224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
Encyclopedia
The 224th Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps
unit of the British airborne forces
during the Second World War.
The 224th Field Ambulance
was converted to an airborne unit in 1942, and assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, part of the 6th Airborne Division. They first saw active service in 1944 during the invasion of Normandy, and remained in France until September. They were then withdrawn back to England only to return to the continent at the end of the year in response to the German surprise winter offensive
in the Ardennes
forest. Their final mission of the war was the airborne assault over the River Rhine
in 1945. They remained in Germany until the final surrender in May that year.
After the war the 224th remained with the 6th Airborne Division, and following a brief period in England were sent to Mandate Palestine
on an internal security
role. In 1948, the field ambulance and most of the division was disbanded.
, the British Prime Minister
, Winston Churchill
, directed the War Office
to investigate the possibility of creating a corps
of 5,000 parachute troops. In September 1941 the 1st Parachute Brigade began forming, comprising three parachute infantry battalions. In keeping with British Army practice at the time, airborne supporting arms were created, including Royal Army Medical Corps
volunteers.
Of the seven airborne field ambulance
s formed during the Second World War, two were glider borne the 181st
and the 195th
. While the other five were parachute trained the 16th
, 127th
, 133rd
, 224th and the 225th
.
The 224th Parachute Field Ambulance was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alistair Young, with a major
as the second in command
and a regimental sergeant major
as the senior non commissioned rank. Headquarters staff included two specialist surgeons and a specialist anaesthetist, a pharmacist
and a Army Dental Corps
dentist. To assist in the operating theatre and with post operative care, there were six operating room assistants, a sergeant
nursing orderly and six nursing orderlies. Other medical staff were a sergeant sanitary assistant, a masseur, a dental orderly and five stretcher bearers, one of whom was trained as a shoemaker. The rest of the headquarters consisted of a quartermaster
, clerks, cooks, storemen, an Army Physical Training Corps
instructor, a barber and a joiner
from the Royal Engineers.
There were four sub units of twenty men known as sections
. Each section comprised an officer (doctor) and a staff sergeant
(nursing orderly), under their command were three nursing orderlies, a clerk, a dutyman and thirteen stretcher bearers. A section was normally attached to a parachute battalion to supplement their own medical officer and medics.
The last component of the Field Ambulance was the Royal Army Service Corps
detachment, commanded by a captain
, with a company sergeant major
as second in command. They had fifty men under them, an electrician, a clerk, thirty-eight drivers, four motorcyclists and five vehicle mechanics. It was normal to have at least two RASC drivers with two jeeps
and a trailer attached to each section, the remaining men and vehicles stayed with the headquarters surgical teams.
All members of the Field Ambulance had to undergo a twelve day parachute training course carried out at No. 1 Parachute Training School, RAF Ringway
. Initial parachute jumps were from a converted barrage balloon
and finished with five parachute jumps from an aircraft. Anyone failing to complete this training was returned to his old unit. Those men who successfully completed the parachute course, were presented with their maroon beret
and parachute wings
.
during the Normandy landings. The 3rd Parachute Brigade landed on their own drop zone
to the north-east of Ranville. The brigade had to capture two bridges crossing the Caen canal and the River Orne and hold them until relieved by forces advancing from the British Sword beach
. At the same time, they had to secure the landing zone for the divisions glider-borne forces arriving later that day.
The 224th commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel D.H. Thompson was divided into groups for the landings. The commanding officer and sixty-five men who were to establish the Main Dressing Station (MDS) travelled in the same aircraft as brigade headquarters, while Nos 1, 2 and 3 Sections were attached to the 1st Canadian
, 8th and 9th parachute battalions. Arriving in Normandy from around 01:00, many of the unit landed too far to the east in the flooded marshes beside the River Dives. One of those men was the commanding officer who then spent three weeks trying to rejoin the unit from behind German lines before being captured. The members of the 224th who landed on the correct drop zone
proceeded to set up their Main Dressing Station in a farm at Le Mesnil
. By noon, around two thirds of the 22nd were still missing, but the MDS had managed to treat fifty-five wounded and conduct ten surgical operations
.
The following day, the Germans counter-attacked and the MDS was surrounded on three sides with the nearest German forces only 300 yards (274.3 m) away, but they kept on operating. Over the next few days, the front line was very fluid and it was not unknown for the unit's ambulances returning to the MDS from battalion aid posts to drive through German patrols and positions. Being co-located with brigade headquarters, the MDS could not be given the protection of the Red Cross and was subjected to small arms and artillery fire. It was also twice attacked by Royal Air Force
rocket firing Typhoons
. On 18 June during a German artillery attack, all the unit's transport, apart from one ambulance jeep and two captured trucks, were destroyed. After the last attack, Brigade headquarters issued orders for the MDS to move further to the rear at Ecarde. Between the 6 and 19 of June, the MDS had treated 800 wounded and carried out 112 surgical operations.
The 224th remained at Ecarde until the first week in August. During their time there, they established a divisional clinic and assisted with the casualties from the British attempts to capture Caen
. On 7 August, they moved closer to the front at Riverbella when the 6th Airborne Division was ordered to cross the River Dives and advance north along the French coast. The 224th and the division's two other field ambulances leap-frogged each other to keep up with the leading troops and have at least one MDS open for casualties. By the end of the month, the division had reached the River Seine. They were ordered to halt and by September had been withdrawn back to England. While in Normandy, the division's three medical units had treated 6,722 casualties.
the crossing of the River Rhine in March 1945. The divisions drop zones were on the high ground to the east of Hamminkeln
. As this was the first airborne operation in daylight without the element of surprise, the 224th were warned to expect around 600 casualties. The 224ths airborne contingent was transported across the Rhine, in seven aircraft and three gliders. The flight was successful apart from one glider having to land in France when its tow rope snapped. The rest of the 224th landing under fire had four men killed and a number wounded by the German machine guns. Still under the German guns, they started clearing the casualties from the drop zone. At midday brigade headquarters ordered the 224th move to Bergenfurth, where they established the MDS in the village church. Casualties continued to mount and the supply of stretchers was exhausted. Two of the units stretcher bearers were awarded the Military Medal
, for returning to the landing zone which was still under fire, to retrieve stretchers from the crashed gliders. It was around the same time that Corporal
Frederick Topham
was awarded the Victoria Cross
. Two medics had been killed trying to assist a wounded man on the drop zone. Topham left cover to help, he was wounded in the face but succeeded in carrying the casualty to safety. By the end of the first day the 224th had seven dead, nine wounded and seven missing. They had treated 212 wounded and conducted nine surgical operations.
The ground forces caught up with the 6th Airborne division on 24 March and by the 2 May the division had advanced 330 miles (531.1 km) across Germany to Wismar
on the Baltic sea
. From then to the end of the war a week later the 224th remained static treating wounded soldiers, civilians and ex prisoners of war. They also provided a medical team to treat the survivors from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
.
. The division moved to Palestine
between 15 September and 6 November 1945. The 224th landing at the port of Haifa
on 3 October. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was deployed to the Lydda district
with
responsibility for Tel-Aviv and Jaffa
. The division was actively involved in peacekeeping and supporting the civil power. On 22 September 1946, a junior NCO from the 224th was one of the forty men from the division killed in Palestine. In 1947, the unit was renumbered the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance, taking the number of the original parachute medical formation, which had been disbanded in 1945. Order for the disbandment of the 6th Airborne Division were issued and on 7 April 1948, the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance left Palestine for England, where they were re-rolled, becoming a standard field ambulance formation.
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
unit of the British airborne forces
Airborne forces
Airborne forces are military units, usually light infantry, set up to be moved by aircraft and 'dropped' into battle. Thus they can be placed behind enemy lines, and have an ability to deploy almost anywhere with little warning...
during the Second World War.
The 224th Field Ambulance
Field Ambulance
A Field Ambulance is the name used by the British Army and the armies of other Commonwealth nations to describe a mobile medical unit that treats wounded soldiers very close to the combat zone...
was converted to an airborne unit in 1942, and assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, part of the 6th Airborne Division. They first saw active service in 1944 during the invasion of Normandy, and remained in France until September. They were then withdrawn back to England only to return to the continent at the end of the year in response to the German surprise winter offensive
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
in the Ardennes
Ardennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
forest. Their final mission of the war was the airborne assault over the River Rhine
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
in 1945. They remained in Germany until the final surrender in May that year.
After the war the 224th remained with the 6th Airborne Division, and following a brief period in England were sent to Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
on an internal security
Internal security
Internal security, or IS, is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories. generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats...
role. In 1948, the field ambulance and most of the division was disbanded.
Background
Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, during the Battle of FranceBattle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
, the British Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
, Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, directed the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
to investigate the possibility of creating a corps
Corps
A corps is either a large formation, or an administrative grouping of troops within an armed force with a common function such as Artillery or Signals representing an arm of service...
of 5,000 parachute troops. In September 1941 the 1st Parachute Brigade began forming, comprising three parachute infantry battalions. In keeping with British Army practice at the time, airborne supporting arms were created, including Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
volunteers.
Of the seven airborne field ambulance
Field Ambulance
A Field Ambulance is the name used by the British Army and the armies of other Commonwealth nations to describe a mobile medical unit that treats wounded soldiers very close to the combat zone...
s formed during the Second World War, two were glider borne the 181st
181st (Airlanding) Field Ambulance
The 181st Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War.The Field Ambulance was assigned to the 1st Airlanding Brigade, the glider borne element of the 1st Airborne Division. Some men of the unit took part in the first parachute raid...
and the 195th
195th (Airlanding) Field Ambulance
The 195th Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War.The 195th was the second airlanding Field Ambulance formed by the British Army. Once raised it was assigned to the 6th Airlanding Brigade, which was part of the 6th Airborne...
. While the other five were parachute trained the 16th
16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
The 16th Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War. The unit was the first parachute field ambulance unit of the British Army. Their first deployment was in Operation Torch the Allied landings in North Africa. This was followed...
, 127th
127th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
The 127th Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War.The 127th Field Ambulance was originally a pre war Territorial Army unit converted to parachute duties, becoming the second parachute field ambulance in the British Army...
, 133rd
133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance
The 133rd Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War.The 133rd Field Ambulance was formed in Palestine in January 1943, by the conversion of the 133rd Field Ambulance to parachute duties...
, 224th and the 225th
225th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
The 225th Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War.When raised the Field Ambulance was assigned to the 5th Parachute Brigade, which was part of the 6th Airborne Division. As such they participated in Operation Tonga part of the...
.
224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
The 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance was formed in December 1942, by the conversion of the 224th Field Ambulance to parachute duties. Once converted, they were assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade in the 6th Airborne Division. The war establishment of a parachute field ambulance was 177 all ranks, consisting of thirteen doctors in two surgical teams and four sections. The doctors could deal with 330 cases in a twenty-four hour period. Each surgical team could handle 1.8 operations a hour. This rate could not be sustained and if they were required to operate the following day, the team had to be relieved after twelve hours.The 224th Parachute Field Ambulance was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alistair Young, with a major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
as the second in command
Second in Command
Second in Command is a 2006 action film directed by Simon Fellows, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. It was released direct-to-video in the United States, Belgium, and Germany on May 2, 2006. It has been rated R by the MPAA for violence and some language. The film was made in Bucharest, Romania.-Plot...
and a regimental sergeant major
Regimental Sergeant Major
Regimental Sergeant Major is an appointment held by warrant officers class 1 in the British Army, the British Royal Marines and in the armies of many Commonwealth nations, including Australia and New Zealand; and by chief warrant officers in the Canadian Forces...
as the senior non commissioned rank. Headquarters staff included two specialist surgeons and a specialist anaesthetist, a pharmacist
Pharmacist
Pharmacists are allied health professionals who practice in pharmacy, the field of health sciences focusing on safe and effective medication use...
and a Army Dental Corps
Royal Army Dental Corps
The Royal Army Dental Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army that provides dental care services to British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
dentist. To assist in the operating theatre and with post operative care, there were six operating room assistants, a sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
nursing orderly and six nursing orderlies. Other medical staff were a sergeant sanitary assistant, a masseur, a dental orderly and five stretcher bearers, one of whom was trained as a shoemaker. The rest of the headquarters consisted of a quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
, clerks, cooks, storemen, an Army Physical Training Corps
Army Physical Training Corps
The Royal Army Physical Training Corps is the British Army corps responsible for physical fitness and physical education. Its members are all Royal Army Physical Training Corps Instructors ....
instructor, a barber and a joiner
Joiner
A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
from the Royal Engineers.
There were four sub units of twenty men known as sections
Section (military unit)
A section is a small military unit in some armies. In many armies, it is a squad of seven to twelve soldiers. However in France and armies based on the French model, it is the sub-division of a company .-Australian Army:...
. Each section comprised an officer (doctor) and a staff sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
(nursing orderly), under their command were three nursing orderlies, a clerk, a dutyman and thirteen stretcher bearers. A section was normally attached to a parachute battalion to supplement their own medical officer and medics.
The last component of the Field Ambulance was the Royal Army Service Corps
Royal Army Service Corps
The Royal Army Service Corps was a corps of the British Army. It was responsible for land, coastal and lake transport; air despatch; supply of food, water, fuel, and general domestic stores such as clothing, furniture and stationery ; administration of...
detachment, commanded by a captain
Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)
Captain is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines. It ranks above Lieutenant and below Major and has a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force...
, with a company sergeant major
Company Sergeant Major
A company sergeant major is the senior non-commissioned soldier of a company in the armies of many Commonwealth countries, responsible for standards and discipline. In combat, his prime responsibility is the supply of ammunition to the company...
as second in command. They had fifty men under them, an electrician, a clerk, thirty-eight drivers, four motorcyclists and five vehicle mechanics. It was normal to have at least two RASC drivers with two jeeps
Willys MB
The Willys MB US Army Jeep and the Ford GPW, were manufactured from 1941 to 1945. These small four-wheel drive utility vehicles are considered the iconic World War II Jeep, and inspired many similar light utility vehicles. Over the years, the World War II Jeep later evolved into the "CJ" civilian...
and a trailer attached to each section, the remaining men and vehicles stayed with the headquarters surgical teams.
All members of the Field Ambulance had to undergo a twelve day parachute training course carried out at No. 1 Parachute Training School, RAF Ringway
RAF Ringway
RAF Ringway, was a Royal Air Force station near Manchester, UK, in the parish of Ringway, then in Cheshire. It was operational from 1939 until 1957.-Prewar years:...
. Initial parachute jumps were from a converted barrage balloon
Barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a large balloon tethered with metal cables, used to defend against low-level aircraft attack by damaging the aircraft on collision with the cables, or at least making the attacker's approach more difficult. Some versions carried small explosive charges that would be pulled up...
and finished with five parachute jumps from an aircraft. Anyone failing to complete this training was returned to his old unit. Those men who successfully completed the parachute course, were presented with their maroon beret
Maroon beret
The maroon beret is a military beret and has been an international symbol of elite airborne forces since it was chosen for British airborne forces in World War II. This distinctive head dress was officially introduced in 1942, at the direction of General Frederick Browning, commander of the British...
and parachute wings
Parachutist Badge
The Parachutist Badge or Parachutist Brevet is a military badge awarded by the Armed Forces of most countries in the world to soldiers who receive the proper parachute training and accomplish the required number of jumps. It is difficult to assess which country was the first to introduce such award...
.
Normandy
On 6 June 1944, the 6th Airborne Division took part in Operation TongaOperation Tonga
Operation Tonga was the codename given to the airborne operation undertaken by the British 6th Airborne Division between 5 June and 7 June 1944 as a part of Operation Overlord and the Normandy Landings during the Second World War....
during the Normandy landings. The 3rd Parachute Brigade landed on their own drop zone
Drop zone
A drop zone is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes...
to the north-east of Ranville. The brigade had to capture two bridges crossing the Caen canal and the River Orne and hold them until relieved by forces advancing from the British Sword beach
Sword Beach
Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...
. At the same time, they had to secure the landing zone for the divisions glider-borne forces arriving later that day.
The 224th commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel D.H. Thompson was divided into groups for the landings. The commanding officer and sixty-five men who were to establish the Main Dressing Station (MDS) travelled in the same aircraft as brigade headquarters, while Nos 1, 2 and 3 Sections were attached to the 1st Canadian
1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was formed in July 1942 during the Second World War; it served in North West Europe. Landing in Normandy on D Day, June 6, 1944 and in the airborne assault crossing of the River Rhine, Operation Varsity...
, 8th and 9th parachute battalions. Arriving in Normandy from around 01:00, many of the unit landed too far to the east in the flooded marshes beside the River Dives. One of those men was the commanding officer who then spent three weeks trying to rejoin the unit from behind German lines before being captured. The members of the 224th who landed on the correct drop zone
Drop zone
A drop zone is a place where parachutists or parachuted supplies land. It can be an area targeted for landing by paratroopers, or a base from which recreational parachutists and skydivers take off in aircraft and land under parachutes...
proceeded to set up their Main Dressing Station in a farm at Le Mesnil
Le Mesnil
Deriving from Latin 'mansionile', meaning a small 'mansio', or dwelling, Le Mesnil may refer to:-Belgium:* Le Mesnil, Belgium, a commune in the municipality of Viroinval in the Namur province-France:...
. By noon, around two thirds of the 22nd were still missing, but the MDS had managed to treat fifty-five wounded and conduct ten surgical operations
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
.
The following day, the Germans counter-attacked and the MDS was surrounded on three sides with the nearest German forces only 300 yards (274.3 m) away, but they kept on operating. Over the next few days, the front line was very fluid and it was not unknown for the unit's ambulances returning to the MDS from battalion aid posts to drive through German patrols and positions. Being co-located with brigade headquarters, the MDS could not be given the protection of the Red Cross and was subjected to small arms and artillery fire. It was also twice attacked by Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
rocket firing Typhoons
Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon was a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. While the Typhoon was designed to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, and a direct replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, several design problems were encountered, and the Typhoon never completely satisfied...
. On 18 June during a German artillery attack, all the unit's transport, apart from one ambulance jeep and two captured trucks, were destroyed. After the last attack, Brigade headquarters issued orders for the MDS to move further to the rear at Ecarde. Between the 6 and 19 of June, the MDS had treated 800 wounded and carried out 112 surgical operations.
The 224th remained at Ecarde until the first week in August. During their time there, they established a divisional clinic and assisted with the casualties from the British attempts to capture Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
. On 7 August, they moved closer to the front at Riverbella when the 6th Airborne Division was ordered to cross the River Dives and advance north along the French coast. The 224th and the division's two other field ambulances leap-frogged each other to keep up with the leading troops and have at least one MDS open for casualties. By the end of the month, the division had reached the River Seine. They were ordered to halt and by September had been withdrawn back to England. While in Normandy, the division's three medical units had treated 6,722 casualties.
Germany
The next airborne operation the 224th was involved in was Operation VarsityOperation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
the crossing of the River Rhine in March 1945. The divisions drop zones were on the high ground to the east of Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Issel, approximately 10 kilometers north of Wesel. It is twinned with Sedgefield, United Kingdom...
. As this was the first airborne operation in daylight without the element of surprise, the 224th were warned to expect around 600 casualties. The 224ths airborne contingent was transported across the Rhine, in seven aircraft and three gliders. The flight was successful apart from one glider having to land in France when its tow rope snapped. The rest of the 224th landing under fire had four men killed and a number wounded by the German machine guns. Still under the German guns, they started clearing the casualties from the drop zone. At midday brigade headquarters ordered the 224th move to Bergenfurth, where they established the MDS in the village church. Casualties continued to mount and the supply of stretchers was exhausted. Two of the units stretcher bearers were awarded the Military Medal
Military Medal
The Military Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land....
, for returning to the landing zone which was still under fire, to retrieve stretchers from the crashed gliders. It was around the same time that Corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
Frederick Topham
Frederick George Topham
Frederick George Topham, VC was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.-Details:...
was awarded the Victoria Cross
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
. Two medics had been killed trying to assist a wounded man on the drop zone. Topham left cover to help, he was wounded in the face but succeeded in carrying the casualty to safety. By the end of the first day the 224th had seven dead, nine wounded and seven missing. They had treated 212 wounded and conducted nine surgical operations.
The ground forces caught up with the 6th Airborne division on 24 March and by the 2 May the division had advanced 330 miles (531.1 km) across Germany to Wismar
Wismar
Wismar , is a small port and Hanseatic League town 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. Its natural harbour, located in the Bay of Wismar is well-protected by a promontory. The...
on the Baltic sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. From then to the end of the war a week later the 224th remained static treating wounded soldiers, civilians and ex prisoners of war. They also provided a medical team to treat the survivors from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle...
.
Palestine
After the Second World War, the 6th Airborne Division was named the Imperial Strategic Reserve in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The division moved to Palestine
Mandate Palestine
Mandate Palestine existed while the British Mandate for Palestine, which formally began in September 1923 and terminated in May 1948, was in effect...
between 15 September and 6 November 1945. The 224th landing at the port of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
on 3 October. The 3rd Parachute Brigade was deployed to the Lydda district
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
with
responsibility for Tel-Aviv and Jaffa
Jaffa
Jaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
. The division was actively involved in peacekeeping and supporting the civil power. On 22 September 1946, a junior NCO from the 224th was one of the forty men from the division killed in Palestine. In 1947, the unit was renumbered the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance, taking the number of the original parachute medical formation, which had been disbanded in 1945. Order for the disbandment of the 6th Airborne Division were issued and on 7 April 1948, the 16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance left Palestine for England, where they were re-rolled, becoming a standard field ambulance formation.