Talk:6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)

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The reason the second Br ABD was number 6th was that the preceding numbers were deception formations (info from Axis History Forum): 2nd,formed with the 11th & 12th Parachute Brigades and 13th Air-Landing Brigade. Based in Lincolnshire. Used as a deception division leading up to DDay, and then again for the proposed Air-Op around Kiel-Bremen when actually Arnhem was underway. The Division was disbanded in December'44, as its troops provided replacements for the 1st & 6th Airborne Divisions.

3rd, was active in SE Asia, for proposed missions in Burma etc. Elements of 5th Parachute Brigade (6th Airborne) were allocated to the division from March'45 onwards

4th, composed as of April 1943 of the 6th (Gurkha) Parachute Brigade, 1st Special Air Service Brigade and 7th Airborne Brigade (OoB's available if you want). The division arrived in Palestine in early'42 for notional op's against Greece. Then moved to Cyrenaica as part of Twelth Army for nominal op's against Crete.

5th was activated in late 1943 and contained the genuine 2nd Parachute Brigade from 1st Airborne. The division stayed in the western Med till 1944 where it was used in various ploys concerning Allied landings along the Adriatic coast. At a later stage German agents were close to finding that this division was not all it was made out to be. So the division was moved. Its HQ and 9th Brigade were sent to Rome, where the genuine 2nd Parachute Brigade was based, whilst its 8th Brigade was 'sent' to Malta for training and to recieve reinforcements from England.

32nd (Air Transit), formed in late '44, and was doing training with transport aircraft, under Central Command, India in early 1945