6th Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)
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| 6th Airlanding Brigade | |
|---|---|
 The divisional shoulder flash of the airborne forces |
|
| Active | World War II 1943 - 1946 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Airlanding |
| Role | Glider-borne Infantry |
| Size | Brigade |
| Part of | 6th Airborne Division |
| Motto | "Go To It" |
| Engagements | Operation Overlord Operation Varsity |
| Battle honours | D-Day Normandy |
The 6th Airlanding Brigade was an airborne unit of the British Army during World War II. The brigade was a unit that could be taken into combat by military glider complete with supporting weapons.
On 23 April 1943 the British War Office ordered that a second airborne division be raised to supplement the original 1st Airborne Division which had not been built up to a full division but had served for the British to develop their airborne forces.
The core of the new 6th Airborne Division was formed from the 3rd Parachute Brigade and 1st Airlanding Brigade. Both were reassigned from the 1st Airborne.
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 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.
Contents |
[edit] Order of battle
- 12th Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Stevens)
- 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Roberts)
- 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles (Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Carson)
- 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry Airlanding Light Regiment R.A
- 249th (Airborne) Field Company, RE (Major Sandy Rutherford)
- 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Anderson)
[edit] D-Day
[edit] Operation Tonga
During the last hours of 5 June 1944 as part of Operation Tonga, transport aircraft and towed gliders carried units of the 6th Airlanding 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 9th Parachute, 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 1st Special Service Brigade, followed later by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division.
The main body of 6th Airlanding had still to arrive in Normandy by the end of 6 June, the 3rd & 5th Parachute Brigades had successfully accomplished all of their tasks and were well positioned to defend the bridgehead, but due to the casualties that had been suffered, and the many paratroopers who were still missing from the drop, the Division was greatly understrength and spread thinly across a wide area.
[edit] Operation Mallard
The second lift of troops into Normandy was Operation Mallard. Each of the fifteen transport squadrons provided between fifteen and twenty-two aircraft for this glider lift, which carried most of the 6th Airlanding Brigade as well as the balance of the Division's heavy equipment and supporting units. In all, two hundred and fifty aircraft were involved, each towing a Airspeed Horsa, or the larger General Aircraft Hamilcar glider.
At 21:00, the transport aircraft could be heard approaching the landing zones in Normandy. It was still daylight at this time, and so navigation was a much more simple affair than it had been on the previous night, and as such there was no scattering of this lift. As the aircraft neared their zones they were met with sporadic yet accurate flak and machine-gun fire. Although several aircraft were downed, most of the damage proved to be superficial and the total losses that Transport Command had suffered during the invasion had been negligible compared to what had been feared.
Due to various problems, mostly tow-rope malfunctions, fifteen of the two hundred and fifty gliders did not reach the landing zones. On LZ-W, one and a half miles to the north of Bénouville, on the western side of the Caen Canal, the Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry and "A" Company of the Devonshires descended. To LZ-N, at Ranville, came the Horsa gliders carrying Brigade HQ's and the Royal Ulster Rifles. The large Hamilcar gliders, carrying the Tetrarch light tanks of the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, also touched down on this zone, and in so doing made history as the first tanks ever to be flown into battle by air.[1]
The Divisional Commander Major-General Gale later wrote about the arrival of the second lift: "It is impossible to say with what relief we watched this reinforcement arrive."
The Germans in the area wasted no time in reacting to the appearance of this force by directing mortar and, where this was still possible, small arms fire across the landing zones. Casualties were slight, however, because the fire was neither concentrated nor accurate. Due to a lack of aircraft, only a single company of the Devonshires could be brought in with this lift, the remainder were due to arrive in France by sea on the 7 June.The other two battalions of the 6th Airlanding were intact and proceeded to go about their business. The Royal Ulster Rifles were to expand the bridgehead southwards by capturing the villages of Longueval and Sainte Honorine.The Oxford & Bucks Light Infantry, were reunited with the Major John Howard's coup de main force as they crossed the bridges and headed towards Herouvillette and Escoville. Both of these moves were intended to strengthen the southern flank as well as relieve pressure on the 12th Para Btn at Le Bas de Ranville. The moves of the 6th Airlanding Brigade on the 7 June were completed in the evening with the arrival of the remainder of the Devonshires, who relieved the 12th Parachute Battalion along the ridge at Le Bas de Ranville.
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 12th Para) and badly wounding Brigadiers Kindersley (Commanding Ofifcer of 6 Airlanding Brigade) and Lord Lovat (CO 1st Special Service Brigade).
From June to August the they successfully defended the area to the east of the Orne river. On 2 August 1944 the Brigade as part of 6th Airborne Division became part of the First Allied Airborne Army. In mid-August they took part in the advance towards the Seine and early in September returned to Britain to recuperate and reorganise.
[edit] Casualties
| Brigade HQ's | Ulster Rifles | Ox & Bucks | Devonshire | 249th Field Coy RE | 195th Field Amb | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dead 0 | Dead 85 | Dead 83 | Dead 66 | Dead 4 | Dead 6 | Dead 244 |
| Wounded 24 | Wounded 235 | Wounded 257 | Wounded 226 | Wounded 37 | Wounded 15 | Wounded 834 |
| Missing 0 | Missing 35 | Missing 13 | Missing 13 | Missing 0 | Missing 1 | Missing 62 |
[edit] Ardennes (Battle of the Bulge)
The 6th Airborne Division was called to Belgium to face the German offensive through the Ardennes forest, that became known as the (Battle of the Bulge. The Brigade, however, was spared the intense fighting that had taken place in the American sectors, and for the most part their actions were confined to patrols and minor skirmishes. Several months of similar activity followed in various parts of Belgium, and later Holland, before the Division was withdrawn to England to prepare for the final assault on Germany.
[edit] The Rhine Crossing (Operation Varsity)
For the planned Rhine crossing ((Operation Varsity) the 6th Airborne Division left its bases in England on the 24 March 1945, and flew to secure a bridgehead over the River Rhine at Wesel. With almost the entire Division being deployed alongside the 17th Airborne Division, Operation Varsity was the largest single lift of airborne troops ever attempted. Each of the three battalions of the 6th Airlanding Brigade were assigned different landing zones, with the Royal Ulster Rifles, the Oxford & Bucks, and the Devonshires arriving at Landing Zones's U, O, and R respectively, zones which encircled the town of Hamminkeln. All units of the Division met with heavy fire as they came in to land, but no unit suffered as heavily as the 6th Airlanding Brigade; the slow moving gliders were vulnerable to anti-aircraft and machine-gun fire. Also the Allied artillery bombardment had shrouded the area in smoke, making it very difficult for the glider pilots to identify their correct landing zones. In all, the Brigade suffered more fatalities during this landing than it had in the two and a half months that it had spent in Normandy. When the Ox & BuckS, landed on LZ-O, it had lost half of its strength. Enemy opposition was much heavier than expected, and despite the disastrous start, the Battalion achieved all of its objectives, principally securing the crossings over the River Issel. By the end of the day the Battalion had lost two thirds of its infantry strength, with 103 dead and a 100 wounded. The Devonshires had no better lucked at LZ-R, osing a large part of its strength during the landing but managed to capture their objective, which was the clearing and capture of Hamminkeln; casualties were 110 dead and 30 wounded. The Royal Ulster Rifles were tasked with the capture of a bridge over the River Issel as well as securing the surrounding area. "D" Company, landing close to the bridge in a coup de main capacity, gained their objective. The battalion encountered the same resistance as had the other battalions of the Brigade, but were also successful and gained all of their objectives, suffering 259 casualties. The next morning the Brigade led the Division's advance assisted by a Squadron of Churchill tanks of the 3rd Scots Guards , a troop of Sherman tanks of the 44th Royal Tank Regiment , and a troop of self-propelled anti-tank guns in support. The Brigade objective was the high ground near Brunen. Which was taken by the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Devonshires. After handing over the lead to the Parachute Brigades, 6th Airlanding was once again back in the lead on the 29 March, with the Ox & Bucksadvancing on Coesfeld. On the following morning, the Battalion entered the town without meeting opposition, but learned that an SS force was preparing to make a stand on the high ground a short distance outside of it. The Royal Ulster Rifles put in an attack on this position with a Squadron of tanks from the Grenadier Guards in support, and despite meeting heavy opposition they secured the area. During the following days the Brigade pushed on through Greven and Ladbergen, and reached the outskirts of Lengerich on the 2 April. The town was being held in strength by the Germans and, after a softening up bombardment, the Royal Ulster Rifles, attacked and were in control of the area by midday. The next task for the Brigade was to establish crossing points over the River Weser and move towards Kutenhausen. A successful attack was made to clear the village of Wietersheim but struggled to overcome the enemy dug-in around Frille. During the following days, the Brigade fought for control of a number of villages in the area to allow for the 11th Armoured Division to move through them. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945 the 6th Airborne Division were at Wismar on the Baltic. At the end of May, the 6th Airlanding Brigade was returned to England with the remainder of the Division.
[edit] Palestine
It had been intended that the 6th Airborne Division would be sent to the Far East to take part in operations against the Japanese, but the dropping on the Atomic bombs and the surrender of Japan resulted in the Division being sent to Palestine.
Palestine was in a strange situation at the end of the war for the 6th Airborne Division, as the battalions moved into tented camps south of Gaza in 1945. "Jewish newspapers were describing them as ‘oppressors’ and ‘Gestapo’ come to persecute the Jewish people."[citation needed]
There were a number of Jewish military or para-military formations. Hagana, the underground National Army and Palmach (The spearhead group). This force was used by the Jewish authorities for acts of sabotage.[citation needed] There were two other dissident groups who answered to no authority but their own leaders. These were Irgun Zvai Leumi (IZL) and the smaller even more extreme Stern Gang. During October 1945 tension increased mainly due to the to the immigration issue and the 6th Airborne Division was widely deployed on internal security duties. The 6th AirLanding Brigade went to Samaria and was to remain here until 1948, however the brigade was disbanded in early 1946.[2]
[edit] Commanders
- Brigadier The Honourable. Hugh Kindersley , 1943 - 1944
- Brigadier Edward Flavell , 1944 - 1945
- Brigadier Hugh Bellamy DSO , 1945 - 1946
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
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.
[edit] External links
- http://history.6th.org.uk/index.php histoy.6th.org.uk] 6th Airborne articles, history and forum
- http://www.remuseum.org.uk/campaign/rem_campaign_6adiv.htm Royal Engineers Museum, 6th Airborne Divisional Engineers - D Day 1944
- http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Palestine/6TH.htm
