Complex sentence: F Troop deployed around the bridges and for five days fought off repeated enemy air attacks, shooting down 17 German planes; despite being deprived of reinforcement, which had been sunk in the English Channel.
Split into simpler sentences: F Troop deployed around the bridges and for five days fought off repeated enemy air attacks, shooting down 17 German planes. This was despite being deprived of its reinforcement units, which had been sunk in the English Channel.