10th Parachute Battalion ( United Kingdom ) The 10th ( Sussex ) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment , raised by the British Army during the Second World War . The battalion was raised around volunteers from the Royal Sussex Regiment at Kibrit in the Middle East . Assigned to the 4th Parachute Brigade , they joined the 1st Airborne Division in Tunisia . The battalion fought their first action in Operation Slapstick part of the Allied invasion of Italy . They were then withdrawn to England at the end of 1943 . Being held in reserve during the Normandy landings , their second action was in Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands . The battalion landed on the second day of the Battle of Arnhem and unable to reach their assigned objective , it was gradually destroyed over two days of fighting . The surviving men managed to withdraw into the divisional position at Oosterbeek . After holding a position in the perimeter , the handful of men left were evacuated south of the River Rhine . The battalion never recovered from the heavy casualties , sustained during the battle and was disbanded . The surviving men being posted to the battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade . When the Territorial Army was reformed after the war in 1947 . A new 10th Battalion was raised . It was part of the reserve 44th Parachute Brigade in the 16th Airborne Division . However , as a result of defence cuts the battalion was eventually amalgamated with the 4th Battalion . Background . Impressed by the success of German airborne operations , during the Battle of France , the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Winston Churchill , directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5 , 000 parachute troops . The standards set for British airborne troops was extremely high , and from the first group of 3 , 500 volunteers only 500 men were accepted to go forward to parachute training . Additionally on 22 June 1940 , a British Commando unit , 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 a number of infantry battalions into airborne battalions in August 1942 . 10th Parachute Battalion . The 10th Parachute Battalion ( 10th Battalion , The Parachute Regiment ) was formed in Egypt . The battalion was then assigned to the 4th Parachute Brigade , joining the 156th Parachute Battalion . Upon formation , the battalion had an establishment of 556 men in three rifle companies . The companies were divided into a small headquarters and three platoon s . The platoons had three Bren machine gun s and three 2 - inch mortar s , one of each per section . The only heavy weapons in the battalion were a 3 inch mortar and a Vickers machine gun platoon . By 1944 a headquarters or support company , was added to the battalion , comprising five platoons : motor transport , signals , mortar , machine - gun and anti - tank . With eight 3 inch mortars , four Vickers machine guns and ten PIAT anti - tank projectors . All members of the battalion had to undergo a parachute training course carried out at No . 2 Parachute Training School at RAF Kirbrit in Egypt . Initial parachute jumps were from a converted barrage balloon and finished with five parachute 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 soldiers were expected to fight against superior numbers of the enemy , armed with heavy weapons , including artillery and tanks . So training was designed to encourage a spirit of self - discipline , self - reliance and aggressiveness . Emphasis was given to physical fitness , marksman ship and fieldcraft . A large part of the training regime consisted of assault course s and route marching . Military exercise s included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads , road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications . At the end of most exercises , the battalion would march back to their barracks . An ability to cover long distances at speed was expected : airborne platoon ' s were required to cover a distance of in 24 hours , and battalion ' s . Operations . Italy . On 26 May 1943 , the battalion and brigade sailed from Palestine for Tripoli , where it joined the 1st Airborne Division . A shortage of transport aircraft kept the battalion out of the Allied invasion of Sicily . Other units of the division however did take part . The 1st Airlanding Brigade took part in Operation Ladbroke and the 1st Parachute Brigade in Operation Fustian . Both brigades suffered heavy casualties , so that by the time Operation Slapstick was proposed , only the 2nd and 4th Parachute Brigades were up to strength . Slapstick was in part a deception operation to divert German forces from the main Allied landings and also an attempt to seize intact the Italian ports of Taranto , Bari and Brindisi . The lack of air transport meant that the division ' s two available brigades had to be transported by sea . They would cross the Mediterranean in four Royal Navy cruiser s with their escorts . If the landing was successful , the 78th Infantry Division in Sicily and the 8th Indian Infantry Division in the Middle East , under the command of the V Corps would be sent to reinforce the landings . The 4th Parachute Brigade only had the 10th and 156th Parachute Battalions available to take part in the landings . On 9 September 1943 , the same day as the Salerno landings by the U . S . 5th Army , the battalion having crossed the Mediterranean in HMS " Penelope " landed at Taranto unopposed . Their first objective was the airfield of Gioia del Colle inland , was secured on 16 September . However en route to the airfield near the town of Castellaneta , the battalion came up against a German roadblock defended by a Fallschirmjaeger unit of the 1st German Parachute Division . During their assault on the roadblock , the divisional commander Major - General George F . Hopkinson observing the action , was hit by a burst of machine gun fire and killed . At the same time , the 156th Parachute Battalion at San Basilio , carried out a successful flank attack on Fallschirmjaeger defending the town . Two days later , having been only involved in minor skirmishes , the battalion reached Bari and Brindisi . Playing no further part in operations in Italy , the battalion were withdrawn by sea to the United Kingdom , arriving in November 1943 . Arnhem . The 10th Battalion and the rest of the 4th Parachute Brigade landed to the west of Arnhem on the second day of the battle 18 September 1944 . Their objective was to hold a position on the high ground north of Arnhem at Koepel . With the 156th Parachute Battalion leading on the right , the 10th Battalion followed slightly behind on the left . By dawn the following day the battalion was just north of the Rotterdam to Arnhem railway line . When they came under attack from German 88 mm guns . Both battalions were ordered to start an assault on the position at 07 : 00 , but after repeated attacks the battalion had got no further forward . The defenders from the 9th SS Panzer Division had been here for two days and were well dug in . Casualties were heavy and brigade headquarters obtained permission to withdraw south of the rail line into Oosterbeek . The battalion started to pull back but found most of their intended new positions already occupied by the Germans and by 15 : 00 had lost communications with brigade . To cross back over the rail line the battalion first had to capture the crossing point at Wolfheze . Just before the attack a diversion was provided by the arrival of the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade s gliders . Unaware the landing - zones had been captured or were under fire 10 percent of the Poles were killed during the landings . The battalion withdrew remaining in contact with the advancing German tanks and infantry and under mortar fire . Part of the rearguard left behind was commanded by Captain Lionel Queripel who was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his actions during the withdrawal . As the battalion left the woods they moved onto the open ground of landing - zone L , occupied by the Poles who had just landed . In the confusion both sides open fire on each other , at the same time coming under fire from the following Germans . The battalion headed towards Wolfheze and prepared to defend the village assisted by ' B ' and ' Support ' Companies , 156th Parachute Battalion which had become separated from their battalion . Casualties had continued to mount and by 20 September the German tactics were to bombard the British positions with tank and mortar fire . The remnants of the battalion were withdrawn into the perimeter formed by the division around Oosterbeek . Only 60 men were able to continue fighting and this small force were given a position on the north eastern side to defend . One of them was the commanding officer Lieutenant - Colonel Ken Smyth who although wounded remained with the battalion . By the 21 September pressure from the German attacks had squeezed the perimeter to less than across . A German self propelled gun now drove up and down the battalions position , shooting high explosive shells into any buildings they believed to be defended . The battalion having expended all its anti - tank ammunition were unable to do anything to stop the gun . The gun was followed up by infantry who fighting at close quarters forced the battalion out of their defensive positions . All the battalions surviving officers were killed or wounded during this attack and the battalion was in danger of being overrun . However small isolated units managed to hold out until reinforced by the Pathfinders of the 21st Independent Parachute Company . On the 22 September the bulk of the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade were dropped south of the river . This drew off some of the Germans from around the divisional perimeter to confront the new threat . The defenders now had to cope with over 100 German artillery guns firing onto their positions . By the 23 September the battalions position was subjected to constant mortar and artillery fire and incursions by tanks and infantry were becoming more and more frequent . Casualties forced a contraction of the perimeter but first the Germans had to be evicted from the houses behind them which they were to occupy . On 24 September the decision was made by Lieutenant - General Horrocks commander XXX Corps to withdraw what was left of the division south of the Rhine . The remnants of the battalion were evacuated over the night of 25 / 26 September . The casualties sustained were never replaced and the battalion was disbanded after the battle . Of the 582 men of the battalion who landed on the 18 September , 92 were killed , 404 became prisoners of War and 96 were evacuated . Territorial Army . The 10th Battalion was disbanded in November 1945 , but when the Territorial Army was reformed in 1947 , a new reserve Parachute Regiment battalion now called the 10th ( City of London ) Parachute Battalion ( Territorial Army ) was raised . Re - designated 10 PARA ( Volunteer ) in 1967 , the battalion existed until it was disbanded in 1999 . The battalion is represented by 10 ( London ) Company , 4th Battalion , Parachute Regiment .