The British paratroopers. Parachute Regiment - Airborne Parachute Regiment

July 1943. The allies are advancing through the territory of Sicily, pushing the enemy to the north. British generals begin to implement a plan to encircle the Italian-German forces so that they cannot redeploy to mainland Italy. On the night of July 13-14, units of the 1st parachute brigade disembark south of the port of Catania in order to capture the strategically important Primosole bridge on the Simeto River, cut off the enemy's path to retreat and facilitate the advance of the 50th Infantry Division. To counteract the landing, the German command throws units of the 1st parachute division to the bridge. So the battle of British and German paratroopers began ...

Target - Sicily

After the surrender of the Italian-German troops in North Africa, which took place on May 13, 1943, the Allies decided to continue active operations in the Mediterranean region: to land troops in Italy and withdraw it from the game. The first target for the attack was the island of Sicily, on which it was planned to land units of the US 7th Army, Lieutenant General George Patton and the British 8th Army, General Bernard Montgomery. "The first step is to capture a bridgehead in a convenient area and then conduct hostilities from it,"- so Montgomery outlined the goals of the future operation. The new operation was codenamed "Husky". The Americans were to create a bridgehead in the southwestern part of the island (on the shores of Gela Bay), the British in its southeastern part.

The allies had a numerical advantage over the enemy - 470,000 people, over 600 tanks and self-propelled guns, 1,800 guns and mortars, 1,700 aircraft. At the same time, the Italian-German troops under the command of General Alfredo Guzzoni and Field Marshal Albert Kesselring were able to deploy over 320,000 soldiers and officers, less than 200 tanks and assault guns, 300-350 guns and mortars, more than 600 aircraft. Do not forget that the Allies had an overwhelming advantage at sea: 2,590 ships took part in the landing operation.

On the night of July 9-10, the Allies carried out an airborne assault on the island, on July 10, an amphibious assault followed - Operation Husky began. The Germans were unable to throw the enemy into the sea and retreated with battles to the north of Sicily. If in the early days the advance of the units of the 7th and 8th armies proceeded rapidly, then later the enemy began to offer fierce resistance, especially in the British sector of the offensive. Unlike the coast, the mountainous terrain of Central and Northern Sicily, as well as the underdeveloped road network, favored the actions of the defenders - the Italian-German troops turned villages into strong points, and artillery batteries were located on the hills. On July 10, the 5th British Infantry Division from the 13th Corps (corps commander Major General Horatio Barney-Ficklin) reached the village of Kassabila (south of Syracuse). Parts of the 13th corps were heading towards Augusta, but not far from Priola they were stopped by the powerful resistance of the units by the battle group "Schmalz" under the command of Colonel Wilhelm Schmalz (units of the Luftwaffe tank division "Hermann Goering" and the 15th Panzergrenadier division, including several "Tigers") ...

Strategic bridge

Montgomery intended to prevent the evacuation of Italian-German troops from Sicily through the Strait of Messina, relying solely on the forces of the 8th Army. First of all, the British had to capture the reinforced concrete Primosole bridge, over 120 m long, connecting the banks of the Simeto River and located seven miles south of the port of Catania. The capture of the bridge was necessary for the successful advance of parts of the 13th corps to the north and the capture of Catania.

Primosole bridge

It was originally planned that the strategic object would be captured by the soldiers of the 50th Infantry Division (commander - Major General Sydney Kirkman) with the support of the tanks of the 4th armored brigade (commander - Brigadier John Cecil Carrie). But later the plan changed, and units of the 1st Airborne Division of Major General George Hopkinson, namely the 1st Parachute Brigade (commanded by Brigadier Gerald William Lutbury), were instructed to seize the bridge. The soldiers of the division were not newcomers - they managed to take part in the Brunewald raid of 1942, the battles for the Norwegian hydroelectric power station Vemork, the Tunisian campaign, as well as the landing at Syracuse on the night of July 9-10, 1943. The Primosole Bridge was supposed to be occupied by the 1st parachute battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Pearson, and the 3rd (commander - Lt. Col. Eric Yeldman) and 2nd (commander - Lt. Col. John Frost) battalions were ordered to cover the bridge from the north and south, respectively.

Lieutenant Colonel Alastair Pearson
Source - pegasusarchive.org

The parachute battalion commanders were experienced officers and had high awards - Lt. Col. Frost received the Military Cross for the Brunewald raid, and Lt. Col. Pearson received the Military Cross and two Distinguished Service Orders for the Tunisian campaign.

Lieutenant Colonel John Frost
Source - paradata.org.uk

To assist the paratroopers, the 3rd Commando Squad, Lt. Col. John Darnford-Slater, delivered an additional blow to capture the Malati Bridge on the Lintini River ten miles south of the Primosole Bridge. The British were opposed by units of the Hermann Goering division (commanded by Major General Paul Konrath) and the 15th Panzergrenadier Division (commanded by Major General Eberhard Rodt). In addition, Field Marshal Kesselring decided to transfer parts of the 1st Parachute Division (commander - Major General Richard Heidrich) to Catania.

German parachutists. Sicily, July 1943
Source - pegasusarchive.org

Due to a lack of vehicles, Heidrich could not send the entire division at once and first transferred the 3rd Parachute Regiment (commanded by Colonel Ludwig Heilman), the 1st Machine Gun Battalion (commanded by Major Werner Schmidt), signalmen and three anti-tank platoons. On July 12, at about 18:15, German paratroopers from the 3rd regiment (1400 people) landed in the fields near Catania.

Colonel Ludwig Heilmann
Source - specialcamp11.co.uk

The American fighters were unable to intercept the He.111 transports carrying the troopers, as they ran out of fuel (according to the American pilots). One of the German battalions was deployed west of the city of Catania, the other two were located on the approaches to the Malati Bridge. The next morning, units of the 1st machine-gun battalion arrived in Catania, the allied air force attacked the Catania airfield, as a result of which two Me.321 gliders were destroyed, in which the lion's share of the equipment and ammunition of anti-tank platoons was located. Thus, the German paratroopers were left with a very meager arsenal of anti-tank weapons. Colonel Heilman understood that if the Allies successfully landed on the Simeto River, the German units located south of it would be surrounded. Therefore, he ordered the commander of the 1st battalion, Hauptmann Otto Laun, to go with his soldiers to the Primosole bridge. He did so, placing his paratroopers two kilometers south of the bridge in an orange grove, which gave a good disguise.

Unsuccessful landing

The operation to capture the bridge, codenamed "Fastian", started on July 13, 1943, when at about 20:00 105 C-47 Dakota transport aircraft and 11 Albemarleys AW41 took off from the airfields in North Africa. there were over 1,856 paratroopers of the 1st parachute brigade. Nineteen gliders transported military equipment and ammunition (including ten six-pound guns and 18 jeeps), as well as 77 gunners. From the very beginning of the operation, the British had problems - the allied air defense units mistook the aviation for German and opened fire on it, and when they reached Sicily, the planes came under fire from Italian anti-aircraft guns. As a result, some of the gliders were damaged and were forced to return, several more cars were killed. Many transport aircraft were also damaged and returned to the airfields with 30% of the paratroopers.

At about 22:00, the British began the landing, and then the soldiers of the 1st machine-gun battalion organized a "warm welcome" to them. At first, the Germans mistook gliders for reinforcements, but when signal flares were fired, Heilman's fighters made sure that the enemy was landing, and opened a hurricane of fire from machine guns and several anti-aircraft guns. Several British aircraft were hit and crashed into the field. Later this battle was described by German Lieutenant Martin Pöppel:

“Burning planes fell on fields full of straw and lit up the entire battlefield. Our machine guns did not stop. "

Many British paratroopers had to jump out of burning cars under fire, more than 70 paratroopers were captured immediately after landing. The British had two huge problems - first, almost all radios were lost, and, as Lutbury wrote, "There was no connection with any of the battalions, and no one knew what happened."... Secondly, the planes lost their course, most of them dropped troops at a distance of 20–32 km from the object (some groups ended up at Mount Etna), and only 30 aircraft landed about 300 soldiers in the right place. The situation with the landing of artillery, which was made on July 14, was not in the best way - only four guns reached the designated point. The only success at the initial stage of Operation Fastian was that the Italian units at the bridge fled or surrendered without resistance.

On July 14, at 2:15 am, fifty soldiers of the 1st battalion, led by Captain Ran, captured the Primosole bridge and four pillboxes (two at the northern end of the bridge, and two at the southern end). In the pillboxes, the British found Italian Breda light machine guns and many cartridges for them. Two pillboxes at the northern end of the bridge were not defended by anyone, the capture of the "southern" pillboxes was described by Lieutenant Richard Bingley:

“At the southern end of the bridge, we met an enemy patrol of four Italians. Paratrooper Adams killed two of them at once. Our soldier threw Gamon's hand grenade at one of the pillboxes. Soon 18 Italians surrendered. The battle was fleeting. I was wounded in the right shoulder. "

At 3:45 am, paratroopers noticed a light tank, an armored car and three trucks on the road leading to the bridge. The gunners fired a shell at the tank, and the paratroopers threw grenades at the cars. According to Lieutenant Bingley, two trucks were carrying gasoline. The first car was destroyed by Gamon's grenade, thrown by Corporal Curtiss - 22 Italian soldiers died in a terrible death due to fuel ignition. At about 5:00, the British stopped a German truck towing the cannon - the soldiers riding on it threw two grenades in the direction of the parachutists and fled, leaving the cannon behind. Shortly thereafter, British sappers managed to clear the bridge.

Operation Fastian scheme
Source - Simmons M. Battles for the Bridges // WWII Quarterly 2013-Spring (Vol.4 No.3)

Without communication and ammunition

The paratroopers found two radios in the pillboxes, managed to inform the headquarters of the 4th armored brigade that the bridge had been taken under control, but after an hour the connection was lost. The bridge was guarded by about 120 fighters of the 1st battalion, armed with three mortars, a Vickers machine gun, three PIAT anti-tank grenade launchers, not counting small arms and grenades. In addition, the paratroopers had a working six-pound cannon at their disposal (two more guns needed repair), as well as two 50-mm Italian guns and a 75-mm German cannon. Not far from the bridge were two platoons of the 3rd battalion, and the soldiers of the 2nd battalion were able to take control of the hills southwest of the bridge in time, capturing more than a hundred Italian soldiers. In total, 283 soldiers and 12 officers from the 1st brigade gathered in the area of ​​the Primosole bridge.

At dawn on July 14, the Germans learned that the bridge had been captured by the enemy. To clarify the situation, a reconnaissance group of Hauptmann Franz Shtangenberg (20 people in two trucks) was sent there. Approaching the bridge at a distance of just over 2 km, the group was fired upon by the British from cannons, after which the Hauptmann returned to Catania and began to gather forces for a counterattack. He managed to collect over 350 people, including cooks, mechanics and 150 soldiers from the communications company under the command of Hauptmann Erich Fassl. As for artillery, the Germans could use a 50 mm Italian cannon and three 88 mm anti-aircraft guns.

Counterattacks by German paratroopers

In the afternoon, the Germans began shelling the British with anti-aircraft guns, as a result of which several paratroopers were injured. According to the testimony of the British, at about 13:00 they were attacked by several Me.110 fighters. At 13:10 the Germans launched the first attack - Shtangenberg's group struck the northern end of the bridge from the right flank, the signalmen from the left. Unable to fight for a long time due to a meager supply of ammunition, the British retreated to the southern end of the bridge.

While the battle for the bridge was underway, German paratroopers from the 1st Machine Gun Battalion attacked the British from the 2nd Battalion, stationed in the hills. Corporal Neville Ashley used the Bren light machine gun to hold back the enemy advance, while a group of soldiers led by Lieutenant Peter Barry suppressed the German machine gun point. The Germans opened fire from heavy machine guns and mortars, and the British retreated, unable to adequately "answer" them.

German paratroopers are firing from a machine gun. Sicily, July 1943
Source - barriebarnes.com

At a critical moment, Lieutenant Colonel Frost was able to locate an intact radio and call in artillery fire from the light cruisers Newfoundland and Mavritius. Heavy shelling from naval guns forced the Germans to retreat (according to British data, they lost more than twenty people killed and wounded). The British took up positions in the hills again. In battle, Captain Stanley Panther distinguished himself - together with three soldiers, he suppressed an enemy machine gun, then captured a light howitzer and fired several shells from it at the enemy. For their courage, the Panthers were awarded the Military Cross.

If Frost's group was able to maintain their position, then for the people of Lieutenant Colonel Pearson the situation became more complicated. After 15:00, the Germans, under cover of artillery and machine guns, hiding behind bushes and trees, again attacked the bridge from the north side, and Pearson ordered his fighters to retreat to the southern bank of the river. It is known that on the afternoon of July 14, the British expected their tanks to appear, but this did not happen. The crew of the six-pound gun managed to break the pillbox, which the Germans occupied on the northern bank, having used up almost all the ammunition. According to the British, the Germans attacked with the support of a self-propelled gun, but did not dare to break through the bridge, fearing to fall under its fire. Shtangenberg acted wisely - instead of attacking the bridge head-on, he ordered his soldiers to swim in another place, bypass the enemy and hit him from the rear.

Germans recapture the bridge

Lieutenant Colonel Pearson commanded his soldiers to retreat to the hills to the south and join up with Frost's group. The retreat was covered by several groups - a participant in the battles for Primosole, Lance Corporal Alfred Osborne claimed that the remaining soldiers had only a few cartridges for the Anfield rifles. In the battle at the bridge, 27 British paratroopers were killed, over 70 were injured. Medical corporal Stanley Tynan provided tremendous assistance in evacuating the wounded - he evacuated the wounded under shelling, for which he was awarded the Military Medal.

Destroyed pillbox near the Primosole bridge
Source - pegasusarchive.org

Lance Corporal Osborne covered the retreat, sitting in the bunker and firing from a light machine gun. Soon after he left his position, several shells fired by a German assault gun (according to another version, an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun) hit the pillbox.

After 18:00, a group of Hauptmann Laun approached the bridge from the south, in addition, the Germans managed to ford the river east of the bridge. The British withdrew, and the strategic facility was again in the hands of their opponents. At about the same time, units of two Italian battalions from the 213rd Coast Guard Division arrived here.

British 50th Division makes its way to the bridge.

On the night of July 13-14, the soldiers of the 3rd commando unit captured the Malati Bridge over the Lentini River. The commandos quickly occupied the pillboxes, putting to flight the Italian soldiers guarding the facility. On the morning of July 14, the bridge was attacked by several German battalions supported by mortars and tanks. According to the British commandos, a "Tiger" (according to another version - Pz.IV) fired at them, which destroyed the pillboxes. The special forces planned to hold out until the units of the 50th division arrived, but they got bogged down in battles with the units of Colonel Schmalts near the village of Carlentini. The 3rd unit was forced to retreat south in order to connect with the 50th division (in the battles for the bridge, it lost 30 people killed and 60 prisoners).

On July 14, with the support of artillery and tanks, the infantry of the 69th Brigade (commanded by Brigadier Edward Cook-Collins) captured the town of Lentini. While the 69th Brigade was fighting, units of the 151st Infantry Brigade (commanded by Brigadier Ronald Senior), as well as the Shermans from the 44th Armored Regiment (Squadron "C") made their way to the Malati River and re-captured the bridge (Germans could not destroy it). In the late evening of July 14, the above units approached the Primosole bridge - by this time it was already in the hands of the Germans.

Tankmen of the 44th Armored Regiment
Source - desertrats.org.uk

British tankers refused to attack the bridge without artillery support, and even at night. Meanwhile, reinforcements arrived at the Germans - several companies of the 1st Sapper Battalion, the 1st Battalion of the 4th Parachute Regiment and parts of the 1st Artillery Regiment. In addition, Catania had units of the Schmalz group, which had retreated from the south, as well as several Italian battalions and units of the 4th parachute regiment. First of all, the Germans began to equip positions on the northern bank of the Simeto River. On the night of July 14-15, a battle between British gunners and seven Italian armored vehicles broke out near the bridge - the crew of a six-pound cannon under the command of Corporal Stanley Rose burned two of them.

On the morning of July 15, the infantry of the 9th battalion of the Durham regiment tried to attack the north bank on both sides of the bridge (the bridge itself was well-shot, besides, the British thought it was mined). The Germans repulsed this assault. At a meeting of the officers of the 151st brigade, it was decided that the assault should be carried out at night to the left of the bridge upstream of the river, where the depth did not exceed 1.2 m (the ford was indicated by Lieutenant Colonel Pearson). The night assault was preceded by an hour-long artillery preparation.

On July 16 at 2:00 am, two companies of the 8th Battalion ("A" and "D") crossed the ford and announced the seizure of the bridgehead by firing a signal flare. After that, companies "B" and "C" of the same battalion, supported by tanks from the 44th regiment, moved across the bridge and made their way to the northern bank of Simeto. The Germans opened a hurricane of fire from two 88-mm guns, knocked out four "Shermans" (the total number of British tanks in the area of ​​the bridge did not exceed twenty units). The British created a bridgehead about 300 m deep, but could not advance further north, since the enemy was entrenched in vineyards and an olive grove.

The bridge is in British hands again

On July 16, the fighting continued with varying success. Private Reginald Goodwin (machine gunner from the 8th battalion of the 151st brigade) participated in repelling one of the German attacks: “With my Bren I managed to destroy two snipers and several enemy soldiers. The secret of success is a comfortable position, as well as the fact that my comrades were covering me from the flanks "... On the same day, units of the 1st parachute brigade were withdrawn to the rear - during the landing and in the battles for the bridge, they lost over 370 people.

The calculation of the anti-tank gun of the 1st parachute division is fighting at the Primosole bridge. July 1943
Source - barriebarnes.com

On July 17, at 1:00, units of the 6th and 9th battalions crossed Simeto ford (the bridge was shot through by the Germans) and replenished the forces of the defenders of the bridgehead, taking up positions in the vineyards. At 5:00 the British began to expand the bridgehead. Tanks from squadrons "A" and "C" of the 44th regiment crossed the bridge and took up positions to the left and right of its northern end. The crews of the Shermans of the 3rd Yeomen Regiment proved to be excellent. At 9:00, the tanks, moving north along the road, destroyed the crew of the 88-mm gun, the truck and suppressed several machine-gun points. At 9:30 am, the regiment's tankmen, supported by the infantry of the 151st Brigade, continued their offensive and destroyed two 105-mm guns. According to the reports of the 3rd regiment, on July 17, its soldiers killed 70 German soldiers and officers, and captured four. On that day, the commander of the 44th regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Willis, was killed - a sniper bullet hit him in the head. Major Grant assumed command of the regiment.

In the first half of the day, the Germans actively counterattacked, suffering considerable losses. Hauptmann Heinz-Paul Adolf from the engineer battalion tried to blow up the bridge with a truck loaded with explosives. Adolf died, and his plan did not work - the cars were destroyed before the approach to the bridge. The Hauptmann was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross. The situation changed after 11:15 am, when the tanks of the 44th regiment took advantageous positions for shelling and opened a hurricane of fire on the German positions. Under the cover of this fire, the British infantry approached the enemy trenches and began to throw grenades at them. Some of the Germans surrendered, many died, and the rest retreated to the north and took up defenses along with the paratroopers of the 4th regiment. Now the British completely controlled the bridge and its surroundings and began to push the enemy towards Catania.

The scheme of battles for the Primosole Bridge on July 13-17, 1943. Blue arrows indicate the advancement of British units, red - German ones. Yellow circles with numbers indicate the chronology of the battles: 1st and 3rd battalions of the British take control of the bridge; 2nd - 2nd battalion captures the southern sector near the bridge; 3 - the Germans conduct reconnaissance in force; 4 - the first massive attack of the Shtangenberg and Fassl groups; 5 - repeated attack by the Germans, the British retreat to the southern end of the bridge; 6 - the Germans are crossing the river east of the bridge, the 1st and 3rd battalions are retreating to the positions of the 2nd battalion; 7 - the arrival of units of the 50th division and the 4th armored brigade; 8 - counterattack by the 9th battalion of the Durham regiment and the 44th armored regiment; 9 - the British ford the river and capture the bridge
Source - Greentree D. British Paratrooper vs Fallschirmjäger: Mediterranean 1942-1943. - London: Osprey, 2013

Outcomes

In the battles for the Primosole bridge, the 151st brigade lost about 500 people in killed and wounded. In addition, the German paratroopers claimed that they were able to disable 5-7 enemy tanks. The losses of the German side were estimated by the British at 300 people killed and more than 150 prisoners (the Germans recognized the loss of 240 people killed and wounded). It is surprising that during the fighting, the field hospital of British paratroopers did not stop working, which performed several hundred operations. Even when the hospital was captured by the Italians, it did not stop working - the medical staff operated on both the wounded British paratroopers and their enemies.

The fight for the Primosole bridge did not have a serious impact on the course of the battles for Sicily - the allies were never able to encircle the enemy group, which managed to cross the Strait of Messina to the continent. In the battles for the bridge, both sides made serious mistakes. The British made an unsuccessful landing, as a result of which the paratroopers of the 1st brigade lost their ammunition and communications. The Germans did not manage to blow up the bridge.

Sources and Literature:

1. Hastings M. The Second World War: Hell on Earth. - Moscow: Alpina non-fiction, 2015
2. Blackwell I. Battle for Sicily: Stepping Stone to Victory. - Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2008
3. Delaforce P. Monty's Marauders: The 4th and 8th Armored Brigades in the Second World War. - Barnsley: Pen and Sword, 2008
4. D'Este C. Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, 1943. - New York: Harper Perennial, 2008
5. Greentree D. British Paratrooper vs Fallschirmjäger: Mediterranean 1942-1943. - London: Osprey, 2013
6. Mrazek J. Airborne Combat: Axis and Allied Glider Operations in World War II. - Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 2011
7. Sicily: report on the Primosole Bridge operation 1943 July 14–21, by Major F. Jones. - Kew, Richmond: The National Archives, 1943
8. Simmons M. Battles for the Bridges // WWII Quarterly 2013-Spring (Vol.4 No.3)
9. War Diaries For 3rd County of London Yeomanry (3rd Sharpshooters) 1943
10. https://paradata.org.uk

The Parachute Regiment (also called "British Paratroopers"), established by Sir Winston Churchill in 1940, after the end of World War II 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 Allied landings 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) .), Cyprus (1964), Aden (1965) and Bornso. 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 whole world that the British airborne assault was still worthy of the glory of its famous predecessors, the heroes of Tunisia and Arnsma, 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 L85A2 assault rifle ("individual weapon") and the L86A2 light machine gun ("light support weapon"). This weapon has shown itself well on the 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.

Until 1999, three battalions of the parachute regiment (1st, 2nd and 3rd) belonged to the regular British army, and two more (4th and 10th) belonged to the territorial forces. Two of the three regular battalions of the parachute regiment, on a rotational basis, were part of the 5th Airborne Brigade, where, alternately, they were used as an advanced airborne battalion group and an airborne battalion support group. In 1999, the brigade was disbanded and at the present time the parachute units of Britain are represented by 2 battalions (2nd and 3rd battalions), which make up the Parachute Regiment, which is part of the 16th Air Assault Brigade.

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.

Religion of the empire The young civilization of the Aztecs barely reached its heyday, when the invasion of Europeans interrupted its growth, and its development, and the deepening of its religious philosophy.

Empire Builders Empire building was inextricably linked with the fighting of the British army, which fell on much of the 19th century. Apart from Crimea, not a single British unit set foot on the continent from the time of the Battle of Waterloo until 1914.