During the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky) the 21st Independent Parachute Company parachuted ahead of the main force during Operation Fustian to capture the Primosole Bridge on the night of 13/14 July 1943. They then took part in Operation Slapstick, part of the Allied invasion of Italy, landing by sea at Taranto on 9 September. The company, with most of the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, after fighting briefly in the early stages of the Italian Campaign, returned to the United Kingdom in December 1943, but left an independent platoon behind in Italy to work with the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group. Held in reserve and unused for the Allied invasion of Normandy (codenamed Operation Overlord), the company took part in Operation Market Garden, landing at the Dutch town of Arnhem on the night of 17 September 1944. After marking the DZs and LZs the company was trapped with the rest of the division in the Oosterbeek Perimeter, suffering heavy casualties in what is now known as the Battle of Arnhem. The company did not see any further action in the war.