6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)

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6th Airborne Division

The divisional shoulder flash of the airborne forces
Active World War II
3rd May 1943 - 1st April 1948
Country Great Britain
Branch British Army
Type Airborne
Role Parachute Infantry
Size 8,500 men[1]
Nickname The Red Devils
Motto Go To It
Engagements Operation Overlord
Operation Varsity
Battle honours D-Day
Normandy
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Maj.Gen. Richard Nelson Gale

The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne division in the British Army during World War II.

Contents

[edit] Formation

On 23 April 1943 the British War Office ordered that a second airborne division be raised to supplement the original British 1st Airborne Division. The new division consisted initially of key personnel reassigned from 1st Airborne. This included several officers who had fought in North Africa with the 1st Parachute Brigade. For example, Richard Gale had raised and commanded the 1st Parachute Brigade. James Hill had commanded 1st Parachute Battalion. Alastair Pearson had been his second-in-command. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin had been second-in-command of 2nd Battalion.

The core of the new 6th Airborne Division was formed from the 3rd Parachute Brigade and 1st Airlanding Brigade. Both were reassigned from 1st Airborne. Lieutenant Colonel James Hill assumed command of 3rd Parachute Brigade while he was recovering from wounds received in North Africa. At 31, Hill was one of the youngest Brigadiers in the British army. The 3rd Parachute Brigade included the 7th, 8th and 9th Parachute Battalions. Each battalion had been recruited regionally. The 7th had been formed from the Somerset Light Infantry. Many paratroopers of the 8th were from the Midlands. The 9th was formed from the 10th Holding Battalion, The Essex Regiment. Lieutenant Colonels Pine-Coffin, Pearson, and Otway were the commanders the 7th, 8th, and 9th Battalions, respectively.

The 1st Airlanding Brigade was renamed the 6th Airlanding Brigade. It included two glider-borne, light infantry battalions: 1st Battalion the Royal Ulster Rifles (Lieutenant Colonel Jack Carson) and 2nd Battalion the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Michael Roberts). Later, the 12th Battalion The Devonshire Regiment (Lieutenant Colonel Dick Stephens), which had been formed recently from coastal defence units, was attached to the 6th Airlanding Brigade.

In June 1943, the 5th Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Nigel Poett, was added. It included the 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions. The 12th Battalion (Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Parker) was formed from a Yorkshire battalion, the 10th Battalion, the Green Howards. The 13th was formed from the 2nd and 4th Battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment. It was led by Lieutenant Colonel Peter Luard. Lieutenant-Colonel George Bradbrooke's 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion arrived in July 1943. Other units attached to the division included pathfinders, engineers, anti-tank, reconnaissance, medical, and signals units.

In August 1943, the division was reorganized. The Canadians were attached to 3rd Parachute Brigade and the 7th Battalion was assigned to 5th Parachute Brigade. In September 1943, the 6th Airborne Division was almost at its full complement of about 8,500 men. Each parachute battalion consisted of about 650 men. The airlanding battalions were slightly larger with about 750 men each. In February 1944, Parker was made second-in-command of the 6th Airlanding Brigade and Lieutenant Colonel A.P. "Johnny" Johnson assumed command of the 12th Parachute Battalion.

[edit] D-Day

Main article: Operation Tonga
British Pathfinders synchronising their watches in front of an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle.
British Pathfinders synchronising their watches in front of an Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle.

During the last hours of 5 June 1944 as part of Operation Tonga, transport aircraft and towed gliders carried units of the 6th Airborne to Normandy where they would land just prior to the D-Day landings that took place on the morning of 6 June. They were to land behind Sword Beach and secure the eastern flank. Some of the objectives included the seizure of the bridge over the Caen Canal (later renamed as "Pegasus Bridge" and the bridge over the Orne River (renamed later as Horsa Bridge) by D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks (commanded by Major John Howard). And also the destruction of the Merville Battery by Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway's 9 PARA, both of whom were some of the first units to land and achieve their objectives. The landings proved successful, though many units were scattered across much of Normandy. The area around Pegasus and Horsa were successfully defended until they were eventually relieved, having repulsed numerous counter-attacks by the Germans, later on 6 June by Lord Lovat's 1 Special Service Brigade, followed later by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division.

On 12 June, during the attack on Bréville, British artillery was bombarding it when a stray shell fell short and hit a group of British officers, killing Lieutenant-Colonel A.P. "Johnny" Johnson (CO 12 PARA) and badly wounding Brigadiers Kindersley (CO 6 Airlanding Brigade) and Lord Lovat (CO 1st Special Service Brigade).

From June to August the Division successfully defended the area to the east of the Orne river. On 2 August 1944 the division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army. In mid-August the division took part in the advance towards the Seine and early in September it returned to Britain to recuperate and reorganise, having suffered over 4,000 casualties (killed, wounded, and missing).

[edit] D-Day Timings

  • 0010 British 6th Airborne Division parachutes in north of Caen to secure bridges over Orne River. Lieutenant Poole first Allied soldier to set foot on French soil. German radar jammed along whole French coast.
  • 0016 Paras seize eastern flank of Sword Beach area, including Pegasus Bridge. Within 15 minutes Major John Howard sets up command post and sends message "Ham and Jam" - code for success.
  • 0150 Rest of British 6th Airborne Division parachutes in east of Orne river.
  • 0350 British paratroops start attacking village of Ranville.
  • 0430 British Paras attack German long-range guns at Merville Battery east of Sword landings. Knocked out 15 minutes later, but only 80 of battalion of 600 survive. Sainte-Mère Eglise captured by US 82nd Airborne Division.
  • 0630 Assault on beaches starts.Landing on Sword, easternmost beach, led by British 8th Infantry Brigade Group. Objective: to advance towards Caen, link with Paras and glider-borne troops.
  • 1330 1st Special Service Brigade Commandos link with 6th Airborne Division at Pegasus Bridge.
  • 2100 Main part 6th Airlanding Brigade arrives.

[edit] Ardennes Offensive

On 16 December the Germans launched Operation Watch on the Rhine , a last-gasp offensive against the Allies via the Ardennes forest. The division was rushed to Belgium shortly afterward to assist in repulsing the attack. The fighting took place in awful weather conditions and ended in mid-January 1945.

[edit] The Rhine Crossings

[edit] Preparation

By March 1945, the Allies had advanced into Germany and had reached the River Rhine. The Rhine was a formidable natural obstacle to the Allied advance,[2] but if breached would allow the Allies to access the North German Plain and ultimately advance on Berlin and other major cities in Northern Germany. Following the 'Broad Front Approach' laid out by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, it was decided to attempt to breach the Rhine in several areas.[3] Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commanding the British 21st Army Group devised a plan to allow the forces under his command to breach the Rhine, which he entitled Operation Plunder, and which was subsequently authorized by Eisenhower. Plunder envisioned the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey and the U.S. Ninth Army under Lieutenant General William Simpson crossing the Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and an area south of the Lippe Canal. To ensure that the operation was a success, Montgomery insisted that an airborne component was inserted into the plans for the operation to support the amphibious assaults that would take place, which was code-named Operation Varsity.[4] Three airborne divisions were initially chosen to take part in Varsity, these being the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 13th Airborne Division and the 17th Airborne Division, all of which were assigned to the US XVIII Airborne Corps.

However, as planning for Operation Varsity began, it soon became obvious that there was a lack of suitable transport aircraft to transport all three of the airborne divisions proposed for the operation, and as such the 13th Airborne Division was dropped from the operational plan, primarily because it had no combat experience, whereas the 6th Airborne Division had participated in Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings during Operation Neptune, and the 17th had seen combat in the Ardennes. [5] The plan for the operation was therefore altered to accommodate the two remaining airborne divisions, the British 6th Airborne and the US 17th Airborne Division. The two airborne divisions would be dropped behind German lines, with their objective to land around Wesel and disrupt enemy defences in order to aid the advance of the British Second Army. To achieve this, both divisions would be dropped near the town of Hamminkeln, and were tasked with a number of objectives; they were to seize the Diersfordter Wald, a forest that overlooked the Rhine and had a road linking several towns together; several bridges over a smaller waterway, the River Ijssel, were to be seized to facilitate the advance; and the town of Hamminkeln was to be captured.[6] Once these objectives were taken, the airborne troops would consolidate their positions and await the arrival of Allied ground forces, defending the territory captured against the German forces known to be in the area.

”To disrupt the hostile defence of the RHINE in the WESEL sector by the seizure of key terrain by airborne attack, in order[...]to facilitate the further offensive operations of the SECOND ARMY."
[Operational orders for 6th and 17th Airborne Divisions] [7]

The plan for the operation called for the division to land in the northern half of the operational area, with its principal objectives to seize the high ground east of the town of Bergen, to attack and capture the town of Hamminkeln, and finally to take control of several bridges over the River Ijssel. [8] It would then hold the territory it had captured until it linked up units from the American 17th Airborne Division, which would land in the southern section of the operational area, and finally advance alongside 21st Army Group once the Allied ground forces had made contact with the airborne forces. To avoid the heavy casualties incurred by the British 1st Airborne Division that had occurred during Operation Market-Garden, both Allied airborne divisions would only be dropped after Allied ground units had crossed the Rhine and secured crossings; the two divisions would also be dropped only a relatively short distance behind German lines, to ensure that reinforcements would be able to link up with them after only a few hours and they would not be isolated. [9]

[edit] The Battle

The first British airborne unit to land was the 3rd Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier James Hill. [10] The Brigade actually dropped nine minutes earlier than it was scheduled to be, but despite this the unit was successfully dropped onto Drop-Zone A, where it was engaged by heavy small-arms and 20mm anti-aircraft fire. The Brigade suffered a number of casualties as it engaged the German forces in the Diersfordter Wald, but by 11:00 the Drop-Zone was practically clear of enemy forces and all battalions of the Brigade had formed up.[11] The key town of Schnappenberg was captured by the 9th Parachute Battalion in conjunction with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, the latter unit having lost its commanding officer to German small-arms fire only moments after he had landed.[12] However, despite taking casualties the Brigade cleared the area of German forces, and by 13:45 Brigadier Hill could report that the Brigade had secured all of its objectives.[11]

The next British airborne unit to land was the 5th Parachute Brigade, commanded by Brigadier Nigel Poett.[13] The Brigade was designated to land on Drop-Zone B and achieved this, although not as accurately as 3rd Parachute Brigade due to poor visibility around the Drop-Zone, which also made it more difficult for paratroopers of the Brigade to rally. The Drop-Zone came under heavy fire from German troops stationed nearby, and was subjected to shellfire and mortaring which inflicted casualties in the battalion rendezvous areas.[14] However, 7th Parachute Battalion soon cleared the DZ of German troops, many of whom were situated in farms and houses, and the 12th Parachute Battalion and 13th Parachute Battalion rapidly secured the rest of the Brigades objectives.[14] The Brigade was then ordered to move due east and clear and area near Schnappenberg, as well as engaging German forces who were gathered to the west of the farmhouse which had been taken as the headquarters for the 6th Airborne Division. By 15:30 hours Brigadier Poett reported that the Brigade had secured all of its objectives and linked up with other British airborne units.[14]

The third airborne unit that formed a part of the 6th Airborne Division was the 6th Airlanding Brigade, commanded by Brigadier R. H. Bellamy.[15] The Brigade was tasked with landing in company-sized groups and capturing several objectives, including the town of Hamminkeln.[16] The gliders containing the airborne troops of the Brigade landed in Landing-Zones P, O, U and R under considerable anti-aircraft fire, the landing being made even more difficult due to the presence of a great deal of haze and smoke. This resulted in a number of glider pilots being unable to identify their landing areas and losing their bearings, resulting in a number of gliders landing in the wrong areas or crashing.[14] However, the majority of the gliders survived, allowing the battalions of the Brigade to secure three bridges over the Ijssel that they had been tasked with capturing intact, as well as the town of Hamminkeln with the aid of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment which had been dropped by mistake near to the town. The Brigade secured all of its objectives shortly after capturing Hamminkeln.[14]

[edit] Later Operations

The war, however, continued elsewhere and the 5th Parachute Brigade was deployed to the Far East in July to take part in the campaign against the Japanese, with the intention of the rest of the division following it. The war ended suddenly in August with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September. Thus, the Division's move was halted and the 5th Brigade was employed in operations in Malaya and Singapore to assist in the disarmament of the Japanese occupation forces there. The Brigade subsequently moved to Java, Dutch East Indies, where it attempted to assist in maintaining order against hostile nationalist forces intent on preventing the Dutch from returning to the colony. The division left with the arrival of substantial forces from the Royal Netherlands Army in April 1946.

Elsewhere, the rest of the division had moved to Palestine in September 1945, taking part in internal security duties against Zionist organisations known as Irgun, Haganah and the Lehi (group) who were trying to expel the British. The 6th Airborne continued to carry out operations against the groups in difficult circumstances until they were disbanded on 1 April 1948 just before the British left Palestine.

In the present-day British Army the 16 Air Assault Brigade (named to perpuate the 16 Parachute Brigade) is numbered in honour of the 1st Airborne and 6th Airborne divisions.

[edit] Commanders

[edit] Order of Battle

The Division order of battle for the invasion of Normandy was as follows:

  • 6th Airborne Division (Major-General Gale)
    • Divisional Units
      • 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, RA (Lieutenant-Colonel Tony Teacher)
      • 2 Forward (Airborne) Observation Unit, RA (Major Harry Rice)
      • 2nd Airlanding Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, RA (Major W. A. H. Rowatt)
      • 6th Airborne Divisional Postal Unit, RE (Captain JCG Hine RE)
      • 22nd Independent Parachute Company (Major Francis Lennox-Boyd)
      • 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Godfrey Stewart)
      • 6th Airborne Division Signals (Lieutenant-Colonel D. Smallman-Tew)
      • 63rd Composite Company, RASC (Major A. C. Billie-Top)
      • 398th Composite Company, RASC (Major M. E. Phipps)
      • 716th Composite Company, RASC (Major E. C. Jones)
      • 6th (Airborne) Divisional Ordnance Field Park, RASC (Major W. L. Taylor)
      • 6th (Airborne) Divisional Workshops, REME (Major E. B.Bonniwell)
      • 10th Airlanding Light Aid Detachment, REME
      • 12th Airlanding Light Aid Detachment, REME
      • 6th (Airborne) Divisional Provost Company, RMP (Captain Irwin)
      • 317th Field Security Section, Intelligence Corps (Captain F G MacMillan / Capt. Donaldson-Loudon)
    • 3rd Parachute Brigade (Brigadier James Hill)
      • 8th (Midland Counties) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Alastair Pearson)
      • 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway)
      • 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel George Bradbrooke)
      • 3rd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, RA (Major Nick Crammer)
      • 3rd Parachute Squadron, RE (Major Tim Roseveare)
      • 224th Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel D. H. Thompson)
    • 5th Parachute Brigade (Brigadier Nigel Poett)
      • 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin)
      • 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Johnny Johnson)
      • 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Luard)
      • 4th Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, RA (Major Peter Dixon)
      • 591st Parachute Squadron, RE (Major Andy Wood who was captured on 6th June, thereafter by Major Gordon F Davidson)
      • 225th Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce Harvey)
    • 6th Airlanding Brigade (Brigadier The Honourable Hugh Kindersley)
    • Attached Units
      • The Glider Pilot Regiment
        • No. 1 Wing (Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Murray)
        • No. 2 Wing (Lieutenant-Colonel John Place)
      • HQ, 245th Provost Company, RMP

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www2.army.mod.uk/para/history/normandy.htm
  2. ^ Matthew J. Seelinger (2007). Operation Varsity: The Last Airborne Deployment of World War II. Army Historical Research. Retrieved on 2008-05-01.
  3. ^ Saunders, Tim, p. 41
  4. ^ Devlin, p. 258-259
  5. ^ Clay, p. 440
  6. ^ Jewell, p27
  7. ^ The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum, File 74 – Summary Of Ground Forces Participation In Operation “Varsity”, p. 1
  8. ^ Harclerode, p. 553
  9. ^ Jewell, p. 28
  10. ^ Devlin, p. 624
  11. ^ a b Otway, p. 307
  12. ^ Devlin, p. 624
  13. ^ Ministry of Information, p. 139
  14. ^ a b c d e Otway, p. 308
  15. ^ Otway, p. 302
  16. ^ Otway, pp. 302-303

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

Bernage, Georges (2002). Red Devils In Normandy. Heimdal, 9. ISBN 2840481596. 

Hickman, Mark. Pegasus Archive. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.

Mills, T.F.. Land Forces of Britain, the Empire, and Commonwealth. Retrieved on 2006-12-09.

Saunders, Hilary (1985). The red beret: The story of the parachute regiment at war 1940-1945. Battery Press. ISBN 0898390877.