A personal obituary of Harry Houghton
By his daughter Jeanie Holland
The 10th Parachute Battalion (10th Para Bn) was formed from the 2nd Battalion The Royal Sussex Regiment at Kabrit in the Suez Canal zone in January 1943 under Lt Col KBI Smyth.
It fought briefly in Italy under command of the 4th Parachute Brigade before returning to the UK in preparation for D-Day. The battalion did not jump into Normandy and was held back over 15 cancelled operations until it was launched on Operation Market Garden in September 1944. The battalion jumped on the second lift near Arnhem under German fire on 18 September and was fought to virtual annihilation in the besieged Oosterbeek 1st Airborne Division perimeter. The last survivors got out across the Lower Rhine on 25 September. Captain Lionel Queripel with A Company was awarded a posthumous VC.
The under-strength battalion was disbanded in October 1944, with any remaining soldiers of 10th Para Bn sent to join the 2nd Parachute Battalion.
In 1947 it was re-formed as the 10th Parachute Battalion TA (County of London). It was re-designated as 10th Battalion (County of London), The Parachute Regiment (TA),10 PARA (TA) for short, in 1948.
By the end of 1948, the TA battalion had a strength of around 25 Officers (19 trained parachutists) and 114 Other Ranks (70 trained parachutists) and it took until spring 1951 to reach a strength of 300.
Accommodation for the new battalion was problematic. Initially all of its units, except for a fledgling No 2 Company (Coy) and Support Coy, paraded at Rochester Row Victoria. In 1949, 10th Battalion Headquarters moved to Support Coy's base at 84 Victoria Way, Charlton, allowing HQ Coy, 1 and 4 Coys room to expand at Rochester Row, where they remained until a move to White City in 1957.
The battalion relocated No 3 Coy to Ingatestone in 1949, where it remained for 10 years, and in 1951 opened a detachment at Dagenham. On 5 January 1953 it re-established No 2 Coy, which had previously only operated briefly for 18 months (1947-48) in Charlton, at Poplar Walk, Croydon; a presence it was to maintain until the battalion's disbandment.
Following further changes in the TA , it was renamed as 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (V) ,10 PARA (V) for short, in 1967.
The battalion extended its geographical presence in the 1970s and 80s and at its height operated from the following locations: Chelsea (HQ Coy, 4 Coy & 5 Coy); White City (1 Coy); Croydon and Blackheath (2 Coy); Finchley (3 Coy); Aldershot (Support Coy); Portsmouth (Anti-Tank Platoon); and Leigh-on-Sea (Mortar Platoon).
In 1989 the battalion became part of the newly formed Parachute Regiment Group (PRG), an ad-hoc Regimental Headquarters grouping with the other two TA battalions which had a British Army Of the Rhine reinforcement role. The battalion also committed individual reinforcements to the three regular parachute battalions on operations in various parts of the world from Northern Ireland beginning in 1969 onwards.
In the 1990s reductions in the battalion's size resulted in the disbandment of 1 Coy at White City, 5 Coy and later the Portsmouth and Leigh-on Sea detachments.
Eventually, following a Strategic Defence Review, 10 PARA was disbanded in June 1999, with one company transferring to 4 PARA(V), the sole remaining TA PARA Battalion.
Commanding Officers:
10th Parachute Battalion
1943-4 | Lt Col KBI Smyth OBE |
10th Parachute Battalion TA (County of London)
1947 | Lt Col DML Gordon Watson OBE MC |
1947 | Lt Col RG Lewthwaite MC |
1948-50 | Lt Col RG Lewthwaite MC |
1950-51 | Lt Col HJ Mogg DSO |
1951-53 | Lt Col PHM May DSO MC |
1953-56 | Lt Col PHD Maud MBE |
1956-59 | Lt Col EL Richards MBE MC |
1959-62 | Lt Col GCA Gilbert MC |
1962-64 | Lt Col EG Lee OBE TD |
1964-67 | Lt Col WJ Lloyd MC |
1967-69 | Lt Col PMR Stewart-Richardson MBE |
1969-72 | Lt Col GO Mullins |
1972 | Lt Col J Christian TD |
1972-75 | Lt Col RJ Jenkins MBE |
1975-77 | Lt Col PM Kingston MC |
1977-80 | Lt Col JA Orr |
1980-82 | Lt Col FEW Martin |
1982-85 | Lt Col JQ Winter MVO |
1985-87 | Lt Col RC Patton |
1987-90 | Lt Col MA Davidson, MBE |
1990-92 | Lt Col P Neame |
1992-95 | Lt Col RJ Kershaw |
1995-97 | Lt Col AV Malkin |
1997-99 | Lt Col SJ Barry |
1947-52 | The Hon HKM Kindersley CBE MC |
1952-60 | General Sir Kenneth Crawford KBE MC |
1960-65 | General The Lord Bourne GCB KBE CMG ADC |
1965- | Lt Gen JW Hackett KCB CBE DSO MC |
General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson accompanied by Lt-Col Smythe meets the officers of 10th Parachute Battalion
Group Photograph of 10th Parachute Battalion (T.A) Sergeants' Mess 1965
Members of 10th Parachute Battalion (T.A) in London 1950s
Members of 10 PARA took a break on a training exercise, c.late 1950s
'No 2 come forward' Balloon Cage - Hankley Common
Spot the 'Blood Waggon' - Descending onto Hankley Common
Members of 10 PARA on an Argosy 1968
Members of 2 Coy 10 PARA, relaxing before dropping into Germany, late 1980s.
Maj Gen Bourne 1952
German Paras emplaning a Luftwaffe Transall C-160, German Para Course, 1978.
Members of 10 PARA ready to emplane a C130, date unknown.
Two members of 10 PARA, Germany, date unknown.
10 PARA drawing & fitting chutes, date unknown.
M Dawson & T Stores, ex 3 Coy 10 PARA, during PARA 10, date unknown.
Private C Dennison and Private Tony Hanson, 10 PARA (TA), date unknown.
Stoke Rochford Hall
10 Para Mortars live firing, Salisbury Plain, 1998.
10 Para Mortars live firing, Otterburn, 1999.
Eric H Richardson
Headstone for Eric H Richardson
Bodies of men from 10th Parachute Battalion ambushed at the 6km marker to Arnhem
A soldier pauses by the temporary graves of the men killed at the 6km marker near Arnhem, April 1945
Temporary graves of 10th Parachute Battalion men killed at 6km marker to Arnhem, May 1945
16 Airborne Division TA Recruiting Cartoon
Burials at Oosterbeek War Cemetery of soldiers presumed killed at the 6km marker near Arnhem.
CSM Ted Dent checking parachutes of a stick from the 10th (TA) Battalion at their annual camp, April 1949
Field Marshal Alanbrooke presents the Regimental Colour to 10 PARA, Tower of London 1952.
Field Marshal Alanbrooke addresses 10 PARA, Tower of London 1952.
Paratroopers of 16 Airborne Division jump on Ex King's Joker from a vic of American C119s September 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division descend on Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division descend from C119s, Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division exit from a C119, Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division descend from C119s Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Soldiers from 16th Airborne Division descend onto Stanford, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Mass drop onto Stanford by members of 16th Airborne Division, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Two C119s of 60 Troop Carrier Wing, 12th US Air Force, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Paratroops of 44th Parachute Bde descend during Ex King's Joker, 1953
Paratroops of 44th Parachute Bde descend during Ex King's Joker, 1953
Massed descent onto Stanford Training Area by men of 44th Parachute Brigade (TA), Ex King's Joker, 1953
Men of 44th Parachute Brigade (TA) leaving the DZ, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division moving off DZ, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Men of 16th Airborne Division moving off DZ, Ex King's Joker, 1953
Men of 44th Parachute Brigade performing Vickers Machine Gun Drills, Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Members of 44th Parachute Brigade performing 3 inch mortar drills, Ex King's Joker, 1953
16 Airborne Division Boxing Team 1954
'Draw and Fit' - Hankley Common 1968
'Go . . . ' Balloon Cage Hankley Common 1968
Members of 10 PARA 'Milling' - Browning Barracks' Gym 1968
'Go . . . . ' Argosy Descent 1968
Soldier of 10 PARA after capturing a Ferret on a training exercise, 1969
Micky Harris and Mike Harrison, of 10 PARA on a pre P-Coy map reading exercise, 1969
Pte Mobsby next to an Argosy before a commemorative jump into Arnhem, 1970
10 Para 'Penguin' (PJI) waiting for our parachute program to start, April 1970
Members of 1 Coy, 10 PARA (V), c1974.
O/Cdt Andy Selfe, RNAF Deelen 20 September 1975.
The Right Hon Margaret Thatcher MP onboard a C130 to watch 3 Coy 10 PARA jump Nov 1977
Members of 10 PARA next to balloon Hankley Common Nov 1977
10 PARA Balloon Jumps Hankley Common Nov 1977
Pte Mark Ross after a balloon jump Hankley Common 1977
Members of 10 PARA onboard a C130 bound for a drop on Hankley Common 1977
A 10 PARA recruit on the shuffle bars of the Trainasium during P Company, 1977.
Members of 10 PARA emplaning a Luftwaffe Transall C-160, RAF Northolt, May 1978.
Pte Mark Ross waiting to emplane RAF Northolt, 1978
German Paras take turns packing parachutes! German Para Course 1978
Members of 10 PARA waiting to emplane on German Para Course, Diepholz, 1978.
Waiting to emplane on German Para Course, Diepholz airfield, 1978.
Pte Mark Ross waiting to emplane, German Para Course, 1978.
Members of 10 PARA dropping onto Diepholz DZ, German Para Course, 1978.
A member of 10 PARA descending on a reserve, German Para Course, 1978.
Descending onto Diepholz DZ, German Para Course, 1978
A stick dropping from a Luftwaffe Transall C160, German Para Course, 1978.
Pte Mark Ross on Diepholz DZ German Para Course, 1978.
Members of 10 PARA on German Para Course, 1978.
Members of 10 PARA descending onto Hankley Common, 1978.
Members of 10 PARA preparing to emplane a C130 for a jump on Hankley Common, RAF Northolt 1978.
Lt Harris-Ward, 10 PARA, on adventure training in the Lake District,1978.
Pte Bob Sturtivant on range training, Stanford 1978.
3 Coy (10 PARA) March and Shoot Team, Ex Hot Shot, March 1978.
Members of 3 Coy (10 PARA) on German Para Course May 1978
10 PARA Guard Airborne Forces Day July 1978
4,10 and 15 PARA on parade Airborne Forces Days Aldershot 1978
Airborne Forces Day Aldershot July 1978
Members of 10 PARA on adventure training in the Lake District, August 1978.
Pte Steve Mesner, 10 PARA, on adventure training in the Lake District, August 1978.
Mike Irwin and Bob Sturtivant at Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Arnhem c1978.
Members of 3 Coy 10 PARA boarding a Wessex Annual Camp Thetford, September 1978.
Members of 10 PARA jumping from a C130 over Hankley Common, 4 November 1978.
Members of 9 Platoon 3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp W Germany 1979
Members of 10 PARA on Ex Savage Bite, 1979.
Members of 10 PARA on exercise, Fort Campbell Kentucky, March 1979.
Members of 10 PARA on exercise in a Huey, Fort Campbell Kentucky, March 1979.
Members of 10 PARA waiting to board Hueys, Exercise Fort Campbell Kentucky, March 1979.
Two members of 10 PARA drop onto Isle of Man June 1979
Members of 10 PARA on NATO Exercise Annual Camp West Germany September 1979
10 PARA team Nijmegen March 1980
10 PARA team Nijmegen March 1980
Peter Rudge and Duncan Penry 10 PARA Nijmegen March July 1980
Pte Mark Ross and Lt Clarke (facing camera) 10 PARA Nijmegen March, July 1980
Sgt Keddie leading the way digging in, 10 PARA Annual Camp Denmark, 1981.
Sgt Keddie watching the rest of the platoon dig in! Denmark, 1981.
The tallest and shortest in 3 Coy 10 PARA paired on a GPMG, Pirbright February 1981
Members of 3 Coy (10 PARA) on Bn Exercise Salisbury Plain 1982.
10 PARA Training Wing Log Race Aldershot 1982
Ptes Joe Lakatos & Stephen Hawkins at No 1 PTS, RAF Brize Norton, 1982.
Members of 3 Coy, 10 PARA, adventure training Cairngorms 1983
Members of 10 PARA on Exercise Fort Wainwright Alberta Canada July 1980
3 Coy (10 PARA) Families Day 1983
3 Coy (10 PARA) Families Day 1983
3 Coy (10 PARA) Families Day 1983
10 PARA New Colours Parade Duke of Yorks London June 1983
10 PARA New Colours Parade Duke of Yorks London June 1983
3 Coy Guard, presentation of new Colours to 10 PARA, London 3 June 1983.
10 PARA Training Wing Trainasium Aldershot July 1983
10 PARA Training Wing Trainasium Aldershot July 1983
10 PARA Training Wing Trainasium Aldershot July 1983
10 PARA Training Wing Assault Course Aldershot July 1983
10 PARA Training Wing Steeple Chase Aldershot July 1983
Members of 3 Coy, 10 PARA, Ginkelse Heide DZ Sept 1983
Members of 3 Coy, 10 PARA, at Arnhem Memorial Service Oosterbeek Cemetery September 1983
Members of 3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp West Germany 1984
Pte Keating on Exercise Lionheart, 1984.
Jimmy (Whack-o) Edwards DFC and Peter Wyke, Arnhem, 1984
Pte Keating, Exercise Lionheart, September 1984.
Members of 10 PARA drop onto Hankley Common, Airborne Forces Day 1985.
Members of 10 PARA drop onto Hankley Common, Airborne Forces Day 1985.
10 PARA drop onto Hankley Common Airborne Forces Day 1985
A member of 10 PARA landing on Hankley Common with reserve deployed, ABF Day 1985.
A member of 10 PARA drops onto Hankley Common with reserve deployed, 1985
Members of 10 PARA landing on Hankley Common, Airborne Forces Day 1985
Major Hugo Fletcher, Adjutant of 10 PARA, with his signaller, Prosper Keating, Salisbury Plain c1989.
10 PARA Medical Officer treats 10 PARA 2ic Major Brian de Lazlo Cazenove, Germany 1989.
L/Cpl Prosper Keating and Lt Robert McAlpine-Downie, OC, Int Section, 10 PARA, Germany, Summer 1989.
GPMG training - 10 PARA - 1995
Members of the 10th Battalion at the 60th Arnhem Reunion
J Grainger and R Sunley with the 10th Para Bn Memorial.
Group Photograph of Warrant Officers and Sergeants' Mess, 10th Parachute Battalion 1986
Group Photograph of No.3 Guard, 10th Parachute Battalion 1961
Group Photograph of Warrant Officers and Sergeants' Mess, 10th Parachute Battalion 1961
Group photograph of 10th Parachute Battalion (T.A) Warrant Officers & Sergeants' Mess 1960
Unveiling of marker post outside 10 Bn Houses (Arnhem-Oosterbeek)
Lt Law, Capt Harding and Cpl Keddie, 1 Coy, 10 PARA, Vogelsang, 1977.
4 Platoon, 2 Company, 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment (V), date unknown.
Intake of 10 PARA (V), 1987.
Trooping of the Colour, 10 PARA (TA), 1959
Members of 10 PARA (TA), waiting to emplane, date unknown.
Members of 4 Coy, 10 PARA, Presentation of New Colours in June 1983.
Pte G Dimmock parachute training
Robert Kerridge
75th Anniversary of Op Market Garden Football shirts
Ex Lionheart
Bernard G Fisher in Vogelsang, Germany
Barry Crowe
Barry Crowe drawing and fitting parachutes 1975/6
Hornchurch Airfield, 3 Coy, 10 Para ready for ballooning C1956
3 Coy, 10 Para TA, 1950s
2 Coy 10 Para 1974
2 Coy 10th Battalion 1978
Members of 10 Para Celebrating at the end of Ex Lionheart 1984
B Coy, 10th Para Bn, June 1944.
No 10 Platoon, B Coy, 10th Parachute Battalion, June 1944
Group photo members of 10th (TA) Battalion (?), 1949
The newly formed 10th (TA) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment parade at their annual camp, April 1949
16 Airborne Division Boxing Team 1953
10 PARA Recruit Cadre 1968
5 Platoon, 2 Coy, 10 PARA, Bellerby, September 1975.
10 PARA Sgt's Mess Dinner, 1976.
Members of 10 PARA onboard a C130 bound for a drop onto Hankley Common 1977
Members of 10 PARA at RAF Northolt prior to descent onto Hankley Common 1977
3 Coy 10 PARA Contingent for Queens Silver Jubilee Procession July 1977
3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp Thetford September 1978
3 Coy 10 PARA march past Remembrance Day 1978
3 Coy 10 PARA Remembrance Day 1978
Members of 10 PARA Recruit Training Wing, 1979.
Members of 3 Coy 10 PARA onboard a C130 for a drop onto the Isle of Man, June 1979.
Members of 3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp West Germany Sept 1979
Junior Brecon with good 4 and 10 PARA presence, September 1980.
3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp Sennelager October 1982
7 Platoon 3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp Sennelager October 1982
3 Coy (10 PARA) Families Day 1983
Members of 3 Coy, 10 PARA, adventure training Cairngorms 1983
10 PARA recruit cadre 1983
Warrant Officers' and Sgts' Mess, presentation of new Colours to 10 PARA, Duke of Yorks Barracks London 3 June 1983.
Members of 10 PARA prior to Arnhem commemorative jump September 1983
Members of 3 Coy 10 PARA Annual Camp West Germany 1984
Endex 1 Coy, 10 PARA, Salisbury Plain, 1984.
2 Company 10 PARA Exercise Lionheart Germany 1984
Veterans of the 10th Parachute Battalion, Arnhem Reunion, 1984.
10 PARA after drop onto Hankley Common, Airborne Forces Day, 1985.
3 Coy 10 PARA Remembrance Day 1985
Members of 10 PARA, German Wings Exchange Course, Summer 1989.
10 PARA, Bonnland Village, Hammelberg, Germany, 1989.
Members of Signals Platoon, 10 PARA, Brecon Beacons, Wales 1990.
Group photograph of Mortar Pl, 10 PARA, Salisbury Plain, 1992
Group photograph of Sergeants' Mess, 10 PARA, July 1992
Group photograph of 10 (V) Para Mortar Pln, Leigh on Sea, Southend, 1993.
Former members of 3 Coy 10 PARA at Paras 10 Colchester, 21 October 2012.
Portrait of Lt Col KBI Smyth OBE
Harry Houghton on Ginkel Heath, Arnhem.
Prosper Keating, Guards Depot, Pirbright, late 1984.
Cpl Barry Crowe on Exercise in Denmark
Lee Jeal Brize Norton C1983
Lee Jeal headed to the range C1983
Pte Wyke guarding German POW, in charge of cook house 2, Brockley Chepstow, 1945
L/Cpl 'Bill' Stanton at White City London, c1965.
Pte Dennis Hayes, 10 PARA, 1978.
Sgt David 'Aron' Garside GM, Balloon Jump, Sonning Common, 1979.
Pte Mark Ross (10 PARA) on exercise in Fort Campbell,Kentucky, March 1979.
Pte Mark Ross (10 PARA) at start of NATO Exercise Annual Camp West Germany September 1979
A member of 10 PARA on Exercise Fort Wainwright Alberta Canada July 1980
Peter Wyke at the grave of Jimmy Frost, Oosterbeek, 1984
Newspaper article regarding the death of Captain Mike 'Joe' Irwin, 1996
Newspaper article on presentation of Colours to 10 PARA, 1952.
Newspaper article Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Newspaper article Exercise King's Joker, 1953
Newspaper article Exercise King's Joker, 1953
No 3 Company (Finchley) 10 PARA Open Day 1969
Newspaper article covering the funeral of Capt Mike 'Joe' Irwin, 1996
Pte Wyke's Prisoner of War letter to his mother, 1944
'Welcome Home' party menu, Kettering , 1945
The 10th Parachute Battalion Reunion menu card, 1986.
Lt Col George Merz's reply to Gen Sir Frank King regarding events at Arnhem
Pegasus article on presentation of Colours to 10 PARA and 15 PARA, 1952.
16 Airborne Division Championship Boxing Report 1954
16 Airborne Division Championship Boxing Report 1955
10 PARA New Colours June 1983
Laying up old 10 PARA Colours St Lawrence Jewry, City of London, 12 Nov 1983.
A stick descends on a German Para Course, 1978.
Pte Mark descending from 1,500 metres, German Para Course, 1978.
Pte Mark Ross descending from 1,500 metres, German Para Course, 1978
Parachutists of 10 PARA perform a clean fatigue jump from a Luftwaffe Transall C-160, Germany, Summer 1989.
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