3rd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)

3rd Parachute Brigade
Paratrooper of the brigade's 8th Battalion, Parachute Regiment, pictured here with a Sten gun.
Active1942–1948
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeParachute Infantry
RoleAirborne forces
SizeBrigade
Part of1st Airborne Division
6th Airborne Division
Nickname(s)Red Devils [nb 1]
EngagementsNormandy landings
Operation Tonga
Battle of Merville Gun Battery
6th Airborne Division advance to the River Seine
Battle of the Bulge
Operation Varsity
Advance to the Baltic
Palestine
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Gerald Lathbury
James Hill
Insignia
Emblem
of the
British
airborne
forces

The 3rd Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The brigade was initially part of the 1st Airborne Division, but remained in Britain when that division was sent overseas, and became part of the 6th Airborne Division, alongside 5th Parachute Brigade and 6th Airlanding Brigade.

The brigade first went into action on 5 June 1944 during Operation Tonga, part of the Normandy landings. The objective was to destroy the Merville Gun Battery and the bridges over the River Dives. The brigade achieved all its objectives, and remained defending the left flank of the invasion zone until mid August. They then crossed the River Dives and advanced as far as the River Seine before they were withdrawn. While recovering in England, the brigade was moved to Belgium in December 1944, to counter the German attack in the Ardennes. The brigade remained on the border between Belgium and the Netherlands carrying out patrols until March 1945. Their next airborne mission was Operation Varsity, the assault crossing of the River Rhine in Germany. After this, the brigade advanced towards the Baltic Sea, arriving just ahead of the Red Army.

Still part of the 6th Airborne Division, the brigade was sent to the British mandate of Palestine in October 1945 after the end of the war. Carrying out an internal security role with the rest of 6th Airborne Division, it remained in Palestine until it was disbanded in 1947.

  1. ^ Otway, p. 88


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