British parachutists. Special forces of the armies of the world
Parachutists of the British Empire
After the deployment of the formation of airborne troops in the metropolis, similar activities began in British India - a colony with the largest and most combat-ready armed forces in the empire.
The commander-in-chief of the Anglo-Indian troops, General Sir Robert Cassels, ordered the creation of parachute units in October 1940. The three newly formed battalions were to include volunteers from among the representatives of indigenous nationalities, specially selected from the personnel of the British, Indian and Gurkian units stationed in Asia. In December, Cassels ordered the manning of the airborne brigade, although London did not immediately sanction this step, citing a lack of special equipment and transport aircraft (some of the parachutes allocated for the Indian army were confiscated for their needs by David Stirling's "L detachment" sent to the Middle East - the forerunner of the CAC). The War Department supported Cassels' plan only in June 1941, and then on condition that one of the battalions would be fully manned by the British.
In fact, the first paratrooper detachment was formed on May 15, 1941. However, the creation of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade was officially announced only in October 1941. Its recruitment was carried out in Delhi, while a training center called "Airlanding School" ("Airborne School") was organized at the Willington airbase (New Delhi area). The brigade consisted of the 151st British, 152nd Indian and 153rd Gurk parachute battalions. Most of the officer and sergeant positions (including junior specialists), of course, were occupied by Europeans. The first training jumps took place on October 15 near Karachi, and in February of the following year, the first brigade exercises for the landing of airborne assault were held. By this time, the problems with the supply of special equipment had already been largely overcome, and almost all personnel were constantly training on the ground. Thus, India unexpectedly became one of the oldest "airborne" powers on earth.
The brigade received its baptism of fire back in 1942: small groups of paratroopers made the first parachute jumps in combat conditions three times. In July, a company of an Indian battalion was thrown into Sindh during an unsuccessful operation to suppress a mutiny of one of the local tribes. In the same month, a reconnaissance group of 11 people landed near Myichin (Burma territory) with the task of collecting data on the Japanese forces stationed there. In August, 11 more people landed in Burma, in the area of Fort Hertz, to prepare a small airfield to receive gliders with groups of Shindites.
In the fall of 1942, a period of change began for the brigade. In October, the 151st British battalion was withdrawn from its composition, which was transferred to the Middle East. In the same month, the Airborne School was renamed the Parachute Training School and relocated to Shaklala.
This was followed by the redeployment of the entire brigade - its units were stationed in the town of Campbellpur (about 50 miles from Shaklala). At the beginning of the next year, instead of the British battalion that had departed for the Mediterranean, a battalion of Gurks entered the brigade. At the same time, a deployment plan appeared on the basis of the 50th and one of the British parachute brigades of the 9th Indian Airborne Division. It was supposed to be used in battles in the Middle East or in Europe, but the absence of a "free" British brigade delayed this process at the stage of organizing headquarters structures.
In March 1944, the 50th Brigade was transferred to the command of the 23rd Infantry Division with the task of preventing the Japanese offensive in the northeastern regions of India. Fighting there continued until July, and the brigade, which was eventually given operational independence again, brilliantly proved itself in defensive battles near Imphal and Kohima. At the same time, the 9th division, which had not yet completed its formation, was renamed the 44th Indian Airborne Division (the headquarters of the 44th Armored Division, previously disbanded due to the uselessness of the 44th Armored Division) was transferred to the formation. It consisted of: 14th Infantry Brigade - British 2nd Infantry Battalion "Black Watch", Indian 4th Rajputana Rifle (Rajputana rifles) and 6 / 16th Punjab Infantry (Punjab regiment), as well as the 50th parachute brigade, withdrawn to the rear and stationed in Rawalpindi. The 14th Brigade was supposed to be used as an Air-landing on gliders. In January 1945, the division was reinforced with a new 77th Indian Parachute Brigade. The new brigade was formed on the basis of the allocated units of the 50th brigade and shindite units. It consisted of: the 15th British, 2nd Gurk and 4th Indian parachute battalions, as well as the British 44th separate company of Pathfinders (formed according to the American model). By the beginning of 1945, the 16th British, 1st Indian and 3rd Gurk battalions continued to be listed in the 50th brigade. In addition to these units and the 14th Airborne Brigade, the division included the 44th Indian Airborne Reconnaissance Battalion (staffed by Sikhs) and support units: four engineering battalions plus separate units (communications, four medical, a repair fleet, a supply company and three motor transport companies).
The Indian Parachute Regiment, created with the approval of the British government in December 1944, took part in the formation, training and supply of the Indian and Gurkish battalions.In a system modeled on the British, the regiment served as a base and a military headquarters engaged in recruiting and training reinforcements exclusively from the number of indigenous people. Relying on the cadres of two Gurkish and one Indian battalions from the 50th brigade, the headquarters formed two new parachute battalions for the 50th and 77th brigades included in the 44th division, which were supplemented (according to London's requirements) with one British battalion each.
The natural conditions of the Far East did not facilitate the conduct of large-scale airborne operations using hundreds of aircraft and gliders, just like in Europe. During the Second World War, mainly small groups operated in this theater of operations, as a rule, by force of up to a company, or even a platoon. In the first half of 1945, within the framework of Operation Dracula, the British headquarters in India planned to conduct an amphibious operation in the area of the capital of Burma, Rangoon (located 35 kilometers from the mouth of the Rangoon River). The river was heavily mined by both the Japanese and allied aviation. Therefore, in order to provide cover for the minesweepers, and then the landing barges crossing the river, it was decided to seize a bridgehead on its western bank with the help of airborne assault forces. The most important point dominating the mouth was the height of Ele-Phant-Point. The task to master it was entrusted to a special-purpose battalion, formed from volunteers (from the personnel of the 50th brigade) and reinforced by medical, communications and sapper units.
The last preparations for the operation unfolded on April 29 in Akyab, where a reserve detachment (200 people) arrived, formed from the servicemen of the 1st Indian, 2nd and 3rd Gurk parachute battalions. The delivery of the landing force to the target was to be provided by US Air Force aircraft, but due to insufficient training of American pilots, this task was assigned to the 435th and 436th Canadian squadrons. The landing was planned to be carried out in two stages. The first two vehicles threw out the pathfinders and sappers needed to prepare the site, the second wave included eight aircraft with the main landing force.
On May 1, at 3.10 am, the operation began. As intelligence reported, there were no enemy units in the landing zone, but during an allied air raid on the Elephant Point area, attack aircraft mistakenly attacked one of the paratroopers' units (about 40 people were injured). At half past four in the afternoon, the main forces were dropped: after half an hour, the Indian paratroopers captured the entire height, destroying the only Japanese bunker with a flamethrower. At the same time, Allied aircraft neutralized the Japanese ships at the mouth of Rangoon, ensuring the possibility of supplying supplies. The battalion was withdrawn to the liberated Burmese capital on May 3, and before returning to India on May 17, it was once again parachuted into the position of the Japanese - near Tohai. Immediately before the end of the war, the 44th division was transferred to a new base in Karachi, renaming it the 2nd Indian Airborne Division.
In addition to the Hindus, Sikhs and Gurks, who fought on different fronts for the glory of Great Britain, the British attracted the Arabs under their banners. Even Iraq, which was not part of the empire, and in 1941 turned into an arena of battles between pro-German rebels and the British Expeditionary Force, fielded its contingent. In 1942, one hundred and fifty officers and sergeants of the Royal Iraqi Army, who underwent special training under the guidance of British advisers, completed the newly created 156th Parachute Battalion. This small military unit, in accordance with the Anglo-Iraqi treaty, nominally not subordinate to the British command in the Middle East, was stationed at the Habbaniya airfield. Then she was included in the 11th British Parachute Battalion, "demoted" to a company. In this capacity, the Arabs participated in battles in Italy and in landings on the islands of the Aegean Sea (July 1943). Six months later, the first parachute unit in Iraq was disbanded as unnecessary.
A uniform
Indian paratroopers wore the usual English or Indian field uniforms and chestnut berets. Items of special equipment and uniforms - "Denison's blouses", airborne steel helmets, trousers, etc. - were not common in the colonial airborne forces. The Indians jumped in special khaki-colored cloth hoods covering the head, and in battle they wore ordinary infantry helmets. Items of Indian colonial uniforms, used since the First World War, were also almost never found among paratroopers: since 1943, the British began to dress Hindus and Sikhs in ordinary "battle-dresses".
Along with berets in the field, they often wore knitted "fishing" hats, similar to those used in commando units. Parachutes - British Hotspur Mk II or other samples supplied from the metropolis. Paratroopers from the Gurk battalions hung their famous curved knives - kukri from the back on their belts. The kukri is equipped with a brown wooden handle in the form of a cylinder expanding towards the heel. The handle is finished in brass, in the form of rings and dowels. The total length of the weapon is 460 mm, the blade is about 40 centimeters, the thickness of the butt is about 10 mm. The single-edged blade has a reverse curvature and expands in the lower third: this gives the kukri a huge impact. The triangular section of the blade symbolizes the Hindu Trimurti - the unity of the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Knives made by different manufacturers had different blade curvatures, variations in finishes and structural elements. On the heel of the blade, ciphers, symbols of the supplier plant, date of manufacture, batch numbers, etc. were applied (in the 40s, knives made in the First World War were used in the Gurkian units). Kukri is worn in a sheath of wood covered with brown leather with a brass tip. The scabbard has compartments for two small knives: one is used for cutting, the other has a blunt blade and is used to strike sparks when lighting a fire. At the same time, the handles of two knives stick out from the scabbard. The scabbard with the help of a system of straps is suspended from the waist belt at the back in a vertical position with the handle to the right hand (belt loops are connected to a leather clamp into which the scabbard is threaded; the clamp is equipped with lacing). All suspension and lacing details are brown leather.
The golden emblem of the Royal Airborne Forces was pinned to the left side of the beret, and a British paratrooper qualification badge (wings and an open parachute) was sewn on the upper part of the right sleeve.
It should be noted that the Indian and Gurkish forces used a special rank system for privates, sergeants and officers of indigenous nationalities. Part of the "native" officer corps, which passed the Royal Attestation Commission, wore the usual British insignia on their shoulder straps. However, the vast majority of commanders were officially called "Viceroy's Commissioned Officers" (VCO) - "officers certified by the Viceroy of India." Their status was lower, so special titles were traditionally used for them: Jemadar, Subedar and Subedar Major (corresponding to English from lieutenant to captain). Since October 1942, all Indian VCOs wore one or three small silvery quadrangular "bumps" on their shoulder straps, pinned to the transverse strips of braid: red, yellow, red. Corporals and sergeants in the Indian-Gurkish units were called Lance Nike, Nike and Hawildar; the private was called the sepoy. Their white or green (in rifle battalions) sleeve patches were similar to British ones, but were simpler and cheaper, without embossed sewing.
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The Dutch operation (1944) (code-named "Market Garden" - "The Vegetable Garden") was an Allied military operation conducted from September 17 to September 25, 1944 in the Netherlands and Germany during World War II. In the course of the operation, the largest airborne landing in history was carried out.
The plan of operation belonged to the British Field Marshal B. Montgomery and was approved by Eisenhower. The Allies' plan was to bypass the Siegfried Line by advancing north into the Arnhem region, capturing bridges over the Meuse, Waal, Lower Rhine, and turning into the industrial regions of Germany. The seizure of Dutch ports was supposed to solve the supply problem. In total, the advancing mechanized units had to overcome about a hundred kilometers from the town of Neerpelt to Arnhem, while crossing at least nine water obstacles. For convenience, the entire corridor was divided into three sectors, named after the names of the major cities located in these sectors - Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. Each of them was assigned to one of the parachute divisions.
The German side collected the retreating units, brought in reinforcements and built defenses along the Rhine in order to prevent the Allies from entering Germany.
According to the plan, which received the name "Market", the paratroopers had to land on a narrow "carpet path" in the southeastern part of the Netherlands on the Eindhoven-Arnhem section. Removal of drop sites from the front line - 60-90 km. The main goal is to capture bridges over the rivers Dommel, Aa, Meuse, Wilhelmina Canal, Meuse-Waal Canal and further to the Rhine.
The main forces of the 30th corps were supposed to advance on Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem to connect with the landing force.
the main strategic goal of the operation - opening the way for the invasion of Germany through the north-west of the country - was not achieved. However, the operation ensured the advancement of the Allied ground forces a considerable distance deep into the territory of the Netherlands. The 101st and 82nd US Airborne Divisions consistently, by seizing bridges, ensured this advance, but the bridge in Arnhem, captured by British and Polish paratroopers, really turned out to be "too far" for the allies (according to unconfirmed reports, the phrase belongs to General Browning ). Arnhem remained in the hands of the German troops.
Due to the fact that the Dutch operation of September 1944 ended in an obvious strategic failure, Montgomery admitted in his post-war memoirs that "Berlin was lost to us when we could not develop a good operational plan in August 1944, after the victory in Normandy."
Paratroopers of the 1st Airborne Battalion of the 1st British Airborne Division on the morning of September 17, 1944
Paratroopers of the British 1st Airborne Division signal to transport planes on the bridgehead in the Dutch city of Oosterbeek)
Parachutist of the British 1st Airborne Division with the Sten Mk. V in an airplane before being dropped into the Netherlands
German machine gun crew from the 3rd Luftwaffe Parachute Division, armed with a captured American Browning M1919A4 machine gun, in position at Osterbek, a suburb of Arnhem (Arnheim / Osterbeeck)
A convoy of self-propelled guns StuG III of the 280th assault gun brigade (Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 280) of the Wehrmacht moves along the street of the town of Oosterbeek, west of Arnhem, September 19, 1944. During heavy fighting in this sector, British troops were driven back to the Lower Rhine.
German tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. H, shot down by British paratroopers in Arnhem
Captured German soldiers captured by paratroopers of the 1st British Airborne Division in Arnhem. From left to right: a Dutch activist who helped the Nazis, a Kazakh and two Poles. Kazakh was one of three prisoners "Russians" from the 363rd Artillery Regiment of the Wehrmacht
German soldiers in battle with British paratroopers in Arnhem, September 17, 1944
Luftwaffe auxiliary captured by British paratroopers in Arnhem
The body of a German soldier killed by British paratroopers in Holland. The photo was taken, apparently, at the checkpoint of some military facility: you can see a sign with the text in Dutch “No entry. Art. 461 of the Criminal Code ", which indicates the presence of a guarded object, which was attacked by the paratroopers. Therefore, in the photo - the killed sentries
A column of the 2nd Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment of the British Army enters the Dutch town of Oosterbeek along the Utrechtsweg road
British soldiers escorting a group of German prisoners during Operation Market Garden
German self-propelled guns StuG III of the 280th assault gun brigade (Sturmgeschütz Brigade 280), the 9th SS Panzer Division "Hohenstaufen" at the intersection of Bovenover and Onderlangs streets in Arnhem, during the battles with the British paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion of the British South American , South Staffordshire Regiment). Soldiers inspect the last building occupied by the British. This vehicle at the beginning of the day during the battle was hit by a grenade from the PIAT anti-tank grenade launcher, which left a dent on the left side of the ACS.
German paratroopers move into combat position along Arnhem Street, September 17, 1944.
German self-propelled guns StuG III of the 3rd battery of the 280th assault gun brigade (3./StuG.Brgd.280) and support grenadiers at the damaged building of St. Elizabeth's hospital on Utrechtseweg 19, during the battle with the 2nd battalion of the British South Affordshire regiment ( 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment) September 19, 1944. During the battle, the British were forced to retreat
The grenadiers of the Kampfgruppe Möller enter the museum grounds in Arnhem on Utrechtseweg. The museum building housed the positions of the British 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment
Paratroopers from the 7th and 8th platoons of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment surrender to the grenadiers of the Kampfgruppe Möller in the museum area on Utrechtseweg in Arnhem. In the foreground, a German 2-cm FlaK 38 anti-aircraft gun crushed by armored vehicles
Captured British paratroopers from the 1st Airborne Division walk past a German StuG III SPG in Arnhem. Photo by Erich Wenzel
Collapse of a house in Arnhem after the end of the fighting, September 1944
The landing of paratroopers of the US 82nd Airborne Division from C-47 Skytrain aircraft during Operation Market Garden.
In the foreground, the landing gliders WACO CG-4A "Hadrian"
Gliders "Waco" (Waco CG-4) of the 101st US Airborne Division, concentrated on the airfield before the start of Operation Market Garden
Aerial photography of landing gliders on the field during Operation Market Garden
Panorama of the mass landing of paratroopers during Operation Market Garden, September 17, 1944
1st Allied Airborne Army lands in Holland
Allied 1st Air Force paratroopers boarding a C-47 Skytrain prior to Operation Market Garden
American gliders WACO CG-4A "Hadrian" on a field in Holland during Operation Market Garden. Visible in the sky are the American C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft towing gliders. September 18, 1944
German SPAAG Sd. Kfz. 251/17 with the settlement in the Dutch town of Plasmolen
Two British soldiers at the wall of a house in a Dutch town
Calculation of the Vickers heavy machine gun from the 7th Northumberland Royal Fusiliers of the 59th Staffordshire Infantry Division in a trench in a cornfield near the Dutch town of Someren
A column of British armored vehicles from the 2nd Battalion Welsh Guards moves across the bridge over the Waal River in the city of Nijmegen during Operation Market Garden. The column is moving British tanks "Cromwell" (Cromwell). In the foreground is the British Universal Carrier. September 21, 1944, photographer Norman Midgley
British paratroopers fire from an Ordnance ML 3-inch mortar at a position near the Dutch town of Oosterbeek. September 21, 1944, photographer Dennis Smith
British war photographers and cinematographers Sergeants G. Walker, C.M. Lewis of the 7th Parachute Battalion (Pegasus emblem) and a resident of the Dutch town of Oosterbeek at lunch on the hood of a jeep
British paratrooper Rumsey fires a 75mm M1 light field howitzer on the outskirts of the Dutch town of Arnhem, photographer Dennis Smith
A crew of a 6-pounder 57-mm anti-tank gun (QF 6 pounder 7 cwt 57mm anti-tank gun) with its own name Gallipoli II from the 26th anti-tank platoon of the 1st British parachute division is firing at the Pz.Kpfw. B2 (FL) 740 (f) (captured French flamethrower tank Char de bataille B1) from the 224th Panzer Company of the Wehrmacht (Panzer-Kompanie 224.) in the forest on the outskirts of the Dutch town of Oosterbeek, September 20, 1944
A soldier of the 1st British Parachute Division, armed with an American-made M1 carbine, on the destroyed porch of the Hartenstein Hotel in the Dutch town of Osterbeck during a battle with German soldiers. September 23, 1944, photographer Dennis Smith
Headquarters Captain of the 1st British Parachute Division David McCombe (1906-1972) fires a 9.65mm Enfield No. 2 Mk.VI, .38/200 revolver through the window of the Hartenstein Hotel "(Hartenstein) in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
British soldiers carry a wounded man on a stretcher during a battle near the Hartenstein Hotel in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
German soldiers from the Wehrmacht parachute units exchange ammunition in Plasmolen
British paratroopers at a damaged 76mm 17-pounder anti-tank gun on Stadsgracht in the ruined Dutch city of Nijmegen (Nijmegen, 20 September 1944)
British jeeps on the road near the Dutch town of Osterbeek
Sgt. 24th Separate British Parachute Company Jim Travis (left) drinks water received from residents of Arnheim. September 17, 1944
Dutch nurse treats wounded British paratroopers
Arnheim resident Tonia Verbeek gives a glass of water to British paratrooper Private Vernon Smith sitting in a jeep.
German soldiers walk past an American M4 Sherman tank that was knocked out and lying in a ditch, with a turret torn off as a result of the explosion of the BC
British paratroopers Privates Ron Hall and Bill Reynolds of 6th Platoon, Company B, Captain John Killick's 89th Field Security Section, scouting the boulevard in the Dutch town of Arnheim
British paratroopers of the group of Captain John Killick (far right) from the 89th Field Security Section with a German prisoner on the street in the Dutch town of Arnhem. September 18, 1944, photographer Sam Presser
British paratroopers of the 15th and 16th platoons of C Company of the 1st Battalion prepare to repel a German attack in the overgrown Van Lennepweg in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
Sergeants J. Whawell and J. Turl of the British Glider Pilot Regiment in search of a Uitgebreid Lager Onderwijs (ULO) German sniper in the Kneppelhoutweg area of the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
Wounded British soldiers at the entrance to 181 Field Hospital (181 A / L Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C.) at 9 Duitskampsweg in the Dutch town of Wolfheze
Lieutenant of the 1st British Parachute Division D.A. Dolley (right) gives a light to the wounded Major Richard Lonsdale (R.T.H. Lonsdale, 1913-1988, left) after the evacuation from Arnheim
A group of British soldiers evacuated from the Dutch city of Arnheim. On the night of September 25, the remnants of the 1st Airborne Division - about 2,400 people - crossed the Rhine to Nijmegen by boats
A soldier from the 1st British Parachute Division watches a burning jeep, hiding from a German mortar attack, during a battle near the Hartenstein Hotel in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
German paratroopers, advancing to combat positions, carry weapons and ammunition along the street of a Dutch city
British glider pilot Captain Ogilvie (far left) by a jeep en route to the Dutch city of Arnheim during Operation Market Garden
Two paratroopers from the 1st British Division fire at houses with an entrenched sniper from a Vickers machine gun on the outskirts of the Dutch town of Arnheim
British Major General Ronald Urquhart (1906-1968) at the headquarters at the Hartenstein Hotel in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek. Next to the general is the standard of the 7th parachute battalion
British soldiers break down the door of a house on Utrechtstrat in the Dutch town of Arnheim
Soldiers of the 1st British Parachute Brigade use parachutes to signal their transport planes at the headquarters at the Hartenstein Hotel in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
Pictured from right to left, British cameramen Sergeants C.M. Lewis and G. Walker and war photographer Sergeant Dennis M. Smith in the Dutch city of Arnheim
The commander of the 1st British parachute brigade, Brigadier (Brigadier - a rank in the British army, according to the position is located between the colonel and the general) Philip Hugh Whitby Hicks, 1895-1967) at the map at the headquarters in the Netherlands
Sergeant 1st British Parachute Brigade S. Bennett after crossing the Rhine on September 26, 1944 during the retreat. The soldier threw his clothes while crossing, but kept the Sten submachine gun and helmet
British paratroopers armed with Stan submachine guns make their way through a destroyed house in Oosterbeek.
British paratroopers Malcolm and Jury in a trench with a 7.7mm Bren machine gun in battle in the Dutch town of Oosterbeek
The chief of staff of the 3rd Luftwaffe Air Fleet, Lieutenant General Hermann Lukas Plocher (1901-1980), gives orders in the town of Milsbeek. The picture was taken on the morning of September 19, 1944 during the visit of Lieutenant General Plocher to Millsbeek to organize a repulse against the Anglo-American landing forces in their landing zone "N" ("Landing Zone N") during Operation Market Garden
British paratroopers in a C-47 transport aircraft before landing in Holland
Corporal Mills of the 1st British Parachute Division at the grave of the deceased in the Arnheim area
Two German prisoners of war under the escort of a British paratrooper in the Dutch town of Arnhem
Residents of the Dutch town of Oosterbeek watch the paratroopers of the 1st British division and German prisoners
Unsuccessful landing of an American parachutist. The Allied 1st Airborne Army is landing during Operation Market Garden
German soldiers search a British officer from the 1st Parachute Division, who tried to escape, disguised as a Dutch civilian
Captured paratroopers of the 1st British Airborne Division captured by the Germans in the Arnhem area, the Netherlands
A paratrooper of the US 101st Division examines the holes in the front plate of the British Sherman Firefly shot down in Erp. The emblem of the 101st division on the soldier's helmet was covered with a censor
The fifth day of Operation Market Garden. British Sherman tanks from the Royal Panzer Regiment of the 44th Infantry Division of the 30th Corps stand on the Nijmegen-Eindhoven road near the village of Veghel on September 21, 1944. On the left, walking Dutch civilians are watching the British.
The 44th Royal Panzer Regiment was supposed to support the US 101st Airborne Division in the battle to maintain control of the Nijmegen-Eindhoven road ("Hell's Highway"), but moved very slowly due to constant stops
The fourth day of Operation Market Garden. A British truck from XXX Corps exploded after being hit by a German shell on the road from Eindhoven to Nijmegen, nicknamed the "Hell's Highway". After this explosion, traffic on the road stopped and cars stopped from the town of Son (Son) in Holland to the Belgian border. Allied soldiers hiding from the German shelling are visible in the roadside ditch.
4th day of Operation Market Garden. Medics from the American 101st Airborne Division and a British soldier from the XXXth Corps squat next to the wounded lying on stretchers in a ditch near the Dutch town of Son. There is a convoy of trucks on the highway nearby, and there is a battle ahead.
Forced landing of the American B-24j-150-co "Liberator" bomber of the 845th squadron of the 491st bomber group of the 8th US Air Force.
The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire on 09/18/1944 in the Eindhoven area during an operation to supply the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions of the US Army. The vehicle's right wing was badly damaged, and the commander, Captain James K. Hunter, decided to sit on his belly in the field. But at an altitude of 50 feet, the plane's third engine failed, causing the right wing to catch on the ground (this moment is captured in the photo). Despite this, the commander managed to gain a little height, but only in order to crash into trees and farm buildings a kilometer northeast of the city of Udenhout. Only the shooter Frank DiPalma survived. He was rescued from the rubble by Franciscan monks, who then sheltered him from the Germans in the village of Huize Assisi, until the British liberated it.
The city of Nijmegen, in the background you can see the bridge over the river Waal, one of the branches of the Rhine delta. The city center was damaged when a squadron of American bombers, returning from an unfulfilled mission over Germany due to heavy clouds, dropped bombs on Nijmegen, mistaking it for a German city
Paratroopers during Operation Market Garden on September 18, 1944, near the Wolfhese railway station in Holland. The paratrooper lying in the foreground is armed with a PIAT grenade launcher made for shooting, additional grenades are near the tree. Others are armed with a Bren machine gun and a Lee Enfield rifle. The disassembled small sapper shovel sitting behind him
American paratroopers are fighting a street fight in the city of Weigel
Major General Friedrich Kussin (1895-1944) was the garrison commandant of the city of Arnhem. On September 17, 1944, between 4 pm and 5 pm, at a fork in the roads of Osterbeijk-Wolfhese, his gray Citroen car was fired upon by soldiers of the 5th platoon of the 3rd British parachute battalion. The general, his driver and orderly were killed on the spot.
Photographer Dennis Smith took this famous photograph the day after Cussin's death. By this time, the body of the murdered had been abused by scalping it. In addition, insignia, awards and almost all buttons were cut off from the general's uniform.
The Parachute Regiment, established by Sir Winston Churchill in 1940, after the end of the Second World War, participated in more than 50 campaigns and deservedly occupies its rightful place among the most prestigious parts of Britain.
With only 370 men, the first British airborne unit was formed first from the personnel of the 2nd Detachment. However, its ranks quickly replenished with volunteers, and, once in Tunisia, the paratroopers of the 2nd Airborne Brigade, as the unit began to be called in July 1942, soon earned the Germans nickname "die roten Teufel" - "red devils".
In 1943, the brigade landed in Sicily; later it became known as the 1st Airborne Division. Meanwhile, the 6th Airborne Division was formed in England, which played the role of a battering ram during the landing 
Allies in Normandy in June 1944. In August of the same year, the 2nd separate brigade (recruited from the volunteers of the 1st division) was dropped over Provence in order to cut off the communications of the German troops. At the end of September, paratroopers of the 1st division, together with the Polish brigade, landed in the Arnhem Hell. Then the "Red Devils" distinguished themselves during Operation Varsity, which paved the way for the crossing of the Rhine.
Although the post-war demobilization significantly thinned the British airborne forces, the parachute regiment fighters continued to defend the honor of the Union Jack flag around the world: paratroopers deployed in Palestine (until 1947), in Malaysia, fought on the Suez Canal near Port Said (1956) , in Cyprus (1964), in Aden (1965) and in Borneo. From 1969 to 1972, they were used in a very dubious way in Northern Ireland as internal troops. In 1982, during the Falklands conflict, after two battalions of the parachute regiment clearly demonstrated to the world that the British airborne assault is now worthy of the glory of its famous predecessors, the heroes of Tunisia and Arnhem, they again found themselves in the center of attention and recognition.
British paratroopers, like all British infantry, are equipped with the SA-80 5.56mm combat system, which includes the L85A1 assault rifle ("individual weapon") and the L86A1 light machine gun ("light support weapon"). This weapon has performed well on shooting range, but in practice it turned out that it is quite capricious, does not withstand frequent parachute jumps, and the paratroopers take it with them only on combat operations. To combat enemy armored vehicles, Milan rocket launchers are used - a weapon more powerful than that of conventional infantry units.
The training of a paratrooper takes five months, and the first insignia - "wings" - is awarded to him after 8 parachute jumps (including 2 from a balloon).
British Airborne Forces glider
Bridge in Arnhem. Operation Market Garden. 1944
British Airborne Forces ( English British Airborne forces ) - A highly mobile elite branch of the Ground Forces of the British Armed Forces, which at different times included military formations, units and subunits of lightly armed infantry, which were intended to deliver air to the enemy's rear and conduct active hostilities in its rear zone.
1. The history of the creation of the airborne forces of Great Britain
1.1. Formation of the first divisions
After the victory in the First World War, the armed forces of Great Britain rested on well-deserved laurels and until the early 30s resembled a real reserve of outdated forms of warfare and in any innovations in this area they were treated with wary and sometimes hostile. The attempts of the American Brigadier General W. Mitchell, who in 1918 insisted on the early creation of large airborne forces, found even fewer supporters in England than in the United States. A worthy adversary, according to British military theorists, was no longer in Europe. "The war to end all wars" ended with the complete victory of the Entente, and any desire to increase the military power of Germany or the USSR was supposed to stifle in the bud with increased economic pressure. Under these conditions, the British believed that there was no need to change the time-honored structure of the armed forces, and even more so to introduce such extravagant ideas as the landing of soldiers from the air.
But, the irony of fate after 4 years created doubts about the correctness of these views. The British experienced a marriage in the experience of using landing troops only during the conflict in Iraq. After receiving a mandate to manage this territory, the formerly part of the Ottoman Empire, the British Empire actually turned it into its semi-colony. Since 1920, lively hostilities began in the country between British troops and the local national liberation movement. In order to compensate for the lack of mobility of their ground forces in the fight against the cavalry detachments of the rebels, the British transferred a significant number of combat aircraft to Iraq from Egypt, including two military transport squadrons. Under the leadership of Air Vice Marshal John Salmond, a special tactic was developed for the Air Force's actions with their participation in actions to "pacify" the rebellious territories. Since October, Air Force units have been actively involved in suppressing the uprising.
Germany's triumphant use of its parachute units during fleeting campaigns in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland in 1940 did not convince the orthodox British military of the need to create similar units of their own. Only on June 22, 1940, almost after the defeat of France, Prime Minister Churchill gave the order to begin the formation of various special forces, including the parachute corps.
1.2. Parachutists of the British Empire
In addition to the British units themselves, the British VAT was supplemented by the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (eng. 1st Canadian Parachute Battaillon ). The battalion was formed on July 1, 1942, and in August 85 officers, sergeants and soldiers from its composition arrived in Ringuei for special training. Shiloh soon established a Canadian parachute training center. Meanwhile, the battalion, which had completed its training, became part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division and participated in Operation Overlord and subsequent battles in Europe (including the Ardennes on Christmas Day 1944).
In March 1945, the Canadians took part in Operation Varsity (landing across the Rhine), and then the battalion was withdrawn to its homeland and disbanded in September.
Following the first battalion, the Canadians manned three more. To this was later added one Australian and one South African battalion, which allowed the British, together with the staff of the 44th Indian Airborne Division, to bring the total number of VAT to 80,000 people.
1.3. Indian paratroopers
The first paratrooper detachment in India was formed on May 15, 1941. However, the creation of the 50th Indian Parachute Brigade was officially announced only in October 1941. Its recruitment was carried out in Delhi, while a training center called "Airlanding School" ("Airborne School") was organized at an air base in the New Delhi area. The brigade consisted of the 151st British, 152nd Indian and 153rd Gurksky parachute battalions. The first training jumps took place on October 15 in Karachi, and in February 1942 the first brigade exercises for the landing of airborne troops were held.
The brigade was baptized by fire back in 1942: small groups of paratroopers made the first parachute jumps in combat conditions three times. In July, a company of an Indian battalion was thrown into Sindh during an unsuccessful operation to suppress a mutiny of one of the local tribes. In the same month, a reconnaissance group of 11 people landed near Myichin (Burma territory) with the task of collecting data on the Japanese forces stationed there. In August, 11 more people landed in Burma, in the area of Fort Hertz, to prepare a small airfield to receive gliders with groups of shinditives.
In March 1944, the 50th Brigade was transferred to the command of the 23rd Infantry Division with the task of preventing the Japanese offensive in the northeastern regions of India. Fighting there continued until July, and the brigade brilliantly proved itself in defensive battles near Imphal and Kohimyu. At the same time, the forty-fourth Indian mixed traffic police was created, which was later reinforced by the 77th Indian parachute brigade.
Immediately before the end of the war, the 44th division was transferred to a new base in Karachi, renaming it 2 in the Indian traffic police.
1.4. Iraqi paratroopers
In addition to the Hindus, Sikhs and Gurks, who fought on different fronts for the glory of Great Britain, the British attracted the Arabs under their banners. Even Iraq, which was not part of the empire, but in 1941 turned into an arena of battles between the Pro-German rebels and the British Expeditionary Force, fielded its contingent. In 1942, one hundred and fifty officers and sergeants of the Royal Iraqi Army, undergoing special training under the guidance of British advisers, completed the newly created 156th Parachute Battalion. Then he was included in the 11th British parachute battalion, "demoted" in a parachute company. In this capacity, the Arabs took part in the battles in Italy and landings on the islands of the Aegean Sea (July 1943).
Six months later, the first parachute unit in Iraq was disbanded as unnecessary.
2. Participation in combat operations
2.1. First steps
2.3. Normandy
When prepared before landing in Normandy, the 1st and 6th divisions were called into the 1st British Airborne Corps (eng. 1st British Airborne Corps ), having confirmed at once with the 18th Airborne Corps of the US Army the First Allied Airborne Army (eng. First allied airborne army ) under the command of the American Lieutenant General Luis H. Brereton.
2.3.1. Mervilska battery
In Veresna 1944, the 1st traffic police, which was commanded by Major General Richard C. Urquhart (eng. Urquhart), She took part in one of the largest and most unsuccessful airborne operations of the Second World War, called Arnemskoy or Dutch (codenamed "Market Garden"). On the first day, 5,700 British paratroopers (50% of the personnel of the 1st division together with its headquarters) were to land from the airfields of southern England. The next day, this figure was supposed to be 100%. Despite all the pressure of the parachutists, the assault was unsuccessful. Therefore, in general, the operation was defeated, due to the fact that the First Airborne Division was unable to capture and hold the bridges near the Dutch city of Arnhem, despite the fact that in general they held out much longer than planned. Units of the XXX Army Corps of Great Britain were unable to break through the defenses in a certain area, and most of the forces of the 1st Airborne Division (about 7,000 paratroopers) were captured.
4.3. Lieutenant John Grayburn - 1944
In the course of battles for the Arnhem region, Lieutenant Greyburn keruvov with his people stretching out three dib, heroically settling the positions near the bridge, I want two wounds to be seen in the battlefield. His special manhood, the leader's quality and the showroom were allowed to the paratroopers to take the place. A husband's officer having zaginu at the left of nich tsikh battles.
4.4. Flight Lieutenant David Lord - 1944
Major, we will injure you and drag them over from the safe mission. To navigate the wounded, having continued the evacuation of a special warehouse from a damaged armored personnel carrier, I do not respect the city of warriors' sacks, and saved the life of three choloviks.4.7. Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones - 1982
Colonel Herbert Jones, Commander of the 2nd Airborne Battalion, having blocked the attack of the paratroopers during the battle for Darwin and Gus-Grin at the Falklands War, 1982. Win attacking the position of the Argentine gunmetal rozrahunku with contempt to the power of safety and the bullet of the wounds of the docks without falling into the guard position.
4.8. Sergeant Ian McKay - 1982
Sergeant McKay, serviceman of the 3rd battalion of the parachute regiment, having witnessed a heroic feat if the platoon commander was injured at the move of the Falkland War to 1982 rock. Having repaired the wounded commander, the sergeant looked up from the ukrittya and smithely attacked the enemy's position with heavy fire, like 2 paratroopers bully wounded and one shot, McKay threw hand grenades at the enemy. The attack of a husband's parachutist, who sacrificed his living lives, sent the Argentines from the head forces to the platoon, who wanted to get the assigned position.
See also
5. Video
6. Footnotes
Literature
- Li E. Air power - M .: Foreign Literature Publishing House, 1958
- Nenakhov Yu. Yu.: Airborne Forces in the Second World War. - Minsk: Literature, 1998. - 480 pp. - (Encyclopedia of military art). ...
- Nenakhov Y. Special Forces in the Second World War. - Minsk: Harvest, Moscow: ACT, 2000.
- J.M. Gavin Airborne Warfare AST Publishing House, M., 2003
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