Parachute Regiment (British Army)

Parachute Regiment - PARA -
Badge of the Parachute Regiment
Lineup	August 1, 1942
Country	United Kingdom
Armed forces	United Kingdom Armed Forces
Armed forces	British Army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	Paratroopers
structure	4 battalions (including one reserve)
Location	Colchester , England 1st Battalion: St. Athan 2nd Battalion: Colchester 3rd Battalion: Colchester 4th Battalion: Pudsey
Nickname	Red Devils, The Paras, "Maroon Machine"
motto	Utrinque Paratus (ready for anything)
march	Fast: The Ride of the Valkyries Slow: Pomp and Circumstance Marches
mascot	Shetland pony (Pegasus IV)
commander
Regiment chief	Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, Prince of Wales
Colonel Commandant	Major-General Jonathan Shaw
Important commanders	Anthony Farrar-Hockley

The Parachute Regiment ( PARA ) provides the bulk of the infantry of the British Army's airborne troops . The subordinate units are, like many airborne units of other nations, regarded as elite units, which is due to the hard service and strict selection. The association was established in 1942. Partial units are conditionally suitable for MFF skydiving.

organization

The regiment in its entirety is not an operational unit, but serves administrative purposes. It is divided into three active and one reserve battalion .

• 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (1 PARA)
• 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA)
• 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA)
• 4th (Reserve) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (4 PARA (R)).

1 PARA forms the core of the Joint Special Forces Support Group , together with the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force Regiment , as the infantry support element for the British Special Forces , which consists of the SAS and the SBS .

The 2 PARA and 3 PARA represent the infantry forces of the 16th Air Assault Brigade . The fourth battalion represents the Parachute Regiment Reserve . It lost its connection to the Territorial Army and supported the second and third battalion in operations through staff transfers.

The parachute regiment traditionally has a partnership with the guard regiments . For example, they provide their own platoon within the third battalion , the so-called Guards Parachute Platoon , in the tradition of the 1st Guards Parachute Battalion , which was dissolved in 1948 , an association of the Guard that fought in World War II .

Selection and training

Applicants for the regiment initially go through a three-day selection process, the Parachute Regiment Assessment Course (PRAC) at the Parachute Regiment Assessment Center (PRAC) in Catterick . The prospective paratroopers, like all infantrymen in the British Army, then take part in combined basic and infantry training at the Infantry Training Center (ITC) Catterick . In the Parachute Regiment Training Company of the ITC's 2nd Battalion, the 28-week paratrooper training takes place. At the end of their training they complete the selection process for skydiving service in the P-Company . If they pass the selection, they receive the burgundy red beret and are transferred to the regiment in order to then complete the parachute jump training with the RAF Brize Norton .

Officers who want to serve in the regiment must complete the Potential Officer Insight Course (POIC) . The officers are selected for the officer positions that become available in the regiment.

history

Lineup

The Parachute Regiment emerged from the Commandos , which were founded by the British after Winston Churchill's call to "set Europe ablaze" (set Europe ablaze).

Britain's first air raid was carried out on February 10, 1941. Men of the 11th Special Air Service jumped over Italy and blew up an aqueduct in Operation Colossus , the soldiers who were deployed were killed or later shot.

After the Airborne Battle of Crete , it was clear that Britain needed far more paratroopers for similar operations. The No. 2 Commando was commissioned to specialize in airborne attacks, and so became the cornerstone of the Parachute Regiment, which was established on August 1, 1942.

Second World War

Officers of the 2nd Battalion during the Second World War in the Tunisian campaign

Operation Biting - France

On February 27, 1942, a Würzburg radar on the coast of France near Bruneval was the target of Operation Biting . The electronic parts of the system were brought to England and carefully examined. The measurement results helped develop countermeasures.

The claret beret was first seen by the Germans during operations in North Africa. It is said that the Germans then called them the Red Devils .

Operation Husky - Sicily

As part of Operation Husky , two British and two American airborne operations were conducted on the night of July 9-10. Due to our own anti-aircraft defenses and the operation carried out during the night, many aircraft got off course and the jumpers landed scattered over a large area. British glider troops suffered great losses, only 12 of the 144 gliders landed at their destination. Many fell over the troubled sea. The landed paratroopers gathered and attacked German patrols and combat units and enabled the sea landing to be carried out.

Operation Slapstick - Southern Italy

As part of the Allied invasion of Italy , the British 1st Airborne Division landed on the heel of Italy near Taranto as part of Operation Slapstick . Your task was to conquer the port and several networked airfields. Then they joined the 5th US Army near Foggia .

Operation Overlord - Normandy

Several airborne operations were carried out during Operation Overlord on D-Day (June 6, 1944). The general task of the airborne troops was to secure the flanks of the offensive. The British secured the eastern flank in Operation Tonga . They also carried out actions to capture the artillery battery at Merville . This task was assigned to the 9th Parachute Brigade, which carried it out successfully.

Operation Market-Garden - Netherlands

Possibly the most famous airborne operation in history is Operation Market Garden in September 1944. Troops were deployed 100 miles behind the German front to capture the bridge over the Rhine in Arnhem . Three complete airborne divisions were deployed. The British 1st Airborne Division , the 82nd US Airborne Division and the 101st US Airborne Division, and the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade . In the end, the Allied troops were repulsed by strong resistance from the Germans, who were three times the expected strength, and Arnhem remained in German possession.

Operation Varsity - Rhineland (Germany)

The crossing of the Rhine with Operation Varsity was the most successful and largest airborne operation in history and gave the Allies access to the industrial core of the German Empire, the Ruhr area.

At the end of World War II, the Parachute Regiment consisted of 17 battalions, divided into five Parachute Brigades .

1946-1966

After the Second World War, the regular airborne troops were combined to form the 16th Independent Parachute Brigade Group. This was combined in 1956 to form the 44th Independent Parachute Brigade Group. In the Suez Crisis , the Musketeer operation used the element of surprise. All 660 men in the group had to be on the ground of El Gamil Airfield within four minutes and 30 seconds. At 4:15 a.m. on November 5, 1956, 3 PARA jumped. The commander at the time was Paul Edwin Crook . Although the resistance was fierce, they suffered little losses.

Further operations in Borneo , Malaya and Aden .

1966-1996

Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion guard Argentine prisoners of war during the 1982 Falklands War

During the Northern Ireland conflict , the regiment made several missions. In Operation Demetrius from August 9-11, 1971, the regiment shot and killed 11 unarmed civilians during the Ballymurphy massacre in the Ballymurphy suburb of Belfast . On January 30, 1972, they assisted the Royal Ulster Constabulary in a civil rights march . They shot 13 unarmed demonstrators in Derry . This event became known as Bloody Sunday . No soldier was injured. No soldier has been tried in the Military Tribunal , and the identities of those involved have been kept secret by the British government. However, on June 15, 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron publicly asked the Northern Irish for forgiveness for Bloody Sunday after an extensive investigation proved the innocence of those killed. An investigation into the Ballymurphy massacre is pending, but there are assumptions that partially identical people in paratrooper uniform fired fatal shots at both locations.

On August 27, 1979, 18 members of the Parachute Regiment in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, were killed in the detonation of a bomb hidden by the roadside . The bomb came from the IRA workshops .

After the start of the Falklands War in 1982, the 2 and 3 PARA brought the 3 Commando Brigade to full war strength. The regiment provided the essential ground combat units in this conflict, two of its members were awarded the Victoria Cross .

After budget cuts at the end of the Cold War , the 15th Scottish Battalion was reduced to one company and incorporated into the 4th Battalion.

1996 until today

In 1999 the 1st Battalion, supported by a company from 3 PARA, took part in the Kosovo war .

After the civil war raged on in Sierra Leone despite the UN peacekeeping mission UNAMSIL , 1 PARA landed in Operation Palliser on May 7, 2000 in Freetown , the capital of the country, and evacuated foreigners. After the operation, 1 PARA was entrusted with the task of securing Freetown Airport so that UN relief supplies could be brought into the country.

The 1st and 3rd Battalions participated in Operation Telic as part of the March 20, 2003 invasion of Iraq . Two battalions were part of the 16th Air Assault Brigade. 4 PARA was used to reinforce these powers.

The war officially ended on May 1st. 1 and 3 PARA remained stationed in Iraq's second largest city, Basra . Although they usually do a quiet service, incidents do occur sporadically. A patrol of six Royal Military Policemen, attached to 1 PARA, were surrounded and killed by Iraqi mobs on June 24 in the city of Majar Al-Kabir. A 1 PARA patrol was ambushed in the same town; a man was wounded.

1 and 3 PARA left Iraq with the rest of the 16th Air Assault Brigade in June. The regiment lost one soldier, Private Andrew Kelly from 3 PARA.

2 PARA was relocated to Iraq in November 2003 and is part of the 20th Armored Brigade.

Battle Honors

The regiment has an impressive list of battle honors (honorable mentions of battles in which it has participated).

• Second World War: Bruneval, Battle of Normandy , Pegasus Bridge , Merville Battery, Bréville, Dives Crossing, La Toucques Crossing, Battle of Arnhem , Ourthe, Operation Varsity , South France, North-West Europe 1942 '44 -45, Soudia, Oudna, Djebel Azzag 1943, Djebel Alliliga, El Hadjeba, Tamera, Djebel Dahra, Kef el Debna, North Africa campaign, Primosole Bridge, Sicily 1943 , Taranto , Orsogna, Italy campaign, Athens, Greece 1944–45
• Battle of Goose Green , Battle of Mount Longdon, Battle of Wireless Ridge, Falklands War , Al-Basrah, Iraq 2003

literature

• Sören Sünkler: Europe's elite and special units. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-613-02853-1 .

Web links

Commons : Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Official MOD Regimental Website
• Americas Army Online Gaming Military Simulation Unit based on the Parachute Regiment
• Veterans side of it Paras
• Veterans page from ex Paras

Individual evidence

1. ^ British Army: The Parachute Regiment . Retrieved July 21, 2015
2. ↑ British Army: The Parachute Regiment-1 PARA (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
3. ↑ British Army: The Parachute Regiment-2 PARA (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
4. ↑ para data: No 1 (Guards) Independent Parachute Company (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
5. ^ British Army: The Parachute Regiment-Soldier recruiting (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
6. ↑ British Army: 2nd Infantry Training Battalion (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
7. ↑ British Army: Pegasus Company (P Coy) (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
8. ^ British Army: The Parachute Regiment-Officer recruiting (English). Retrieved July 21, 2015
9. ↑ Ciarán Barnes (Andersonstown News): Same snipers cut down Derry and Murph victims on Ireland's OWN of February 1, 2008 . Retrieved December 3, 2010