7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion
Encyclopedia
The 7th Parachute Battalion was an airborne
infantry
battalion
of the Parachute Regiment, formed by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was raised by the conversion of the 10th Somerset Light Infantry to parachute duties. It was then assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade but moved to the 5th Parachute Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division soon afterwards.
They saw combat in the Normandy Landings 6 June 1944, the Battle of the Bulge
and the River Rhine crossing
. After the war ended in Europe they were sent to the Middle East to undertake operations against the Japanese Empire. However the war ended just after they had started jungle training. Moving by sea the battalion took part in the reoccupation of Malaya
and Singapore
. Problems in Java
resulted in the battalion being sent to Batavia
(Jakarta) to control unrest until relieved by a Dutch force.
The battalion then rejoined the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. Post war army reductions saw them amalgamate with the 17th Parachute Battalion retaining the number 7th battalion. But further reductions eventually saw the battalion disbanded.
, the British Prime Minister
, Winston Churchill
, directed the War Office
to investigate the possibility of creating a corps
of 5,000 parachute troops. On 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando
was turned over to parachute duties and on 21 November, re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with a parachute and glider wing. It was these men who took part in the first British airborne operation, Operation Colossus
, on 10 February 1941. The success of the raid prompted the War Office to expand the existing airborne force, setting up the Airborne Forces Depot and Battle School in Derbyshire
in April 1942, and creating the Parachute Regiment as well as converting a number of infantry battalions into airborne battalions in August 1942.
The 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was formed in November 1942, by the conversion of the 10th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry to parachute duties. The battalion was then assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade 6th Airborne Division. When the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
arrived in Britain, they were assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was transferred to the 5th Parachute Brigade still with the 6th Airborne Division.
In 1942 a parachute battalion had an establishment of 556 men in three companies (three platoon
s each) supported by a 3 inch mortar
and a Vickers machine gun
platoon. By 1944 a support company to command the battalion's heavy weapons was added. It comprised three platoons: Mortar Platoon with eight 3 inch mortars, Machine Gun Platoon with four Vickers machine guns and an Anti-tank Platoon with ten PIAT
anti-tank projectors.
So badly scattered were they that by 03:00 Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin
in command had only around forty percent of the battalion at the forming up point, although men continued to appear throughout the day. Relatively few of their supply containers had been found, meaning that they possessed few heavy weapons or radio sets. However, the Battalion managed to rendezvous with the coup-de-main forces of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
at the Caen and Orne bridges. They then set up a defensive perimeter against German counter-attacks. The first German assault on the bridges came between 05:00 and 07:00 and consisted of isolated and often uncoordinated attacks by tanks, armoured cars and infantry, which grew in intensity throughout the day. The Luftwaffe
attempted to destroy the Caen bridge with a 1000 lb (453.6 kg) bomb which failed to detonate, and two German Navy coastal craft which attempted to attack the bridge were also repelled. Despite the ferocity of the attacks, the battalion and the coup-de-main forces were able to hold the bridges until 19:00, when leading elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division arrived and began to relieve the battalion. By midnight the battalion was being held in reserve behind the 12th Parachute Battalion occupying Le Bas de Ranville and the 13th Parachute Battalion holding Ranville.
and was incorporated into the 17th Parachute Battalion in July 1946 while retaining its name. After the 5th Brigade was disbanded, the men of the battalion were reallocated among the remainder of the division and the unit re-designated 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
at Itzehoe
in July 1948.
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...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
of the Parachute Regiment, formed by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was raised by the conversion of the 10th Somerset Light Infantry to parachute duties. It was then assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade but moved to the 5th Parachute Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division soon afterwards.
They saw combat in the Normandy Landings 6 June 1944, the Battle of the Bulge
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...
and the River Rhine crossing
Operation Varsity
Operation Varsity was a successful joint American–British airborne operation that took place toward the end of World War II...
. After the war ended in Europe they were sent to the Middle East to undertake operations against the Japanese Empire. However the war ended just after they had started jungle training. Moving by sea the battalion took part in the reoccupation of Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Problems in Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
resulted in the battalion being sent to Batavia
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
(Jakarta) to control unrest until relieved by a Dutch force.
The battalion then rejoined the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. Post war army reductions saw them amalgamate with the 17th Parachute Battalion retaining the number 7th battalion. But further reductions eventually saw the battalion disbanded.
Formation
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. On 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando
No. 2 Commando
No. 2 Commando was a battalion-sized British Commando unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The No. 2 Commando unit was reformed three times during the Second World War. The original No. 2 Commando, unlike the other commando units, was formed from volunteers from across the United...
was turned over to parachute duties and on 21 November, re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with a parachute and glider wing. It was these men who took part in the first British airborne operation, Operation Colossus
Operation Colossus
Operation Colossus was the codename given to the first airborne operation undertaken by the British military, which occurred on 10 February 1941 during World War II...
, on 10 February 1941. The success of the raid prompted the War Office to expand the existing airborne force, setting up the Airborne Forces Depot and Battle School in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
in April 1942, and creating the Parachute Regiment as well as converting a number of infantry battalions into airborne battalions in August 1942.
The 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was formed in November 1942, by the conversion of the 10th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry to parachute duties. The battalion was then assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade 6th Airborne Division. When the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
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...
arrived in Britain, they were assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade and the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was transferred to the 5th Parachute Brigade still with the 6th Airborne Division.
In 1942 a parachute battalion had an establishment of 556 men in three companies (three platoon
Platoon
A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two to four sections or squads and containing 16 to 50 soldiers. Platoons are organized into a company, which typically consists of three, four or five platoons. A platoon is typically the smallest military unit led by a commissioned officer—the...
s each) supported by a 3 inch mortar
Ordnance ML 3 inch Mortar
The Ordnance ML 3-inch mortar was the United Kingdom's standard mortar used by the British Army from the late 1920s to the late 1960s, superseding the Stokes Mortar.-History:...
and a Vickers machine gun
Vickers machine gun
Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...
platoon. By 1944 a support company to command the battalion's heavy weapons was added. It comprised three platoons: Mortar Platoon with eight 3 inch mortars, Machine Gun Platoon with four Vickers machine guns and an Anti-tank Platoon with ten PIAT
PIAT
The Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank was a British hand-held anti-tank weapon developed during the Second World War. The PIAT was designed in 1942 in response to the British Army's need for a more effective infantry anti-tank weapon, and entered service in 1943.The PIAT was based on the spigot...
anti-tank projectors.
Normandy
On 6 June 1944, the 7th Parachute Battalion landed in Normandy. Many of the battalion were scattered or landed on the wrong drop zoneDrop 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...
So badly scattered were they that by 03:00 Lieutenant-Colonel Pine-Coffin
Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin
Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin DSO & Bar, MC was a parachute officer of the British Army during World War II. He commanded the 3rd Parachute Battalion in North Africa and the 7th Parachute Battalion in Normandy, Belgium, and Germany...
in command had only around forty percent of the battalion at the forming up point, although men continued to appear throughout the day. Relatively few of their supply containers had been found, meaning that they possessed few heavy weapons or radio sets. However, the Battalion managed to rendezvous with the coup-de-main forces of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army.The regiment was formed as a consequence of Childers reforms, a continuation of the Cardwell reforms, by the amalgamation of the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 52nd Regiment of Foot , forming the 1st...
at the Caen and Orne bridges. They then set up a defensive perimeter against German counter-attacks. The first German assault on the bridges came between 05:00 and 07:00 and consisted of isolated and often uncoordinated attacks by tanks, armoured cars and infantry, which grew in intensity throughout the day. The Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
attempted to destroy the Caen bridge with a 1000 lb (453.6 kg) bomb which failed to detonate, and two German Navy coastal craft which attempted to attack the bridge were also repelled. Despite the ferocity of the attacks, the battalion and the coup-de-main forces were able to hold the bridges until 19:00, when leading elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division arrived and began to relieve the battalion. By midnight the battalion was being held in reserve behind the 12th Parachute Battalion occupying Le Bas de Ranville and the 13th Parachute Battalion holding Ranville.
Ardennes
The 6th Airborne Division was called to intervene in the German offensive through the Ardennes on the 20th December 1944. On the 29th of that month they attacked the tip of the German thrust and the 3rd Parachute Brigade was given responsibility for the Rochefort sector, which they took after meeting stiff resistance. After several months of heavy patrolling, in Belgium and, in February, Holland, the Division was withdrawn to England.Post Second World War
With the war in Europe over, the battalion moved to the Far East with the 5th Parachute Brigade between 1945–1946. Thereafter it returned to the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine6th Airborne Division in Palestine
The 6th Airborne Division in Palestine was initially posted to the region as the Imperial Strategic Reserve. It was envisioned as a mobile peace keeping force, positioned to be able to respond quickly to any area of the British Empire...
and was incorporated into the 17th Parachute Battalion in July 1946 while retaining its name. After the 5th Brigade was disbanded, the men of the battalion were reallocated among the remainder of the division and the unit re-designated 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment
The 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment is a battalion sized formation of the British Army's Parachute Regiment and subordinate unit within 16 Air Assault Brigade....
at Itzehoe
Itzehoe
Itzehoe is a town in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.As the capital of the district Steinburg, Itzehoe is located on the Stör, a navigable tributary of the Elbe, 51 km northwest of Hamburg and 24 km north of Glückstadt...
in July 1948.
Commanding Officers
| Dates | Name |
|---|---|
| 1942-4 | Lt. Col. H.N. Barlow OBE |
| 1944-7 | Lt. Col. R.G. Pine-Coffin, DSO Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September... , MC |
| 1947 | Lt Col. T.C.H. Pearson, DSO |
| 1947-8 | Lt Col. P.D. Maud |