I Airborne Corps (United Kingdom)

I Airborne Corps

Active	1943–1945
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Airborne forces
Size	Corps
Part of	First Allied Airborne Army
Nickname(s)	Red Devils ^[nb 1]
Commanders
Notable commanders	Sir Frederick Browning Sir Richard Gale

Formation

Under the command of Lieutenant-General Frederick Arthur Montague Browning, I Airborne Corps was formed in 1943, with the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions under command.^[2] The Corps also contained the Special Air Service's SAS Brigade. In August 1944, the corps became part of the First Allied Airborne Army, alongside U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps.^[2]

Later in the war, as well as the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, the corps had the 1st Special Service Brigade, the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade and the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division an air-transportable division under corps command.^[3]^[4] Other units assigned to the corps were the American 82nd, and 101st Airborne Divisions during Operation Market Garden in September 1944. Lieutenant-General Richard Nelson Gale, who had previously commanded the 6th Airborne Division during the Battle of Normandy, took command of the corps in December 1944.^[5]

^ The 1st Parachute Brigade had been called the "Rote Teufel" or "Red Devils" by the German troops they had fought in North Africa. The title was officially confirmed by General Sir Harold Alexander and henceforth applied to all British airborne troops.^[1]

Horn, Bernd; Wyczynski, Michel (2003). Paras versus the Reich: Canada's paratroopers at war, 1942-45. Dundurn Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-55002-470-8.
Otway, Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H. (1990). The Second World War 1939–1945 Army – Airborne Forces. London: Imperial War Museum. ISBN 0-901627-57-7.

v t e British airborne units of the Second World War
Parachute Battalions	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th (Scottish) 6th (Royal Welch) 7th (Light Infantry) 8th (Midlands) 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) 10th 11th 11th Special Air Service 12th (Yorkshire) 13th (Lancashire) 15th (King's) 16th (Staffords) 17th 151st/156th
Airlanding Battalions	1st Royal Ulster Rifles 1st Border Regiment 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 2nd South Staffordshire Regiment 2nd King's Own Royal Regiment 7th King's Own Scottish Borderers 12th Devonshire Regiment
Artillery	1st Airlanding Light Regiment 53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment
Reconnaissance	6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment
Field Ambulances	16th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 127th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 133rd (Parachute) Field Ambulance 181st (Airlanding) Field Ambulance 195th (Airlanding) Field Ambulance 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 225th (Parachute) Field Ambulance
Glider Pilots	Glider Pilot Regiment
Brigades	1st Parachute Brigade 1st Airlanding Brigade 2nd Parachute Brigade 3rd Parachute Brigade 4th Parachute Brigade 5th Parachute Brigade 6th Airlanding Brigade Special Air Service Troops
Divisions	1st Airborne Division 6th Airborne Division
Corps	1st Airborne Corps
Deception	Deception formations

v t e British army groups, armies, commands, and corps during the Second World War
Army Groups (list)	11th 15th 18th 21st Allied Armies in Italy
Armies (list)	British Expeditionary Force First Second Eighth Ninth Tenth Twelfth Fourteenth
Corps (list)	I I Airborne II III IV V VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XXX 1st Anti-Aircraft 2nd Anti-Aircraft 3rd Anti-Aircraft Commonwealth Western Desert Force
Commands (list)	Aden Aldershot Allied Land Forces South East Asia Anti-Aircraft British Army of the Rhine British India Burma Cyrenaica East Africa Eastern Egypt Far East London Malaya Malta Middle East Northern Northern Ireland Palestine Persia and Iraq Scottish South East Asia South Eastern Southern West Africa Western
Other	ABDA Allied Force Headquarters Deception First Allied Airborne Army Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force

This page was last edited on 14 September 2021, at 03:30