2nd Parachute Brigade in Southern France The British 2nd Parachute Brigade was part of the Operation Rugby airborne landings in August 1944 . The operation was carried out by an ad hoc airborne formation called the 1st Airborne Task Force . Operation Rugby was itself part of the Operation Dragoon invasion of Southern France by the American 7th Army . The airborne task force , landed in the River Argens valley with the objective of preventing German reinforcements from reaching the landing beaches . The landings were mainly an American operation and the brigade was the only British Army formation involved . The brigade ' s pathfinders landed accurately and set up their homing beacons , but the main body of the brigade landed over a large area , some away . The following glider force also had problems ; weather conditions forced the brigade ' s anti - tank unit to turn back for Italy and return with the second wave later that day . Eventually the brigade captured their primary objectives , but the lack of manpower meant that their secondary objective of Le Muy was given to the American airborne forces . The seaborne and airborne landings linked up within two days , and the brigade became the reserve formation for the operation . As a British withdrawal from France at the earliest opportunity had been the original intent , the brigade boarded ships bound for Italy eleven days after landing . The operation had cost the brigade 362 casualties , but this did not hinder their next mission in Greece two months later . Only 126 replacements were required to bring the brigade back up to full strength . Background . 2nd Parachute Brigade . Commanded by Brigadier Charles Hilary Vaughan Pritchard , the 2nd Parachute Brigade formed in 1942 and was assigned to the 1st Airborne Division . It comprised three parachute battalions , with their own artillery and engineer support . Although the brigade had not been involved in the division ' s operations in Sicily , it took part in Operation Slapstick , the landing at Taranto in Italy . At the end of 1943 , when the 1st Airborne Division returned to the United Kingdom , the brigade remained behind fighting in the Italian Campaign . Since then , the brigade had taken part in patrols probing German lines , and the battles at Cassino and along the Sangro river at the Bernhardt Line . Previously , their only parachute mission had been Operation Hasty , which required only sixty men from the brigade . Operation Dragoon . The Allied invasion of Southern France during the Second World War was given the code name Operation Dragoon . It would take place in the South of France , between Cannes and Toulon in August 1944 . The landings would be undertaken by the American 7th Army , with the Free French First Army landing after the beachhead was secure . Following the success of the Normandy airborne landings , Allied planners wanted to use an airborne force to support the invasion . However the airborne divisions in Europe , the American 82nd and 101st , had participated in the Normandy landings and were refitting for further operations to support the advance in France and the Low Countries . The two British divisions were also unavailable ; the 1st Airborne Division was preparing for operations in Northern Europe and the 6th Airborne Division was still fighting in Normandy . The only other Allied airborne divisions were three American units . However , the 11th Airborne Division was in the Pacific , while the 13th and the 17th were back in the United States training . Prelude . 1st Airborne Task Force . Lack of an available airborne division forced the Allies to assemble an ad hoc formation , the 1st Airborne Task Force , in Italy on 1 July 1944 . Its objective was to land in the River Argens valley between Le Muy and Le Luc to prevent any German reinforcements reaching the landing beaches . The task force initially comprised the American 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team , reinforced by the 509th , and the 1st / 551st parachute infantry battalions and their only glider infantry battalion , the 550th . Command of the task force was given to Brigadier General Robert T . Frederick , who had previously commanded the 1st Special Service Force . To provide additional manpower , the experienced 2nd Parachute Brigade , was attached to the task force . But they would only stay in France until the beachhead had been established and the seaborne and airborne elements had linked up . Initially two Free French parachute battalions had been assigned to the task force , but they were withdrawn for a potential French airborne landing in the Massif Central . When the Americans and British refused to endorse the French plan , as it offered no support to operations in Normandy or to Dragoon , the French commander General de Gaulle would not allow them to be used in the landings . In the initial plan for Operation Rugby , the codename for the airborne landings , the 2nd Parachute Brigade would land to the west of Le Muy , only from the coast . The American 517th Regimental Combat Team would land beside Le Luc , and the 509th and 551st Battalions near Carnoules . They would then hold the high ground and junctions along the main road through the Argens valley from Frejus to Toulon . This plan had the units widely separated and any German resistance or counterattack could cut off and destroy the task force piecemeal before help arrived from the landing beaches . A revised plan produced on 12 July had the 2nd Parachute Brigade landing at the same place , but all the Americans would land at a large drop zone between Le Muy and Grimaud , only to the west of St Tropez . The task force ' s staff were still not satisfied with the mission and on 15 July proposed a third plan . The new plan placed all the task force drop zones around from Le Muy . In the first wave of landings , the 2nd Parachute Brigade drop zone was to the north of Le Muy , with their objective to capture Le Muy and the surrounding area including the village of La Motte . At the same time the 517th Regiment would land to the west of Le Muy and the 509th Battalion to the southeast . A shortage of aircraft played a role in transporting the task force to France , which had to be divided into two large groups and a small glider group for the British . On D - Day the first large group would be transported to France by 394 aircraft and eighty gliders . A second group of 325 aircraft and 270 gliders would arrive in the afternoon . The smaller British group consisting of the 2nd Parachute Brigade ' s glider forces would arrive shortly after the first group in the morning . In total 9 , 099 troops , 221 vehicles and 213 artillery guns would be delivered to France during Operation Rugby . German forces . The German forces in the area of the landings were under the command of Army Group G , and also divided between the 1st Army in the west and the 19th Army in the east . In June 1944 , these three headquarters commanded three panzer division s , around thirteen infantry divisions and some smaller formations . By this stage of the war , many of these divisions were lacking modern equipment , inexperienced and under - trained . The troops were mainly elderly , or not fit for service in a first class division . Some divisions had several complete battalions formed by the Ostlegionen ( conscripted foreigners from Poland and Russia ) . Four of the divisions were static or garrison divisions and five were reserve formations that had only been used in an internal security role against the French Resistance . After the Normandy landings many of these units moved north . Replacements that joined Army Group G came to refit after the fighting in Normandy or on the Eastern Front . They were under strength , with little or no equipment . By August 1944 , the 19th Army comprised the 11th Panzer Division , the 198th , 242nd , 244th , 338th , 716th infantry divisions and the 148th , 157th and 189th reserve divisions , all of which were still under strength and lacking equipment . In the Argens valley area , where the 2nd Parachute Brigade would be landing , was the 242nd Infantry Division was commanded by Generalleutnant Johannes Baessler . Operation Rugby . D - Day . At 03 : 34 on 15 August 1944 , the brigade ' s pathfinders from the 23rd Independent Parachute Platoon landed on Drop Zone ' O ' . The brigade drop zone was in a valley long and around wide running north to south , bordered on the south by the River Naturby . Their primary objective , Le Muy , was only around from the southern edge of the drop zone , but they would have to cross the river to reach it . By 04 : 30 the pathfinders had set up two Eureka beacons and landing lights to guide the transport planes to the correct drop zone . When the main force of C - 47 aircraft arrived around 04 : 45 only seventy - three dropped their parachutists on the correct drop zone . The other fifty - three aircraft scattered their loads , mostly from the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion , over the countryside , some landing away at Cannes and Fayence . Only Brigade Headquarters arrived at the drop zone in one piece , Brigadier Pritchard landing only from the Eureka beacons . The 4th Parachute Battalion had around forty per cent of its manpower and the 6th ( Royal Welch ) Parachute Battalion sixty per cent . By 06 : 30 Brigade Headquarters was established at Le Mitan and radio contact made with the American 36th Infantry Division , which at the time was still on their transports out at sea . On the drop zone the pathfinders and Royal Engineers of the 2nd Parachute Squadron were removing obstacles , preparing for the arrival of their gliders later in the day , while the under strength parachute battalions headed for their objectives . The 4th Parachute Battalion secured its first objectives , the high ground overlooking the village of Le Muy from the north and the village of Les Serres , by 04 : 30 . However the men left defending the village had to fight off several small German counterattacks throughout the day . The battalion then assaulted and captured the bridge over the River Naturby , which carried the road to Le Muy , taking twenty - nine prisoners . The fighting cost the battalion seven dead and nine wounded . Most of the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion landed in several groups , some distance from their drop zone . One large group comprised the commanding officer , most of the battalion headquarters and ' C ' Company . A second group was formed by ' D ' Company . Twenty - one men , including the battalion intelligence officer , formed a third smaller group . The first group divided into three smaller units , all of which arrived at brigade headquarters by 22 : 30 on the same day . The second group occupied the village of Tourettes , and soon after attacked a German convoy , damaging several vehicles and causing heavy casualties among the occupants . Then they met with the 3rd Battalion of the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment and both units headed south towards Le Muy . One result of the brigades ' scattered landing was that several small groups of men caused havoc among the Germans , ambushing men and vehicles . One lone sergeant arrived at brigade headquarters with eighty prisoners , having convinced them that they were surrounded and should surrender . The 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion ' s ' B ' Company , which had landed on the correct drop zone , ambushed a convoy of five trucks , killing twelve Germans , then assaulted a château , killing another thirty men before the surviving fifty surrendered . The 6th ( Royal Welch ) Parachute Battalion lost some men to German fire as they descended and , once on the ground , had to fight their way to the battalion rendezvous . Then headed for their first objectives capturing La Motte , which became the first village liberated in the South of France . By 12 : 00 , they had taken all of their objectives , capturing over 100 prisoners . The first of the brigade ' s glider units , forty Waco glider s carrying the 64th Airlanding Light Battery Royal Artillery and their 75 mm pack howitzers , landed at 09 : 20 . The thirty - five larger Horsa gliders , transporting the 300th Airlanding Anti - Tank Battery and its equipment , failed to arrive , turning back to Italy due to an overcast sky at the landing zone . The Horsas returned with the afternoon ' s second wave landing at 15 : 04 . By 22 : 15 the brigade had secured all of its day one objectives and some of the missing men had arrived in the brigade area . However , there were many still unaccounted for . The 4th Parachute Battalion numbered around 200 men with almost no heavy weapons . The 6th ( Royal Welch ) Parachute Battalion had 317 men . There were only enough men of the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion to guard the approach roads leading to the drop zone from the north . Link up with seaborne landings . The scattered nature of the airborne landings caused some confusion among the German high command . At the LXII Corps headquarters , several reports of the landings exaggerated their strength , causing the Germans believe they were faced with a far greater force . Also , 600 dummy paratroops that had landed to the north and west of Toulon , as part of the Allied deception plan , convinced the Germans another landing had taken place there . The 2nd Parachute Brigade had a secondary objective of capturing Le Muy . It was supposed to have been assaulted by the 4th Parachute Battalion with the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion providing fire support . With the forces he had at hand , Pritchard was unable to carry out the task . The objective was then given to the 550th Glider Infantry Battalion , which had arrived with the second wave of aircraft . At 02 : 15 16 August the American battalion moved through the British positions and assaulted the village . The village was defended in strength by the Germans and the attack failed , causing several casualties to the Americans . A second attempt at 11 : 40 was more successful , killing or wounding 300 Germans and taking 700 prisoners . Further north , the missing men of the 5th ( Scottish ) Parachute Battalion were still trying to reach the brigade area . The smaller group commanded by the battalion intelligence officer observed a German convoy heading south towards Le Muy . They quickly set up an ambush and destroyed several vehicles before being forced to withdraw into the hills by the stronger German force . On 17 August the leading units of the 36th Infantry Division reached Le Muy , which should have effectively ended the brigade ' s participation in the operation ; however , two of the brigade ' s companies defending roads in the area were attacked by retreating Germans and forced to withdraw to the high ground . The brigade sent reinforcements which successfully counterattacked the Germans , taking ninety - seven prisoners . Early on 18 August the brigade elements to the north - east of Le Muy were relieved by the 36th Infantry Division , and the brigade became the Operation Dragoon reserve formation . Then problems on the far right of the landings between Grasse and Cannes resulted in the brigade being sent to that area . Having no transport other them a small number of Jeeps , mostly to tow their artillery guns , the brigade commandeered several trucks , tractors , buses and horse - drawn wagons and was in place within twenty - four hours . Cannes was liberated on 25 August . On the next day , the brigade left France to return to Italy . Aftermath . The 2nd Parachute Brigade arrived by sea at Naples on 28 August . From there on the 3 September , they moved to Rome , and on 8 September , to a camp near Taranto in preparation for their next mission . During Operation Rugby the 2nd Parachute Brigade recorded 362 casualties ; 51 dead , 130 wounded and 181 missing . Most of the missing eventually returned to the brigade and only 126 replacements were required to bring the brigade back up to strength . The brigade ' s next mission was Operation Manna . This time they would be landing in Greece . The Soviet Red Army advance in the east had forced the Germans to withdraw from the country or risk being cut off from any support or reinforcements . Over the night of 12 / 13 October 1944 , the first of the brigade ' s units parachuted onto Megara airfield near Athens to prepare a landing zone for the follow - up waves from the rest of the brigade . The brigade moved into Athens and then over three months fought their way to Salonika and the border with Bulgaria . When the brigade left the 1st Airborne Task Force , the 1st Special Service Force replaced them . The task force advanced eastwards and reached the Franco - Italian border in the Menton area and the French Alps along part of what was the Maginot line . Here they halted in a defensive position for three months before being pulled out . The task force was now surplus to requirements and was disbanded on 23 November 1944 . Its surviving manpower was used as reinforcements for the other American airborne formations .