| 6th British Airborne Division | |
|---|---|
 Glider infantry of D Company, 2nd Battalion,Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, of the6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, in Normandy 1944. | |
| Active | 1943–1948 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Paratrooper |
| Role | Airborne forces Raiding Reconnaissance |
| Size | Division |
| Nickname | Red Devils[nb 1] |
| Motto | Go To It[2] |
| Engagements | World War II Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges Operation Tonga Battle of Merville Gun Battery Operation Mallard Battle of Bréville Advance to the River Seine Battle of the Bulge Operation Varsity Palestine Emergency |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Sir Richard Gale Sir James Cassels Sir Hugh Stockwell |
| Insignia | |
| Emblem of the British airborne forces |  |
The6th Airborne Division was anairborneinfantrydivision of theBritish Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being the1st Airborne Division.[3] The 6th Airborne Division was formed in theSecond World War, in mid-1943, and was commanded byMajor-GeneralRichard N. Gale. The division consisted of the3rd and5th Parachute Brigades along with the6th Airlanding Brigade and supporting units.
The division's initial operation, which also resulted in it becoming the firstAllied unit to land its troops in France as part ofOperation Overlord, wasOperation Tonga on 6 June 1944, D-Day, part of theNormandy landings, where it was responsible for securing the left flank of the Allied invasion. Having successfully carried out this task the division remained in Normandy for three months before being withdrawn in September. The division was entrained day after day later that month, over nearly a week, preparing to joinOperation Market Garden but was eventually stood down. While still recruiting and reforming in England, it was mobilised again and sent to Belgium in December 1944, to help counter the surprise German offensive in theArdennes, theBattle of the Bulge. Their final airborne mission followed in March 1945,Operation Varsity, the second Allied airborne assault over theRiver Rhine.
After the war the division was identified as the Imperial Strategic Reserve, and moved to theMiddle East. Initially sent toPalestine for parachute training, the division became involved in aninternal security role. In Palestine, the division went through several changes in formation, and had been reduced in size to only two parachute brigades by the time it was disbanded in 1948.
On 31 May 1941, a jointArmy andRAF memorandum was approved by theChiefs-of-Staff andWinston Churchill; it recommended that the British airborne forces should consist of two parachute brigades, one based in England and the other in theMiddle East, and that a glider force of 10,000 men should be created.[4] Then on 23 April 1943 the War Office authorised the formation of a second British airborne division.[5]
This second formation was numbered the 6th Airborne Division, and commanded byMajor-GeneralRichard Nelson "Windy" Gale, who had previously raised the1st Parachute Brigade.[6][nb 2] Under his command would be the existing3rd Parachute Brigade, along with two battalions (2ndOx and Bucks and 1stUlster Rifles) transferred from the1st Airborne Division, to form the nucleus of the new6th Airlanding Brigade.[5] The airlanding brigade was an important part of the airborne division, its strength being almost equal to that of the two parachute brigades combined,[8] and theglider infantry battalions were the heaviest armed infantry units in the British Army.[9] At the same time, several officers, combat veterans from the 1st Airborne Division, were posted to the division as brigade and battalion commanders.[10] Between May and September, the remainder of the divisional units were formed, including the5th Parachute Brigade, the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, the53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment,Royal Artillery and the division'sPathfinders the 21st Independent Parachute Company.[11] Headquarters were at Syrencot House,Figheldean, Wiltshire.[12]
From June to December 1943, the division prepared for operations, training at every level fromsection up to division by day and night.[13] Airborne soldiers were expected to fight against superior numbers of the enemy, who would be equipped with artillery and tanks. Training was therefore designed to encourage a spirit of self-discipline, self-reliance and aggressiveness, with emphasis given to physical fitness,marksmanship andfieldcraft.[14] A large part of the training consisted ofassault courses androute marching.Military exercises included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads, road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications.[14] At the end of most exercises, the troops would march back to their barracks, usually a distance of around 20 miles (32 km).[13] An ability to cover long distances at speed was expected; airborneplatoons were required to cover a distance of 50 miles (80 km) in 24 hours, andbattalions 32 miles (51 km).[14]
At theend of the war in Europe, in May 1945, the division was selected to go to India and form an airborne corps with the44th Indian Airborne Division.[15] The division’s advance party, formed around the 5th Parachute Brigade, had already arrived inIndia, when the Japanese surrendered after theAtomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[16] Following the surrender, all these plans changed. The post-war British Army only needed one airborne division, and the 6th Airborne was chosen to remain on strength and was sent to theMiddle East as the Imperial Strategic Reserve.[17]
When the division wasdispatched to the Middle East, the2nd Parachute Brigade was assigned to bring them up to strength.[18] In May 1946, after the 1st Airborne Division was disbanded, the 1st Parachute Brigade joined the division, replacing the 6th Airlanding Brigade.[19] The next major manpower development came in 1947, when the 3rd Parachute Brigade was disbanded and the 2nd Parachute Brigade, while remaining part of the division, was withdrawn to England, then sent to Germany.[20] On 18 February 1947, it was announced that the 6th Airborne Division would be disbanded when they left Palestine.[21] Gradually the division's units left the country and were disbanded, the last ones comprising part of divisional headquarters, the1st Parachute Battalion and the 1st Airborne Squadron,Royal Engineers, departed on 18 May 1948.[21]
On 23 December 1943, the division was told to be prepared for active service from 1 February 1944.[22] Training intensified and in April 1944, under the command ofI Airborne Corps, the division took part in Exercise Mush. Held in the counties ofGloucestershire,Oxfordshire andWiltshire, this was an airbornemilitary exercise spread over three days involving both the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions. Unknown to the 6th Airborne, the exercise was a full-scale rehearsal for the division's involvement in the imminentNormandy invasion.[23] During which, the division's two parachute brigades would land just after midnight on 6 June, while the airlanding brigade arrived later in the day at 21:00. The division's objective was to secure the left flank of the invasion area, by dominating the high ground, in the area between the riversOrne andDives. This included the capture of two bridges crossing the Orne river and canal; destroying theMerville Gun Battery, which was in a position to engage troops landing at the nearbySword Beach; and destroying bridges crossing the Dives, to prevent German reinforcements approaching the landing beaches from the north.[24][25]
Theinvasion of Normandy started just after midnight 6 June 1944. The first units of the division to land were thepathfinders and sixplatoons from 'D' Company of the 2nd Battalion,Ox and Bucks Light Infantry, fromBrigadierHugh Kindersley's6th Airlanding Brigade. While the pathfinders marked the divisiondrop zones, 'D' Company carried out acoup de mainglider assault on the two bridges crossing the River Orne and theCaen Canal. Within minutes of landing, both bridges had been captured and the company dug in to defend them until relieved. Thecompany commander,MajorJohn Howard, signalled their success by transmitting thecodewords "Ham and Jam".[26]
Shortly afterwards the aircraft carrying BrigadierNigel Poett's5th Parachute Brigade arrived overhead heading for theirdrop zone (DZ) to the north ofRanville. The brigade were to reinforce the defenders at the bridges, the7th Parachute Battalion in the west, while the12th Parachute Battalion and the13th Parachute Battalion dug in to the east, centred around Ranville, where brigade HQ would be located.
BrigadierJames Hill's3rd Parachute Brigade had two DZs, one in the north for the9th Parachute Battalion who were tasked to destroy theMerville Gun Battery and the1st Canadian Parachute Battalion who would destroy bridges over the River Dives. The8th Parachute Battalion would land at the other DZ, and destroy bridges over the Dives in the south.
With the capture of Breville the division was not attacked in force again, apart from an almost continuous artillery bombardment between 18 and 20 June.[27] Further reinforcements arrived east of the River Orne on 20 July; the49th (West Riding) Infantry Division moved into the line between the 6th Airborne and the51st (Highland) Infantry Division.[28] Then on 7 August the 6th Airborne Division was ordered to prepare to move over to the offensive, with its objective being the mouth of theRiver Seine.[29] The three divisions east of the Orne came under command ofBritish I Corps, part of theFirst Canadian Army, and when issuing his ordersLieutenant-GeneralJohn T. Crocker, aware that the 6th Airborne had almost no artillery, vehicles or engineer equipment, did not expect them to advance very quickly. To reach the Seine the division would have to cross three major rivers, and there were only two main lines of advance; one road running along the coast and another further inland from Troarn toPont-Audemer.[30] The division returned to England in early September, having suffered over 4,500 casualties since D-Day.
In England the division went into a period of recruitment and training, concentrating on house to house street fighting in the bombed areas ofSouthampton andBirmingham. The training programme culminated in Exercise Eve, an assault on theRiver Thames, which was intended to simulate theRiver Rhine in Germany.[31] By December the division, now commanded by Major-GeneralEric L. Bols, was preparing for Christmas leave, when news of the German offensive in theArdennes broke. With 29 German and 33 Allied divisions involved, the Battle of the Bulge became the largest single battle on theWestern Front during the Second World War.[32] As part of theFirst Allied Airborne Army, the 6th Airborne Division was available as a component of the Allied strategic reserve. The division was shipped to the Continent by sea, through Calais and Ostend. Together with the other two reserve formations, the American82nd and101st Airborne Divisions, already atRheims in northern France, they were sent to Belgium.[33] OnChristmas Day the 6th Airborne moved up to take position in front of the spearhead of the German advance; byBoxing Day they had reached their allocated places in the defensive line betweenDinant andNamur, with the 3rd Parachute Brigade on the left, the 5th Parachute Brigade on the right, and the 6th Airlanding Brigade in reserve.[31][34] Over the next days the German advance was halted and forced back until, at the end of January 1945, the brigade crossed into theNetherlands.[34] Here the division was made responsible for the area along theRiver Maas betweenVenlo andRoermond. The division carried out patrols on both sides of the river against their opponents from the German7th Parachute Division. Near the end of February, the 6th Airborne Division returned to England to prepare for another airborne mission; to cross the River Rhine.[35]
Whereas all other Allied airborne landings had been a surprise for the Germans, the Rhine crossing was expected, and their defences were reinforced in anticipation. The airborne operation was preceded by a two-day round-the-clock bombing mission by the Allied air forces. Then on 23 March 3,500 artillery guns targeted the German positions. At duskOperation Plunder, an assault river crossing of the Rhine by the21st Army Group, began.[36] For their part in Operation Varsity, the 6th Airborne Division was assigned toMajor GeneralMatthew Ridgway'sU.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, serving alongside Major GeneralWilliam Miley'sU.S. 17th Airborne Division.[37]
The 5th Parachute Brigade was sent to the Far East arriving after VJ Day, they were sent to protect and secure Dutch East Indies interest and property, as well as dealing with internal security in Java and Singapore, whilst disarming members of the Japanese Army till 1946. By this time they were sent back to Palestine to take part in peacekeeping with the rest of the 6th Airborne Division.
In late 1945, the 6th Airborne Division deployed toPalestine as theJewish insurgency against British rule there intensified. Its duties included enforcement of curfews and searches of cities, towns, and rural settlements for arms and guerrillas. In late 1947, as the British withdrawal from Palestine began, it was involved in the1947-48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine between the Jewish and Arab communities, and engaged both Jewish and Arab forces. The division's units gradually departed the country, with the last of the division's troops leavingHaifa on 18 May, only a few days after Israeli independence. Between October 1945 and April 1948, the division's losses to enemy action were 58 killed and 236 wounded. Another 99 soldiers died from causes other than enemy action.[38] During searches of Jewish and Arab areas for arms, the division's soldiers had uncovered 99 mortars, 34 machine guns, 174 sub machine guns, 375 rifles, 391 pistols, 97 land mines, 2,582 hand grenades and 302,530 rounds of ammunition.[39]
The 6th Airborne Division was constituted as follows during the war:[40]
6th Airlanding Brigade (from 6 May 1943)
3rd Parachute Brigade (from 15 May 1943)
5th Parachute Brigade (from 1 June 1943, left 19 July 1945)
2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group (from 29 August 1945)
Divisional Troops
Units attached
