First Allied Airborne Army
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The First Allied Airborne Army was part of the Allied Expeditionary Force in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. It was the largest all airborne military force in history.
[edit] Creation
The First Allied Airborne Army was activated on August 2, 1944 and commanded by USAAF Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton; second in command was British Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, succeeded in January 1945 by British Lieutenant-General Richard Gale.
[edit] Constituent Formations
The First Allied Airborne Army consisted of
- U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps
- British I Airborne Corps
- British 1st Airborne Division
- British 6th Airborne Division
- 52nd (Lowland) Division (Air Transportable)
- British 1st Special Air Service Brigade
- Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade.
- French 1er Regiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes
- French 2ème Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes S.A.S
- French 3è Régiment de Chasseurs Parachutistes S.A.S
- 9th Troop Carrier Command USAAF
- 38 Group Transport Command RAF
- 46 Group Transport Command RAF
[edit] Operations
Although elements of what was to become the Allied Airborne Army (US 82nd and 101st and British 6th Airborne Divisions) took part in the D-Day landings, this was prior to the Army's creation.
The first and most famous combat operation of the First Allied Airborne Army, in September 1944, was Operation Market Garden during which the British 1st, US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, dropped in the Netherlands as part of a plan to outflank the Siegfried Line cross the Rhine and enter Germany.
Elements of the Airborne Army (US 82nd and 101st Divisions, British 6th Division) took part in the Battle of the Bulge although without aerial delivery.
The next and final airborne operation conducted by the First Allied Airborne Army was Operation Varsity, during which the British 6th and the US 17th Airborne Divisions landed in Germany, helping to secure the crossing of the Rhine.
