page_title: British airborne operations in North Africa
section_title: Bône
hierarchical_section_title: British airborne operations in North Africa / Bône
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Operations in the Middle East and North Africa, 1939-1943. Operation TORCH: Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vs, reinforcement aircraft for North African units, lined up at Bone, Algeria. The American soldiers crossing the concrete hard standing are members of the 1st Ranger Battalion, which guarded the airfield pending the arrival of RAF Regiment units.
context_page_description: The British airborne operations in North Africa were conducted by British paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Edwin Flavell, as part of the Tunisian Campaign of World War II, over the period between November 1942 and April 1943.
  When planning began for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa in 1942, it was decided to attach the 1st Parachute Brigade, part of the 1st Airborne Division, to the Allied forces taking part, as an American airborne unit, the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, was also to be used during the invasion. After a short period of training and being brought up to operational strength, mainly with men from the 2nd Parachute Brigade, also part of the 1st Airborne Division, the brigade was deployed to North Africa in November 1942.
  Units from the 1st Para Brigade dropped near Bône on 12 November, then near Souk el-Arba and Béja on 13 November, and at Pont Du Fahs on 29 November, seizing airfields, fighting as infantry after each action and linking up with an Allied armoured force, supporting it until December.
context_section_description: As an insufficient number of transport aircraft were allocated to the brigade, it was only possible to transport 3rd Parachute Battalion by air, with the battalion's strength consisting of its headquarters staff and 'B' and 'C' companies. The battalion landed at Gibraltar at dawn on 10 November, and its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Pine Coffin, was informed that the battalion was scheduled to conduct an airborne operation the next day. Pine Coffin was briefed by Lt. Gen. Kenneth Anderson, commander of the British First Army, on the mission; it was to take off from the airfield at Maison Blanche and conduct a parachute drop to capture an airfield near the port of Bône, which bordered both Tunisia and Algeria. It was known by Allied intelligence that a battalion of German Fallschirmjaeger were currently stationed at Tunis, and that they were likely to be given the same task; as such, it was vital that the two companies capture the airfield first. Once this had been achieved, it would then hold the airfield until relieved by No. 6 Commando, which would conduct an amphibious landing, capture Bône itself and link up with the battalion. This was a challenging task for Pine Coffin, as the battalion had arrived in fewer Dakotas than it would need to conduct a parachute drop, and two aircraft had failed to arrive at Gibraltar; however, sufficient aircraft were found and at 04:30 on 11 November they took off from Gibraltar, landing at Maison Blanche at 09:00. However, since the American pilots flying the Dakotas had no experience with night drops and locating drop zones in darkness was extremely difficult, it was decided to delay the mission until dawn on 12 November.
  The day before the operation, Pine Coffin and his staff began to plan for the mission. The 29 Dakotas that were to transport the battalion would take off from Maison Blanche and follow the coast until they reached the harbour at Bône. The leading Dakota would then turn south east and fly low over the airfield to ascertain its status. If it was unoccupied, the paratroopers would be dropped onto the airfield, but if the Fallschirmjaeger were present then the Dakotas would drop the companies a mile away; there they would form up and launch an attack on the airfield. The planning was completed by 16:30, and at 20:00 the American pilots were briefed on the operation, which was briefly interrupted when a German aircraft flew over the area and dropped a stick of bombs. The aircraft took off at 08:30 the next day and experienced an uneventful flight to the airfield, although two aircraft experienced mechanical problems and ditched into the ocean, causing three casualties. The lead Dakota flew over the airfield, and after observing the airfield to be unoccupied, dropped its paratroopers, followed in succession by the remaining transport aircraft. The drop was reasonably accurate, with a few containers and paratroopers being dropped three miles from the airfield. Thirteen men were injured during the drop, primarily when they landed, and one was killed when he accidentally shot himself with his Sten gun. One officer was knocked unconscious during landing and remained so for the next four days, on occasion being heard to murmur "I'll have a little more of the turbot, waiter!".
  Unknown to the British force, their drop had been observed by a flight of German Junkers Ju 52 transport aircraft, carrying a Fallschirmjaeger battalion; having seen that the airfield was already occupied, the aircraft turned back towards Tunis. When it had secured the airfield, the battalion came under attack from Stuka divebombers, and was initially defenceless. However, once No. 6 Commando had secured Bône, a number of Oerlikon anti aircraft guns were salvaged from sunken vessels in the port's harbour, and these, in combination with a squadron of Spitfires that arrived on the evening of 11 November, were used to fend off future attacks.  The battalion held the airfield in conjunction with No. 6 Commando until 15 November, when it withdrew and linked up with 'A' Company and the rest of 1st Para
caption: Supermarine Spitfire Mark Vs, reinforcement aircraft for North African units, lined up at Bone airfield, Algeria.
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