127th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance The 127th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War . The 127th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance ( 127 PFA ) was originally a pre war Territorial Army unit converted to parachute duties , becoming the second parachute field ambulance in the British Army . As such it was assigned to the 2nd Parachute Brigade at the time part of the 1st Airborne Division . As part of the 1st Airborne Division it moved to North Africa in 1942 , in preparation for the Allied invasion of Sicily . A lack of suitable transport negated their use it that campaign , but they did take the lead in Operation Slapstick , which was an amphibious landing at Taranto in Italy . Remaining in Italy with 2nd Parachute Brigade when the 1st Airborne Division returned to England , 127 PFA took part in the fighting of the Italian campaign . Their first offensive parachute jump was in the Allied landing in the south of France , Operation Dragoon . Later , it was planned for the brigade to be sent to the Far East to take part in operations against the Japanese Empire , however , they became involved in the Greek civil war during Operation Manna , and remained in Greece until 1945 . Relieved by a larger force , 127 PFA returned to Italy where they remained until the end of the war . With the war over 127 PFA returned to England and , still part of the 2nd Parachute Brigade , they were assigned to the 6th Airborne Division . Their next assignment was in the British mandate of Palestine , following which 127 PFA became part of the British Army of the Rhine . In 1947 , when the Territorial Army was reformed , 127 PFA was re - designated as the 23rd ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance because the number 127 was a reserve designation . Background . Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France , the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5 , 000 parachute troops . In September 1941 the 1st Parachute Brigade began forming , comprising three parachute infantry battalions . In keeping with British Army practice at the same time as the infantry battalions were being raised , airborne supporting arms were formed including Royal Army Medical Corps ( RAMC ) volunteers . The war establishment of a Parachute Field Ambulance was 177 all ranks , made up of thirteen doctors in two surgical teams and four sections . The doctors could deal with 330 cases in a twenty - four hour period . Each surgical team could handle 1 . 8 operations an hour . However this was not sustainable and if they were required to operate the following day , the team had to be relieved after twelve hours . It was envisaged that during airborne operations , it would not be possible to evacuate casualties until the ground forces had linked up with them . To accommodate this , the field ambulance had the ability to treat all types of wounds , and provide post operative care for up to fourteen days . They also had the transport required to evacuate casualties from the Regimental Aid Post ( RAP ) to the Main Dressing Station ( MDS ) . An airborne field ambulance was commanded by a lieutenant - colonel , with a major as the second in command and a regimental sergeant major as the senior non commissioned rank . Headquarters staff included two specialist surgeons and a specialist anaesthetist , a pharmacist and an Army Dental Corps dentist . To assist in the operating theatre and with post operative care , there were six operating room assistants , a sergeant nursing orderly and six nursing orderlies . Other medical staff were a sergeant sanitary assistant , a masseur , a dental orderly and five stretcher bearers , one of whom was trained as a shoemaker . The rest of the headquarters consisted of a Quartermaster , clerks , cooks , storemen , an Army Physical Training Corps instructor , a barber and a joiner from the Royal Engineer s . There were four sub units of twenty men known as sections . Each section comprised an officer ( doctor ) and a staff sergeant ( nursing orderly ) ; under their command were three nursing orderlies , a clerk , a dutyman and thirteen stretcher bearers . A section was normally attached to a parachute battalion to supplement their own medical officer and medics . The last component of the Field Ambulance was the Royal Army Service Corps detachment , commanded by a captain , with a company sergeant major as second in command . They had fifty men under them : an electrician , a clerk , thirty - eight drivers , four motorcyclists and five vehicle mechanics . It was normal to have at least two RASC drivers with two jeeps and a trailer attached to each section ; the remaining men and vehicles stayed with the headquarters surgical teams . All members of the Field Ambulance had to undergo a twelve - day parachute training course , which was carried out at No . 1 Parachute Training School , RAF Ringway . Initial parachute jumps were undertaken from a converted barrage balloon before progressing on to five jumps from an aircraft . Anyone failing to complete a descent was returned to his old unit . Those men who successfully completed the parachute course , were presented with their maroon beret and parachute wings . Airborne operations were in their infancy in the Second World War and the British Army medical services had to design and develop a range of special medical airborne equipment . These included the Don pack , the Sugar pack , the folding airborne stretcher , the folding trestle table , the folding suspension bar , the airborne operating table , the airborne inhaler and special containers for blood and plasma . On 17 July 1942 the 127th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance ( 127 PFA ) was formed from a pre - war Territorial Army unit . It was the second RAMC parachute unit raised , and on formation the Field Ambulance was assigned to the 2nd Parachute Brigade in the 1st Airborne Division . Italy . After Operations Ladbroke and Fustian in Sicily , the 1st Airborne Division returned to North Africa . On 6 September the division was informed that they would be carrying out an amphibious landing at the Italian port of Taranto three days later . The landings were carried out by the 2nd and 4th Parachute Brigades , with the understrength 1st Parachute and 1st Airlanding Brigades in reserve . While approaching the port , the minelayer HMS " Abdiel " , struck a mine and was blown up , killing 130 men and wounding the commanding officer Lieutenant - Colonel M . J . Kohane , two other medical officers and fifteen other ranks of 127 PFA . All the unit ' s medical equipment , which had been carried on board , was also lost . Otherwise the landing was unopposed ; 2nd Parachute Brigade secured Taranto while the 4th Brigade pushed inland . So it was not until 26 September that the re - equipped 127 PFA was able to open a Main Dressing Station ( MDS ) at Canossa . Following the division ' s advance on 30 September 127 PFA had moved to Acquaviva taking over a school and converting it into a 100 - bed hospital . During this time the division ' s four field ambulances treated 1 , 728 casualties , with the surgeons conducting 194 operations . On 20 November , the 1st Airborne Division returned to England , leaving the 2nd Parachute Brigade in Italy as an independent brigade . Now under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel P . Parkinson , 127 PFA also remained with the brigade . The brigade was ordered to the Sangro river area . Informed they would only be in the front line for around three weeks , only two sections and a surgical team with the headquarters moved forward . The brigade stayed in the line until May , and the 127 PFA sections took the opportunity to rotate between the front and rear areas . The brigade fought on the Adriatic coast until they were relieved at the end of March 1944 . After a short rest they returned to the front in the Monte Cassino sector , remaining there until the end of May 1944 . South of France . The 2nd Parachute Brigade next came under command of the 1st Airborne Task Force for an airborne landing in the south of France in the area of Frejus . The landing took place in the early hours of 15 August 1944 ; the commanding officer and three other ranks parachuted in with the brigade headquarters . No . 3 Section and No . 1 Surgical Team dropped together but landed well off the drop zone ( DZ ) in the La Mote area . The airborne containers with their medical supplies were all lost or looted before they were located . It was not until 07 : 30 that they reached the DZ , and had to set up an operating theatre to treat the wounded from the parachute drop . The team remained here until 19 : 30 when they moved to a better location at St Michel . An hour later the surgical team was operating again , this time dealing with a number of casualties from the following glider force that had just landed , including a number of Americans who had no medical support with them . Between 15 and 18 August the surgical team performed forty - two operations . On the morning 18 August units of the American 36th Infantry Division advancing from the coast reached Le Muy . The brigade then moved to the Frejus area on 20 August and Cannes was liberated on the 25 August . The brigade sailed from Cannes the next day arriving in Naples on the 28 August . Greece . The 2nd Parachute Brigade was warned for an operation in Greece , to replace the retreating German Army and ensure law and order was maintained until a government could be formed . The 127 PFA plan was for a small detachment of one officer and nine other ranks to be attached to each of the parachute battalions . A section and a surgical team would accompany brigade headquarters in the first lift and a section would come in with the second lift . Two jeeps with medical equipment would come in with the brigade ' s glider force . The advance party from the 4th Parachute Battalion landed on 12 October on Megara airfield from Athens . Adverse weather affected the drop and caused a number of casualties , and prevented the remainder of the brigade landing . Plans were formed for a surgical team to travel by glider the next day to support the 4th Battalion ' s medical officer on the airfield . By 14 October the weather had improved and the majority of the brigade less the glider force , was able to parachute onto the airfield . High winds caused a number of casualties ; from the 1 , 900 men taking part three were killed and ninety - seven wounded . The 127 PFA detachment with the 6th ( Royal Welch ) Parachute Battalion set up a dressing station to treat the wounded . The 4th and 6th Battalions set out for Athens taking their 127 PFA detachments with them , leaving only the commanding - officer and twenty - five men at the dressing station . The brigade became responsible for policing Athens and keeping both sides in the fledgling Greek Civil War apart . However , on 17 October 4 Battalion , with No . 3 Section attached , was ordered to Thebes to follow up the retreating German Army . On 18 October 127 PFA moved into Athens from Megara , and took over the Evangelismos Hospital . On 4 November 6 Battalion moved to Thebes , while the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion with brigade headquarters and 127 PFA moved to Salonika . It had been intended to withdraw the brigade but the situation deteriorated and they were sent back to Athens , where by 5 November 127 PFA had established a hospital in the Rouf barracks . The 2nd Parachute and 2nd Armoured Brigade moved into the city holding the Acropolis of Athens and strategic junctions . In the sporadic fighting casualties were light but constant . At the end of 1944 , it had been planned for the 2nd Parachute Brigade to go to India , to join the 44th Indian Airborne Division . However their continued involvement in Greece put those plans on hold and they were eventually cancelled . On 7 December war was officially declared on the ELAS forces . On 14 December 127 PFA moved to the university in the city centre and became the only unit capable of performing surgery . Between 14 October and 23 January 1945 , when the fighting ended , 127 PFA treated 628 wounded and conducted 214 operations . Palestine . In February 1945 , the brigade was relieved and returned to Italy from Greece . They were prepared for further operations in the spring offensive and the crossing of the River Po . From March until the end of the war , over thirty airborne operations were planned but all were later cancelled . With the war over the brigade returned to England in May 1945 . They were based at Greenham Lodge in Newbury , Berkshire , until 26 October when , along with the rest of 2nd Parachute Brigade , they sailed from Liverpool to join the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine . On their arrival in Palestine they were deployed in the Gaza district . By July 1946 the situation in the country had deteriorated to such an extent that the complete division was deployed to Tel Aviv , with the field ambulance units taking over the running of the city ' s hospitals . Legacy . In January 1947 , 2nd Parachute Brigade returned to England , and was stationed in Aldershot . When the Territorial Army was reformed on 1 April 1947 , 127 PFA was renumbered 23rd ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance ( 23 PFA ) because the number 127 was a reserve designation . Since then the British airborne force has been reduced to a single brigade group based on the 2nd Parachute Brigade , which was itself renumbered as the 16th . With them , 23 PFA has participated in a number of conflicts including the last battalion - sized parachute landing undertaken at Suez in 1956 , where a section and a surgical team of 23 PFA jumped with the 3rd Parachute Battalion .