The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne unit of the British Army during World War II. U.S. paratroopers jump into Australia on a military training exercise. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British military. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Formation

The division was formed in the United Kingdom on 3 May 1943, during the Second World War. It consisted of paratroop units and glider landed troops known as Airlanding. May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... An American Paratrooper using a T-10C series parachute Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and formed into an airborne force. ... Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ...

D-Day

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 Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge by D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks (commanded by Major John Howard) and 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. June 5 is the 156th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (157th in leap years), with 209 days remaining. ... 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... During World War II, Operation Tonga was part of the British airborne landings on the night of 5 June 1944 in support of the invasion of northern France (Operation Overlord). ... A cargo aircraft, also alternately known as a transport aircraft, is an aircraft dedicated to handling transport of materials and oversized loads. ... Gliders are un-powered heavier-than-air aircraft. ... The Battle of Normandy was fought in 1944 between the German forces occupying Western Europe and the invading Allied forces. ... June 6 is the 157th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (158th in leap years), with 208 days remaining. ... Pegasus Bridge before its replacement Pegasus was the codename given to a bridge over the Caen canal, near the town of Ouistreham. ... John Howard was an english major who led the occupation of the Pegasus over the river Orne. ... Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat, DSO, MC (9 July 1911 - 16 March 1995) was the 25th Chief of the Clan Fraser and a legendary British Commando during the Second World War. ... The British 3rd Infantry Division was part of the ill_fated British Expeditionary Force evacuated from Dunkirk early in World War II. It was the first British division to land at Sword beach on D-Day. ...

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 Johnny Johnson (CO 12 PARA) and badly wounding Brigadiers Kindersley (CO 6 Airlanding Brigade) and Lord Lovat (CO 1 Special Service Brigade). Johnnie Johnson (born July 8, 1924) is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, piano player and blues musician. ... In military organizations, the commanding officer (CO) is the officer in charge of a military unit. ...

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). Orne is a département in the northwest of France named after the Orne River. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... Badge of the First Allied Airborne Army The First Allied Airborne Army was part of the Allied Expeditionary Force in North West Europe in 1944 and 1945. ... This article is about the river in France. ...

The Battle of the Bulge

On 16 December the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge a last-gasp offensive against the Allies in the Ardennes forest. The 6th Airborne was rushed to Belgium shortly afterward to assist in repulsing the attack. The fighting took place in awful weather conditions, ending in mid-January 1945. December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The German Ardennes Offensive1, popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, started in late December 1944 and was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. The German army had intended to split the Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp and then proceeding to... The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country (its highest point is under 700 m), primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes département and the Champagne-Ardenne région) and Germany, where this range is known as... 1945 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The Rhine Crossings

On 24 March the 6th Airborne took part in the airborne crossing of the Rhine (known as Operation Varsity), taking place a day after the crossing of the Rhine by ground forces. The Germans had expected them and the division suffered significant casualties in the air and on the ground. The operation was a success, if a costly one, and the 6th Airborne subsequently advanced east, eventually linking up with the Soviets near the Baltic port of Wismar in late April. The Second World War ended in Europe on 8 May 1945. March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... The Rhine canyon (Ruinaulta) in Graubünden in Switzerland Length 1,320 km Elevation of the source Vorderrhein: approx. ... Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine. ... Baltic can refer to: The Baltic Sea Council of the Baltic Sea States - an intergovernmental organization Baltic sea countries - countries with access to the Baltic Sea The term Baltic countries is sometimes used more or less synonymously for Northern Europe (Russia not included) The Baltic region (Balticum) Baltic States - the... Wismar Coat of Arms Wismar is a smaller port and Hanseatic League city in northern Germany on the Baltic Sea, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, about 45 km due east of Lübeck, and 30 km due north of Schwerin. ... May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ...

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 Japanense 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. Far East is a term often used for East Asia and Southeast Asia combined, sometimes including also the easternmost territories of Russia, i. ... Main keep of Hiroshima Castle The city of Hiroshima (広島市; -shi) is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chugoku region of western Japan. ... Megane-bashi, the Eyeglasses Bridge Nagasaki  listen (長崎市; -shi) is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture located at the south-western coast of Kyushu, Japan. ... September 2 is the 245th day of the year (246th in leap years). ... The Federation of Malaya, or in Malay Persekutuan Tanah Melayu, was formed in 1948 from the British settlements of Penang and Malacca and the nine Malay states and replaced the Malayan Union. ... Map of Java Java (Indonesian: Jawa) is an island of Indonesia, and the site of its capital city, Jakarta. ... The Dutch East Indies, or Netherlands East Indies, (Dutch: Nederlands Indië) was the name of the colonies set up by the Dutch East India Company, which came under administration of the Netherlands during the 19th century (see Indonesia). ... The Royal Netherlands Army (Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land forces element of the Military of the Netherlands. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ...

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 Stern Gang 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. The British Mandate of Palestine was a swathe of territory in the Middle East, formerly belonging to the Ottoman Empire, which the League of Nations entrusted to the United Kingdom to administer in the aftermath of World War I as a Mandate Territory. ... A bilingual poster in Romanian and Hungarian promoting a film about Jewish settlement in Palestine, 1930s. ... Irgun poster showing their view of the Land of Israel Irgun (ארגון), shorthand for Irgun Tsvai Leumi (ארגון צבאי לאומי, also spelled Irgun Zvai Leumi), Hebrew for National Military Organization, was a paramilitary Zionist group that operated in the British Mandate of Palestine from 1931 to 1948. ... The Haganah (Hebrew: Defense, הגנה) was a Zionist military organization in Palestine during the British mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948. ... Avraham Stern Lehi (Hebrew acronym for Lohamei Herut Israel, Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) was a radical underground Jewish paramilitary group, a terrorist group according to both its own description and that of its opponents. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1948 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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. The 16 Air Assault Brigade (16 AAB) is a unit of the British Army It was formed as part of the defence reforms implemented by the Strategic Defence Review on 1 September 1999 by the merging of 24th Airmobile Brigade and elements of 5th Airborne Brigade. ... The British 1st Airborne Division was a military unit that fought in World War II. It suffered terrible casualties, especially in Operation Market Garden. ...

Commanders

• Major-General Richard Gale (7 May 1943)
• Major General Eric Bols (8 December 1944)
• Major-General James Cassels (1946)
• Major-General Hugh Stockwell (August 1947)

General Sir Richard Nelson Gale, GCB, KBE, DSO, MC (1896–1982) was a British soldier who served in bost world wars, rising eventually to be Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. ... May 7 is the 127th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (128th in leap years). ... December 8 is the 342nd day (343rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Field Marshal Sir Charles Archibald James Halkett Cassels was Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1965 and 1968. ... 1947 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Constituent Units

This is the composition of the division at the time of the Normandy invasion.

3rd Parachute Brigade (Brigadier James Hill) James J. Hill (September 16, 1838 – May 29, 1916), was a noted American railroad tycoon. ...

• • 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) The Royal Regiment of Artillery, generally known as the Royal Artillery (RA), is, despite its name, a corps of the British Army It is made up of a number of regiments. ... The Corps of Royal Engineers (RE), commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. ... The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist unit in the British Army which provides medical services, through its medics, clinics and hospitals, to all British military personnel and their families in war and in peace. ...

• • 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion (Lieutenant-Colonel 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)
  • 225th Parachute Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce Harvey)

6th Airlanding Brigade (Brigadier The Honourable Hugh Kindersley)

• • 12th Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Stevens)
  • 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Roberts)
  • 1st Battalion, The Royal Ulster Rifles (Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Carson)
  • 249th (Airborne) Field Company, RE (Major Sandy Rutherford)
  • 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Anderson)

Divisional Units The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army. ...

• • 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)
  • 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, CMP (Captain Irwin)
  • 6th Airborne Divisional Postal Unit

Attached Units The Royal Logistic Corps is a British Army corps that provides the logistical support for the Army. ... The Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers cap badge The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME; usually pronounced phonetically as Reemee) is a corps of the British Army that has responsibility for the maintenance of all electrical and mechanical equipment. ...

• • The Glider Pilot Regiment
    • No. 1 Wing (Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Murray)
    • No. 2 Wing (Lieutenant-Colonel John Place)
  • HQ, 245th Provost Company, CMP

Related topics

• Pegasus Bridge
• Operation Tonga
• Operation Varsity

Pegasus Bridge before its replacement Pegasus was the codename given to a bridge over the Caen canal, near the town of Ouistreham. ... During World War II, Operation Tonga was part of the British airborne landings on the night of 5 June 1944 in support of the invasion of northern France (Operation Overlord). ... Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine. ...

External links

• Extract from a book about 6th Airborne (http://www.winisp.net/jewart/6thhistory.htm)