1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)
1st Parachute Brigade | |
---|---|
Active | 1941–1948 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Airborne forces |
Role | Parachute infantry |
Size | Brigade |
Part of | 1st Airborne Division 6th Airborne Division |
Nickname(s) | Red Devils |
Colors | Maroon |
Engagements | Operation Biting Operation Torch British airborne operations in North Africa Operation Fustian Battle of Arnhem Palestine |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Sir Richard Gale Sir Gerald Lathbury James Hill |
Insignia | |
The emblem of British Airborne Forces, Bellerophon riding the flying horse Pegasus |
The 1st Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War. As its name indicates, the unit was the first parachute infantry brigade formation in the British Army.
Formed from three parachute battalions as well as support units and assigned to the
At the end of 1943, the brigade returned to England, in preparation for the
Reformed after the battle, the brigade took part in operations in Denmark at the end of the war and then in 1946 joined the 6th Airborne Division on internal security duties in Palestine. Post-war downsizing of the British Army reduced their airborne forces to a single brigade and led to the 1948 dissolution of 1st Parachute Brigade.
Formation history
Background
Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the
All parachute forces had to undergo a twelve-day parachute training course at
Airborne soldiers were expected to fight against superior numbers of the enemy armed with heavy weapons, including artillery and tanks. Training was as a result designed to encourage a spirit of self-discipline, self-reliance and aggressiveness. Emphasis was given to physical fitness, marksmanship and fieldcraft.[10] A large part of the training regime consisted of assault courses and route marching while military exercises included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads, road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications.[10] At the end of most exercises, the battalions would march back to their barracks. An ability to cover long distances at speed was also expected: airborne platoons were required to cover a distance of 50 miles (80 km) in twenty-four hours, and battalions 32 miles (51 km). This ability was demonstrated in April 1945. When the 3rd Parachute Brigade advanced 15 miles (24 km) in twenty-four hours, which included eighteen hours of close-quarters fighting. In the same month the 5th Parachute Brigade marched 50 miles (80 km) in seventy-two hours, during which they also carried out two night time assaults.
Formation
Brigadier Richard N. Gale, who would later command the 6th Airborne Division, took command of the 1st Parachute Brigade on its formation in September 1941.[11] A triangular brigade formation with three battalions, Gale decided that rather than dividing the 11th Special Air Service Battalion among the brigade's battalions, he would keep the already trained unit together.[12] On 15 September it was renamed the 1st Parachute Battalion, which, together with the newly raised 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions, now formed the 1st Parachute Brigade. These battalions were formed from volunteers aged between twenty-two and thirty-two years of age. Only men in infantry units were selected and only ten men from any one unit were allowed to leave. Early in 1942 the brigade was joined by the 4th Parachute Battalion, the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance,[13] and the 1st (Parachute) Squadron, Royal Engineers (RE).[14] The 4th Parachute Battalion left the brigade in July to become the first battalion in the 2nd Parachute Brigade.[15]
By 1944 the brigade had increased in size and now comprised the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Parachute battalions, the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance and the 1st (Parachute) Squadron
After the war the brigade comprised the 1st, 2nd, 17th Parachute Battalions and the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance. The 3rd Parachute Battalion had left to join the 3rd Parachute Brigade, replacing the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, who had returned to Canada at the cessation of hostilities.[17] The 1st Airborne Division was disbanded in November 1945, and the brigade assigned to the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine.[17] In 1946 the 17th Parachute Battalion amalgamated with the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion retaining the number of the senior unit.[17] The brigade formation changed again in 1948. Further amalgamations and the general reduction in the post war British Army resulted in the brigade being formed from the 1st Parachute Battalion, the amalgamated 2nd/3rd Parachute Battalion and the amalgamated 8th/9th Parachute Battalion.[17] By July 1948 the 6th Airborne Division had been withdrawn to England and disbanded, leaving the 2nd Parachute Brigade as the only regular British Army parachute formation.[17]
Operational history
Bruneval
The Bruneval raid or Operation Biting in February 1942 was one of the first missions planned by Combined Operations Headquarters that used all three of the British Armed Forces. An attacking force from 'C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion would be parachuted into France by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and later evacuated by the Royal Navy.[18] Their objective was a German Würzburg radar station on the coast of France, which British scientists wanted to examine.[19]
On 27 February, in ideal tide and weather conditions, the raid was commanded by
The success of the Bruneval raid was reported in the British media for several weeks
North Africa
In November 1942, the brigade now commanded by Brigadier Edwin Flavell, was detached from 1st Airborne Division, to take part in Operation Torch, the Allied landings in French North Africa.[24]
On 11 November, the first major British parachute landing was made by the 3rd Parachute Battalion, which without its 'A' Company, flew from England via Gibraltar in a fleet of American piloted
On 29 November the 2nd Parachute Battalion, now commanded by John Frost, parachuted onto an airfield at
Sicily
Immediately before the Axis surrender in April 1943, the 1st Airborne Division, now commanded by
Now under the command of Brigadier
At 19:30 on 12 July 1943 the brigade took off from North Africa[40] Consisting of 105 Dakotas, eight of them towing Waco gliders and 11 Albemarles towing Horsa gliders,[34] the gliders amongst other things transported the twelve anti-tank guns of the 1st (Airlanding) Anti-Tank Battery.[38]
The brigade's first casualties occurred while they were still en route, when two Dakotas were shot down flying over an Allied convoy with another nine damaged and forced to turn back.[37] When they reached the Sicilian coast, Axis anti-aircraft fire shot down thirty-seven and a further ten were damaged and forced to abort their mission.[37] Of the surviving aircraft, only thirty-nine managed to drop their paratroops within .5 miles (0.80 km) of the correct DZ. Only four gliders arrived intact and those not shot down en route were destroyed while attempting to land.[41] Despite these setbacks, the 250 surviving men of the 1st Parachute Battalion captured the bridge intact. The battalion commander, 28-year old Lieutenant Colonel Pearson, ordered his men to dig in on the north side of the river. Their only support weapons were three anti-tank guns, two 3 inch mortars and a Vickers machine gun.[37] As they dug in, the men removed the demolition charges from the bridge such that even if they were forced off the bridge it could not be immediately destroyed.[42]
Unknown to the brigade, units of the German 1st Parachute Division had parachuted onto Catania airfield to reinforce the Italians guarding the bridge and quickly moved to regain the crossing.[13] The German paratroops attacked at dawn.[13] The defenders at the bridge held out all day against infantry, armour and attacks by aircraft.[42] South of the bridge, the 2nd Parachute Battalion also under attack, were able to call on naval gunfire support from the 6 inch guns of the British cruiser HMS Mauritius, which stopped an assault that was about to overrun their position.[42] The men from the 1st and 3rd Battalions, although initially forced across the river, still held the southern bank until dark when they withdrew to the 2nd Battalion's position.[42]
To the south, the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, in the face of strong German resistance, had stopped for the night 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the 2nd Battalion.[42] Gunfire was heard just south of the brigade position on the following morning whereupon Brigadier Lathbury sent out a patrol to investigate and they discovered it was from British guns. The leading elements of the 50th Division had finally made contact with the brigade. After two days fighting, the brigade's 4th Armoured and the 9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry recaptured the bridge.[37][42] Operations Ladbroke and Fustian had cost the British 1st Airborne Division 454 dead, 240 wounded and 102 missing.[37]
England
The brigade returned to England in late 1943 and trained for operations in North-West Europe under the supervision of I Airborne Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning. Although they were not scheduled to take part in the Normandy landings, Operation Wastage was a contingency plan drawn up whereby all the 1st Airborne Division would be parachuted in to support any of the five invasion beaches if delays were experienced.[43] [nb 4]
In early September the brigade prepared for Operation Comet, during which the 1st Airborne Division's three brigades were to land in the Netherlands and capture three river crossings. The first of these was the bridge over the
Arnhem
Landings by the 1st Allied Airborne Army's three divisions began in the Netherlands on 17 September 1944. Although the allocation of aircraft for each division was roughly similar, the 101st Airborne Division landing at Nijmegen would use only one lift. The 82nd Airborne Division at Grave required two lifts while the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem would need three lifts. Whereas the two American divisions delivered at least three quarters of their infantry in their first lift, the 1st Airborne's similar drop used only half its capacity for infantry and the remainder to deliver vehicles and artillery.[50]
The 1st Airborne Division had the required airlift capacity to deliver all three parachute brigades with their glider-borne anti-tank weapons or two of the parachute brigades and the airlanding brigade on day one. Instead, the vast majority of the division's vehicles and heavy equipment, plus the 1st Parachute Brigade, most of the 1st Airlanding Brigade and divisional troops were to be on the first lift, with the rest to follow the next day.
Planes carrying the brigade left England at around 09:45 and arrived over DZ 'X' at 13:00.[52] After an uneventful landing the brigade, once organised, set off for Arnhem. The 2nd Parachute Battalion followed a southern route along the river Rhine, to the north 3rd Parachute Battalion took the Heelsum-Arnhem road through Oosterbeek, while the 1st Parachute Battalion initially remained in reserve at brigade headquarters.[53] The 2nd Battalion, with 'A' Company leading, came under sporadic fire from pockets of German troops. 'C' Company were directed to capture the Arnhem railway bridge, but it was blown up just as they arrived.[54] Pushing ahead, 'A' Company came under fire from German armoured cars and discovered that the central span of the pontoon bridge was missing.[55] Entering Arnhem as night fell, the leading battalion elements reached the main road bridge at 21:00.[56] Having secured the northern end of the bridge, attempts to capture the southern end were repulsed and the battalion started to fortify the houses and dig in. Following behind, other units of the brigade started to arrive, including a troop of guns from 1st (Airlanding) Anti-Tank Battery, brigade headquarters without the brigadier,[56] part of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, and detachments of Royal Engineers and Royal Army Service Corps men. In total about 500 men were now at the bridge.[57]
A lucky break allowed 3rd Battalion to ambush the staff car carrying Generalmajor Friedrich Kussin, the German commandant of Arnhem, and kill him and his driver.[54] Nevertheless, most of the battalion had been stopped by the Germans in Oosterbeek while 'C' Company had entered Arnhem but were halted on the road leading to the bridge.[58] At 15:30 the 1st Parachute Battalion were released from the reserve and directed along the Ede-Arnhem road. Here they first encountered German armoured vehicles and a column of five tanks and fifteen half-tracks, which were engaged by the battalion. They continued fighting their way forward, and by morning had reached the outskirts of Arnhem. By this time around a quarter of the battalion had been killed, wounded or were missing.[59] Before this, at nightfall, Brigadier Lathbury had contacted Lieutenant-Colonel Frost in command at the bridge and informed him the brigade would stay put during the night and attempt to reach him in the morning.[60]
At dawn on the second day, the defenders on the bridge saw a small convoy of trucks approaching at some speed from the south, which at first they misidentified as the British XXX Corps. That they were enemy trucks did not become apparent until they were on the bridge whereupon the defenders opened fire and destroyed the convoy.
On the outskirts of Arnhem, 1st Battalion, which had been joined by Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, unsuccessfully attempted to fight through to the bridge[59] then moved south in an attempt to flank the German line. They eventually ended up beside the river,[64] whereafter 3rd Battalion advanced 2.5 miles (4.0 km) along the bank until daylight revealed their position to the Germans.[63] Divisional commander Major-General Roy Urquhart and Brigadier Lathbury accompanied 3rd Battalion until Lathbury was shot and wounded. Due to his injuries, they were unable to move him and he was left in the care of a Dutch family.[65] The 1st and 3rd Battalions spent all day trying to force a way through to the bridge. By nightfall they had failed and the strength of both battalions was reduced to around 100 men.[64]
Another attempt to reach the bridge began at 03:45 on the third day, 19 September when the 1st and 3rd Battalions were joined by the
With no word from the division or brigade Lieutenant-Colonel Frost assumed command of the brigade units at the bridge. With their casualties mounting and supplies of food and ammunition running low, a request for the force to surrender was rejected by Frost, who decided they would fight on.[69]
By day four, 20 September, the brigade still holding out at the bridge had been split into two groups during the night by the Germans who had managed to infiltrate close enough to separate them into positions east and west of the bridge road. Any movement was subjected to machine-gun and
Post war
By early May 1945, the 1st Parachute Brigade had been brought up to strength, albeit mainly with inexperienced replacements and the survivors of the 4th Parachute Brigade, which had been disbanded.
After the brigade had been disbanded in June 1948, its battalions were reformed, by renumbering those in the 2nd Parachute Brigade. The
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ Barrage balloons were used to speed up training jumps and meet the target of 5,000 trained parachutists.[8]
- ^ The lack of transport aircraft hampered every British airborne operation of the war. However the Air Ministry had ordered in 1941, that all Royal Air Force bombers must have equipment fitted for towing gliders and Albemarle, Halifax and Stirling bombers were to be able to conduct parachute operations. It was the Commander-in-Chief RAF Bomber Command Arthur Harris, who refused to divert aircraft from the strategic bombing campaign, to transport troops.[26]
- ^ Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning pointed out to the brigade that this was an honour, as "distinctions given by the enemy are seldom won in battle except by the finest fighting troops."[32] Following official confirmation by General Sir Harold Alexander, the title was thereafter applied to all British airborne troops.[33] A demonstration of the respect in which the Germans held the Red Devils occurred when a train carrying the 1st and 2nd Battalions to Algiers passed a large prisoner of war camp. The Germans spotting their red berets, started cheering, and over a thousand prisoners ran towards the train throwing their own hats in the air.[31]
- Citations
- ^ Otway, p.21
- ^ Shortt and McBride, p.4
- ^ Moreman, p.91
- ^ Guard, p.218
- ^ Harclerode, p.218
- ^ Ferguson, pp.7–8
- ^ a b Guard, p.224
- ^ Reynolds, p.16
- ^ Guard, p.226
- ^ a b Guard, p.225
- ^ Ferguson, p.6
- ^ Tugwell, p.125
- ^ a b c Ferguson, p.12
- ^ Saunders, p.110
- ^ Ferguson, p.8
- ^ Urquhart, p.224
- ^ a b c d e Ferguson, p.46
- ^ Reynolds, p.21
- ^ Reynolds, p.20
- ^ Reynolds, pp.23–24
- ^ Tugwell, pp.126–127
- ^ Harclerode, p. 214
- ^ "No. 35558". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 May 1942. pp. 2111–2112.
- ^ Ferguson, p.9
- ^ Reynolds, p.30
- ^ Tugwell, pp.136–137
- ^ a b c d Ferguson, p.10
- ^ Reynolds, p.32
- ^ Reynolds, p.33
- ^ Reynolds, pp.33–34
- ^ a b c d Reynolds, p.34
- ^ Thompson, p.90
- ^ Otway, p.88
- ^ a b Reynolds, p.36
- ^ Tugwell, p.156
- ^ Tugwell, p.159
- ^ a b c d e f g Reynolds, p.37
- ^ a b Tugwell, p.162
- ^ Reynolds, p.47
- ^ Cole, p.45
- ^ Tugwell, p.164
- ^ a b c d e f Tugwell, p.165
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.10
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.19
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.21
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.26
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.28
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.31
- ^ Peters and Buist, pp.40–41
- ^ a b Tugwell, p.241
- ^ Urquhart, pp.5–10
- ^ Reynolds, p.65
- ^ Reynolds, p.66
- ^ a b Reynolds, p.67
- ^ Reynolds, pp.68–69
- ^ a b Reynolds, p.69
- ^ Urquhart, p.50
- ^ Urquhart, pp.52–53
- ^ a b Urquhart, p.53
- ^ Urquhart, p.52
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.124
- ^ Peters and Buist, pp.125–126
- ^ a b Peters and Buist, p.126
- ^ a b Peters and Buist, p.127
- ^ Urquhart, p.64
- ^ Peters and Buist, pp.162–163
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.164
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.165
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.166
- ^ a b c Peters and Buist, p.197
- ^ "No. 36907". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 January 1945. pp. 561–562.
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.212
- ^ Peters and Buist, p.213
- ^ Middlebrook, p.445
- ^ Otway, p.324
- ^ Otway, pp.329–330
- ^ Cole, p.204
- ^ "Brigadier 'Speedy' Hill". The Daily Telegraph. 18 March 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
- ^ Cole, p.209
- ^ Cole, p.210
- ^ Ferguson, p.34
References
- Cole, Howard N (1963). On wings of healing: the story of the Airborne Medical Services 1940–1960. Edinburgh: William Blackwood. OCLC 29847628.
- Ferguson, Gregor (1984). The Paras 1940–84. Volume 1 of Elite series. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0-85045-573-1.
- Guard, Julie (2007). Airborne: World War II Paratroopers in Combat. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84603-196-0.
- Harclerode, Peter (2005). Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918–1945. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-36730-3.
- Moreman, Timothy Robert (2006). British Commandos 1940–46. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-986-X.
- Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H. (1990). The Second World War 1939–1945 Army – Airborne Forces. London: Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-901627-57-7.
- Peters, Mike; Luuk, Buist (2009). Glider Pilots at Arnhem. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84415-763-1.
- Reynolds, David (1998). Paras: An Illustrated History of Britain's Airborne Forces. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-7509-2059-9.
- Saunders, Hilary Aidan St. George (1950). The Red Beret: the Story of the Parachute Regiment at War, 1940–1945 (4 ed.). Torrington, UK: Michael Joseph Publishing. OCLC 2927434.
- ISBN 0-85045-396-8.
- Thompson, Major-General Julian (1990). Ready for Anything: The Parachute Regiment at War. Fontana Presslocation=Fontana, California. ISBN 0-00-637505-7.
- Tugwell, Maurice (1971). Airborne to Battle: A History of Airborne Warfare, 1918–1971. London: Kimber. ISBN 0-7183-0262-1.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-537-8.
- Wilson, R. D (2008). Cordon and Search: with 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. Barnsley, UK: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 978-1-84415-771-6.