The 1st Airborne Corps was a 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...

 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 the British Army during the Second World War. Together with the American XVIII Airborne Corps it was part of the 1st Allied Airborne Army.

Formation

Under the command of Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning

Frederick Browning

Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Arthur Montague Browning GCVO, KBE, CB, DSO was a British Army officer who has been called the "father of the British airborne forces". He is best known as the commander of the I Airborne Corps and deputy commander of First Allied Airborne Army during Operation...

, the 1st Airborne Corps was formed in 1943, with the 1st and the 6th Airborne Divisions. In August 1944, the corps became part of the 1st Allied Airborne Army, alongside the American XVIII Airborne Corps.

Later in the war as well as the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, the corps had the 1st SAS Brigade, the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division an air-transportable division under corps command. Other units assigned to the corps were the American 82nd, and 101st

101st Airborne Division

The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...

 Airborne Divisions during Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. It was the largest airborne operation up to that time....

. Lieutenant General Richard Gale

Richard Nelson Gale

General Sir Richard Nelson "Windy" Gale GCB, KBE, DSO, MC was a soldier in the British Army who served in both world wars. In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918 whilst serving as a junior officer in the Machine Gun Corps...

took command of the Corps in December 1944.