He wears Glid Pilot Yling6nClthe early paH n gJder pilot's heJrnet.A , Canac Uan . a la r of the 1 st rC a nad'ian)Parach ute BattallDn talks O'n the Tele-ph,one :Set Mk 5. He wears the maroonRtracllute Regll!n8M Ilere-t with .(ICanadian aIrborne baret badge. Other di&t 11Ct_j0ll8 Inc;lude the go d bandOfIlf_he_owl'det' loa.p designatIng hr

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    (Above) Prlenrto aJtnnp, each rna,n' s eq uipment waslnspeeted byth e sliCk l'ei!d@j'/jLnllp mas-ta o The' se,ated paratroopsr Is wea r ii 1 ! ) a :s,Ie;e.'V'elesspa.ra1l"QQpe ~sjump, lSMOCkand has anequipment dU'fIfeIlbeg alttachedlf.o his parachute harFl856wi1 ich 'would be D~d be.'ow himun a nne during hi'sde5oent.

    fAbowJ As oth-er iP3ufroo.ps IH lnd in 1he background ~B tr.oop~r wmk.si't,oopen a.neqlu Ipme rrt,container,. 11hs$e con tainelrSQOlJlld be car-ri ied on srtanmrd .bomb r ac ks . o f' ilny AI lU:edalreraft,including 'Rght'en;. and bombers.,(Left} Two paratroops 89genlbl,e, a colllape:i ble cart w I ! 1 Qhwa's used lUI haul h_vy eQIL I lpmen~'and/or' :sUpplies. 'Often thl:swork hald tobedone: ni h~~

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    North AfricaIOn : 8 :No , \ ; r em, be r1942,Oper a t i on TO'ReEl waslaunched, Mth l and i ngs taking placeat eleven poi nts alon g the North African wast These landi n ; g s were the beginnings ofanAl1:i:edpush designed to drive Rommel off the' African continent nnd. secure a stepping

    s t one for the. i J lVa510 ID. o f S OU J tn e rn Europe, Alihough nu British airborne forces werecommitted during th e initiatIandings, o n 1..2November, 360 men of , L TC R. J, Pine-Coffin's 3:rdBattation, ']s[ Parachute, Brigade were delivered, tn American, C~47s for ajump 0.1''1:ROlle A1'rlle'k.t loeated about halfway between Algiers and Tunis ..Theirnhjec-Uve was to seize the airfield, which was accomplished witheu t oppcsitinn, Theparach 1 1 tist'sbiggest problem, in fact.was that loc 8 0 1 Arabs stole equipment containers and parach utes,Jo]ned hy NlO 6 Commando, the men o f ti le 3 ]" 11 .Hattal[on held Bone Airfield for a weekuntil relieve d by adva 1" 1 cl ng A]~ied torces, Duri flg this period; the' remain de r of the 1sfPa rack ute Brigade arrived at Algiers by ~e;a and awa i t ed orders ar t Ma i s o n BlanchAii1ie~d.The paratroop's next jump was on 1(1 November, when the men ofthe Js t ParachuteBattalicn d ropped ncar Sou'k 'GlArba. Theirmission was . to act as a scouting force aheadof'the British lst A r m y , A s they advanced, the paratroops so impressed the local Frenchtroops that many ofthemjoined the battalion tofigh t alongside the Sri ti sh. On 6Decem-ber, t he . 3r ,( ]Bat r a l ion jo i ned the' ]st Battalion, with both units fighting. ss conventionullight infantry under the tactical control of the Fitth Corps.T he 2 n d B a tta l io n, c o m manded b 'Y LT'CJ.D . F ro st,however, had ' b e e n held in reservefor a combat drop against the German airfields at Pont du Faha, Depienne, and Oudra.The a trac ks iagai n S I : these airfi elds 'we re p] a n ned to de stroy enemy ai rcraft o n the groundin much the 8aJmC manner as David Sterling's 8AS unit 'had, done' in earlier r a i d s - Justbefore takeoff on 29November it was learned that the Germans had pulled out from thefirst hVG objectives, and the 2nd Battalion was diverted to Oudra at 1.450.Early the nextmorning they occupied, the ai rfiel:d and the, local railway station, meeting 'with no Ger-Ulan opposition ..At ~pproxi(l1arely0430 the Germans Iaunched a counterattack suppor-ted by tanks and aircraft .Fortunately, 'the paratroops camouflage smocks and theirtraining atblending into the ter rain made them poor targets for straf ing Bf 10 95 . Sineethere were nil ' enemy aircraft' on the airf ie ld t.q attack, t:rcFrost' feb ;, t was best towithdraw t ow , t t rds [he adv i : t lu ( . . i n . g Allied a rm y ,Although the paratroops were poorly armed to-deal with tanks, they managed [0uscGam rnon gre nades ( i f f i . grenade developed for airborne troops which consisted ofa clothbag equipped wirh a fuse whlcb could then be stuffed with as much plastic explosive asthe target required] to destroy or disable at least [QUI German tanks,During this fighting retreat they suffered some ,260 casualties before fi [LallyIin ki n gup wi th oth er A J1ied force s. Once [in ke d u p Ithe paratroops. stayed I n a c ti o n for anothereight days,Thosemcm bers of:th e 2 no '18attal ion tilathad bee 11 captured soon esra b l is h e lla formidable reputation, since a number of them managed 00 kill 'r'h~ircaptors andescape,:By .25 January 194 '3 the entire Ist Parachute Brigade w as reformed at Bone. FOI' thenext th ree munths the brigade was used as E L mobile reserve, commlrted to actionwherever the fighting was heaviest, During this period they met thei r opposite: numbersun the German s i d e e when they fought agains t ' tough German parae hu te engi neers, TheGermans 'Were tough, but ' the' British parachutists proved just :::IS tU! lJ . ! ;h"During o ne ad v a n c e , th e lst Pa r a ch IIe B rig ad e to ok o v e r 8 (1 ) p r 1 _SO f1 e rs ,T h e a _ gg r e' ssiv e-ne S s, wh ic h 1N I JU ] d u . ' 1 L1 the Brl t ish Ai rhnrne tro o p s their nie kn a 'm e ' 'The, R ed Dcvi Is"from t11eGermans, in North Africa was aptly iltustrated when LTC Frost led his 2nd Bat-

    talion in. a bayonet charge while b lQw i n g t J D. , ~,hunting hurn, The horn hei d . become hist t ade ,m, a rk a J n a he used it, t o h e lp , ~L s~ m e u ,_ind him when a5 ; . s c~mb] i n g ~f t e f ' 1 '1 jump,Finally, 911 the n:ightof14jl:5 April 1943 the] s 'tParachute Brigade was pulled out ofc(unba'i to regroup f.or fJd~ln~'airborne openHioD.s.DUliliug HE period in combat, t he .brigade had been recognized by ' the awarding of 8 'Distinguished Service Orders, 15,Mi l i ta ; ry Crosses 9' Dimngmsbeu C enduet M'edals, and 22 Military Medal s,310'ng 'With anumber of other awards.

    ExplosiVeFi'l iedClo,fh Bag

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    S - ICI YD uri ng 1942,the ruth erne FU[DeS suffered from. shortages cf men, proper equipment,

    transport a i rC r i 1 f t and glider pilots. In. October of 1942 the Airborne forces sufferedanot her setback when CO L lloc~ who had virtually Cit'~ted the P a F r : l i C n ute Regimenr,was killed in a glider crash. Despite these problems, the rurborn Forces were slated' nplaya key role in the British portion of Operation EIUSKY. the Allied invaainn ofSh:ily.Since the.Ajlr~Landin~ Brigade was slated to be the firstAllied tr6o~'lo land on.Sicily,the Glider Pilot Regiment, now under COL George' Chane ton, was ordered to NorthAfrica in April of 1943. During thd I' work-up p e r i o d? the 'pilot~had to l ea rn [0, fl y theAmeric an built Wacn C:C.j4glider. The W a . c -Q 1 $ ~however, w e r e deemed uris uitahl e fo r t h elanding of anti-tankguns and their jeeps, so a num'beroftincJarger Horsa gliders ecrcto wed to 'N orth Af r i c a by H ali fa x P o.m h ers , D es p ite r h e d i ffic ult ie s of towing glid:er.s oversuch ong distances, more than ~O% of the gliders arrived safely.By Ju ne o f 1 94 3. b oth the .air-Ianding.and parae hu te troops-were r i go r o u s l 1 - ~ trainingfo r th ei r p ar t in H IJS KY ~ with the paratroops making alnlost 9 ! - OOOraining j um p s net-ween 8May . : M J D d 30 JUD(i. The 6th Airborne Divislon under MGEN Richard Gale wasactivated in May of 1943, but, in the event, would not see action in Swil)..TIle plan for the Sicily invasion called. for four ~pa~dre phases '[0 the airborneassault}, two by the Americans and two by the Bri t l ! i sb . ,The first phase, Ope r a t i o n LED-BROKE, took place 011 Ute : n . i gh l ~u f 9 / :LOJu l y 'when troopsof th e 1 ~ t Air:. . .La11dillA BrigadelIUJ.derBGEN P..H;W. Hicks w ere s en rin to s eize t he P on te Ora.l"I lde .Bridge near Syra . cu . '= i e .The troops were ferried to the target area aboard 129Waoo and eighr Horsa gliders . Inaddition to s ecu r i ng the bridge, the g]~derbol'ne tro011S were 1 :0 at tack. Syracuse LIseJIfromthe west, creating a diversion ItO aid the amphibious landings. The commander ofthe] 81'Airborne Division, MG EN ~~Hop py;' Hnpkinso ~ accompanied the glide rtrocpswho were assigned two separate landing zones,F ro m th e b eg in nin g things "began . t o gobadfor th e ~idrtrnop~~bad l iMea : thc l ""; in .c lud -Inggale force wi nds of up to45MPl~l,forced a number of'the gli~r tll~s.'anu their glideesoff cou f " S C : , . Other tugs released their gliders too earlj cau;sHlgthem tohuuj. in the sea 0ff ofS i L o r ] l : y . . white still o tb e r . gliderswere f o r c ed ] down b y German anti-aircraftfire. Even morefrustrating was the 1M alfu neticn of th e intercoms en.a nu mber o f gliders, wh ich preven-ted th e tow pflo ts from informing (be glider pi 1 0 1 1 : of 1he release pori' 11 . Few of the gliderslanded i Ilt their assigned landing zones.whlle some landed as much as Iorty m iles offcourse.The a i r bOH l . troops, howev e1 \. were trained to g o into acrion U nder . any cifeu Ins a n -ces and those wi 0 landed near m e bridge captured ltand removed the demolitioncharges wb"uc 'h had been placed by the Italians. By me e ar ly mnrning of 10July, therewere a total o f e i g h ty - s e v e n airborne troops armed. with two mortars and four Bren gunsd u g in a ro u n d th e bridge. T h r o ug h o ut d e morning t h~ ' }~.eame under h e a \ ' Y ' e r u eIUyartilleryfire, ~1Jich inflicted substantial casualties and by 15JOtb.at.aitemoan. oI11iy~..Iewof the o:r'g~oal ~on.;t:remained to defe ad thebridge, These :fewparatroops were finallyoverrun, but they bad held the bridge long enough. Be "ore the ' - , e lm , a u s enuld destroy'the bridge, British 8ib .ATTI lY infantry, ad~...nci:ng from the beaches, arrived and retookthe;bridge ...A few oftlre paratroops had been captured when the bridge 1 i . 1 \ I 1 l S , overrun, butthey were quickly freed wil.en other Red Devils ambushed their Italiaaguards -Anumbe rof g l ider troopswho had landed in.error near an e raplacemeat of Ital ian:coas b d defenseguns h i! l fc lseized the . oppnrtunity an d attacked these gullS rather than Imr)'to re ac h th eiroriginal objective. '[heir spontaneous attack. diverted, attcnJ]on from the beaches at acritical time and. saved a number of Iives in Ihe 1 M oiling' force,

    He t - Royer High ne .8 .S~the Q~Ji8n!pa;~ inher Inspectiolili of .. o o r n a t r o o p s p,rlor to Opera~'UOn HUSKY 'to ta wfth, amaMbe, O ' f ' ' -e Royall Army Medal Corps. The we a ., po n I n the back,.ground is a Bran IIg 1mach Ine gun~The Kingl Queen, alld P r i nOBSS Roysl i1l18~ airborne troops and titlelf' we a p o n s . The,wUp o ' n in' th iI!lregr,ournd Is alP r o J e c t o r Infantry AnU"Tan'k (P;lATJweapon which' 'feed a mor-tar 1Y1P9 round~ Besides. aBUtank r oundS: , the. PJAli could nre smoke and 9nti~per&o.nnelrQunds~

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    'T1he IRoyal p,al l1y tnspects, 31rborrne 'en,glnee'r I&qulpmen t, ~ 'n~1e l lno 'a l ig htwet:g ttf folding cart,camol..dlaige net1i:ng, and' eX,plosives ..

    .A .pbmotl ooml'Dil.nder of the Alr-LI n tUn011 1 g&de dlroot8 hismen fram the oover of p th Ickat.He is 800ed with " i i i IMk 'V Stan SU:blflrU;u:h,lnegun which hiad a wood &n . a : t o ok ; plstot 91i1p~and.fOrearm :pistoJ gri'pi

    With Syracuse secured ...he 8lh Armybegan i ts advance northwards, Along the routeof advance towards C atani a was anol her key bridge, the Primusole bridge over the riverSimeto, Aforee of] ,836 paratroops and seventy-seven glider art il lerymen ofthe Ist Air-b orn e O ,M v .i ion were a, '1)s: igned to seize this ~ r id .g e a h ea d of th e 8tl. , A rmy ' s ad vance. 111et h r e e parachute " b , a l ' ~ ( j j J i o n : . ' = iof the l~t Parachute Brigade the l st Parachuse Squadron ofthe Royal Engineers, th .e 16th.Parachute Squ adron of fh e Royal Engineers, an d the 16dlParachute Field Ambulance all;(gm~nated by an airborne anti-tank unit 'we're corn mined00 the as sault The ent ire wroe was under the command 0]BRlG Lathbury,

    ] lD e , 1 ' 1 8. 1 1 0 f a e t i o n c a 1] e t : l ifor t\-o o fth e p ar ae hu te p]atnon S and the Roy . a 1Em gincerSqua dtron~ lu seize the bri a g e Iwhile the.remai ni n~forces silenced an anti -aireraft bat-I : . C r y located nearby, Q nee Ih~8.,~biecti vcs wen.:'l8QlCl~n2idtthe paratroops, 'WOU ldestablish abridgehead across the river' and hold the high pou nd to the south of t h e ' bri dge.The first . s tidoi: we~ dropped shortly a f t e r 2200 on. 13July. Their a p p r o a c h tntbctarget ar.e~.had be e - n over th e s ea and as they passed over the' Allied invasion f lee t , theywere fired lHJ by Iriendly - o , ; a : V f J j ] torees and a number uJ aircraft a no ,g]ider.s were shotdow n,A s the ~Ilrvivo:rs cro,Ssed (JVer the beach, they learn eu nder f ire fro m enemy an ti-a irc ra fs gun s ,w h i c h . sevr ly d e c im a t e d the force. The i3 J nti-~'i[craft fi re caused the transportsand glider rug 'S to b e c om e \viddy s ca tte r ed , 1OS 1 fig a n y chance fo r a coordinated drop.Despite the had situation . ..by 0215 0011 nu..:morning ,of 14July, about fifty men of the 1stParachute Bi11a t l ion had taken tl l .e brid,ge. By dawn they had removed tbe demolition.cha rges.Irom the b ridge and~,as additional troops, arrived, set abou rdefending it with tV{Qmortars, ,aVickers machine gun, and three P'fAT anti-tank weapons. 'B y ead.y morningth ere ' w ere 1 2U paf3:tH)OPS in the peiia meter,

    Ironically, German p~:I:r~lroop:shadjumped intI? the same drop zone as some of theBritish parachutistsatalmest the same' time, which. made for some "interesting'tencoun-ters as, both. groups ,aJfi~rnpted to recove r their ,eqni m en t conta i]le r s , Ma ny of theseeh [L n ee enoou r r t e1 r5 le'd,to pitched ha nd- [.0..hand corn bat,Duri ng tiled~y of 14J uly.~einforcements arrived to be i.pdefend the bridge and highground" That afternoon th e German par atroops launched a h ea w y counter- attack;however] three an~~1ank guns served h y rnemben ..;;; of the '01ider P'ilot Regiment 'hclptdrepulse the att3.c~~. Another' German a t t a c k carne ~L 1700 w i th h e .a .v y artillerysupportThis attac It to reed il:he dc:fDnden~~W n o y ; . " e re .:run.ning short of ammunirion, to retrea t ItO thesouthern !'lankof the river, ;\S'tileynlnont of'ammuniticnfor their own 'We'apons., a num-ber of British crirbpnle troops continued to fight using captured Ital ian weapons andarnmunitio n,FinaUy~ i . 1 J 1 . 9 6 0 the Red Devils were forced tu withdraw from the bridge, They

    withdrew in small ,groups: ,with the intention of rejoining Allied units advancing towardtbe bridge. OnQ~ i1ain they bad held just long enough, as tanks. or the 4th ArmoredBrigade rumbled up just a f t e r dark on, the 1 4 L h T During t he f m _ gh 'r in g the l st ParachuteBrigade had suffered. almost 300 ca S ualti es,Though prahlenlS with friendtyfire and scattering had plagued t h e ' airborne portionso r Ute S icily ilp-efatio,~, rhe airborn e forces had sti ll man aged to create enough ch f , lJ O Sbehind the lines,of~h~ Axis defenders to Sub! : ! lh ln t ia l ly aid Ihe.amphibiuus landings a ,Air-home p]~nneTSi studied the aU.cra~liion re:po~ with an eye toward .avoiding such pro-blems in the futur-e. 1 'hese same plan ners wer,e' alrea dy at 'work p]arming e v e n . l a rgerill rbo rne' operations and the ]essJ)ns learned in Sici ly would g o til. 10]]g way j n rnaki I1 gche i I' j ;oh s ; e a s ie r .

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    A group 0f' airborne cuplaln8! known as tn e parachute padi'e.s. These rn n 1 I I 9 1 ! . 1 8 1 l yeecom-pa nJed fhe troops ,Into t t l;$. 'Ield Ieven on cembal' Jumps. ,

    WACO ,Gllider(Hadrian,)

    A signals trooper of'fIls AJr''l!..ellld'ns Brigade uses a Icampeot raero . b',ansceNt'!1 ' to c .ommu ni . ..cate'w,lh crthrsr units of the bnlgadle'..One d'rawlback 01:these m,dlo$ 'was their limited, rsnge.

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    Its_yAfter the Alfied i ,nV~kS;]Om,of S i C . i J Y l the U;l1i:ans.lost most of their desi re for war ,~Il.dbegan clandestine negoriaeions to end U'aha.:nresistance. Anarmisdce was to be announ-

    o e d . on .8 September 1943t timed hl coincide with an Allied il1,\i ' , .asi~n o r the Italianmainland" The 1st Airborne was assigned the important seaport of 'Iaranto as t: h eirobjective dlUlri ng the ivasio 0.of Italy; however, since transport nire raft were unavail able!the R(:d:D'evi]s we re to b e 1anded from a minelayer a ( g , d cruiser ~n two " i n c r emen t s . Thefirsru n its we r e 1a . nded on th e after n o o n o f 8September, bel n.Sg u id e d . rs a~ l y iiJ.s.h{lItlC by ~nItafia n pilot, They : ] : r u i tially m et wi lh no 'O"P 'P o : s iL i u IT ; boweve , lF ' : ; 136troops and.e su l ' f s t an t i gdamount efequipment were 10st 'when the minelayer h~t a mine and gunk.Wi,th the 2nd Parachute Brigade ashcre and ho,lmng the port the 4tb ParachuteBrigade landed ~I1dtd vaneed ou t of the port a rca. Spe a r - head ing the adV,~nee w~sthel56th Parachute Ba t t a l i o n which gained a degree of'mobility by commandeering c iv i l i anbuses, jeeps, and bicycles, At ,Mottola~ the p a r a t r o o p s encountered light , e : ne n lY resis-tan c eo which was qui ckly O\o'e rcome, 111L.;;a c t i on cost the paratroops one 1mpo r t a n tcasualty, 'when I~hedivision ccmmamler; GEN Hopkinson, wa s , 'Irilr.etl in th e figh ting.Using ceptured Italian ar t i l le ry for fire support; the para troop s pushed on t owa r dCastell aneta.B y lh ~ evenmg of 1 2 .September, the entire division was ashore and Castcllancta hadbeen captured, Althongh the airborne troops were now heavi ly overextended, LhflYp"ll lshed e n t ow a rd s Gieia. The town h a d an impol1al " l t airfield wh ic b h adbeen eva cua t edby t1 1e Ge r m an s 0n the n i gh t o f 16/17 Septe m her, 0 n 1 9 'September, the 1s t AiT~Landi ngBr i gade relieved the 4 t h . Fa tach ute Brigade, but T aran to s t il l h a d . to h e : he 1d so the 1st A iir-borne troopers dug :i n arou nd the port between 20 and 23 September, The men 'O f (be: 1 1 S 1.....llLa n d i n g Briga de, along 'W i t: h a n um b er o f p ara tro op s co nti n u ed to p u rs ue th e r etre at-ing Germans occupying Foggia, U't iJr in .g this op e r a t i o n , the division's reconnalssaneesquadron was constantly scouting ahead of the' brigade,During early October, 'Ci\PT J. Timothy and seven other paratroops of the 2'ndParach ute Battalio n t o o k part in a drop uo r t h of Rescara with t h e ' rni ssion of findi ngescaped AJ1ied prisoners and d i r e c t i n g -the~n t o"\ \ .a r d s . Allied lines, This a c tio n w as theIO ] [e rUnne r o r on e of the' ' mOSTjutcrestln g a Irborne un its of the ;5 ,000nd Wo rl d War ~ theSA ~ F (S peel-a] AU i ed A i rb o rn e Reconnaissance Forge). This special u n iw a s fa rm e dIate Inrh e w ar with the m is s io n o f dropping in n ea r po , v camp 5, and taking charge of[rcCd, prisoners-

    By Nuvem,ber,. the Ist Airborne Division bad been widldrawllltQ England, with theexception of the 2nd Parachute Brigade which remained in Il3[,)" under BRlG C.H.K.I? ritchard, Operating in,[be. Eastern Mediterranean (independently of the Ist AirborneDivision) was the l Ith Parachute RatwJion, which had been formed at Kabrit all thenigh t n f 14 Septemb t ' JT~ this b altalion was dropped 0]1 tl1e ts l a rid o f Cns into a drop zone'm a rke d b ym em b ers ofth e S DS (Sp e c i a l Boat. Se rv i c e ) , The Hi : : 1Ht i ngarrison oreos' w as s ohappy to see the British paratroops that they had spread. s t raw on the landing zone tocushion thei r Iandlngsl Heavy Luftwaffe attacks and .a threatened German landing.however, le d to the : p 3 ' i r a chu t c troops being pulled o ff of Cos on 25 September ..

    Airborne 'padre FI~EVJ~,Gwln:nott wears an Intemstl ng com blnallan 01inaJgn18~~e RoyalArmy Chaplain are rSNabove Ihe parach ule bre~~ fol lowed by the Pegasus -5h(JuMer sleeve,~n5Igi1la,and Airbome 'tab. REVGwinnon accompanied the 1st Alrbome' Into, Atnhenl',

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    NormandyMter the formation of the ,6th Airoorne Division durlng_nlid-1943, elE Browninges:tahli:~d]edan Airborne Corps Headqnarers 1: 0 control both the 6th and the lst AirborneDivisions _A s tt.e prepara tiDDS forth Cil l Vl: tsian 01Western Eu rope progressed, itbee ame3ppare t that large' format ions of gliders would be involved in the airborne assault a.ndthroughout late ]Q43 large-scale glider exercises were conducted,On 17February .1944!MOEN Gale received orders slating one of bis IW{J parachutebrigades 1.0 be dropped on theflan kof the Brit ish amphibious forces during the C i C O S S -

    channel ivasion. I t beca ru e obvio us, however, that a "brigadewoul d be too 5l malLfOT th etask and the orders were changed to include the entire 6th Airborne; Division, rudivisional intelligence olficers studied the possible. drq_p 811d. landing zones, the paraehuteand glider troops were honed to a fine edge through a series of rigorous and realistictra irring exercises; one such exercise, on 24 Apri11944 . .in\~i!Ved v:Cr tu~Uy the entire 6thAirborne Division.Montgomery, who would command the Bri tish invasion forces, wanted the 6th.Air-borne co 1 1 1 1 0':1it~d to b elp hold the J e n tla nk 0 f the British beachhe ad. Althou gh initially~twas planned that th giiders of the 6th An Landing Brigade would go in . during thenight prior to the invaskm, the German anti-glider defenses in the area indicated thatthere was a stTong likelihood that there would he excessive casualties duri n~ a 'nighl10 nd ig ..]twas decide d~therefore, that the two parach ute brigades wou.1 d jump in du ringthe night, while two battalions of glider troops would reinforce the airhead late onD-Day- A third glider battalion would be landed ever the beaches because of Iishortageof transport aircraft,A '5 tile invasion approached, th e airborne commanders, as well as olh ,![ se n iu rofflcers involved in pia nni ng the i1vasion.worried ab out their higgest.slngle prob Iern --the weather, German weather experts , in fact . had definitely stated to the GermanHighCommand that no invasion could take place du,ring the. urst week of June. 1944. Theparatroops and glidermen of the 6th Airbo rnc, as well a s th eir American cOUnte Ipa rts ofthe 82nd and JOIst Airborne JJivisions {who would jump in On th e r-ight flank of theBritish paratroops) Je t the experts worry about the weather. They were more concernedw i th equipping the (USC 1vcs wi th as much. am rnun m . t . i on as possible and 'men ta l ly prep a 1'-ing to jump into combat - at. night,S.I gh t l y after midnight on () June, the first Bri tish pathfinders of the 21nd Indepen-dent Parachute Company-landed and.began markingthe drop zones and landing zonesw ith 1ihis. T h e l am di .ng zone s we re for gliders wh ill WOUIc J UOID4t in during that fi rstnight carryi ng anti-lank guns and other h e a vy equipment, Once' the LZs were marked,the pat h fi ndCTSwould be followed by the men of th e 3rd and 5th Parachute "B rigade 5.T he 3rd Parachute Br igade , commanded by BRJC i r J,8,. HEl l , "had t h r e e primary mi s -sions; destroy the enemy artillery battery atMerville, tiestn}}-f four bridges over the RiverDives to preven t German reinforcem e n ts from r.eaching the beaches, and cu I: the road sleadi Il g towards the beachhead from (be suuth andeast In general, they were tocreate asmuch havoc among the German defenses from the rear as possible and slow anya t te rn pted German rd n tor-cement o f th e defe nses near dle 'heach es ,The Mervlllc battery was-an extremely irnportant objective and was housed inbun-kers with wa l l s ove r s ix fe et th ick, The main 1S)" \ fM.(although originally thought In b eL50MM) gun emplacements were surrounded by machin'e gurUi , anti-~ircra.n.guns.! barbed.vi r c, m i n e fi eJds, and otn e r def~]lse~ manned b~yb o ut 1 .5 6" '2 0 0Gefrlll a .n lroops_ The 9thPa.Tachute B.attalion plu~ th~e. gliders. ith : fifty ~\'o]u.nteers l~IiQ,mthe paratroops and!c ig ht R oya l E l1"gh:1C~were to 1and right Oil.top 0] the barte ry in an attempt ~:odupl m:ca~Ie.b e Gernlan succes .s . iIIt Eb~ll Em,a .e l ear.ly 1 'n the W81". -T he 9th was conlmande-ci by LT C

    PathfindEiq. :8Ynchronlze their wak:hes ipr ior 10 J U rn ,ll ilg In ahead Q' f the Normandy Invasj'cmfof'ices~ Pathfinders marked frhredrop zones wH"h lights foli the main body ,of troops thatfollowed"T.B.H. Olw~y, who bad Jed his men through numerous live-fire rehearsals on amockupof the battery built near :ewb 1Iry"..~ it turned (rut only 150 of the 600 paratroops otfhe 9th Battalion reached the reu-dezvous on time where they joined urI with their reconnaissance party which haddropped earlier, The recon tea m had al ready begu n cu tting the fe 1 1C CS 8 ~Irounding thebattery and had found ~ path through t he . minefields, As the men of the assault forceapproached thebattery they came under heavy German machine gun fire, Most oftheirequipment bad been lost during-the drop and meparatroops had only one machine gunof! heir own, The .crew of thiweapon managed to si lence three of the enemy guns, w h il:ethe remai n ing thrce were destroyed by diect assa ult,

    The th ree g H d er ;s d id .DOt. in fa ct , laud om top of the battery, although nne ]an(]ednearby an d i t s , occupants ' pJ 'i ev e nt ed a German platoon f rom reinforcing the battery,Atler Lough hand-to-hand fighting, Otway's assault for-cemanaged [0capture the bat-te I'J'. T h e para t (no 1)8 then spiked th e guns, ta k in g th e In o ut of CIctio n . The ra i d h ad costthe paratroops some seventy casualties.()tway~8remaining force then advanced tothevillage of Hauger; where they encoun-tered heavy enemy resistance forcing !them to dig in. The village t\I'8S cleared with theassistance of Com rna ndos from the lst Special Service Brigade 'wh o linked IIpwith theparatroops I a t e lr ill the day.The other objectives assigaed to the peratreops were destroyed aswell; the Ist Cana-ian Parachute Battalion, although scattered, managed todestroy twool'the bridge's overth e Div e s river, while. the 8 th Parachute Battalion assisted b !; " . : s a. pp e 'r s o f: the Roy - a . lE .ng ine e r s destroyed Hlf,Ct o th e r hridges. Other R .oOy .a 1 ng ine e r s deaRd gJider-landing

    ZiQtles. by blowi ng d own the poles v, , rh ich t.h e ("1erTl'l.a m had ,emplaced in ope n an;:,!dS to pre-v.end glider ~anuing5L Once these' zones we:r~ clear, the gliders carry~ng l:heBriEadelshea1ry equi pme'nt were iSched.ul ed~o land.,

    The 5th Brigade ..under BRIG II'I.N" P 'Oe~ was assigned to land north of Ranville.'Their missions were to seize the Orne River and Caen Canal crossings, secure and hold

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    l(AboVe~IP,arach ute, 'b',Oilps !Undergo eqluipment check3 in preparation for boarding thet ra nSPO"J1Sor Operation OVEiR LORD~the Iln'Y~sion of i NOrmandy . The, RAF off icer at t:he. rlghti9 the JumpmastGf.

    the Mea around the villages of Benouville a n d Ranvil e, and secure the landing zoneswhere the ,g1li.de,rswere to land. To SCJLhC the crossings, 6 gliders carrying assaulttroops oft . 1 l e (tS"io rdshire and.B uckinghams hire Ligh t .~wan try and a P;} rt y of Ref)'al E ugi neerswould landnearby, while members ofthe 7thParachute Battalion wouldjump into sup-port them.The' tb ree gliders assigned to 1a I)d ne a r OleCa eatCanal carne ~ir igh t on target, andthe bri dgewas i: n R riti sh hands in filteeu nrinu tes from fhetime their fl.rstglider Iaaded.Till e 1rOOPl."TS Ihen c l uginto d e f e n d the b r id ge a fte r m a kin g s ure th a t it h ad not been wiredtar demolition by the Germans, Once again the value of the P~AT[Projector, Infantry,An t i - T a n k ) was P roven, w lh en o n WH.: : l used kl knocked u u t o n e o f th100 Germ an tanksthat attempted to retake the bridge. A t the O r n e River Bridge..rule glider wa s , right ontarger, bu lhe other two landed, about 400yards aw a y , Despite 1lli~the bridge was quic-kl y seized.Although the,' suffered some casualties during tbc drop, theparatroops ofthe7th Parachute Battalion jumped 'in and reinforced the defenders of the tw o strategicbridges.Ag.alns L hee YGerman roll nterattacks, they continued 10 hold the br idges th roughoutthe day, even fighting off German gunboats on the canal, German armored forces alsoattempted t o d i s lo d g e the ai rborne tm ops, a n d Private McGe e ' WOn DCM for d e . stroyingnne of them w i th a (3a mman grenade .Along with th e battle' fo r the Merv i l l e Battery. thecapture and defense ofthe Caen Canal bridge ~ the "Pegasus Bridge" -- would becomeun imp ortant part. of British Airborne Irani tion,On the evening of 6 June, additional reinforcements arrived by glider enabling theairborne forces to hold their ground until reinforced 'b y commandos of l .stSpecial Ser-vice Brigade. advancing out of the beach ead,other units of the 5 th . Parachute Brigade, including the 12th and ]3th Parachute R~t~tal ions , had jump ed a t about 0 1 fK I on 6 J u ne ~i iff! the In ision o f securing rh c village o f LaBHS. de Ranville and the surrounding area. Reinforced during the evening by glidertr oo ps o f t he Royal U 1 s te r R i f le s , w h 0b ro u g .t 'W i th t h em a number ofbadly n ee d e .an t i -tank guns..,the airborne troops held off a number of German cnunterattacks, knocking{LitH1 Paratroops board a Annstrong Whitworth Diemert 's I ranspol f paintet with D..Day_ l1vaslon s, lrQ) .es for 1heJ r drop irnto oocll:lpied France. The ,AJllern _, IeeQuid carr.yten fUlliy equipped par,atroops~

    ParatrooperJumpHelmet

    out several German pzKf\v IV tanks in the procesa, Again tlie paratroops and glider

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    troops held until relieve d hy the mernbers of '#1 Commando,On the evening of 6.Iun e, th e gliders carrying the,6th Ai r-Landin~'Brigade ~anded illthe Us, cleared and held for their arrival by theparatroops wbo had preceded them, Thedecision to wait until late an D-Day to bring the g]jders in proved a goo-d one sincecasualties were surprisingly light Additionally, 'the arrival ~f r r e i S t . troops at that pointwasju 8t l[ he shot in : t h e . arm the airhome :oroesneeded to bold '[he ir-objecl:ives,By-the endof the second day .~ the ,6th Airborne Division? 'reinforced by the tst Special Se rvi ceBrigade, was hnhli ng positions 0:0. the eastern bank of the Dnl,e River,

    During the D-D,ay operations" the division suffered about 8.01} casualties with anaddi tion al 1,000 paratroups un eccou nted for after the drop. A n umber 01 these missing'men were, in . fact, fight ing alongsid e American paratroop ~ ij n m e American sector.The airborne forces had to f i gh t off I nc r e a s i ng l y hea vy conntera tracks, ahhough fortunately they received good artillery sUPI10rtfrom their own gunners and from gunnerswithin th e beachhead, By 10 June" however, the heavy c a s ua lt ie s s u U " e rf ld by th e air-borne troops had lowered their strength to the point that t h e y ' W " l . " "f C bavmgtrouble hold ..ing m e Germans, On 111une M"CEN Gale dec ided to J , aunch an attack to throw theGerm 8nsba el i and r es to r e t he British ][me . T og e r h e r with the j] s~Divi s m . o n l e n e airb ornetroops launched their ceunrerattack led by the 12tll Parachute Battalion 'and B Com-pany, I2th Baualion, the Devon sh i r e Regiment. The attack . s , l i .CQC~ l i n gin dosing 3. gapin th e Bri t i sh rime 'a o d restab lishing ~ fe asive c o h e s i v e ness, -Th rongh the remainder ofJune~July, and thefast weeks of August, the ('IUlAirbornecontinued to holdthedrpoaitions despiterhe f ru.;[ they were not e~uJpped nor- supportedproperly for sustained com 1 a atFinally, on 17August, t h e ,airborne ,troops were ordered toadvance, spearhe ad'ing ' the thrust to Le H a vr e, O n . 26 Augu,st,men of the ,6th Aid') ornereached the:Sei~ wher.e t h ey were halted and told to prepare fo r withdrawl back to lheUK f o r i li e: ~Uand resupply, While inNormandy, the 6th Airborne had notonlyproven thatthe a irb o r e forces could carry out a division-sized airborne operation 01 i1 t also thatparatroops could carry out sustained combat operations, Normandy, however, wasex,pen.:!'::ive with the Dtfwsion Ioosing a, total of 4 457 casualties,(A'lgtlt) ThxJ,ps of an alr-l ta ':d. gl unit: I'ea,d the ,graffiti pUnted and Iellaiked an the, Ida of aHorn 0 I Id e i' b oon. a forthe ,Inwa'sion of F'rance. Horsasmade up ,the bulk of thegli d en s , used b~I h _ B J ll t) sh ku'e8s in Iv.ormandy.GliderPilotBadge

    EarlyAirborneBetetBadge

    Cap Badg:es

    Late,Alrbor.neBaret Badge

    (AboYe) Pathftncf.er" weat,lng the Pand1ute R 'glmeM c a p badge which was aUlHlorized InMay of 1943~ are brIeIecI about th elr obfedives pdQr to jumping In behInd the inva&lo.nbeach. at INormand1y.

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    Airt im' i 'TJ8woopahavB a eu Pi&flea before'takllfi~ off 10,dro,p oyer NOt'lria_f\dJ~Th.I~ at tiletar left' has hil i f lgh,UBI ,knife sIl lpJJed ntDa :shuth held by'fab6".wm to 'the 1ii9~ othlis ba:ttiadress in tIlle fashl'on pli'9ferred by many ' comrnondos. ~nd airborne bOap5!.BI"W$I'I'Glklpr troops ofithe &1....Airborne lDiN'isJo!l1lmareh across, the Caen canal Bddga dur,lngItLe NO~J ,lnva8ioo~1119b~i'dg9was captur'ed by t h 'r :a e g l ld 'G r. ' IOO : (l sof trooJ)Si wiIIlln nf..' t e en min utea f ro 'm the t ' lme the first glider lit ndedi.,

    Horsa ,gl iders of the Oxft:vdshrre and EI'UcklnghamQhire Ug'hl lnrarr~ry' eraml landecll along theCaen, 'Canal. The glider. came' 11 m r1ght on blrget aLkJwi1ng lile ~I'OOJlS0 qulcldJ eaplu re th ebrldg_ OYer the canal.,FOUr members 1 01 a Co:m1b lnedaperatl 'ons B"OOloord 'ment UnH', . ilihen' troops, c ale d in na va lgunfire ilnau pport 01British 81borne I~ps Gl!lriinillhe Norma,f'iil~' Invaslonl. 'The second fromHile' ",ft manwears a Royal NilVY 8houldllr.rc alongl wi th hIe Par,achyl. 'Reg;lm9n'1 b e r e f . The0Ih. three troops are all wearifll DenllOO smode,.

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    1( .Abo_ 'J M em bers of th., 51 P ara chu te 'T ilg ade 'guard i i iV i ta l ,crosa I1 "OadDut$lds'1 1 l e.v il ii a e ofRIi I! lVI - during rn a NQ,Fn:Ji1ndy Irrva"SiOIll.Th'esa tl"OOpS had been reinforced illy HoJ'S81 glld'et8Ga~n9 U1e'RoyalUl\ster Fnflu on 'he evening O ' f : 6,June.

    (R lg h t~ _,mbe,r5 of the BrWsl112 h Parachute Battalion S l Ye 8cheel1_ .~ 'T I 'H , r J l l 1 ) sup ' " duf'lngit '1~lf(In the action ..The' httallon fought bell .d German IFnes durl n9 mUCih, of OperatiDn'OVERLOIRD~

    (Abnve] British parakOop:s pose wi;u, local Frenm c l ,l iJ i ana . .FnJn-th GMl t a n s were oft '&n ani'nQluab SOIU"C8'ofl'oca~ Intal. ,gance on the dlsposHion of' Gelman forces dur l ngl 'tha NorIllandy ~nl'l8slol1.

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    Ma]o r General' 'R.N. Gale, Cornm:ander 0 ' 1 ' the Brl tl sh 6th AIrborne Djyi5ion dun ng Operaf,ionOVEPitLO,REl, 'tIltl Normandy ill 'wa_ston..

    {Right} Fiald Marshal Sir Bernard McntlgOr:rteTYposes with Hmr offtcers of the 6th AiroorneDivision Just prior 10 the D~Dac'foperations",

    38

    LAbove] Three' of t ile first' British g liOer tryoQPs (0, la ild In Francel dUr1lngtha Normandy. Inva-SiQl'i" Thalr gilder 'taudled down at' 00,20 on 'C~Day~,$ Juna 19441.

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    Operatio LWhen the 1S L Airh orne Divis io 'D had been pulled out of I taly the 2nd TndependentP a r a c h u t e B r ig a d e rematned to 1VC Al l i ed commanders an i n - th e at e r airborne capability.AI Hched to the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 2nd Independent ParacbuteB rigadefought as ground ~nfantI) on 'l heAdriatic fro nt, esrah 1shig a rep utation for eel, ry i ng ou tag81es.sive patrols against the Ge rman s, TIl e :y alsoest ablis hed their own parachuteschool at Glow and later at Lido di Roma to trail] replacements"In June of ]944, sixty men of the 6th Parachute Battalion ca rled out 3small drop toprevent German demo Iition ofkeyobjectives as part ofOp eration HAS.IT. ru one poi nt,an entire German brigade was tied down tryi ngto COUn ter the activi ties of the few d07en.parachutis ts , most of whom managed to exfil trate after the operat ion to rejoin their

    battalion,On 15 ...ugus:t~ the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade look pan in Operation~ the AIHed invasion ofth,e South of France. Tosupport the Allied amphibiouslandings on the French coast between Cannes and Toulen, paratroops would Ily acrossthe Medi(eiIT~llean from Rome and be dropped in the night before todisrupt Germandefenses and: take ke y choke points.Operating as part of the Joint Amertcen/Britlel Is t Airborne Task I-orce uader'MGEN R.T. Frederick, 'U.S.Army (who 'had, cammanded Ute joint l S}C,iinadian IstSpecial Service Force), the Task Force W~, made up offlve US pal'i'ftC'bute battalions, oneUS air...anding brigade and the 2nd Iridepende I 1 . t Parachute Brigade. The enf re forcewas to be akUfted, 1 1 1 by th e . ' ,S Army Air orce SIst Troop Carrier ",jng flyi ng C-47'transports. A total of sixty ..one'Waco and Horsa gliders would follow the p ani troops car-ryin g then- support weapons and supplies,The 2nd was tasked wi th taking a critical road jnte rseetion in the village of LeMuy.The pathffnders jumped ,3( OllOaudmark,ed the' DZ; however, only seventy-three of 126s tic ks d ro pp ed lh ~t nightlanded 0,11 t a : t r , g e t .The Sth Parachute Bat talman in particularwaswidely seaneredover sometwenty-five miles o,fFrencfu. territory-that as U5Ua[ those parat-mops dropped off c o u r s e ' managed to create M 'OC in . the enemy rear areas while those~anding o-nor near the DZ seized their objectives with the ss 5 istance of local Afaquis[resistan ce] forces ~gai nst Ughtoppas itton. B y 1 .0 1 5 all.0 bjectives were under British,Ci011-trnl, and on 17August paratroops o r d ~2nd Independent, Parachute Brigade linked up\Vith (he Allied amphibious fortes. Finally, on 26 August , the paratroops were pulledback to Italy.{Rlghf} Wearing ths'lr respective f lags, Bri lish and American, paratroops of1he 1sf AirborneTask Force. 'Mk,e ill breather' beside 8French farm house on 1,SAugust i l9~ D-Day for 'the(nv_ion of Southem France.

    Arnhem. . '. . ." '. : ' . the 1s tParach ute It t rigade landed righ t an t a u ' g e t and, quickly bega l ' i j J . advancing toward i ts:objectives, the Arnbem IJrid~ and a nearby pontoon bridge. 1\sthe battalions moved

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    In ; ; r " ! . attempt t-A drive a ro ~IO;:'':;th" ,po 'R '1 '11 ;iI......a"n jd e l i v e r o!i ' ~ . nl~L'II~"'ii.L' ~",, ,L..~ h,, ' c, I' ld short .y.~.. _p... !j. ~ LJI !! "" ," , .~[ . O

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    battle' 'or the bridge. MG EN Urquhart was OIJ t. of comm unication and p' nned down inAenhem, and HRIG Hicks oftbe lst Air-Landing Brigade assumed command, Com-munications became a major prohler with the commanders being out of touch withmost of the paracbute unlts in the house to house fighting,Wben the secon d lin arri ved over the DZ~the Germans were 'U l a i t i ng tot' them. The'captured plans had detailed the arrival times and drop zones for the drops and the Ger-Inans had sited these areas with heavy an ti-a icraft defe nse s.D cspite hea v y r rr e ~BRIGHackett's 4th Parachute Brigade jumped in and prepared (fJ occupy the rugb ground atKuepel, The 4th had the rnissioa of securing the perimeter around the airhead,With. great difficulty, Frost's, &Jrce at the bridge fought off repeated German counterattacks, taking heavy casualties. On Tuesday, Urquhart managed Io retum through Ger-man Iines [0his:HQ and take control of the battle, although [belie was little be could do101"' Frost, T eparatroops around the bridge now began torun lowon ammunition Theother p arachu te banal ions trying to reach Frost ran into hea 'v)"resistaIce' rom Panzeruen adi ers supposted by armor and quickly bogged down. The fig:hling in the 'westernparts ofArnhem 'vas especially confused and, at grea t ]088", some troops man aged to fightwithin a halfmile of the bridge, Here rhc)' were stopped and none managed to link ]IPwith Fro,stUrquhart's force was already indeep trouble as.the time they had expected to linkupMlh }C'I{J{COrp5 arrived. Yet the relief'colamn was nowhere 'in s~gbt- it was held up bys~HIGerman resistance some miles a Jwa ,y " Supplies became critical fUT the airbornetroops. since the resupply drops had been made into LZs that ",'ere in German hands.Add i : t i . o r n a l y! the Germans had captured one of th e divisinu's main supply dumps.Members of the 1Sf AirbonUI Di'ri8iol1~wearlng maroan berets and Denlson SJltlOC'k.SrenJoy aquick meal-' -f loreboar Ing AIliIerlcan C..41 Skytmln tmt lspon,s . for the ir drop oyetl' Hollandduring OpeJ",;;Itl'on MIARKET GARDEN.

    Bntish 151Alliborne [DIVIsiont:rcops ,drop from three Arnetiean C-4,7 tTan~,p:ol1sIO n the DutSkf:rtsof Arnhem. Tbe a~rc.r_aftIn 1he backg ,Dund has just dropped fOllr eqlUipment eonta: ners.So confu sed was th e h OUI!! e to hous e flghting th at the .parachu te troop s often fQ . .11ndthemselves firing il l each other, To identify each other, the men began using their "hit l -

    tlecry from North Africa, ~\\'Fdb~Mallonuued'" which the Germans had trouble pro-nouncing. Frost's position WB~~deteriorating rapidly, and b y n igh .t 1 a n On 19September,tb~ buildings sheltering his force. were in rubble and Tiger anks were attacking hispositions.. Iar ly on t ile n10rn-ng of 2 0 . Septem .er, BRlIG Hac kelt's 4Ul Rrigadc came underheavy German attack, while bad weather prevented the drop of t h e Polish brigade toreinforce the eutnumbered 1st Airborne, During the ~,ay;Frost 's battalion was barelyholding the bridge, but the), were out offoud and waiter...1\ 8 th. Iday progressed, Frost'sh eroic fore e was be iilg burned ou lof thei r positions by 'Germ] an tlame' fhrowers andphosphorons shells,By the rnorni H . g ; of '2] September, there appeared to be surne hope for relief i I D 5armored troops ofxx:x. Corps pushed a c r o s s 'the'Waal riv e r a t N ' i ji m e g e n aud "tel re ready

    10 drive toward Arnhern. The Germans, however, had. already driven Frost'. "S1,lf"iVOTSfrom !thebridge area and by 0900. the bridge was open to . Germ an t ralfRewhich pouredacres S towards th c rema ining pockets of resisrance,

    The 2nd Battalion's stand 'WOuld become legendary, The paratroops had held outtwice 'as long asexpected, jntheface ofoverwhel I~ in~opposluoo -Urqu hart wanted toatl ea s t ' ho l d t he 1 0r id g e h e f lJ d,at Hartenstein \vi~l"l.xxx:Corp s c lo se to 3. pos~~ i . b l elink UPI b u 1:

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    _ , -I

    . .

    '1 st Airborma, pa:ratl"QQps and g lwemf i ia n oonv erg e om ,one of the drop1landlngl ~nes Qutsideor Arnhem. "Theg;lld~er!Jhave a.lready Ihad 'their tail sections removed so' that vehlQI~ and8qwI,pnife 'n1i' eou'ld !bequi'ckly' unloaded and I:i t-ouglflt Into action.Gnder-glitter t~e l:BInd Irnwgooe' Ofl the Q!utsldl1'Sj, ofAmllu;tm..From tilt) wh_I ' marks ~n theffl~1d~ItIs q u'lte, lE Ipparent D Im : t he land IlIlg roll o f the 'Horsa w,~ss h o r t and t ha t !E l f. l ~e rl a_n ,d lngs weremu gh.,At 1~1I;Stive glFd'ers bae overshot tbe, lalndirli ll :z,omeand crashed. limo' tIfle 'tree's.

    H 1 e Germans a tracked 1~'tJ'~in g their pns : l : t ion . under increasing pre ssu re , Shortages of"water, food, medical supplies and ammunition were the major problems fur the rem-"Janis of t l l i l e division ftghiting 'Wi~ th in their is hrinking defensive pocket.'On the 21st, the Ist Polish Parachute I3rigade jumped in under heavy anti-aircraftfirei 'ill ow e v e r , they jumped on, Ith.c OpposiL~ bide,.of the 'Ne ' d e r Rij'n river _Dur in g th e nightof22 September, a few'Poles made it across the r i v e r by rubber ra f ts to Link up wi th . theBritish airborne troops! but their numbers and the supplies t h ey brnught were insuffi-cient 'to change the outcome of the battle. :xXX 'Co-rps hse l fw 'as.st i l l delayed in reaching,th e - opposite' river bank beca U se'of TIUmerous road; blocks ~ndhea vy Germanresistancei r. 1 l1o ng 1: ' ht e iro u t e o f advance,Finally; on the night of 24September, Urquhart signaled thetthe 'l stAirborne couldno longer hold the iposi I:ions a ndwould, pull out tt l at fl j'~llt,T1~e pullout begs n late on24September and carried on into 23 ' S e p tember, The-men pun~d ou la few.ata time topre-v e n t the Ge rm a n s iU.)ID b re ak in g t h: ro O u gh d ur in g the evacuation. A o o u t 1 ,. 10 0men o f thelf"Airborne and over 400 Glider Pilot Regiment members made it across 1:he rive r dur-ing the night. Hundreds more escaped, th'rough the German tines O,\o,W the next W O O D turejoi n the~ir1]nits, al though very fewfrom Frest's battalion mad e it back.The drop had. indeed, been, "a bridge too far", The 1anding failed: [or a ]]JJ,U:ll ber ofreasons, The 'G erm a n strength in the area was underesti mated..the s p eed that X X XCorps could advance ,@JDOg a si. ' i : g U econtested road ~1Hi v e r e s t i mated and the'drup if ~ elfwas too far from rhe obj ective, This last factor tau ceunter ~obasic airborne tactics t}) ataccepted. heavier initial casualties in order to land right on '!be objective. The three dayincremental drop squandered the division~s strength and never allowed them to con-solidare their po sH io l 1S - Finally, less than ten p e r c en t of th e resupply drops iIlCluaUyreached the troops they 'WereinteJ"uJed for.The He~!dq,u:arters, sectlollof an a r 1 i11 : e ryunit disemba rk,sfrom O,ne orUle 'first 91 ideB to, touchtkM"n atAm hem. T he J ee p is &qtlli 1 lP6d ' W i f : h r , a 1 1 8 of telephone wire mDUlntedl to fne front b um . ..P8I i ' f .o r ' Ia ,y ing down communlt:atk:n~s land IIInas,

    Despite al l of these problems, the me 1o, i th.e Ist .A1rbor1Icl'1il1d: wr i t t e n . a bloody" butchapter in history, more three as long

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    heroic, British airborne holding for than times a:sth ey h a d b ee n e x pe c te d to , in n le n ng .h e a vy G e r m an c a s u alties, and kn(x"kll1;g aula t leastsixty Genna n ' umK:s . Even th e S8 troops, n o t known for their h uma n i t y m w o ! l W S prisoners,trented ttl: Arnhem captives well~out of resped for their hero ic performance. AIthoughth e lst Airborne h a d f ai le d to ta k e t !h e ir objective, th ei r stand ha(1e na b te d xxx:. l:orps [0drive to be banks of the NcderRi.n, increasing thepressure against the German.home-Land.The strongGerm8nIe~erves which were committed against the-a.irbome Iandings,to o k s uc h heavy casualties that they 'Wer e unavailable a few months Iater when theGer-mans needed them for the Ardennes Offensive.

    G Idar-borDe'troo,p-s pre . ..:e10 move out toward 'thrall'objectives attie-I" ndJng nsatArnhem.Th 1a-'8 armed with Enrfl Id I k 4 .803 rift .. , and 9MM!ten Mk V submactJ[ne, gWInS" On 19 Sep.1 Emn ' ' gunner:s of the 1st Airborne, Division landed atAmhen'i and qu Ickfy fDOY&dtoward tile ftght~ng:.De weapon Is a 6-Pounder anU-ta nkgun, the, largest a fliH-tanJ(gun avall-abJeto the Airborne FQrces~Amu~dwHh,pistols and St ,sn g 'u nlS i , par,atroops' n10~ th rough tile ruins 01'Oostefbeek dur:ln:gthe 'lighililng a:r,ound Al"nhe .n1 . , .A.IltIloughRlMt (ff!' the men