A History of The Parachute Regiment

It all began on the 22nd June 1940, in the darkest days of World War II. A note went from Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister, to General Sir Hastings Ismay, the Head of the Military Wing of the War Cabinet Secretariat. After witnessing the successes of German and Russian Airborne forces, Churchill wrote: "We ought to have a Corps of at least 5,000 parachute troops. I hear something is being done already to form such a Corps, but only, I believe, on a very small scale. Advantage must be taken of the summer to train these forces who can none the less play their part meanwhile as shock troops in home defence. Pray let me have a note from the War Office on this subject".

The formation of the British Airborne Forces followed this minute from the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. Military parachuting, however, was not new. In 1936 the Russian Army repulsed an Afghan invasion of Tajikistan by dropping 1200 men, 150 light machine guns and eighteen light field guns in the area. Glider-borne operations had also been a phenomenal success for the German invasion of the Low Countries when their Fallschirmjager took the supposedly impregnable fortress of Eban-Emal in a daring Coup de Main assault.
Operation Collosus
(February 10th, 1941)



Britain’s first airborne assault took place in 1941. The mission was to jump into Italy and destroy an aqueduct in a daring raid named Operation Colossus. Water from the Tragino aqueduct was pumped by pipeline to supply Italian forces and was the perfect target to gain maximum propaganda, destroying the enemy's morale. An airborne assault was the obvious answer and it was the opportunity Churchill had been seeking to test the new force. In total, 38 men of the 11th Special Air Service battalion dropped from two Whitley bombers, having had just three weeks of training.

 
Operation Biting - The Bruneval Raid (February 27th, 1942)


The aim of Operation Biting was to dismantle a Wurzburg precision radar dish, which was one of a series of early warning installations on the north coast of France, and bring it back to England for scientific research. The raid was proposed after it became clear that the chain of radar stations was of significant importance to the Luftwaffe. The radar posts were heavily defended against attack from the sea; it was a task only airborne troops could accomplish. A radar system near Le Havre, situated high on an isolated cliff top near the village of Bruneval, was selected for the raid. The task was given to Major John Frost and his men of C Company, 2 PARA.

 
Operation Torch - North Africa
(November 8th, 1942)



Allied forces had invaded Algeria and Morocco on November 8th, 1942, in an operation (Torch) which was planned to cut off German supply routes from Europe. Days later 3 PARA made the first operational battalion drop in a successful assault at Bone airfield, on November 12th. The 1st Parachute Brigade, comprising three battalions and supporting elements, were sent to North Africa by sea. Frost, who now commanded 2 PARA, was tasked to mount an operation against enemy held airfields near Depienne in Tunisia.

 
Operation Overlord - Normandy
(June 5th, 1944)



Airborne troops led the D-Day landings in a combined parachute and glider assault, to throw a net of protection around the Normandy beaches, where a massive invasion force would sweep ashore and advance into Europe. Among their initial objectives, the British airborne units were to destroy a German gun battery that threatened the lives of seaborne troops, and protect the left flank of the sea assault by seizing strategic points, which would prevent the enemy from reaching the beaches. Preparations had been going on for three years prior to the invasion of Normandy, with new roles being created and units formed, including the 6th Airborne Division on May 18th 1943. The number 'six' being chosen to hoodwink the enemy and fool them into believing that Britain already had five airborne divisions, when in fact it had just two, the 1st and 6th, under General Browning.

 
Operation Market Garden - Arnhem (September 17th, 1944)


The Battle for Arnhem had been planned as the spearhead of a powerful allied thrust through Holland and across the Rhine, using a massive airborne force to jump ahead of the ground troops to secure the route. This 'airborne carpet' was to drop along the Eindhoven-Arnhem Road and seize bridges over the Rhine,which would provide the stepping stones for the Second Army's advance across the last barrier to Germany. Within 48 hours of the drop, armoured columns of 30 Corps would dash 60 miles across the flat Dutch terrain and link up with the airborne units, before the enemy had chance to reinforce their defences. Codenamed Operation Market Garden, the airborne assault took place on September 17th, 1944, when 10,000 allied paratroopers filled the skies above Holland. Allied intelligence reports indicated that German morale was low and enemy forces in the area were weak, nothing could have been further from the truth.

 
Operation Varsity - Rhine Crossing
(March 24th, 1945)


The biggest and most successful airborne operation in history marked the beginning of the end for Germany, as Allied airborne troops mounted the final barrier and crossed the Rhine, in Operation Varsity. In total, six parachute battalions, including the Canadians, of the 6th Airborne division, supported by glider troops from the Air Landing Brigade, dropped on March 24th 1945. Together with the US 17th Airborne Division, the aim of the operation was to secure and deepen the bridgehead cast of the Rhine and then advance across country to the Baltic coast, a journey of 350 miles. Flying in tight formation, 540 American Dakota aircraft carried the 12 parachute battalions, five British, one Canadian and six from the US, closely followed by 1,300 gliders, packed with troops. The Germans expected the invasion, and fighting on the DZs was heavy.

 
Operation Musketeer - Suez
(November 5th, 1956)


In the Suez Crisis, Operation Musketeer needed the element of total surprise to succeed, and all 660 men had to be on the ground at El Gamil Airfield and ready for action within four and a half minutes. At 04.15 hours on 5 November 1956, 3 Para jumped in and although opposition was heavy, casualties were few.
 



Operation Banner - Northern Ireland
(1971 -1991)


Throughout "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, the regiment's battalions undertook many tours of duty. In 1972, while assisting the Royal Ulster Constabulary in preventing a civil rights march from taking place in Derry, twenty-eight civilians were shot, fourteen fatally. This event became known as Bloody Sunday. Allegations of IRA gunfire towards the PARAs are strongly disputed; none of the dead or injured were found to have firearms. Gerard Donaghy, a local teenager who was shot dead, was photographed at an army post with four nail bombs in his pockets. 

 
Operation Corporate - Falkland Islands
(April 2nd, 1982)


On the 2nd April 1982 Argentina invaded Port Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Island Dependencies. With only 80 Royal Marines for defence, the Islands and South Georgia were quickly overrun. A British task force was rapidly gathered to retake the Islands, with its land element centred on 3 Commando Brigade RM. At this time 3 PARA were Spearhead Battalion and they were attached to 3 Commando Brigade RM leaving the UK on the 9th April on SS Canberra. 2 PARA, then at five days notice to move, were also stood-to and departed on the 26th April on MV Norland. During the long voyage south, both Battalions carried out intensive training. 3 Commando Brigade RM went ashore at Ajax Bay on the night of the 21st / 22nd May. 2 PARA established itself on Sussex Mountain,

Operation Agricola - Kosovo
(June 6th, 1999)


In March 1999, NATO began airstrikes against Yugoslavia in an effort to stop the ethnic cleansing of Kosovar Albanians by Serbs. There was immediately widespread talk of a ground war. The likelihood of 1 PARA being deployed grew, with the battalion in the Leading Parachute Battalion Group role. Intensive training began to simulate possible deployments as part of either a NATO peacemaking, or peacekeeping mission.

 
Operation Palliser - Sierra Leone
(May 6th, 2000)


In May 2000, rebel forces in Sierra Leone, the RUF and AFRC, were attacking villages and and encroaching on the capital Freetown. UNAMSIL was established to keep the peace but the forces raised by the international community were under strength, of poor quality troops and were suffering low morale as a result of action against them by the RUF. By late summer, the situation in Sierra Leone was looking particularly vulnerable; there were fears of the capture of Freetown

 
Operation Fingle - Afghanistan (2002)


Following the successful US lead campaign in Afghanistan in 2001, 2 PARA deployed to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the early part of 2002. The Battle Group had responsibility for maintaining a secure environment over much of Kabul in order to allow the interim Afghan administration to function. 2 PARA conducted dominating patrols, vehicle checkpoints and assisted in the training of the new Afghan National Guard. Rifle companies operated with the minimum of centralised control from dispersed locations across the city. The coy groups had to evolve intelligence

 
Operation Telic - Iraq
(2003)


The Parachute Regiment deployed on Op Telic as part of 16 Air Assault Brigade. It was their high level of fitness, with limited helicopter support that allowed 1 and 3 PARA to remain independent and flexible, and capable of moving in vehicles across the open Iraqi desert to many of their objectives. The most notable ‘tab’ was the march by 3 PARA into Basra. From D Day on 20th March 2003, both 1 and 3 PARA waited in the forward assembly areas and quickly began moving into Iraq to secure and protect the Rumaylah oilfields and the MSR (main supply route) from southern Iraq to the north. By late March, 3 PARA had moved into Basra, 

 
Operation Herrick - Afghanistan (2006)


At a request from the Afghanistan Government, 16 Air Assault Brigade deployed onto Op Herrick 4 in the spring of 2006 to the lawless Helmand Province. Its mission was to bring security and stability in order that civilian reconstruction projects could be implemented. 7 RHA (PARA) were to mentor the Afghan National Army and 3 PARA Battle Group were to provide security and a  ‘hammer strike’ if needed. The 3 PARA Battle Group contained 1200 personnel which included artillery, additional infantry, armour,  engineers, signallers, Danish and Estonian troops and Apache and Chinook helicopters. 3 PARA were based in Camp Bastion and Gereshk (C Coy), the  provincial capital.