132-721: 1942 1943 1944 1945 Associated articles In Operation Doomsday , the British 1st Airborne Division acted as a police and military force during the Allied occupation of Norway in May 1945, immediately after the victory in Europe during the Second World War . The division maintained law and order until the arrival of the remainder of Force 134 , the occupation force. During its time in Norway,
264-662: A commandeered German staff car. The soldiers, although somewhat nervous given the small size of their group, were greeted enthusiastically by the Norwegian population in Oslo. The only resistance came from the captains of several U-boats at Trondheim. Apart from this, 1st Airborne Division encountered no trouble from the German forces in Norway, who co-operated fully with the airborne troops. They were disarmed without problem, allowed themselves to be transferred to collection camps and also assisted in
396-481: A composite American regiment, a Norwegian brigade, and two British infantry brigades composed of re-trained anti-aircraft gunners who replaced the Special Air Service Brigade. Thorne was the de facto Head of Government of Norway until 7 June, when King Haakon returned, and from then until his departure at the end of October was Commander-in-Chief of all military forces in Norway. 1st Airborne Division
528-535: A failed attempt in November 1942 to sabotage the Norsk Hydro chemical plant at Vemork , which produced heavy water for Nazi Germany's atomic weapons programme . Two gliders had been assigned to the operation, and both had crash-landed after being released by the aircraft towing them. The men who survived the crashes were executed shortly after being captured. Although the local Norwegian population could not prevent
660-507: A few casualties, and the pieces of the radar they brought back, along with a German radar technician, allowed British scientists to understand German advances in radar and to create counter-measures to neutralise those advances. Operation Freshman was the first British airborne operation conducted using gliders, its target was the Vemork Norsk Hydro chemical plant in Norway, which produced heavy water for Nazi Germany. By 1942
792-457: A few miles from the installation. The force then proceeded to assault the villa in which the radar equipment was kept, killing several members of the German garrison and capturing the installation after a brief fire-fight. A technician that had come with the force partially dismantled the Würzburg radar array and removed several key pieces to take back to Britain; the raiding force then retreated to
924-696: A halt due to lack of materials. He feared that any withdrawal might tempt neutral Sweden to enter the war in support of the Allies, and that any withdrawal from northern Norway would endanger U-boat bases in the southern parts of the country. Until the last days of the war, Dönitz believed that Norway should be kept in order to deploy submarines against Allied vessels, and on 3 May the Kriegsmarine Naval Warfare Command informed U-boat staff that even if Germany itself were occupied, submarines would still sail from Norway. Only on 4 May were orders issued by
1056-577: A joint army and air force memorandum was approved by the Chiefs-of-Staff and Winston Churchill; it recommended that the British airborne forces should consist of two parachute brigades, one based in England and the other in the Middle East, and that a glider force of 10,000 men should be created. The existing 11th Special Air Service Battalion was renamed the 1st Parachute Battalion and, together with
1188-512: A larger force. Operation Transfigure involved the division, the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division , the US 101st Airborne Division , and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade landing at Rambouillet St Arnoult , to close the gap between Orléans and Paris. Operation Axehead, using the same force, was to seize the bridges over the River Seine in support of 21st Army Group . Operation Boxer, with the same force,
1320-685: A mostly diversionary amphibious landing , codenamed Operation Slapstick , as part of the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. In December, most of the 1st Airborne Division (minus the 2nd Parachute Brigade , left behind in Italy) returned to England , and began training and preparing for the Allied invasion of Normandy . It was not involved in the Normandy landings in June 1944, being held in reserve. In September 1944
1452-422: A mountain for unknown reasons; the aircrew and several men were killed outright, and those who survived were taken prisoner. None of the prisoners survived for very long, being either poisoned or executed as a result of Adolf Hitler 's Commando Order , which stated that all British Commandos personnel were to be killed immediately when captured. Operation Turkey Buzzard , also known as Operation Beggar ,
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#17328759737611584-606: A new operation was proposed with the same objectives as Comet but to be carried out by three divisions of the First Allied Airborne Army . Operation Market Garden was an airborne assault by three divisions in the Netherlands in September 1944, including the British 1st and the American 82nd and 101st , to secure key bridges and towns along the expected Allied axis of advance. Farthest north, 1st Airborne, supported by
1716-602: A number of crossings on the eastern bank of the Rhine overnight. The two airborne divisions then deployed for Operation Varsity, landing at 10:00 on 24 March 1945, near the town of Hamminkeln . They were tasked with a number of objectives: seizing the Diersfordter Wald, a forest that overlooked the Rhine and had a road linking several towns together; securing several bridges over the River IJssel , and capturing Hamminkeln. All of
1848-557: A parachute and glider wing . On 21 June 1940 the Central Landing Establishment was formed at Ringway airfield near Manchester . Although tasked primarily with training parachute troops, it was also directed to investigate the use of gliders to transport troops into battle. At the same time, the Ministry of Aircraft Production contracted General Aircraft Ltd to design and produce a glider for this purpose. The result
1980-663: A possible invasion of Norway, the Twentieth Mountain Army almost seemed to be at a peace-time status; Böhme had complained in January that there were some units in the Army that took Sunday off as a holiday, and that he could do little to stop it. With only some 30,000 Allied troops on hand, the surrender of Norway to Allied forces was not immediately accepted by General Montgomery , and would instead be accomplished through preliminary persuasion and negotiation from Sir Andrew Thorne . In
2112-575: A problem, as two airborne divisions existed, but only one was included in the planned post-war British Regular Army. Although the tradition of seniority might have called for 6th Airborne Division to be disbanded as the junior airborne formation, 1st Airborne Division was still understrength after Operation Market Garden and not fully trained. As such, the division spent the next two months training and transferring troops to 6th Airborne Division, and then disbanded on 15 November 1945. 1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) The 1st Airborne Division
2244-632: A result, by the end of the war Milorg had been preparing for the arrival of an Allied force for some time; its 40,000 members were well-armed and trained, and led by more than 100 Special Operations Executive agents parachuted into Norway, and it was prepared to prevent any sabotage of key communication centres and other important facilities by German troops if they resisted the Allied forces. By early May 1945, 1st Airborne Division had been brought up to strength, albeit mainly with inexperienced replacements. 4th Parachute Brigade had been disbanded and its battalions merged with those of 1st Parachute Brigade in
2376-502: A small force was able to reach the Arnhem road bridge , while the main body of the division was halted on the outskirts of the city. Meanwhile, XXX Corps was unable to advance north as quickly as anticipated and failed to relieve the airborne troops. After four days, the small British force at the bridge was overwhelmed and the rest of the division became trapped in a pocket north of the river, where they could not be sufficiently reinforced by
2508-486: A success, despite a fierce German counter-attack on 7 August codenamed Operation Lüttich , and a number of German divisions had become trapped near Falaise in what was labelled the Falaise Pocket . Following this, the Allies began to advance rapidly. Several airborne operations were planned for First Allied Airborne Army in late August and early September to support the rapid advance of Allied ground forces. Most of
2640-436: A total of 30,000 Allied troops would have to supervise the disarmament of more than 350,000 German troops. There were fears that the German forces might refuse to surrender and instead resist the Allied occupation forces, and there were particular concerns about what the large detachment of Kriegsmarine personnel at the port of Trondheim might do. Although the first phase of the operation had been scheduled for 8 May, no word
2772-676: The 1st and 6th Airborne Division plus the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade . From the time of its creation until the end of World War II , the formation commanded the Allied airborne forces that participated in the Allied advance through North-West Europe, including Operation Market-Garden in September 1944, repelling the German counter-offensive launched during the Battle of the Bulge between December 1944 and January 1945, and Operation Varsity in March 1945. After
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#17328759737612904-493: The 1st Polish Parachute Brigade , landed at Arnhem to secure bridges across the Nederrijn . Initially expecting an easy advance, XXX Corps , under Lieutenant General Brian Horrocks , to reach the airborne force at Arnhem within two to three days. 1st Airborne landed some distance from its objectives and was quickly hampered by unexpected resistance, especially from elements of the 9th SS and 10th SS panzer divisions . Only
3036-429: The 5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion , converted from the 7th Battalion, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders , and the 6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion , from the 10th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers . The 3rd Parachute Brigade was formed in November 1942 and assigned to the 1st Airborne Division. The brigade, under Brigadier Alexander Stanier , comprised the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion , previously
3168-607: The Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF). This recommendation was sent to 12th Army Group , 21st Army Group and the AEAF. The recommendation to create a unified airborne army was criticized and opposed by the Chief of Staff of 12th Army Group, Major General Leven Cooper Allen . Allen argued that the larger number of American airborne troops, the differences in equipment and staff between British and American formations, and
3300-555: The General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-General George Hopkinson , was killed while watching an assault by the 10th Parachute Battalion where he was mortally wounded by a burst of machine gun fire. He was replaced by Brigadier Ernest E. Down , previously the commander of 2nd Parachute Brigade . By December 1943 the division had returned to England and begun training for operations in North-West Europe under
3432-592: The Oberkommando der Wehrmacht that all German troops in Norway were to avoid actions that might provoke Allied forces. In May 1945, all German troops in Norway came under the command of the Twentieth Mountain Army , which had absorbed the Army Norway on 18 December 1944. It was commanded by General Franz Böhme , who had succeeded General Lothar Rendulic as Armed Forces Commander, Norway in January 1945. At
3564-522: The Royal Air Force six killed and seven injured. All of these losses had occurred after the general surrender had been declared. The original plan for the division called for two of the airborne battalions to march through Oslo on 10 May, but the delay meant that only a few troops had arrived by this date. Instead, two platoons from 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment and four Military Policemen on motorcycles accompanied Urquhart, who rode in
3696-473: The Siegfried Line and encountered considerable German resistance, with German forces beginning to set up organized defensive positions and the Allied advance slowing. Operation Market-Garden was an expanded version of the cancelled Operation Comet utilizing three divisions of 1st Allied Airborne Army ( 101st Airborne Division , 82nd Airborne Division and 1st Airborne Division ). The driving force behind
3828-547: The Tunisian campaign over the next few weeks, and when the Allies invaded Sicily in July 1943, the division undertook two brigade sized landings. The first, Operation Ladbroke , carried out by glider infantry of the 1st Airlanding Brigade and the second, Operation Fustian , by the 1st Parachute Brigade , were far from completely successful. The 1st Airborne Division then took part in
3960-497: The headquarters of Second Airborne Brigade , would be disbanded and its personnel transferred to the new unit. In addition, the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe would allocate ten officers and fifty enlisted men. After discussion between Eisenhower, Arnold and Marshall, it was decided that the first commanding officer of the formation was to be USAAF Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton , who
4092-601: The surrender of Nazi Germany , the formation was deactivated, the constituent units reverting to their national armies on 20 May 1945. General Dwight D. Eisenhower , the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force believed that a unified command was required with authority to coordinate all airborne and troop carrier units, direct airborne operations and command attached army, naval and air force units. The organization would be based on
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4224-489: The 101st Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division, 17th Airborne Division and the 6th Airborne Division . With the end of the participation of the 101st, 17th and 82nd Airborne Divisions in repelling the German counter-attack in the Ardennes between December 1944 and January 1945, the airborne forces under the command of First Allied Airborne Army would not participate in another airborne operation until March. By March 1945,
4356-721: The 10th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry , the 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion , converted from the 13th Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment , and the 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion , formerly the 10th Battalion, Essex Regiment . Soon afterwards, the 1st Parachute Brigade left the division, to take part in Operation Torch , codename for the Allied landings in French North Africa , and ended up participating in numerous operations in North Africa , although fighting in an infantry role. In April 1943,
4488-676: The 13th Airborne Division would be unable to participate in the operation, as there were only enough transport aircraft available to transport two divisions. The plan for the operation was therefore altered employ only the British 6th Airborne and the US 17th Airborne Division. Learning from the failure of Operation Market-Garden, the plan for Operation Varsity altered the Airborne Army's tactics: The ground forces taking part in Operation Plunder began their attack at 21:00 on 23 March 1945, and secured
4620-479: The 1st Airborne Division into France were formulated, all to no avail. In June and July 1944, the plans included Operation Reinforcement, which was a landing to the west of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte to support the US 82nd Airborne Division , and Operation Wild Oats that would have seen the division land south of Caen to meet the advancing 7th Armoured Division moving from Villers-Bocage and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and 4th Armoured Brigade advancing south out of
4752-491: The 1st Airborne Division returned to England soon after. The division never fully recovered from their losses at Arnhem and the 4th Parachute Brigade was disbanded. Just after the end of the war in Europe , the depleted formation took part in Operation Doomsday in Norway in May 1945. They were tasked with the disarmament and repatriation of the German occupation army. The 1st Airborne Division then returned to England and
4884-566: The 1st Airborne took part in Operation Market Garden . The division, with the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade temporarily attached, landed 60 miles (97 km) behind German lines, to capture crossings on the River Rhine , and fought in the Battle of Arnhem . After failing to achieve its objectives, the division was surrounded and took very heavy casualties, but held out for nine days before the survivors were evacuated . The remnants of
5016-468: The 1st Airlanding Brigade near Syracuse , that began on 9 July 1943 as part of the invasion of Sicily . The brigade were equipped with 144 Waco and six Horsa gliders. Their objective was to land near the town of Syracuse, secure the Ponte Grande Bridge, and ultimately take control of the city itself with its strategically important docks. On the way to Sicily, 65 gliders were released too early by
5148-454: The 4th Parachute Brigade was disbanded, with its surviving men being posted to the 1st Parachute Brigade. The division then went through a period of reorganisation, but had still not fully recovered by the end of the war, due to the acute shortage of manpower throughout the British Army in 1944–1945. Still under strength in May 1945 when the war in Europe ended , it was sent to Norway to disarm
5280-544: The Allied Expeditionary Force . The formation was part of the Allied Expeditionary Force and controlled all Allied airborne forces in Western Europe from August 1944 to May 1945. These included the U.S. IX Troop Carrier Command , the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps , which controlled the 17th , 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and a number of independent airborne units, all British airborne forces including
5412-519: The Allied armies had advanced into Germany and had reached the River Rhine . The Rhine was a formidable natural obstacle to the Allied advance, but if breached would allow the Allies to access the North German Plain and ultimately advance on Berlin and other major cities in Northern Germany. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , commanding the British 21st Army Group devised a plan to allow
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5544-731: The American XX Corps in capturing St Malo , and Operation Lucky Strike which had the objective of seizing bridges across the River Seine at Rouen . In Operation Sword Hilt, the division was to isolate the port of Brest and destroy the Morlaix viaduct. Operation Hands Up was intended to support the US Third Army by seizing the Vannes airfield . By August the division was still waiting to be deployed, but now plans envisioned using them as part of
5676-486: The First Allied Airborne Army was activated on the 2nd of August 1944 Brereton recommended that the combined headquarters was renamed 'First Allied Airborne Army', which was approved by Eisenhower on 16 August after a brief period of opposition by Major General Bull, who argued that such a name would be inaccurate, as he believed there was no intention of using the organization as an Army. The new organization
5808-599: The Fuhrer's attention on the threat [that the Allies] posed to [Axis forces] in Scandinavia ." Thorne, however, reportedly regarded his post as "being banished to Scotland", Two separate scenarios were considered in planning for Operation Apostle. The first, known as 'Rankin C (Norway)' was based on the assumption that all German forces occupying Norway would surrender as part of a more general unconditional surrender by Germany. The second
5940-471: The German atomic weapons programme had come close to being able to develop a nuclear reactor , but in order for the reactor to function it would require a great deal of heavy water. The source of this water was the Norsk Hydro plant, which had been occupied in 1940; when the British government learned of the German nuclear developments, it was decided that a raid would be launched to destroy the plant and deny
6072-561: The German army of occupation; returning to Britain in November 1945 where the 1st Airborne Division was disbanded. Operation Biting , also known as the Bruneval Raid, was the codename for a raid by Combined Operations in 1942. Their objective was a German Würzburg radar installation at Bruneval in France. Due to the extensive coastal defences erected by the Germans to protect the array, it
6204-539: The German positions in Norway became of great value to Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz , Commander-in-Chief of the Naval High Command as a way to continue submarine warfare against the Allies. They also were to Adolf Hitler , who denied requests from General Heinz Guderian that divisions should be withdrawn from Norway for use in the defence of Germany, and from Böhme in March that northern Norway should be abandoned and that construction of submarine pens should come to
6336-587: The Germans decided in early October 1944 to abandon Finland and most of northern Norway and had begun Operation Nordlicht (Northern Light), a retreat into prepared positions in Lyngen Municipality in northern Norway. Operation Nordlicht had come to an end at the beginning of January 1945, with only a few miles of Finnish territory remaining in German hands, and several isolated garrisons in Norwegian Finnmark . Soviet forces occupied eastern Finnmark, and
6468-446: The Germans the heavy water. Several tactics were discussed and discarded as impractical, and it was finally decided that a small force from the 1st Airborne Division, comprising 30 sappers from 9 Field Company RE (Airborne) , Royal Engineers , would land by glider a short distance from the plant, and demolish it with explosives. Two aircraft, each towing one glider, left Scotland on the night of 19 November 1942. All managed to reach
6600-488: The Italian government to open the ports of Taranto and Brindisi on the heel of Italy to the Allies. The 1st Airborne Division was selected to undertake the mission, but at the time they were located in North Africa. A shortage of transport aircraft meant the division could not land by parachute and glider, and all the landing craft in the area were already allocated to the other landings: Operation Avalanche at Salerno on
6732-646: The Maas on 20 September. The 82nd did not take the bridge at Nijmegen until 20 September and XXX did not cross in force until the following day. The operation succeeded in liberating the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen . Although reaching the River Rhine the operation failed in establishing a bridgehead over the river. 1st Airborne Division reached the vital Arnhem bridge denying it to German traffic, however being evacuated on 25 September after sustaining heavy casualties as
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#17328759737616864-507: The Norwegian Government when they arrived on a Royal Navy cruiser , and the division also took part in the celebrations when King Haakon VII of Norway returned to his country from exile. Other duties for the division included rounding up war criminals, ensuring that German troops were confined to their camps and reservations and, with Royal Engineer assistance, clearing buildings of mines and other boobytraps . They were also given
6996-570: The Norwegian capital, Oslo , and occupy the city alongside other elements of Force 134. The brigade's commander, Brigadier R. H. Bower, would become Commander, Oslo area for the duration of the division's time in Norway. Oslo was chosen because it was the Norwegian capital, as well as being the centre of Norwegian and German administration. Similarly, the Artillery Brigade would land at Stavanger and its commanding officer Brigadier R.G. Loder-Symonds would become Commander, Stavanger area. Stavanger
7128-480: The Norwegian coast, but none were able to reach their objective. The first pair suffered from navigational difficulties and severe weather, which resulted in the tow rope snapping and the first glider crash-landing, with its towing aircraft returning to base; eight airborne troops were killed outright, four were severely injured and five unhurt. The survivors were captured shortly after the crash. The second pair fared even worse, with both aircraft and glider crashing into
7260-413: The Norwegian population as a whole gave a warm welcome to the airborne troops. British forces were initially only in control of Oslo, Stavanger and Kristiansand with the resistance and, less commonly, local Norwegian authorities taking control of the rest of the country from the Germans. The resistance also helped the division discover the fate of 1st Airborne Division troops assigned to Operation Freshman ,
7392-462: The Orne bridgehead in a move to encircle and capture Caen. Such an airborne operation was vetoed by Trafford Leigh-Mallory, as being too risky for the aircraft involved. At any rate, the land portion of the attack (generally considered to be part of Operation Perch ) bogged down due to German resistance and the delayed deployment of troops to Normandy. There was also Operation Beneficiary, intended to support
7524-645: The Poles, or by XXX Corps when it arrived on the southern bank. After nine days of fighting, the shattered remains of the airborne forces were eventually withdrawn south of the Rhine. 1st Airborne lost 8,000 men during the battle and never saw combat again. In May 1945, immediately after the Allied Victory in Europe Day , the 1st Airborne Division was sent to disarm and repatriate the 350,000-strong German occupation army in Norway. The division maintained law and order until
7656-472: The RAF could then use this at a later date as precedent to command British airborne troops. Further objections were raised by officers of the AEAF, regarding the administrative problems of assigning RAF units to the proposed combined headquarters. Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory , commander-in-chief of the AEAF, argued that the original recommendation should be followed – unifying American and British airborne forces but leaving troop carrier units under
7788-417: The Rhine began, with three German armies attacking through the Ardennes , hundreds of thousands of German troops and tanks breaking through Allied line on the American sector. The operation took the Allied forces completely by surprise, and several units under the command of First Allied Airborne Army became involved in the Allied attempt to first halt, and then repel the offensive; these units were principally
7920-479: The Russians participated, wearing uniforms with Red Star badges they had made themselves. During the division's time in Norway, some 400 paratroopers under the command of Major Frederick Gough were temporarily transferred to the Netherlands, where they helped take part in Theirs Is the Glory , a documentary about the Battle of Arnhem . The Norwegian resistance co-operated fully with 1st Airborne Division, often providing liaisons and performing guard duties, and
8052-399: The USSR asked that Western Allied forces be landed to support them. Only a single company of Norwegian mountain infantry could be spared for this duty, though the British and Norwegian governments provided food supplies for the civilian population in the area. Due to the failure of the recent offensive in the Ardennes and the fact that several new types of U-boat were ready to be deployed,
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#17328759737618184-457: The advancing British in ambushes and at roadblocks during a fighting withdrawal north. By the end of September, the 1st Airborne Division had advanced 125 miles (201 km) to Foggia . Reinforcements from two infantry divisions, the 8th Indian and British 78th , had by then been landed behind them, which allowed the airborne troops to be withdrawn back to Taranto. Despite casualties for the 1st Airborne Division in Italy being relatively light,
8316-439: The aftermath of the Battle of Arnhem . It was replaced by 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade . The Norwegian Parachute Company was also attached to the 1st Airborne Division. However, on 4 May, Urquhart was ordered to despatch 1st Independent Polish Brigade to Dunkirk , and to detach 1st Parachute Brigade from the division; one of the brigade's battalions would immediately be transported to Denmark for occupation duties, with
8448-483: The airborne forces had removed the explosive charges. Other troops from the airlanding brigade, who had landed elsewhere in Sicily, destroyed communications links and captured artillery batteries. Operation Fustian, the division's second mission in Sicily, was carried out by the 1st Parachute Brigade. Their objective was the Primosole Bridge across the Simeto River . The intention was for the parachute brigade, with glider-borne forces in support, to land on both sides of
8580-425: The airborne forces, outflank the Siegfried Line , enter the North German Plain , and form the northern arm of a pincer attack on the Ruhr . Market Garden was to punch a 60 mile long salient from the Dutch/Belgian border to Arnhem on the River Rhine. Market Garden consisted of two components, 'Market' - the airborne assault to seize key bridges which was to be carried out by First Allied Airborne Army, and 'Garden',
8712-426: The airborne troops that had taken part in Operation Freshman. The division returned to Britain, and was disbanded on 26 August 1945. The division had the following composition: Commanders of the division included; 1st Allied Airborne Army The First Allied Airborne Army was an Allied formation formed on 2 August 1944 by the order of General Dwight D. Eisenhower , the Supreme Allied Commander of
8844-439: The airborne troops. On 10 May elements of the 12,000 strong Norwegian police force began to enter the country from Sweden, having been raised from young Norwegians who had fled to Sweden after Norway had been occupied in 1940. General Thorne arrived with the rest of his headquarters on 13 May, and took up his position as Commander-in-Chief Allied Liberation Forces. In the next two weeks further elements of Force 134 arrived, including
8976-481: The arrival of the occupation force, Force 134. During its time in Norway, the division was tasked with supervising the surrender of the German forces in Norway, as well as preventing the sabotage of important military and civilian facilities. The German Instrument of Surrender was delivered on 8 May to General Franz Böhme , the commander of all German forces stationed in Norway; the 1st Airborne Division landed near Oslo and Stavanger between 9 and 11 May. Most of
9108-549: The beginning of May, Böhme informed Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz , Commander-in-Chief of the Naval High Command and the new German President , with the death of Adolf Hitler , that all forces in Norway consisted of eleven divisions and five brigades. In total, they had a combined strength of between 350,000 and 380,000 troops. There were also a number of U-boats stationed in naval bases in Norway, including 10 Mark XXI and 17 Mark XXIII models. Yet although Allied forces had entered Germany , and rumours and speculation were rife about
9240-443: The bridge. It was not finally secured until three days after the start of the operation, when another battalion of the Durham Light Infantry, led by the paratroopers, established a bridgehead on the northern bank of the river. Operation Slapstick was an amphibious landing at the Italian port of Taranto , part of the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943. The mission had been planned at short notice, following an offer by
9372-434: The clearing of numerous minefields they had sown during their occupation, which resulted in several German casualties. Until the arrival of other units from Force 134, as well as the Headquarters of Allied Forces, Norway, Major General Urquhart and his headquarters staff had complete control over all Norwegian activities. This meant that it was Urquhart who welcomed Crown Prince Olaf of Norway and three ministers representing
9504-468: The command of the AEAF. However, the 21st Army Group and the AEAF both agreed to the recommendation, only suggesting a few minor changes to be made, and on 17 June Major General Harold R. Bull , the Assistant Chief-of-Staff, Operations and Plans ( G-3 ) of SHAEF, recommended that a combined airborne troops headquarters be created, albeit one that did not control troop carrier units. Despite
9636-458: The commander of the 1st Airlanding Brigade, Hopkinson, was promoted to major general and given command of the division in succession to Browning. Later that year, the division was deployed to Tunisia for operations in the Mediterranean theatre . The 3rd Parachute Brigade and two battalions from the 1st Airlanding Brigade—the 1st Ulster Rifles and 2nd Ox and Bucks—remained behind in England, forming
9768-520: The commanders-in-chief of the AEAF and the Allied naval forces, and the planning and execution of airborne operations. During August 1944, American forces under General Omar Bradley launched Operation Cobra , the Allied forces breakout of Normandy to the West after several months grinding down German forces at the eastern end of the lodgement and the capture of the Cherbourg peninsula. The operation had been
9900-478: The creation of Market Garden was Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , who disagreed with the 'broad front' strategy favoured by Eisenhower, in which all Allied armies in North-West Europe advanced simultaneously. Montgomery believed that a single thrust should be launched against the German forces. Allied forces under Montgomery's overall command would move through the Netherlands over the river crossings captured by
10032-536: The deaths of the British airborne troops that had taken part in Operation Freshman , an unsuccessful attempt to disrupt the German atomic weapons programme in November 1942. The division returned to Britain at the end of August and disbanded two months later. Since 1943 the Western Allies had been developing plans for the occupation of Norway, code-named Operation Apostle, after Germany's surrender. Force 134,
10164-498: The division began to land in Norway, specially selected Allied representatives known as 'Heralds' would accompany German diplomatic delegates to Norway; only when they signaled that the airfields were clear to land on would the first transport aircraft take off from Britain. German forces had started gradual withdrawal to northernmost Finland in early September 1944 in Operation Birke . As the value of Petsamo region had decreased,
10296-411: The division was tasked with supervising the surrender of the German forces in Norway, as well as preventing the sabotage of vital military and civilian facilities. The German Instrument of Surrender was delivered on 8 May to General Franz Böhme , the commander of all German forces stationed in Norway, and the 1st Airborne Division landed near Oslo and Stavanger between 9 and 11 May. The majority of
10428-517: The division would be responsible for maintaining law and order in the areas it occupied, ensuring that German units followed the terms of their surrender, securing and then protecting captured airfields, and finally preventing the sabotage of essential military and civilian structures. To achieve this, the division would be formed of three brigades: 1st Airlanding Brigade , Special Air Service Brigade and an ad hoc Artillery Brigade formed from divisional troops. 1st Airlanding Brigade would land near to
10560-422: The division. The brigade comprised four battalions: the 1st Border Regiment , 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment , 2nd Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry , and the 1st Royal Ulster Rifles . The men who were unsuitable for airborne forces were replaced by volunteers from other units. By the end of the year Browning's command had become the headquarters of 1st Airborne Division. Browning expressed his opinion that
10692-601: The early hours of 7 May, Dönitz gave the order for all German military forces to unconditionally surrender, and on 8 May the German Instrument of Surrender was delivered to General Böhme. The Germans were to withdraw from all Norwegian towns and the Swedish border and gradually redeploy to areas pre-designated for disarmament; simultaneously, all senior Nazi party officials and security personnel were to immediately be arrested. Force 134 would be greatly outnumbered during its task;
10824-402: The evacuation beach. The detachment assigned to clear the beach had failed to do so, however, and another brief fire-fight was required to eliminate the Germans guarding the beach. The raiding force was then picked up by a small number of landing craft and transferred to several Motor Gun Boats which brought them back to Britain. The raid was entirely successful. The airborne troops suffered only
10956-491: The fact that the available transport aircraft only had the capacity to carry the total number of American airborne troops and not British as well, all meant that there was no need for a unified command for both American and British airborne forces. The Royal Air Force , was an independent organization, unlike the USAAF, and senior British airborne commanders were apprehensive about having an Air Force officer command soldiers, in case
11088-501: The fighting in Italy, Major General Ernest Down became the divisional commander, after his predecessor, Major General Hopkinson, died of wounds received in the fighting. After brief service in Italy, the division returned to England in December 1943, leaving the 2nd Parachute Brigade behind as an independent formation. After the division arrived in England, Down was posted to India to oversee
11220-428: The force must not be sacrificed in "penny packets", and urged the formation of a third brigade. Permission was finally granted in July 1942, and the 2nd Parachute Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Ernest Down , who would later succeed Hopkinson in command of the division, was formed. The 2nd Parachute Brigade was assigned the existing 4th Parachute Battalion , and two new battalions converted from line infantry units,
11352-480: The forces involved, when control would revert to a ground commander. Having solved the problems of what the commander of the unified headquarters would control, and when, the search then began for qualified personnel who could serve at the headquarters. The United States Department of War indicated that some personnel from the Airborne Center at Camp Mackall would be available for the new headquarters, and that
11484-487: The forces under his command to breach the Rhine, entitled Operation Plunder and First Allied Airborne Army was tasked to support it in an operation code-named Operation Varsity. Three airborne divisions were initially assigned to take part in Varsity: the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 13th Airborne Division and the US 17th Airborne Division , subordinate to US XVIII Airborne Corps . However, it became apparent that
11616-411: The formation of the 44th Indian Airborne Division , and was replaced by Major General Roy Urquhart . In September 1944, for Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands, the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade was attached to the division. Following Market Garden , fewer than 2,200 men from the 10,000 that were sent to the Netherlands returned to the British lines. Having suffered such severe casualties,
11748-636: The ground attack - primarily XXX Corps of the British Second Army - which would relieve the airborne units in turn and establish the corridor. The 101st would take the crossings at the Maas (Meuse), the 82nd the Waal at Nijmegen and British 1st Airborne the Nederrrijn (Lower Rhine) at Arnhem. The landings began on 17 September. The 101st took their objectives and XXX (delayed by a destroyed bridge at Son ) crossed
11880-435: The ground forces were delayed in relieving them. With the failure of Operation Market-Garden, the Allied advance came to a halt, replaced by several months of almost static combat against defending German forces, with no Allied airborne operations being planned or executed. This period was broken, however, when a major offensive was launched by the Germans on the orders of Adolf Hitler ; on 16 December 1944 Operation "Watch on
12012-515: The heavy casualties the division had suffered during Market Garden it would not be combat ready until 1 May 1945 after being heavily reinforced. In order to bolster his forces, Thorne would therefore have to rely on Milorg , the Norwegian Resistance. The Allied civil affairs planners maintained very close contact with the Norwegian Government in exile which was based in London as well as Milorg. As
12144-400: The landings would be opposed by German forces and the extent of damage resulting from Allied bombardments and any German " scorched earth " demolitions. As a result, planning for the administration of Norway was detailed and flexible. Either of the two 'Rankin' scenarios would be difficult for Thorne to accomplish however, as the troops allocated to Force 134 were meagre; from late 1943 onwards
12276-457: The majority of military resources were dedicated to the campaign in north-west Europe. In September 1944 Thorne was even deprived of 52nd Lowland Division, which was attached to the 1st Allied Airborne Army by the War Office and earmarked for Operation Market Garden . Instead Thorne was later given the 1st Airborne Division , under the command of Major General Roy Urquhart . However, owing to
12408-572: The model of a modified corps headquarters and be commanded by a high-ranking officer of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). On 20 May 1944, a sub-section of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) recommended that all British and American airborne forces be unified under a single formation; troop carrier units, however, would still remain independent and under the control of
12540-537: The newly raised 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions , formed the first of the new airborne formations, the 1st Parachute Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Richard Nelson Gale , who would later command the 6th Airborne Division from 1943 to 1944. The 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions were formed from volunteers, between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-two, who were already serving in infantry units. Only ten men from any one unit were allowed to volunteer. In October 1941, Brigadier Frederick Arthur Montague "Boy" Browning
12672-765: The nucleus of the newly raised 6th Airborne Division . On arrival, the 1st Airborne Division was reinforced by the 4th Parachute Brigade . The 4th Parachute Brigade had been formed in the Middle East during 1942. In addition to the 156th Parachute Battalion , which had been raised from British troops stationed in India, it comprised the 10th and 11th Parachute Battalions , which had been raised from troops based in Egypt and Palestine. The division took part in two brigade sized operations in Sicily , and an amphibious assault at Taranto in Italy . During
12804-436: The objectives were captured and held within a few hours of the operation beginning, and by nightfall of 24 March, 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division had joined up with elements of 6th Airborne. By 27 March, the Allies had 14 divisions on the east bank of the river. General Eisenhower later stated that Operation Varsity was "the most successful airborne operation carried out to date". Several airborne operations were planned for
12936-584: The occupation force, was composed of Norwegian troops who were stationed in Scotland, as well as a British contingent (initially the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division ), a few American troops, and some 12,000 Norwegian police troops stationed in neutral Sweden . In the event of an emergency, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force would deploy troops into Norway from Germany. The operation came under Headquarters Scottish Command , which had been commanded by General Andrew Thorne since 7 May 1941. One of
13068-406: The operations were cancelled due to the rapid movement of Allied ground forces as they advanced through France and Belgium , as it did not allow First Allied Airborne Army enough time to plan an operation and deploy its forces before the objectives were overrun by ground forces. This situation changed, however, by the middle of September, as Allied forces came into contact with the German frontier and
13200-544: The opposition, Eisenhower remained convinced for the need of a single unified command that would control both airborne forces and troop carrier units, and outlined his proposal in messages to General of the Army George Marshall and General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold asking for the assignment of an USAAF officer as commander of the unified headquarters. Marshall, however, asked for further clarification of
13332-427: The pilots scattered the brigade over a large area, and only the equivalent of two companies of troops were landed in the correct locations. Despite this and the defence by German and Italian forces, the British paratroops captured the bridge. Resisting attacks from the north and south, they held out against increasing odds until nightfall. The relieving force led by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division , which
13464-431: The prisoners being executed, they later recovered their remains and reinterred them in marked graves. When it arrived, 1st Airborne Division was informed of the fate of the operation and cooperated with the Norwegian government to have a memorial erected and the fallen men buried with full military honours at Stavanger and Oslo. The remaining units of Force 134 entered Norway throughout the rest of May, gradually reinforcing
13596-502: The reasons behind Thorne's appointment to Scottish Command, was a belief in British military circles that Adolf Hitler held Thorne in high regard. Thorne had met Hitler while serving as British Military Attaché in Berlin (1934–1935). Following British Commando raids in Norway during 1941, Hitler had ordered substantial reinforcements for Norway, and British high command hoped that the appointment Thorne as head of Scottish Command would "focus
13728-411: The responsibility of assisting Allied personnel who had, until the German surrender, been prisoners of war in Norway, a large number of whom were Russian. There were more than 80,000 Russian ex-prisoners of war, and many needed medical treatment because of the inhumane conditions of the camps in which they had been imprisoned. When a parade was held in late June to celebrate the Allied liberation, many of
13860-654: The rest of the Brigade remaining in Britain as a reserve formation. At the same time the rest of the division was warned that it would soon be transported by air to Norway as part of the occupation force, with the Special Air Service Brigade being temporarily attached to the division to replace 1st Parachute Brigade. Urquhart informed Thorne that the division could be ready for deployment in 48 hours, far less time than Thorne and his staff had expected. When it entered Norway,
13992-593: The river. While one battalion seized the bridge, the other two battalions would establish defensive positions to the north and south. They would then hold the bridge until relieved by the advance of XIII Corps , part of the Eighth Army which had landed on the southeastern coast three days previously. The start of the operation was a disaster. Many of the aircraft carrying the paratroopers from North Africa were shot down, or were damaged and turned back, due to both friendly fire and enemy action. The evasive action taken by
14124-416: The role of the commander, asking whether he would simply function as a corps commander of the airborne divisions or command all air and ground troops, and who would command the airborne forces once they had landed and gone into action. After much discussion the three men agreed that an Air Force commander would control all airborne forces until the situation on the ground permitted normal logistical support for
14256-450: The smaller American Waco gliders, which did not have the capacity required for the planned operations. During the mission two German Condor patrol aircraft located and shot down a Halifax-and-Horsa combination. Altogether five Horsas and three Halifaxes were lost, but 27 Horsas arrived in Tunisia in time to participate in the invasion of Sicily. Operation Ladbroke was a glider assault by
14388-500: The supervision of I Airborne Corps . Although the 1st Airborne Division was not scheduled to take part in the Normandy landings , a contingency plan, Operation Wasteage, was drawn up whereby the division would be parachuted in to support any of the five invasion beaches if serious delays were experienced. This plan turned out not to be required. While the 6th Airborne Division were still fighting in Normandy, numerous plans to parachute
14520-511: The towing aircraft and crashed into the sea, drowning around 252 men. Of the remainder, only 87 men arrived at the Pont Grande Bridge, which they successfully captured and held beyond the time they were to be relieved. Finally, with their ammunition expended and only 15 soldiers remaining unwounded, they surrendered to the Italian forces. The Italians sought to demolish the bridge after regaining control of it, but were unable to do so because
14652-414: The transport aircraft carrying the division landed safely, but one crash caused several fatalities. The division encountered little of the expected German resistance. Operational duties included welcoming back King Haakon , looking after Allied ex-prisoners of war, arresting war criminals and supervising the clearing of minefields. While in Norway, the division was also able to investigate what happened to
14784-400: The transport aircraft carrying the division landed safely, but three planes crashed with a number of fatalities. The division encountered little of the expected German resistance. Operational duties included welcoming back King Haakon VII of Norway , looking after Allied ex-prisoners of war, arresting war criminals and supervising the clearing of minefields. The division was also able to confirm
14916-465: The two missing aircraft, one landed at another airfield in Norway, but the other had crashed killing all of its occupants, including Air Vice-Marshal James Scarlett-Streatfeild . The aircraft belonging to the next two phases suffered no more casualties, although a number of them were again delayed by inclement weather over the Norwegian airfields. 1st Airborne Division suffered one officer and thirty-three other ranks killed, and one other rank wounded, and
15048-454: The war, with the other being the 6th Airborne Division , created in May 1943, using former units of the 1st Airborne Division. The division's first two missions— Operation Biting , a parachute landing in France, and Operation Freshman , a glider mission in Norway—were both raids. Part of the division was sent to North Africa at the end of 1942, where it fought in an infantry role during
15180-577: The western coast, and Operation Baytown at Calabria . Instead, the division had to be transported across the Mediterranean by ships of the Royal Navy . The landing was unopposed, and the airborne division successfully captured the ports of Taranto, and later Brindisi on the Adriatic coast, in working order. The only German forces in the area were elements of the German 1st Parachute Division , which engaged
15312-518: Was Operation Comet, in which the division's three brigades were to land in the Netherlands and each capture a river crossing. The first of these was the bridge over the River Waal at Nijmegen , the second the bridge over the River Maas at Grave , and the last was the bridge over the River Rhine at Arnhem . Planning for Comet was well advanced when on 10 September the mission was cancelled. Instead,
15444-408: Was a supply mission to North Africa that took place between March and August 1943. The mission was undertaken by the division's glider pilots and No. 295 Squadron Royal Air Force , as part of the preparations for the Allied invasion of Sicily . The mission involved Halifax bombers towing Horsa gliders 3,200 miles (5,100 km) from England to Tunisia . The Horsas were needed to complement
15576-484: Was accelerated to compensate for the delay, with aircraft scheduled to leave Britain between 02:00 and 13:30. Unfortunately, after approximately 07:00 poor weather over Oslo caused many transport aircraft heading for the airfield there to return to Britain, although all of those destined for Stavanger landed successfully. Several crash-landed, and one was reported missing. The remaining aircraft took off again on 11 May, with one crashing on takeoff and another going missing; of
15708-586: Was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War . The division was formed in late 1941 during the Second World War , after the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , demanded an airborne force, and was initially under command of Major-General Frederick A. M. "Boy" Browning . The division was one of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during
15840-450: Was assigned operational control over IX Troop Carrier Command , XVIII Corps (Airborne) , and British I Airborne Corps and all their subsidiary units. RAF troop carrier units would be assigned as necessary. As commander of First Allied Airborne Army, Brereton was directly responsible to SHAEF and General Eisenhower. His responsibilities included training and allocation of facilities, development of new airborne equipment, consultation with
15972-565: Was commanding the USAAF Ninth Air Force . Brereton learnt of his appointment on 17 July when in conference with the commanding officer of the USAAF, General Carl Spaatz , and was initially unconvinced of the merits of a combined headquarters, suggesting instead that American airborne forces be placed under the command of the Ninth Air Force, a suggestion which was denied by Eisenhower. With Brereton having agreed to his appointment,
16104-423: Was disbanded in November 1945. Inspired by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France , British Prime Minister Winston Churchill directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a force of 5,000 parachute troops. As a result, on 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando assumed parachute duties, and on 21 November was re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with
16236-427: Was known as 'Rankin B' and assumed that there was no surrender and that only parts of Norway would be abandoned by the Germans in order to reinforce their troops stationed in north-western Europe against Allied advances there; in this scenario, Force 134 would encounter heavy German resistance. The development of plans for the liberation and administration of Norway were complicated by it being difficult to predict whether
16368-466: Was promoted to major general , named the Commander Parachute and Airborne Troops, and ordered to form a headquarters to develop and train airborne forces. The next unit formed was the 1st Airlanding Brigade on 10 October 1941, by the conversion of the mountain warfare trained 31st Independent Infantry Brigade Group , commanded by Brigadier George Frederick "Hoppy" Hopkinson , later to command
16500-492: Was received from the 'Heralds' and so Doomsday was postponed by twenty-four hours. Contact was successfully established on 9 May and the first units of Force 134 arrived in Norway to begin their occupation, including the first elements of 1st Airborne Division and the Norwegian Parachute Company. All but one of the transport aircraft belonging to the first phase took off and landed in Norway without incident. Phase II
16632-464: Was short of transport, found it hard going to reach the parachute brigade and were still 1 mile (1.6 km) away when they halted for the night. By this time, with casualties mounting and supplies running short, the brigade commander, Brigadier Gerald Lathbury , had relinquished control of the bridge to the Germans. The following day the British units joined forces, and the 9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry with armour support attempted to recapture
16764-548: Was stationed in Norway until the end of the summer. It returned to Britain at the end of August, and its personnel were sent on leave. Initial plans had called for the division to be used as an Imperial Strategic Reserve, as it was believed that 6th Airborne Division would be required in the Far Eastern Theatre ; however, when Japan surrendered in August it negated the need for 6th Airborne Division to be transferred. This created
16896-609: Was the General Aircraft Hotspur , which was capable of transporting eight soldiers and was used for both assault and training purposes. The success of the first British airborne raid, Operation Colossus , prompted the War Office to expand the airborne force through the creation of the Parachute Regiment , and to develop plans to convert several infantry battalions into parachute and glider battalions. On 31 May 1941,
17028-609: Was the closest airfield to Britain, and would also be useful as a fighter base. Finally, Special Air Service Brigade would also land in Stavanger, from where it would advance to and occupy the area around Kristiansand . This was an important port from which the Royal Navy would sweep the surrounding waters for mines. The division's operations would be divided into four phases over four consecutive days. On 8 May, fifteen transport aircraft would carry advance parties to airfields at Gardermoen , near Oslo, and Sola airfield by Stavanger; this
17160-449: Was thought a commando raid from the sea would incur heavy losses, and give the garrison sufficient time for the radar equipment to be destroyed. It was therefore decided that an airborne assault followed by sea-borne evacuation would be the ideal way to surprise the garrison and seize the technology intact. On the night of 27 February, 'C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, under the command of Major John Frost , parachuted into France
17292-447: Was to be completed by the evening. The second phase, on 9 May, would see seventy Handley Page Halifaxes transport 1st Airlanding Brigade and elements of Headquarters 1st Airborne Division to both airfields, and another seventy-six C-47 Dakotas land the Artillery Brigade at Sola. On 10 May, the third phase would see Special Air Service Brigade land at Sola, and finally stores and vehicles would be landed at both airfields on 11 May. Before
17424-578: Was to seize Boulogne and assault V1 flying bomb sites. Near the end of the month, Operation Linnet, with the same units as before, was formulated to seize crossings over the Escaut . Operation Infatuate, drawn up in early September, involved the entire I Airborne Corps landing in Belgium to trap the retreating German armies in the Scheldt estuary , as well as aiming to threaten Antwerp . Finally, in September, there
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