The 3rd Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The brigade was initially part of the 1st Airborne Division, but remained in Britain when that division was sent overseas, and became part of the 6th Airborne Division, alongside 5th Parachute Brigade and 6th Airlanding Brigade.
The brigade first went into action on 5 June 1944 during Operation Tonga, part of the Normandy landings. The objective was to destroy the Merville Gun Battery and the bridges over the River Dives. The brigade achieved all its objectives, and remained defending the left flank of the invasion zone until mid August. They then crossed the River Dives and advanced as far as the River Seine before they were withdrawn. While recovering in England, the brigade was moved to Belgium in December 1944, to counter the German attack in the Ardennes. The brigade remained on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands carrying out patrols until March 1945. Their next airborne mission was Operation Varsity, the assault crossing of the River Rhine in Germany. After this, the brigade advanced towards the Baltic Sea, arriving just ahead of the Red Army.
Still part of the 6th Airborne Division, the brigade was sent to the British mandate of Palestine in October 1945 after the end of the war. Carrying out an internal security role with the rest of 6th Airborne Division, it remained in Palestine until it was disbanded in 1947.
Background Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a force of 5,000 parachute troops.Otway, p. 21 As a result, on 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando assumed parachute duties, and on 21 November was re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with a parachute and glider wing.Shortt and McBride, p. 4Moreman, p. 91
On 21 June 1940 the Central Landing Establishment was formed at Ringway airfield near Manchester. Although tasked primarily with training parachute troops, it was also directed to investigate the use of gliders to transport troops into battle.Otway, pp. 28–29Smith, p. 7 At the same time, the Ministry of Aircraft Production contracted General Aircraft Ltd to design and produce a glider for this purpose.Flint, p. 73 The result was the General Aircraft Hotspur, an aircraft capable of transporting eight soldiers, that was used for both assault and training purposes.Lynch, p. 31
The success of the first British airborne raid, Operation Colossus, prompted the War Office to expand the airborne force through the creation of the Parachute Regiment, and to develop plans to convert several infantry battalions into parachute and glider battalions.Harclerode, p. 218 On 31 May 1941, a joint army and air force memorandum was approved by the Chiefs-of-Staff and Winston Churchill; it recommended that the British airborne forces should consist of two parachute brigades, one based in England and the other in the Middle East, and that a glider force of 10,000 men should be created.Tugwell, p. 123
Formation The 3rd Parachute Brigade was raised on 7 November 1942, under the command of Brigadier Sir Alexander Stanier. Stanier was soon replaced by Brigadier Gerald Lathbury, who in turn was replaced in May 1943 by Brigadier James Hill, previously of the 1st Parachute Brigade.Ferguson, p. 16 Hill remained in command through the remaining war years until July 1945, when Lathbury once again assumed command. The last commander of the brigade was Brigadier Francis Rome, who took over on 15 November 1946.Wilson, p. 86
The brigade was initially composed of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion, the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion and the 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion.Horn and Wyczynski, p. 270 On 11 August 1943 the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion arrived in England and was assigned to the brigade, and the 7th Battalion was transferred to the 5th Parachute Brigade which was in the process of forming.Gregory, p. 53 At the end of the Second World War, the 1st Canadian Battalion returned to Canada, and was replaced in the brigade by the 3rd Parachute Battalion, which had previously been part of the 1st Parachute Brigade.
The brigade's other units were the 3rd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery from the Royal Artillery, the 3rd Parachute Squadron of the Royal Engineers and the 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance from the Royal Army Medical Corps.Horn and Wyczynski, p. 323 During operations the artillery support available to the brigade would also include a battery of howitzers from the 53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, although it was not part of the brigade.Guard, p. 37
On formation the brigade was assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, and as such had to supply reinforcements to make the 1st Parachute Brigade up to strength before they left to take part in Operation Torch.Harclerode, pp. 222–223 When the 1st Airborne Division left England for operations in the Mediterranean, the 3rd Parachute Brigade remained behind, and was assigned as the first unit of the newly raised 6th Airborne Division.Harclerode, p. 223 The brigade would remain part of the 6th Airborne Division until 1947, when it was disbanded.
Operational history From June to December 1943, the brigade prepared for operations as part of the 6th Airborne Division, training at every level from section up to division by day and night.Harclerode, p. 225 Airborne soldiers were expected to fight against superior numbers of the enemy, who would be equipped with artillery and tanks. Training was therefore designed to encourage a spirit of self-discipline, self-reliance and aggressiveness, with emphasis given to physical fitness, marksmanship and fieldcraft.Guard, p. 225 A large part of the training consisted of assault courses and route marching. Military exercises included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads, road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications. At the end of most exercises, the troops would march back to their barracks, usually a distance of around . An ability to cover long distances at speed was expected; airborne platoons were required to cover a distance of in 24 hours, and battalions .
In April 1944, under the command of 1st Airborne Corps, the brigade took part in Exercise Mush, in the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. This was an airborne military exercise spread over three days involving the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions. Unknown to the 6th Airborne, it was a full-scale rehearsal for the division's involvement in the imminent Normandy invasion.Gregory, p. 100 In the invasion, the division's two parachute brigades would land just after midnight on 6 June, while the 6th Airlanding Brigade arrived later in the day just before dark. The division's objective was to secure the left flank of the invasion area by dominating the high ground in the area between the rivers Orne and Dives.Saunders, p. 143Gregory, p. 101 For their part in the operation, the 3rd Parachute Brigade had to destroy the Merville Gun Battery, whose guns were in range of the Sword Beach landings, and to demolish bridges across the River Dives to hamper the arrival of German reinforcements from the east.
D-Day
Just after midnight on 6 June 1944, Albemarle aircraft arrived, carrying the brigade's pathfinders, a company from the 1st Canadian Battalion to clear the drop zone (DZ) of obstructions, a group from each battalion, and brigade headquarters.Harclerode, p. 317 Some planes got lost and failed to reach the DZ or arrived late. Others were damaged before dropping all their paratroops and turned back, and one returned to base after failing to find the drop zone at all.
From around 00:50 the rest of the brigade arrived in Normandy after crossing the English Channel, transported in 108 C-47 Dakotas, along with 17 Horsa gliders carrying their heavy equipment. The 8th Parachute Battalion, landing on DZ-K along with the brigade headquarters, was tasked with destroying the bridges over the River Dives at Bures and Troarn. The 1st Canadian Battalion, landing on DZ-V, was required to destroy the bridges at Varaville and Robehomme. The 9th Battalion, also landing on DZ-V, had arguably the hardest task; neutralising the Merville Gun Battery.Harclerode, pp. 306–309 Due to a combination of poor navigation, heavy cloud cover, and several of the drop zones not being marked correctly, the parachute drop was widely scattered. One group of paratroops landed away, and another landed on the wrong side of the River Orne, only from the invasion beaches. Less than half of each battalion gathered at their individual assembly areas.Otway, p. 180
In the south, at DZ-K, only 141 men of the 8th Parachute Battalion had assembled.Harclerode, p. 321 Divided into two groups, they headed for their objectives. One group demolished the two bridges at Bures without opposition. The other group, while on their way to Troarn, intercepted and ambushed a convoy of six armoured vehicles belonging to the 21st Panzer Division.Harclerode, p. 322 When they reached Troarn, they discovered it was defended by the Germans. A platoon, including engineers, managed to fight their way to the bridge. They found that it had already been damaged, so the engineers planted their explosives and enlarged the gap to around .
The 1st Canadian Battalion successfully destroyed the bridges at Varaville and Robehomme after landing on the northern DZ. They then withdrew to defend Le Mesnil, where the brigade headquarters and the field ambulance were located.Harclerode, pp. 322–324 Meanwhile, by 02:50 only 150 men of the 9th Parachute Battalion had gathered at their assembly area, with virtually no heavy weapons or supplies. Unable to wait any longer, they headed for the Merville Gun Battery. The battalion captured the battery, but without explosives, could only damage two of its four guns. The battle had been costly, and only 85 men were left to head for their secondary objective, the village of Le Plein. The village was defended in strength by the Germans, and the weakened battalion could only dig in and wait the arrival of commandos from the 1st Special Service Brigade later that day.Harclerode, p. 320 By nightfall the brigade was deployed facing east, along the ridge of high ground from Le Plein in the north to the Bois de Bavent in the south.Harclerode, p. 327
Orne bridgehead
On 7 June, the 9th Parachute Battalion, relieved by the Special Service Brigade commandos, moved southwards to the Bois de Mont near Bréville, shortening the front held by the 3rd Parachute Brigade. The 6th Airborne Division's deployments now had the 6th Airlanding Brigade in the south, holding a line between Longueville and Herourvillette, the 5th Parachute Brigade to the rear just to the east of the River Orne bridge, the attached 1st Special Service Brigade to the north with troops in Sallenelles and Franceville-Plage, and finally the 3rd Parachute Brigade holding the ridge of high ground to the east.Saunders, pp. 175–176