1st Independent Parachute Brigade (Poland)
The 1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute brigade under command of Maj.Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski, created in Scotland in September 1941, with the exclusive mission to drop into occupied Poland in order to help liberate the country. The British government, however, pressured the Polish into allowing the unit to be used in the Western theater. Operation Market Garden eventually saw the unit sent into action supporting the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944. The Poles were initially landed by glider from the 18 September, whilst due to bad weather over England, the Parachute section of the Brigade was held up, and jumped on the 21 September at Driel on the South bank of the Rhine. The Poles suffered significant casualties during the next few days of fighting, but still were able, by their presence, to cause around 2,500 German troops to be diverted to them for fear of supporting the remnants of 1st Airborne trapped over the lower Rhine in Oosterbeek.
Read more about 1st Independent Parachute Brigade (Poland): History, Post-war Honours, Brigade Order of Battle
Famous quotes containing the words independent, parachute and/or brigade:
“Whether changes in the sibling relationship during adolescence create long-term rifts that spill over into adulthood depends upon the ability of brothers and sisters to constantly redefine their connection. Siblings either learn to accept one another as independent individuals with their own sets of values and behaviors or cling to the shadow of the brother and sister they once knew.”
—Jane Mersky Leder (20th century)
“I did not just fall in love. I made a parachute jump.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“[John] Brough’s majority is “glorious to behold.” It is worth a big victory in the field. It is decisive as to the disposition of the people to prosecute the war to the end. My regiment and brigade were both unanimous for Brough [the Union party candidate for governor of Ohio].”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)