1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)

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1st Airborne Division

The divisional shoulder flash of the airborne forces
Active World War II
31 October 1941 - 1945
Country Great Britain
Branch British Army
Type Airborne
Size ~ 10 000 men
Nickname Red Devils
Engagements Operation Colossus, Operation Biting, Operation Freshman, Tunisia, Battle of Sicily, Italy, Operation Market Garden, Denmark, Norway
Battle honours Primasole Bridge
Arnhem
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Maj.Gen.Frederick Browning
Maj.Gen.Roy Urquhart

The 1st Airborne Division was a military formation that was raised and fought during World War II. It suffered terrible casualties throughout the operations it undertook, especially during Operation Market Garden, the operation which made the division famous for its defence of Arnhem Bridge. The division was the first to use the maroon beret, now an internationally recognised symbol of elite airborne forces.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation, North Africa, and Sicily

The 1st Airborne was formed on October 31, 1941, placed under the command of Major General Frederick Browning. At first, it consisted of the British 1st Parachute Brigade and the 1st Airlanding Brigade, but in July of 1942, it received the 2nd Parachute Brigade, bringing its strength to a full division. However, in late 1942, the 1st Para was sent to North Africa, again depleting the division's strength. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was attached in its absence.

On May 1, 1943, the division, under the command of Maj. Gen. George F. Hopkinson was sent to North Africa, joining the 1st Para. It left 3rd Para behind, which formed the basis of the 6th Airborne Division. 1st Airborne was then used in the invasion of Sicily, but only the 1st Para and 1st Airlanding participated in that action.

On September 9, the unit was given orders to advance on Taranto, Italy. After immediately taking the port, 2nd and 4th Paras (the 4th Parachute Brigade had been attached soon before) advanced inland. However, Maj. Gen. Hopkinson was killed by enemy machine gun fire, and command passed to Brigadier Ernest Down, commanding 1st Para. In November, 1st Airborne was given orders to return to England, although 2nd Parachute Brigade was detached and remained in Italy as a separate unit.

[edit] D-Day and onwards

In January of 1944, Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart was given command of the division. On D-Day, 1st Airborne remained in reserve, while British 6th Airborne Division made the airborne drops into France. During the early stages of the fighting in Normandy it was planned to drop the division south of the city of Caen in support of Operation Perch, however the operation was vetoed by the air force as being too risky for the men of the division as well as the pilots who would fly them in.[1][2][3][4]

On August 2, 1944 the division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army.

Between Normandy and Arnhem (Operation Market Garden), about 17 airborne operations were planned for 1st Airborne, but they were all canceled for one reason or another, usually because the ground units were advancing so quickly that the targets were overrun. This caused members of the division to characterize it as the "Stillborn Division".

[edit] Operation Market Garden

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Waves of paratroops land in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
Waves of paratroops land in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Before Operation Market Garden, 1st Airborne had never fought as a single unit. However, in this operation, it was ordered to seize the Rhine river bridge in the city of Arnhem, while XXX Corps advanced from Belgium. In the initial planning stages, Gen. Urquhart had requested a defensible, flat area to land his division. Although a few areas seemed somewhat suitable, they all had disadvantages, and 1st Airborne was forced to land about 12 km from the extremely important bridge it was tasked to defend, counter to key lessons from the D-Day and Sicily about landing airborne troops as close as possible to their objectives.

Also, reconnaissance aircraft and the Dutch resistance had spotted some enemy tanks in woods near Arnhem. However, the 21st Army Group command disregarded these photographs, stating that the tanks were "unserviceable". Much of the Allied spy operation in the Netherlands had been turned by the Germans, leading to a distrust of the information. In fact, two Waffen SS Panzer divisions had recently been moved to Arnhem for refitting, where "nothing was going on." The Dutch resistance correctly identified these divisions and passed the information on to the Allies by September 10. However, 1st Airborne dropped as planned on September 17, 1944.

In order to quickly take the bridge, a jeep-mounted unit had been sent as part of 1st Airborne. However, most of this unit's jeeps were lost when 38 gliders failed to arrive on the drop zone. Remaining vehicles were slow to move out after landing, and its leading vehicles were ambushed on the way to Arnhem. Therefore, 1st Airborne was forced to advance into Arnhem on foot. Also, only half of the division had arrived on the first day due to the decision by 1st Allied Airborne Army to make only one drop on the first day. The Divisional commanders all requested two drops on the first day. All three battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade was sent into Arnhem; however, only 2nd Battalion was able to push through to the bridge. This battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, occupied the buildings near the north end of the bridge for the fight ahead. Frost made two attempts to seize the south end of the bridge, but both ended in failure.

The division made attempts to reinforce Frost at the bridge approach; however, the Germans, operating just over the border from Germany, received substantial reinforcements steadily, and were able to hold the British attacks, and then push the rest of 1st Airborne back, away from the key bridge at Arnhem, held by John Frost and 2nd Battalion. On September 20, the decision was made to abandon Frost, and for the 1st Airborne to occupy a defence position near Oosterbeek. The 1st Airborne had landed on the north side of the Rhine, while XXX Corps was advancing from the south. It was hoped that when XXX Corps arrived, it could secure the south side of the river and cross the bridge to relieve 1st Airborne on the north side.

Col. Frost's men continued to hold the north end of the bridge inside the city of Arnhem, defending their position from several houses surrounding the bridge approaches. Although German tanks and artillery continually barraged and attacked the British positions, they staunchly held. However, by 21 September, the battalion's ammunition was all but gone. Early that day, Frost's battalion finally surrendered. It had held the bridge area for three days and four nights, which was about as long as Allied command had estimated the entire division, consisting of 10,000 elite troops, could hold it. Frost's force never exceeded 800 men.

The Airborne division, with no armoured force and few anti-tank weapons, was able to defend against a force about four times as large, which had tremendous armoured and artillery support. It was an extraordinary achievement that has rightly become famous; the bridge was later named in Frost's honour. The main force of the Polish Parachute Brigade and XXX Corps had arrived on the south side of the river on the 22nd, about three days late. However, the forces were unable to cross the river, except for about 200 Polish paratroopers who were a welcome reinforcement of the Oosterbeek perimeter. On the 25th, the 1st Airborne was ordered to withdraw across the river. Leaving radiomen, physicians, and the badly wounded behind, Gen. Urquhart and the 2,300 survivors of the 1st Airborne retreated across the river.

[edit] Honours

Four men from the 1st Airborne Division were awarded the Victoria Cross for their actions in the Arnhem battle. They were:

[edit] Epilogue

High Command had estimated that the 1st Airborne could only hold the position north of the river for four days, at its highest readiness. However, with horribly depleted forces (including a battalion stranded in a hostile town), it held the position for eight days. With less than 1/4 of the division returning from Arnhem, it saw no more action for the rest of the war, however in May 1945 elements of the division was sent to Norway to disarm the 35 000 strong German garrison as well as a brigade being sent to Denmark.

The division was then withdrawn back to the United Kingdom in August 1945 and was disbanded in November of the same year.

[edit] Order of battle

The following reflects 1st Airborne Division’s order of battle at the time of their participation in the Arnhem operation. (The only time the Division fought in its entirety in an airborne capacity.) RAF Transport Command squadrons etc are not included in this list.

  • 1st Parachute Brigade
    • 1st Bn, Parachute Regiment
    • 2nd Bn, Parachute Regt.
    • 3rd Bn, Parachute Regt.
    • 1st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, RA
    • 16 Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC
    • 1st Parachute Squadron, RE
  • 4th Parachute Brigade
    • 10th Bn, Parachute Regt.
    • 11th Bn, Parachute Regt.
    • 156th Bn, Parachute Regt.
    • 2nd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, RA
    • 133 Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC
    • 4th Parachute Squadron, RE
  • 1st Airlanding Brigade
  • Divisional Units
    • 21st Independent Parachute Company
    • 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, RA
    • 1 Forward (Airborne) Observation Unit, RA
    • 1st Airborne Divisional Signals
    • 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron
    • 9th (Airborne) Field Company, RE
    • 261 (Airborne) Field Park Company, RE
    • 250 (Airborne) Light Composite Company, RASC
    • 1st (Airborne) Divisional Field Park, RAOC
    • 1st (Airborne) Divisional Workshops, REME
    • 1st (Airborne) Divisional Provost Company, CMP
    • 89th (Parachute) Field Security Section, Intelligence Corps
  • Attached
    • 1st Polish Independent Para Brigade
      • 1st Battalion
      • 2nd Battalion
      • 3rd Battalion
      • Plus Engineers, Medical, AT, Sigs etc.
    • 1st Wing Glider Pilot Regiment
    • 2nd Wing Glider Pilot Regiment

[edit] References

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[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Major Ellis, Official History, Pg 247
  2. ^ Forty, Pg 26
  3. ^ Ford, Pg 32
  4. ^ WO 171/392