3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment

File:British parachute troops Norwich 1941.jpg

Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops.Otway, p.21 On 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando was redeployed to parachute duties and on 21 November re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with both a parachute and glider wing,Shortt & McBride, p.4Moreman, p.91 the men of which took part in the first British airborne operation, Operation Colossus, on 10 February 1941.Guard, p.218 The success of the raid prompted the War Office to expand the airborne forces, 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 or platoons in August 1942.Harclerode, p.218

All parachute forces had to undergo a twelve-day parachute training course at No. 1 Parachute Training School, RAF Ringway. Initial parachute jumps were from a converted barrage balloon and finished with five jumps from an aircraft.{{refn|Barrage balloons were used to speed up training jumps and meet the target of 5,000 trained parachutists.Reynolds, p.16|group=nb}} Anyone failing to complete a descent was returned to his old unit. Those men who successfully completed the parachute course were presented with their maroon beret and parachute wings.Guard, p.224Guard, p.226

Airborne soldiers were expected to fight against superior numbers of the enemy armed with heavy weapons, including artillery and tanks. Training was as a result designed to encourage a spirit of self-discipline, self-reliance and aggressiveness. Emphasis was given to physical fitness, marksmanship and fieldcraft.Guard, p.225 A large part of the training regime consisted of assault courses and route marching while military exercises included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads, road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications. At the end of most exercises, the battalions would march back to their barracks. An ability to cover long distances at speed was also expected: airborne platoons were required to cover a distance of {{convert|50|mi}} in twenty-four hours, and battalions {{convert|32|mi}}.

There was a wide spread rumour that started circulating about the 3rd Battalion that they would often defecate into the boots of men in other battalions as a sort of practical joke. This rumour was found to be true when an officer of the regiment discovered human excrement in his shoe, no one was found guilty of the prank however until a couple of years later where Michael Smith (1st Battalion), caught Sam Bowyer (3rd Battalion) placing human excrement into his boots.The Ups and Downs of the Third Platoon p.76

The 3rd Parachute Battalion was formed in 1941 from volunteers from various infantry regiments. It became part of the 1st Parachute Brigade, later part of the 1st Airborne Division. The battalion first saw action during the Operation Torch landings, and then further operations in North Africa, by the independent 1st Parachute Brigade. After the Tunisian campaign, the battalion and brigade rejoined the 1st Airborne Division, and took part in Operation Fustian in Sicily, and Operation Slapstick on the Italian mainland.{{cite book|last=Mitcham|first=Samuel W|title=German Order of Battle, Volume 2: 291st–999th Infantry Divisions, Named Infantry Divisions, and Special Divisions in World War II|series=Stackpole Military History Series|volume=2 of German Order of Battle|publisher=Stackpole Books|year=2007|location=Mechanicsburg, PA|isbn=978-0-8117-3437-0|page=281}}

Withdrawn to Britain with the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, the next mission was during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem, during which the battalion was virtually wiped out. Afterwards, the battalion was reformed but never saw any further action during the Second World War, though it may have gone to Norway with the initial reoccupation force in 1945. The battalion was then assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade in the 6th Airborne Division and served with them in Palestine. The battalion was disbanded in 1948, but was reformed by the re-numbering of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion as the 3rd at Itzehoe in July 1948.{{Cite web| url = http://www.paradata.org.uk/units/7th-light-infantry-parachute-battalion| title = 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion| access-date = 4 April 2011| archive-date = 23 January 2011| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110123225310/http://www.paradata.org.uk/units/7th-light-infantry-parachute-battalion| url-status = dead}}

The battalion was deployed in Northern Ireland 12 times between 1971 and 2004, during the Troubles. In the summer of 1976, it was based in South County Armagh, where complaints were made of its treatment of residents.{{cite web|url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/other/1976/murray76.htm#sarmagh|title=CAIN: Events: Fr. Denis Faul and Fr. Raymond Murray. (1976) Majella O'Hare: Shot Dead by the British Army 14 August 1976|work=ulst.ac.uk|access-date=1 November 2015}}

In 1981, it joined 5th Infantry Brigade at Aldershot on the reconversion of British Army Field Forces back into brigades. In 1982, it was hurriedly transferred to 3 Commando Brigade, along with 2 PARA, to reinforce that brigade ahead of the Task Force's sailing for the Falklands Conflict. After marching 50 miles across the islands, the Battalion saw action on 11/12 June when it was engaged in the Battle of Mount Longdon.Christian Jennings and Adrian Weale, Green-Eyed Boys: 3 Para and the Battle for Mount Longdon, p. 142, HarperCollins, 1996

File:Kajaki Dam.jpg

In 2006 3 PARA battle group was deployed to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. As the first NATO troops to enter Helmand they were soon engaged in some of the heaviest fighting the British Army had seen since the Korean War. On 4 September 2006, four Soviet anti-personnel mines, undetonated since the 1979-1989 Soviet–Afghan War, were set off by members of 3PARA in what became known as the Kajaki Dam Incident. There was a single fatality and seven others were left with seriously life-threatening injuries.{{Cite web|title=Kajaki: Turning a remarkable Afghanistan escape into a film|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/kajaki-turning-a-remarkable-afghanistan-escape-into-a-film-9866462.html|date=2014-11-17|website=The Independent|location=London|language=en|access-date=2020-05-15}}

File:Paratrooper Returns Fire in Afghanistan MOD 45149811.jpg

In October 2013, 3 PARA took part in a large training exercise to return to the Airborne Assault role.{{cite web |url=http://www.bfbs.com/news/back-basics-3-para-64052.html |title=Back to basics for 3 PARA | British Forces News |publisher=Bfbs.com |access-date=2013-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195842/http://www.bfbs.com/news/back-basics-3-para-64052.html |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}

In September 2014, a comprehensive history of the battalion, with numerous links to photos, obituaries and more was founded – the creation of Paradata, a 'living history' of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces{{cite web|url=http://www.paradata.org.uk/units/3rd-battalion-parachute-regiment-3-para|title=The 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (3 PARA)|work=paradata.org.uk|access-date=1 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212142144/http://www.paradata.org.uk/units/3rd-battalion-parachute-regiment-3-para|archive-date=12 February 2016|url-status=dead}}

3 PARA trained with its anti-tank platoon to take on the Air Assault Task Force (AATF) role from May 2014, with the unit's airborne infantry bolstered by artillery, engineers, medics and logisticians from 16 Air Assault Brigade.{{cite web|author=Ministry of Defence and Defence Infrastructure Organisation |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/javelin-missiles-fired-at-norfolk-training-range |title=Javelin missiles fired at Norfolk training range – News stories |publisher=GOV.UK |date=2013-09-19 |access-date=2013-10-25}}

In 2018, over 80 members of 3 PARA were sent to Afghanistan as part of the Resolute Support Mission, to protect military and civilian advisors working in government ministries and work as advisors at the Afghan National Army Officers' Academy, alongside the 1st Battalion Royal Gurkha Rifles.{{cite web|url=https://www.forces.net/news/3-para-prepare-afghanistan-deployment|title=3 PARA Prepare For Afghanistan Deployment|date=16 October 2018|website=Forces Network}}{{cite web|url=https://www.forces.net/news/3-para-deploy-afghanistan-nato-mission|title=3 PARA Deploys To Afghanistan on NATO Mission|date=19 November 2018|website=Forces Network}}{{cite web|url=https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1046957/british-army-parachute-back-afghanistan-smash-IS|title=British Parachute Regiment sent back into combat in Afghanistan to beat IS|first=Marco|last=Giannangeli|date=18 November 2018|website=Daily Express}}

In April 2019 the battalion was investigated by the Ministry of Defence when a video circulated on social media showing four members of 3 PARA firing simulation weapons at an image of Labour leader and Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/apr/03/video-british-troops-firing-jeremy-corbyn-poster|title=Video shows British troops firing at Jeremy Corbyn poster|first1=Dan|last1=Sabbagh|first2=Matthew|last2=Weaver|date=3 April 2019|work=The Guardian}}

On 7 June 2022, the Chief of the General Staff, Sir Patrick Sanders, took the decision to cancel an overseas deployment by the battalion after a number of incidents which demonstrated a poor standard of discipline in the battalion.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/paratroops-banned-from-deployment-over-orgy-filmed-at-merville-barracks-q9nbr3fwm |title=Paratroops banned from deployment over orgy filmed at Merville Barracks|date=17 June 2022|newspaper=The Times|access-date=17 June 2022}} The minister, James Heappey, was said to be "sorry and embarrassed" by the "disgraceful" behaviour.{{cite web|url=https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-06-09/armed-forces-minister-sorry-and-embarrassed-over-alleged-sex-video|title=Army minister 'embarrassed' over alleged paratrooper sex video at Colchester's Merville Barracks|date=9 June 2022|publisher=ITV|access-date=17 June 2022}}

• 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment
• 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
• 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment
• List of Second World War British airborne battalions

;Footnotes

{{Reflist|group=nb}}

;Citations

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last1=Bishop |first1=P |title=Ground Truth |year=2009 |publisher= HarperPress |location= UK |isbn=978-0-00-729665-1}}
• {{cite book|last=Ferguson|first=Gregor|title=The Paras 1940-84|series=Volume 1 of Elite series

|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|year=1984|isbn=0-85045-573-1}}

• {{cite book|last1=Guard|first1=Julie|title=Airborne: World War II Paratroopers in Combat|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-1-84603-196-0|year=2007}}
• {{Cite book|last=Harclerode|first=Peter|title=Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918-1945|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|location=London|year=2005|isbn=0-304-36730-3}}
• {{cite book|last=Moreman|first=Timothy Robert|title=British Commandos 1940–46|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|year=2006|isbn=1-84176-986-X}}
• {{cite book| last=Otway| first=Lieutenant-Colonel T.B.H.| title=The Second World War 1939–1945 Army – Airborne Forces| publisher=Imperial War Museum|location=London|year= 1990| isbn=0-901627-57-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=David|title=Paras: An Illustrated History of Britain's Airborne Forces|publisher=Sutton Publishing|location=Stroud, UK|year=1998|isbn=0-7509-2059-9}}
• {{cite book|last=Saunders|first=Hilary Aidan St. George|title=The Red Beret: the Story of the Parachute Regiment at War, 1940-1945|edition=4|publisher=Joseph|location=Torrington, UK|year=1950 |oclc=2927434}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Shortt|first1=James|author-link=James Shortt|last2=McBride|first2=Angus|title=The Special Air Service|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|year=1981|isbn=0-85045-396-8}}

{{Refend}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20080327105340/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/paras/index.html Parachute Regiment War Dead]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120216045021/http://www.exairborneforces.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5528&sid=7c48a06e052ddaf890d49cffb1ba1799 Exairborne Forces history page]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20150829181242/http://british-army-units1945on.co.uk/ British Army Locations 1945]
• [https://archive.today/20120712235213/http://bartosik.org/scrapbook/england/st-georges-day-2010.htm 3 PARA, Freedom of the City of London Parade 2010 (Photographic account).]

{{British Airborne Forces}}

{{British parachute units of the Second World War}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1941 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:British Parachute Regiment Battalions

Category:Military units and formations established in 1941

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1948

Category:Military units and formations established in 1948