2nd Parachute Brigade ( United Kingdom ) 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 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 . By 1948 the 2nd Parachute Brigade was the last surviving parachute formation dating from the Second World War , all other parachute divisions and brigades having been disbanded . The last three regular army battalions comprised in the brigade returned to the United Kingdom ; later in the same year the unit was posted to the British Army of the Rhine and redesignated the 16th Parachute Brigade . 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 . On 22 June 1940 No . 2 Commando was turned over to parachute duties and on 21 November re - designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion , with a parachute and glider wing . It was these men who took part in the first British airborne operation , Operation Colossus , on 10 February 1941 . The success of the raid prompted the War Office to expand the existing airborne force , setting up the Airborne Forces Depot and Battle School in Derbyshire in April 1942 and creating the Parachute Regiment , as well as converting several infantry battalions into airborne battalions in August 1942 . The result was the formation of the 1st Airborne Division with the 1st Parachute Brigade and the 1st Airlanding Brigade . Its commander , Major General Frederick " Boy " Browning , expressed his opinion that the fledgling force must not be sacrificed in " penny packets " and urged the formation of a third brigade . Permission was granted to form another parachute brigade in July 1942 , numbered the 2nd Parachute Brigade , and Brigadier E . E . Down was selected to become its first commander . The brigade was assigned the existing 4th Parachute Battalion , transferred from the 1st Parachute Brigade , and two new battalions converted from normal line infantry units to parachute duties : the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion , converted from the 7th Battalion Queen ' s Own Cameron Highlanders in May 1942 ; and the 6th ( Royal Welch ) Parachute Battalion , converted from the 10th Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers in August 1942 . Operations . The 2nd Parachute Brigade trained in the United Kingdom until June 1943 , when they left for North Africa with the 1st Airlanding Brigade . On arrival the two brigades were joined by the 1st Parachute Brigade , which had already been carrying out independent operations in the area during the Tunisian Campaign , and by the 4th Parachute Brigade , which had been forming in the Middle East . The 1st Airborne Division , now with one air - landing and three parachute brigades , was based at Oran , preparing for the invasion of Sicily under command of the Eighth Army . During the invasion the division was to conduct three brigade - scale airborne operations : the Ponte Grande road bridge south of Syracuse was to be captured by the 1st Airlanding Brigade , the port of Augusta was to be seized by 2nd Parachute Brigade , and finally the Primasole Bridge over the River Simeto was to be taken and secured by 1st Parachute Brigade . A lack of transport aircraft reduced the number of men that could be deployed , and the 2nd Brigade remained in Tunisia in a reserve role . Fighting ended in Sicily on 17 August without use of the brigade ; they were , however , selected to take part in Operation Slapstick , an amphibious landing at the port of Taranto on mainland Italy . The brigade left Bizerta on the 8th of September , the day before the Italian surrender , and landed unopposed . Their only casualties were 58 men from the 6th Parachute Battalion who drowned after their transport ship , HMS " Abdiel " , hit a mine in the harbour . While the 4th Parachute Brigade pushed inland , the 2nd Brigade assumed responsibility for securing the port and surrounding area . During fierce fighting around the town and airfield of Gioia del Colle the divisional commander , Major - General Hopkinson , was killed and replaced by Brigadier Down . Command of the 2nd Parachute Brigade was given to Brigadier Charles Hilary Vaughan Pritchard . The 1st Airborne Division was withdrawn to England soon after , leaving the 2nd Brigade in Italy as an independent parachute brigade formation that came under command of the 2nd New Zealand Division . To support an independent role the brigade was assigned its own artillery with nine 6 - pounder anti - tank guns and eight 75mm pack howitzer s . They also had their own engineers and other support units were attached , including a pathfinder platoon and a glider squadron . Independent Parachute Brigade . On 2 December 1943 the 2nd Parachute Brigade formed the left flank of the 2nd New Zealand Division during the advance towards Orsogna . The New Zealanders were relieved by the 8th Indian Infantry Division , and the brigade continued the advance under their command . The brigade temporarily returned to the 2nd New Zealand Division on 16 January , then fought to the Sangro with the 8th Indian Division again , before going into the reserve at Guardia , from the end of March . The brigade returned to the front line and took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino on 4 April , once again coming under command of the 2nd New Zealand Division . The 2nd Brigade ' s next parachute operation was Operation Hasty in June 1944 . This was a small diversionary raid carried out by sixty men from the 6th ( Welch ) Parachute Battalion . They were dropped into the area between Sora and Avezzano , their objective being to harass the Germans withdrawing to the Gothic Line . The mission was a success : a German brigade was diverted to hunt the small force , and a German division was retained on rear - area security duties instead of going into the front line . In June 1944 , the brigade was released from the Eighth Army and joined the 1st Airborne Task Force for airborne operations in the south of France . France . The 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade carried out a brigade - sized parachute landing during Operation Dragoon . On 15 August 1944 the brigade ' s pathfinders landed in the south of France and set up Eureka beacon s to guide the main brigade force to their drop zone s . Despite the pathfinders ' success at marking the drop zones , only seventy - three planes placed their parachutists in the correct location . The brigade commanding officer and eighty men were landed near Fayence , as were the 5th ( Scottish ) Battalion ' s commanding officer , with half of battalion headquarters , ' C ' Company , and ' D ' Company . Other men were landed as far away as Cannes . The dispersed landings resulted in only about forty percent of the 4th Battalion making it to the brigade forming - up point . Only seventy percent of the 6th ( Welch ) Battalion and only a single company of the 5th ( Scottish ) Battalion had arrived . The brigade headquarters was established at Le Mitan with the 5th ( Scottish ) Battalion company by 04 : 00 , and by 07 : 30 the 4th Battalion had occupied the heights at Le Muy . The 6th ( Welch ) Battalion occupied La Motte and , when the Germans at Clastron surrendered , moved a company into the village . Le Serres was captured by ' C ' Company , 4th Battalion , as was as the bridge over the River Naturby on the road to Le Muy . At the drop zone the pathfinders and Royal Engineers were removing anti - glider poles so that the brigade ' s glider force could land . The gliders , except for those carrying the anti - tank battery , which were unable to locate the site in the heavy mist and had returned to Italy , landed successfully at 09 : 20 . The other gliders and towing aircraft had circled until the mist cleared . It was the sight of the gliders landing that persuaded the Germans at Clastron to surrender . By 10 : 15 the brigade had achieved all its objectives apart from capturing Le Muy , which had been allocated to the 5th ( Scottish ) Battalion . Units of the brigade fought off several counter - attacks supported by the 64th Airlanding Battery ' s guns . The missing men continued to come into the brigade ' s area during the morning , and contact was made with American units who had dropped west and south of them . Men continued to arrive in the brigade area , and by 16 : 00 the 4th Battalion could muster over two companies while the 6th ( Welch ) Battalion had over 300 men . Patrols were sent out to ambush German convoys retreating from Le Muy and to reconnoitre the town . At 18 : 00 the brigade anti - tank battery arrived by glider with two American battalions and other supporting units . Patrolling continued over the night of 15 / 16 August , and Le Muy was captured by an American battalion at 15 : 30 . At the same time 115 men of the 5th ( Scottish ) Battalion arrived in the brigade area . On the morning of 18 August units of the American 36th Infantry Division , advancing from the coast , reached Le Muy . The 2nd Brigade then moved to the Frejus area , on 20 August ; Cannes was liberated on the 25 August . The next day the brigade sailed for Naples arriving on 28 August . Greece . On its return to Italy the 2nd 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 , 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 units of the 2nd Parachute 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 . They were joined in Greece by the British 3rd and 23rd Armoured Brigades . 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 . Post war . In January 1945 the 2nd Parachute Brigade was withdrawn from further operations and relocated to Italy . After the war ended in Europe , the brigade returned to the United Kingdom and reformed as a conventional brigade , losing its additional supporting arms . It had been planned for the brigade to go to the Far East and join the 44th Indian Airborne Division , fighting in Burma against the Japanese . However , the war ended before they departed , and instead the brigade was assigned to the 6th Airborne Division , which had been sent to Palestine . Leaving the United Kingdom the brigade arrived in Palestine on 22 October , and were based around Gaza . The 6th Airborne Division had been named the Imperial Strategic Reserve and served in Egypt until September 1945 , when it moved to Palestine in an internal - security role , to counter the activities of the Jewish paramilitary movements Hagana , Palmach , Irgun and the Stern Gang . When the 1st Airborne Division was disbanded in November 1945 , the 6th became the only airborne division in the British Army . While in Palestine in December 1947 , the 4th Parachute Battalion was amalgamated with the 6th ( Royal Welch ) Battalion and renamed the 4th / 6th Parachute Battalion . To fill the vacancy created by this amalgamation , the 7th ( Light Infantry ) Parachute Battalion was assigned to the 2nd Parachute Brigade . 16th Parachute Brigade . In February 1948 the 2nd Parachute Brigade left the 6th Airborne Division and moved to Germany , becoming part of the British Army of the Rhine . The 6th Airborne Division was disbanded soon afterwards , leaving the 2nd Parachute Brigade as the only brigade - sized airborne formation in the British Army . In June the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion was renumbered the 2nd Battalion , The Parachute Regiment , the 4th / 6th Battalion became the 1st Battalion , and the 7th ( Light Infantry ) Battalion became the 3rd Battalion . Finally , in July 1948 , the brigade was renumbered the 16th Parachute Brigade Group , taking the " 1 " and " 6 " from the two wartime divisions .