Order of Battle, 1st Airborne Division

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August 16th, 2024

Last Updated

November 25th, 2024

Great Britain

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Additional Information

Unit Order of Battle Commanders Operations Equipment Multimedia Sources Biographies

Commanders

October, 1941 – April 1943

Browning, Frederick Arthur Montague “Boy”

April 1943 – September 9th, 1943

Hopkinson, George Frederick

September 9th, 1943 – January 1944

Down, Ernest Edward “Eric”

January 1944 – End of the War

Urquhart, Robert Elliot “Roy” Great Britain

Order of Battle

1941

• 1^st  Parachute Brigade

November 1st, 1941

• 1^st Parachute Brigade
  • Brigade headquarters and Signals section
  • 1^st Parachute Battalion
  • 2^nd Parachute Battalion
• 31^st Independent Brigade Group
  • Brigade headquarters and Signals section
  • 1^st Battalion, The Border Regiment
  • 2^nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
  • 2^nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
  • 1^st Battalion, The Royal Ulster Rifles,
  • 31^st Independent Reconnaissance Company,
  • 223 Anti-tank Battery, Royal Artillery
  • 9^th Field Company, Royal Engineers
  • 31^st Independent Infantry Brigade Ordnance Workshop and Field Park, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
  • Company troop-carrying vehicles, Royal Army Service Corps
  • 181^st Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps

Beginning 1942

• 1^st Parachute Brigade
  • Brigade headquarters and Signals section
  • 1^st Parachute Battalion
  • 2^nd Parachute Battalion
• 1^st Airlanding Brigade
  • Brigade headquarters and Signals section
  • 1^st Battalion, The Border Regiment
  • 2^nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
  • 2^nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
  • 1^st Battalion, The Royal Ulster Rifles,
• 1^st Airborne Independent Reconnaissance Company,
• 1^st Air-Landing Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery
• 9^th Airborne Field Company, Royal Engineers
• 1^st Airborne Independent Infantry Brigade Ordnance Workshop and Field Park, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• Company troop-carrying vehicles, Royal Army Service Corps
• 181^st Airborne Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps

1942

• 1^st  Parachute Brigade
• 2^nd Parachute Brigade
• 3^rd Parachute Brigade
• 1^st Airlanding Brigade
• 1^st Airborne Independent Reconnaissance Company,
• 1^st Air-Landing Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery
• 9^th Airborne Field Company, Royal Engineers
• 1^st Airborne Independent Infantry Brigade Ordnance Workshop and Field Park, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
• Company troop-carrying vehicles, Royal Army Service Corps
• 181^st Airborne Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps

1943

• 1^st  Parachute Brigade
• 4^th Parachute Brigade
• 1^st Airlanding Brigade

Sicily, July 1943, 1st Airborne Division

• 1^st Airlanding Brigade
  • 1^st Battalion, The Border Regiment
  • 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment
  • 181^st (Airlanding) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 9th Field Company, Royal Engineers
• 1^st Parachute Brigade
  • 1^st Battalion, Parachute Regiment
  • 2^nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
  • 3^rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
  • 16^th (Parachute) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
  • 1^st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery
  • 1^st (Airborne) Divisional Provost, Corps of Military Police

Arnhem, September 1944, 1st Airborne Division

• 1^st Parachute Brigade, Brigadier Gerald Lathbury
  • 1^st Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel David T. Dobie
  • 2^nd Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel John Frost
  • 3^rd Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel John A.C. Fitch
• 4^th Parachute Brigade, Brigadier John W. Hackett
  • 10^th Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth B.I. Smyth
  • 11^th Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel George H. Lea
  • 156^th Parachute Battalion, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Richard de Bacquencourt Des Voeux
• 1^st Airlanding Brigade, Brigadier Philip Hicks
  • 1^st Battalion, The Border Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Haddon
  • 2^nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel W. Derek H. McCardie
  • 7^th Battalion, King’s Own Scottish Borderers, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Payton-Reid
• 1^st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron, Major Charles Frederick Gough
• 21^st Independent Parachute Company (Pathfinders), Major Bernard Wilson
• 1^st Airborne Divisional Signals, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas G.V. Stephenson
• 1^st (Airborne) Divisional Provost Company, Corps of Military Police, Captain William B. Gray
• 89^th (Parachute) Field Security Section, Intelligence Corps, Captain John Killick
• Royal Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel R.G. Loder-Symonds
  • 1^st Airlanding Light Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel William F.K. Thompson
  • 1^st Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Major William F. Arnold
  • 2^nd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Major A.F. Haynes
  • 1^st Forward (Airborne) Observation Unit, Major Denys R. Wight-Boycott
• Royal Engineers, Lieutenant-Colonel E.C.W. Myers
  • 1^st Parachute Field Squadron, Major Douglas C. Murray then Captain Eric Mackay
  • 4^th Parachute Field Squadron, Major Aeneas Perkins
  • 9^th Airborne Field Company, Major John C. Winchester
  • 261^st (Airborne) Field Park Company, Lieutenant William H. Skinner
• Royal Army Service Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel M. St. John Packe
  • 250^th (Airborne) Light Composite Company, Major D.G. Clarke
• Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel G.A. Mobbs
  • 1^st (Airborne) Divisional Field Park, Major Cecil Cyril Chidgey
• Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
  • 1^st (Airborne) Divisional Workshops, Major Jack Carrick
• Royal Army Medical Corps, Colonel Graeme M. Warrack
  • 16^th (Parachute) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel E. Townsend
  • 133^rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel W.C. Alford
  • 163^rd Field Ambulance, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin E.M. Herford
  • 181^st (Airlanding) Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur T. Marrable

Attached

• Glider Pilot Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel George Chatterton
  • No.1 Wing, Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Murray
  • No.2 Wing, Lieutenant-Colonel John Place
• Dutch liaison, Lieutenant Commander Arnoldus Wolters and Lieutenant Maarten Knottenbelt, No. 2 Dutch Troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando