4th Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom) - Italy

Italy

In 1943, the 4th Parachute Brigade, although still part of the 1st Airborne Division, was kept out of the Allied invasion of Sicily by a shortage of transport aircraft. The 1st Airlanding Brigade took part in Operation Ladbroke and the 1st Parachute Brigade in Operation Fustian. Both brigades suffered heavy casualties, so that by the time Operation Slapstick was proposed, only the 2nd and 4th Parachute Brigades were up to strength. Slapstick was in part a deception operation to divert German forces from the main Allied landings and also an attempt to seize intact the Italian ports of Taranto, Bari and Brindisi.

The lack of air transport meant that the division's two available brigades had to be transported by sea. They would cross the Mediterranean in four Royal Navy cruisers with their escorts. If the landing was successful, the 78th Infantry Division in Sicily and the 8th Indian Infantry Division in the Middle East, under the command of the V Corps would be sent to reinforce the landings.

With 11 Para still in Palestine, the 4th Parachute Brigade only had 156 Para and 10 Para available to take part in the landings. On 9 September 1943, the same day as the Salerno landings by the U.S. 5th Army, the brigade landed at Taranto unopposed. Their first objective was the airfield of Gioia del Colle 30 miles (48 km) inland. On route to the airfield near the town of Castellaneta, 10 Para came up against a German roadblock defended by a Fallschirmjaeger unit of the 1st German Parachute Division. During the battalion's assault on the roadblock, the divisional commander Major-General George F. Hopkinson observing the action, was hit by a burst of machine gun fire and killed. At the same time, 156 Para at San Basilio, carried out a successful flank attack on Fallschirmjaeger defending the town. Two days later, having been only involved in minor skirmishes, the brigade occupied Bari and Brindisi.

By 19 September 1943 the brigade had reached Foggia, the northernmost point of their advance, before being ordered back to Taranto. Playing no further part in operations in Italy, the brigade were withdrawn by sea to the United Kingdom, arriving in November 1943. The brigade's casualties during the Italian campaign amounted to 11 officers and 90 other ranks killed. In December 1943, 11 Para, which had been working independently in the Mediterranean, rejoined the brigade. The only operation they had been involved in was a company sized parachute assault on the Greek island of Kos. The Italian garrison surrendered and the company was relieved by units of the Durham Light Infantry and the RAF Regiment.