page_title: 2nd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)
section_title: Greece
hierarchical_section_title: 2nd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom) / Operations / Greece
caption_attribution_description: English: Paratroops of 2nd Indpendent Parachute Brigade on the drop zone at Megara in Greece, 14 October 1944. Paratroops of 2nd Indpendent Parachute Brigade on the drop zone at Megara in Greece, 14 October 1944.
context_page_description: The 2nd Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War.
  The 2nd Parachute Brigade was the second parachute infantry brigade to be formed by the British Army in 1942; it was initially part of the 1st Airborne Division but in 1943, after the invasion of Italy, became an independent formation. As an independent brigade it was variously assigned at different times, and served under the command of the 2nd New Zealand Division, the 8th Indian Infantry Division, and the 1st Airborne Task Force.
  Before the end of the Second World War in Europe the brigade saw active service in Italy, the South of France and Greece. At the end of the European war the brigade returned to the United Kingdom and was intended to join the 44th Indian Airborne Division in the Far East, for service against the Japanese Empire, but the war ended before they sailed. Instead the brigade was assigned to the 6th Airborne Division, which had been named the Imperial Strategic Reserve, and sent to serve in the Mandate of Palestine.
  Defence cuts in the British armed forces after the war forced a reduction in the number of parachute brigades.
context_section_description: On its return to Italy the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade was sent to Rome on 3 September, and moved again on 8 September to a camp near Taranto to prepare for a possible mission in Greece, Operation Manna. The Russian advance in the east had forced the Germans to withdraw from Greece or be cut off from support and reinforcements. Over the night of 12/13 October 1944 'C' Company of the 4th Parachute Battalion, were parachuted onto Megara airfield near Athens to prepare a landing strip for the follow-up waves from the rest of the brigade. The company sustained several casualties while landing in adverse weather conditions that forced the remainder of the brigade to delay their arrival for another two days.
  Once the brigade had deployed it advanced towards Athens, entering the city on 15 October, just behind the 2nd Commando Brigade. They fought the retreating Germans for the next three months, advancing from Athens to Salonika, where elements of the 2nd Para Brigade arrived by landing craft on 8 November. While in Greece the brigade also participated in the occupation of Athens, maintaining order and providing supplies to the population. Having been moved to Italy, the brigade had to return to Greece immediately after the outbreak of the Greek Civil War in December, becoming involved in several fights, suffering heavy casualties. The brigade was joined in Greece by the British 23rd Armoured Brigade. During the civil war the brigade was involved in street fighting in Athens until the communist Greek People's Liberation Army fighters were forced out of the capital in January 1945; they also provided food and other supplies to around 20,000 people in Athens every day.
caption: British paratroopers of the 2nd Independent Para Brigade on the drop zone at Megara in Greece, 14 October 1944.
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