The 1st Airlanding Brigade was an airborne infantry brigade of the British Army during the Second World War and the only glider infantry formation assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, serving alongside the 1st Parachute Brigade and 4th Parachute Brigade.
The brigade was formed in late 1941 during the Second World War, through the conversion of an existing infantry brigade previously stationed in India, the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade. Two of the initial four infantry battalions left in May 1943 to form the new 6th Airlanding Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division and were replaced by a single new battalion, thereby reducing the brigade's strength by one quarter.
The brigade only saw action on two occasions during the Second World War, in Operation Ladbroke, as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily, in July 1943 and later in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. During the second operation, in the fighting around Arnhem, 1st Airlanding Brigade along with the rest of 1st Airborne Division held out against overwhelming German odds, sustaining very heavy losses. Only around 20 percent of the brigade were evacuated south of the River Rhine. The rest had either been killed, were missing or became prisoners of war.
Following the German surrender in mid-1945, 1st Airlanding Brigade were sent to Norway to disarm the German garrison. Later the same year the brigade was disbanded.
Formation Under the command of Brigadier George Hopkinson, the 1st Airlanding Brigade Group was formed on 10 October 1941 through the re-designation of the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade, which had just returned to the United Kingdom after training for mountain warfare in British India.Ferguson, p. 6 Upon formation, the brigade consisted of the 1st Battalion, Border Regiment (Borders), the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment (Staffords), the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (OBLI), the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles (Ulsters) and supporting units. These were the brigade's original infantry battalions and all remained part of its order of battle. Men in the battalions who were unsuitable for airborne service were weeded out and replaced by volunteers.Blockwell and Clifton, p. 63
The strength of the airlanding brigade almost equalled that of an airborne division's two parachute brigades.Guard, p. 37 To support the four infantry battalions, the brigade also had its own artillery, engineer and reconnaissance units until 1942, when they became divisional assets. Another change that affected the brigade occurred in May 1943, when the Ulsters and the OBLI left to form the 6th Airlanding Brigade, of the 6th Airborne Division. When the brigade returned to the United Kingdom, it was assigned the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) in December 1943, a 2nd Line Territorial Army unit, which had until then been on home defence duties, stationed in the Orkney and Shetland islands.Blockwell and Clifton, p. 58
The brigade's glider infantry battalions consisted of 806 men in four rifle companies, each with four platoons along with a support company consisting of two Anti-tank platoons each with four 6 pounder guns, two mortar platoons armed with six 3 inch mortars, and two Vickers machine gun platoons.Peters and Buist, p. 55
Transport for the brigade was normally the Airspeed Horsa glider, piloted by two men from the Glider Pilot Regiment.Tugwell, p. 39 With a wingspan of and a length of , the Horsa had a maximum load capacity of —space for two pilots, a maximum of twenty-eight troops or two jeeps, one jeep and an artillery gun or one jeep with a trailer.Fowler, p. 9Peters and Buist, p. 9 Sixty–two Horsa and one General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders were required to carry the airlanding battalion into action. The Hamilcar carried the battalion's two Universal Carriers used to support the mortar and machine-gun platoons.
Operations
Sicily
The 1st Airborne Division, including the 1st Airlanding Brigade, left England for North Africa in June 1943. The brigade now comprised only two battalions, the 1st Border Regiment and the 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment, with Brigadier Philip "Pip" Hicks, in command, Brigadier Hopkinson having been promoted to major-general and given command of the 1st Airborne Division from Major-General Browning. The 1st Ulster Rifles and the 2nd Ox and Bucks remained in England to help create the 6th Airlanding Brigade. Once they arrived in the theatre the brigade was based in the Oran area on the north-western Mediterranean coast of Algeria. Now part of the British Eighth Army, training for the Allied invasion of Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, started in earnest.
Major-General Hopkinson had persuaded General Bernard Montgomery, commander of the Eighth Army, to include the 1st Airborne Division in the invasion of Sicily, against the wishes of both the commander of the British Airborne Forces, Major-General Browning and the commander of the Glider Pilot Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Chatterton. Both men were concerned that they had insufficient aircraft for the complete division to take part while British pilots and infantry were not familiar with the Waco CG-4 gliders that were to be used.Ferguson, p. 10 Their concerns proved correct as there were only enough aircraft for two of the division's four brigades to take part in the invasion. The 1st Parachute Brigade was assigned to Operation Fustian with orders to seize and hold the Primosole Bridge over the River Simeto. Prior to that, the 1st Airlanding Brigade was to take part in Operation Ladbroke, a glider assault on the Ponte Grande bridge across the Anapo river south of Syracuse. The brigade was to hold the bridge until relieved by the advance of the British 5th Infantry Division.Ferguson, p. 11Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg, p. 73 The 1st Airlanding Brigade was allocated 136 Waco and eight Airspeed Horsa gliders for the operation. Six of the Horsas carrying two infantry companies were scheduled to land at the bridge at 23:15 on 9 July in a coup-de-main operation.Tugwell, p. 159 The remainder of the brigade would arrive at 01:15 on 10 July using a number of landing-zones between away, then converge on the bridge to reinforce the defence.
On 9 July, 2,075 men of the brigade along with seven Willys MBs, six artillery guns and ten mortars, boarded their gliders in Tunisia and took off at 18:00 bound for Sicily. En route they encountered strong winds, poor visibility and at times were subjected to anti-aircraft fire. To avoid gunfire and searchlights, pilots of the towing aircraft climbed higher or took evasive action. In the confusion surrounding these manoeuvres, some gliders were released too early and 65 of them crashed into the sea, drowning around 252 men. Of the remaining gliders only 12 landed at the correct landing-zones. Another 59 landed up to away while the remainder were either shot down or failed to release and returned to Tunisia.Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg, pp. 73–74 Only one Horsa with a platoon of infantry from the Staffords landed near the bridge. Its commander, Lieutenant Louis Withers, divided his men into two groups then swam across the river with half of them to take up positions on the opposite bank. Thereafter the bridge was captured following a simultaneous assault from both sides. The platoon then dismantled demolition charges that had been fitted to the bridge and dug in to wait for reinforcement or relief.Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg, p. 74 Another Horsa landed about from the bridge but exploded on landing, killing all on board. Three of the other Horsas carrying the coup-de-main party, landed within of the bridge—their occupants eventually finding their way to the site.Tugwell, p. 160 Reinforcements began to arrive at the bridge but by 06:30 they numbered only 87 men.Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg, p. 75
Elsewhere, about 150 men landed at Cape Murro di Porco and captured a radio station. Based on a warning of imminent glider landings transmitted by the station's previous occupants, the local Italian commander ordered a counter-attack but his troops failed to get the message. The scattered nature of the landings now worked in the brigade's favour as they were able to cut all telephone wires in the immediate area. Forces at the bridge came under repeated attacks from the Italians while the expected 5th Infantry Division relief did not appear at 10:00 as planned. By 15:30 only 15 of men at the bridge remained fit to fight and they were out of ammunition, as a result the Italians then recaptured the bridge. The first unit from the 5th Division, the 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment of the 17th Brigade, arrived at the bridge at 16:15 and mounted a successful counterattack. The prior removal of demolition charges from the bridge had prevented the Italians from destroying it.Tugwell, p. 161 The brigade then took no further part in the fighting and was withdrawn back to North Africa on 13 July.Mitcham and Von Stauffenberg, p. 78 During the landings in Sicily, the losses by the 1st Airlanding Brigade were the worst of all the British units involved so far.Tugwell, p. 162 They amounted to 313 killed and 174 missing or wounded. The accompanying glider pilots lost 14 killed, and a further 87 were missing or wounded.
Arnhem
After service in the Mediterranean the brigade returned to Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, where it was reinforced by the arrival of the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers in November 1943.Blockwell and Clifton, p. 61 During the Normandy landings, the 1st Airlanding Brigade was part of the strategic reserve, on standby to deploy wherever they were needed to support the invasion.Urquhart, p. 16 The division and brigade were next assigned to Operation Market Garden at Arnhem in the Netherlands. This entailed three airborne divisions capturing bridges to be used subsequently by the British Second Army.Urquhart, pp. 1–3 Prior to the operation, more than 15 planned airborne missions into France and Belgium had been cancelled due to the speed of the Allied advance.Peters and Buist, pp. 18–28
A shortage of transport aircraft meant that it would take three days to transport the division to Arnhem. The plan called for the majority of the 1st Airlanding Brigade and the 1st Parachute Brigade to land on day one. The parachute brigade would head for Arnhem and capture the bridges over the Lower Rhine while the airlanding brigade secured drop zones for units arriving on the second and third days.Urquhart, pp. 5–10 When all the division's units had arrived the brigade would take up defensive positions to the west of Arnhem.Tugwell, p. 239 The 1st Airlanding Brigade units arriving on the second lift were to be two companies plus one mortar, one machine gun and one anti-tank platoon of the Staffords,Peters and Buist, p. 328 along with three platoons and sections from the mortar, machine gun and anti-tank platoons of the KOSB.Peters and Buist, pp. 328–330 The Borders contingent amounted to a further eight platoons.
On 17 September 1944, the first lift successfully carried the majority of the brigade to Arnhem—only 12 gliders failed to arrive due to technical problems.Peters and Buist, p. 80Tugwell, p. 244 While the 1st Parachute Brigade headed for Arnhem the airlanding brigade dug in to secure the landing grounds. The Staffords dug in around landing zone 'S', the KOSB around drop zone 'Y' and the Borders around landing zone 'X'.Peters and Buist, p. 127 Also under command of the brigade, co-located with brigade headquarters at Wolfheze were the Glider pilots of No. 2 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment, the equivalent of a small infantry battalion.Peters and Buist, p. 57
On the night of 17–18 September, divisional commander Major-General Roy Urquhart was reported missing. Brigadier Philip Hugh Whitby Hicks assumed command of the divisionTugwell, p. 258 while Colonel Hilaro Barlow replaced Hicks as brigade commander.Urquhart, p. 61