16th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance The 16th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War . The unit was the first parachute field ambulance unit of the British Army . Their first deployment was in Operation Torch the Allied landings in North Africa . This was followed by Operation Fustian during the Allied invasion of Sicily . Their third mission was Operation Slapstick , a seaborne landing at Taranto in Italy . The 16th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance then returned to England to prepare for operations in North West Europe . Their next and final parachute landing was in September 1944 , during the Battle of Arnhem . In the battle the 1st Parachute Brigade landed on the first day and the 16th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance established at dressing station in a local hospital . Within days the location was overrun by the Germans and the majority of the field ambulance went into captivity as prisoners of war . In 1945 it was reformed and took part in Operation Doomsday the occupation of Norway following the surrender of German forces there , but with the war over the unit was disbanded by the end of the year . 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 volunteers . The war establishment of a Parachute Field Ambulance , was 177 all ranks . Consisting 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 . But that 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 . Therefore , 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 bearer s , 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 carried out at No . 1 Parachute Training School , RAF Ringway . 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 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 ( containing dressing and surgical items respectively ) , 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 . History . Formation . Commanded by Lieutenant - Colonel Malcolm MacEwan , the first British parachute field ambulance , the 16th Airborne Field Ambulance was raised on 3 April 1941 , at Hardwick Hall in Derbyshire . The first arrivals being thirty - three men transferred from the 181st ( Airlanding ) Field Ambulance . Reaching full strength and having completed their parachute training the unit was re - designated the 16th ( P ) Field Ambulance which was later changed to the 16th ( Parachute ) Field Ambulance ( 16 PFA ) . The 16 PFA was assigned to the 1st Parachute Brigade in the 1st Airborne Division . North Africa . The invasion of North Africa Operation Torch was the first time an airborne field ambulance was employed . Before this operations Colossus and Freshman had no specialist medical support , while Biting included a section from the 181st ( Airlanding ) Field Ambulance in the evacuation boats . For Torch No . 3 Section , 16 PFA was attached to the 3rd Parachute Battalion and travelled by plane via Gibraltar to North Africa . On 11 November 1942 , they parachuted onto the airfield at Bone . While the remainder of 16 PFA and the brigade were transported to North Africa by sea , arrived the next day . En route to Bone the aircraft carrying Captain Keesey the No . 3 Section commander crashed into the sea . Leaving the section second in command to set up a dressing station to handle the fourteen casualties ( including one killed ) from the parachute landing . By 15 November , the 1st Parachute Brigade established a position outside of Algiers . On 17 November the 1st Parachute Battalion with No . 1 Section and No . 1 Surgical team 16 PFA , parachuted in to seize the airfield and an important crossroads at Béja . One man was killed in the drop and one other wounded who was treated on the drop zone ( DZ ) , by the section . By 20 : 00 the battalion had occupied Béja , and the section took over a small twenty - bed hospital in the garrison school and a part of the larger 250 - bed civil hospital . The town was attacked by a squadron of German Stukas on 20 November , and Lieutenant Charles Rob in command on the surgical team carried out over 150 operations during which he suffered a fractured tibia and kneecap caused by a bomb exploding nearby . Continuing to operate he carried out another twenty - two operation the next day , even giving a pint of blood to save a wounded soldier . Afterwards Lieutenant Rob was awarded a Military Cross . The section had only expected to be deployed for five days , but remained for twenty - four days , treating 238 casualties before being relieved . On 29 November No . 2 Section 16 PFA , and the 2nd Parachute Battalion , were parachuted close to Depienne Airfield . Arriving at the field at 11 : 00 they found it deserted and withdrew back to Prise de l ' Eau . On 1 December the battalion was informed that the planned advance by 6th Armoured Division had been postponed and the battalion was trapped behind German lines . The battalion was virtually surrounded and fought off two attacks that morning , one company was destroyed and there were 150 casualties . The battalion divided into company groups to try to break through the German lines . But the wounded had to be left behind , in the Advanced Dressing Station ( ADS ) established by No . 2 Section . The section remained behind to protect the wounded from the local anti - British population , until the Germans arrived and took them prisoner . From now onwards the 1st Parachute Brigade fought as normal infantry and 16 PFA on Christmas Eve set up a Main Dressing Station ( MDS ) at Medjez el Bab . On 2 February the 1st Parachute battalion assaulted Djebel Mansour mountain with No . 1 Section attached . The ground was unsuitable for vehicles and the section could only take what they could carry by hand . The terrain also hindered casualty evacuation and it took ten hours , to bring the wounded from the front line to the medical post , by which time the stretcher bearers could go no further . In the situation Lieutenant - Colonel McEwan , brought the remainder of 16 PFA forward to assist with the wounded , No . 4 Section being sent to the top of Djebel Mansour . McEwan established a relay of stretcher bearers that cut the evacuation from the top of the mountain down to three hours . The battle continued until the 5 February and by that time everyone not involved in surgery , apart from three men were used as stretcher bearers . By the end of the battle the men of 16 PFA had treated 201 casualties . The Germans and Italians counterattacked on 20 February , their attack failed but again every man was used in carrying stretchers to the rear . On 26 February the 2nd Parachute battalion defeated an Italian attack and No . 3 Section was kept busy with the Italian wounded . On 3 March the brigade were moved to Sedjenane to relieve the 139th Infantry Brigade . In the battle 16 PFA were used to evacuate the wounded from the front line to the ADS used by the 139th Brigades field ambulance . The commander of 1st Parachute Brigade Brigadier Gerald Lathbury , ordered that in the coming battle , the brigade would remain where they were and not withdraw . Lieutenant - Colonel McEwan brought the two surgical teams forward together with enough medical supplies and stores to last out the battle . The attack started 8 March and over the following days the MDS was subjected to artillery and air attacks killing and wounding some 16 PFA men . On 17 March the ADS was shelled and dive - bombed eight times , but continued to operate . By the end of the twelve - day battle , 16 PFA had treated and evacuated 554 wounded . On 12 May 16 PFA rejoined 1st Airborne Division that had arrived in theatre and Lieutenant - Colonel McEwan leaving to join 6th Airborne Division , handed over command to Major Gerard ( Ross ) Wheatley who was promoted to lieutenant - colonel . Sicily and Italy . The next action for 16 PFA was during the Allied invasion of Sicily . The 1st Parachute Brigade was to capture Primosole Bridge crossing the River Simeto , south of Catania . The brigade now consisted of the 1st , 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions . The 1st Airborne Anti - Tank Battery Royal Artillery , the 1st Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers and 16 PFA . During the mission the parachute battalions would have a section from 16 PFA attached . For the landing each section parachute stick included six containers of medical stores , which contained a wheeled stretcher and a hand trolley . The two surgical teams had five containers of stores . The need to carry the containers reduced each section to seventeen men . Spare men were distributed among the brigade , one officer and nineteen men with the 1st Battalion . One officer and sixteen men with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions , while Lieutenant - Colonel Wheatly and two men went with brigade headquarters . On 12 July 1943 the brigade took off between 19 : 00 and 20 : 30 , intended to parachute into Sicily between 22 : 20 and 23 : 15 the same night . The Dakota carrying No . 4 Section was hit by anti - aircraft fire and crashed into the sea killing four of the sections men . No . 3 Section landed on both sides of the river west of the bridge . Half the section falling in with a small group from the 3rd Battalion , were forced by enemy activity to hide out until they could rejoin the brigade late on the 15 July . The Dakota carrying No . 1 Surgical Team , was hit by anti - aircraft fire knocking out one of its engines . Five men including one of the surgeons Captain Lipmann - Kessel unable to jump were taken back to North Africa . The rest of 16 PFA although scattered landed without incident . The MDS was established in farm buildings south of the river . In the first thirteen hours the MDS carried out twenty - one operations and were looking after sixty - one British and twenty - nine Italian patients by 22 : 00 the following night . However , in that time the brigade had been forced off the bridge and the MDS was now in no - man ' s land . Those men that could be spared were sent back with the brigade . An Italian officer arrived and informed them that they had been captured , but later that day , 2nd Parachute Battalion advancing with the 50th ( Northumbrian ) Infantry Division liberated the MDS . During their time in captivity the MDS had carried out a further fourteen operation . By the end of the mission 109 wounded had been treated and thirty - one operations , had been carried out , with only two post operative fatalities . On 17 July the brigade sailed for North Africa , arriving the next day . For the Allied invasion of Italy the 1st airborne Division were informed on 6 September , 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 Brigade in reserve . When they did land 16 PFA took over a 350 - bed hospital at Altamura , until 20 November when the division left Italy for England . Arnhem . The next mission for 16 PFA was the airborne assault in the Netherlands . The 1st Airborne Division would land outside of Arnhem over three days . The 1st Parachute Brigade was in the first days landings and had to capture the crossings over the River Rhine . Now under the command of Lieutenant - Colonel E . Townsend , the airborne element of 16 PFA was ten officers and 125 other ranks . To supplement the airborne group , another travelled by land , which included the bulk of their transport and seven ambulances . Loaded with seven days supplies of medical equipment and stores . After landing 16 PFA were to clear the casualties on the brigade DZ , and then move into Arnhem to take over the St Elizabeth Hospital . At 11 : 00 on 17 September 1944 16 PFA boarded their aircraft in Lincolnshire and took off for the Netherlands . The daylight flight was uneventful and the brigade landed between 13 : 15 and 14 : 00 , about outside of the town . One hour after the bulk of 1st Airlanding Brigade had arrived by glider . After treating the casualties on the DZ , 16 PFA moved through Oosterbeek into the western outskirts of Arnhem and took over the St Elizabeth Hospital . When they arrived , there was already some British wounded waiting for them and by 22 : 00 the surgical teams had started operating . Fighting in the area continued overnight and by 08 : 00 the next morning German troops recaptured the hospital . After discussing the situation with the Germans , it was agreed that the two surgical teams , nineteen men could remain , all the others including the commanding officer were taken away as prisoners of war . Units of the Waffen SS occupied the hospital with guards on the doors of the operating theatres . On 19 September an attack by 1st Parachute Brigade liberated the hospital again . The area around the hospital was fiercely contested and it was hit a number of times by mortar and artillery rounds . By the end of the day the parachute brigade had been forced back and the hospital was once again captured by the Germans . For the next two days the hospital continued to operate accepting casualties from both sides . On 21 September a German officer arrived and warned the 16 PFA staff that several hundred more wounded would be arriving soon . Casualties continued to arrive at the hospital until 27 September when everyone fit to travel was moved to a prisoner of war hospital at Apeldoorn . During the battle between 700 – 800 British wounded had been treated and 150 operations had been carried out . Only twenty men who reached the hospital had died , the majority arriving so badly injured that their wounds were inoperable . Norway . After Arnhem 1st Airborne Division and 16 PFA were reformed , now commanded by Lieutenant - Colonel N . J . P Hewlings . The war ended before they could go into action again , however they were sent to Norway to help disarm the 400 , 000 - strong German garrison . The 16 PFA landed at Oslo on 10 May 1945 , their role was the medical screening of the large numbers of Russian prisoners of war and assist in the evacuation of the German Army . By the end of June 1945 the 1st Airborne Division was withdrawn back to England and in October , 16 PFA was disbanded .