1st (Canadian) Parachute Battalion

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion served with 3rd Parachute Brigade and 6th Airborne Division and saw distinguished action from Normandy, the Ardennes and The Rhine Crossing.

At the start of The Second World War, Canada, like many allied countries, did not appreciate the devastating effect airborne forces could have and had not developed their own. However, Col EM Burns of the Canadian was a strong proponent of parachute troops and highlighted how they would be useful as a force to deploy rapidly to remote parts of Canada in the event of invasion. This, combined with the setting up of airborne forces in the UK, led the Canadians to officially establish the 1 Parachute Battalion. On 1 July, 1942 it was approved by the Cabinet War Committee. Their motto was "Ex Coelis" - "Out of the Clouds". 

A training centre for Canadian Airborne Forces began construction at Camp Shilo, Manitoba Province. In the meantime, another training centre was needed. Therefore, four months' training was initially undertaken at Fort Benning in Georgia alongside fledgling US airborne troops. Darrel L. Harris described the Americans' training process:

"This consisted of four stages, "A", "B", "C", and "D". The first three consisted of ground training and the first week was devoted to physical training. Then introduction into other phases such as the suspended harness, the mock tower (35' off the ground) and in the third stage we were introduced to the high tower and "shock harness". The high tower was approximately 250' high with three "free" arms and one "controlled" arm. On the controlled arm we were given rides in a chair suspended beneath a parachute canopy and were also taken up in a shock harness. This was a rather terrifying bit of apparatus and was discontinued many years ago in Canada. The last stage was "D" stage devoted to making the required number of parachute jumps which numbered five". 

In March 1943, the Battalion arrived at Camp Shilo for the first time with the Canadian Government still intending them for home defence. But on April 7, 1943, the War Committee authorised the incorporation of the Canadians into a new British Airborne Division. They arrived in the UK on July 28, 1943, and were stationed at Carter Barracks, Bulford. From here they went to Ringway to retrain using British X-Type parachutes and adapt the techniques they had learnt in the US to jump from a variety of British aircraft. After arrival in the UK, they came under command of the 3rd Parachute Brigade and Brigadier James Hill. 

The battalion was used for the first time in combat during the allied invasion of Normandy. Emplaning on the evening of 5 June, they dropped into France at approx 0130 the following morning. The battalion had a number of tasks including destroying the radio station at Varaville, securing the DZ, protecting the flanks of 9th Parachute Battalions actions at Merville and destroying bridges at Varaville and Dives.

Their drop however saw the battalion widely dispersed, but they still managed to achieve all of their objectives by noon on 6 June.

The battalion remained in action until the end of August advancing across Normandy to the Seine, during which time it took over 300 casualties with 81 men killed. But, at the same time, they had secured a ferocious reputation for their fighting ability. They returned to England on September 7, 1944. 

In the UK, the battalion was reinforced, and prepared for further training, but along with the rest of the 6 Airborne Division was rushed to Belgium over Christmas 1944 to blunt the German Ardennes offensive, known as The Battle of the Bulge. They sailed for Ostend on Christmas Day and took part in a number of actions including the capture of the town of Bande.

The next major operation was Varsity - The Rhine Crossing. The battalions objectives were to assist 3rd Para Brigade clear the DZ and defend the western portion of the DZ and to seize the raised ground along the main road. The Canadians were heavily engaged in the wooded area of the DZ and fought against German airborne troops, soundly beating them and achieving their objectives. During this operation their commanding officer - Lt Col Nicklin - was killed. His parachute was caught in the trees on landing, but as Private Jan DeVries explained: "Nicklin was actually probably dead before he came into the trees because he sailed right over a German machine-gun". He was replaced as CO by Lt. Col. George Fraser Eadie. A medic of the battalion, Cpl Topham, was awarded a VC for his rescue of several wounded men.

The battalion then advanced to the Baltic with the rest of 6 Airborne Division. During their march across Germany, the Canadians took part in the liberation of Bergen Belsen concentration camp on April 15. Eadie would later describe the scenes:

"On our way up to the Elbe river [we arrived] at a place called Bergen-Belsen, just outside of Celle...and it was a shambles I can tell ya...the prisoners were not in any way connected with military, they were ethnic groups of Israelis...and were in absolutely dreadful shape. Our medical officer [Captain Patrick Gerald Costigan] told me that they were losing somewhere in the neighbourhood of 215 a day of new deaths within the camp". 

Eadie and the Canadians continued to advance rapidly across Germany in commandeered cars, trucks and even a few fishmonger's bicycles. They were known for looting geese, alcohol and German parachute smocks along the way, with Eadie himself apparently driving a large German staff car. By the time they finally made it to Wismar as one of the first allied units to reach the Baltic before the Russians, they were thus well stocked. Jerry McFadden described their encounter in a letter to his wife:

"As we drove into Wismar near dusk, we soon saw Russian Army tanks on the coast road. The next morning, in the town square of Wismar, it was estimated there were over 6,000 soldiers, silently awaiting instructions to a POW camp. All Germans, civilians and soldiers, are terribly afraid of the Russians and I don't blame them. The Russians are just as tough as they look and can they drink!! The Vodka stuff is like "kick-a-poo joyjuice". German girls haven't got a chance. But I can't blame the Russians, they are just paying back a few scores. Wonderful fighters, even the tank drivers (girls) are tough. We are much too soft"

The official history of the Canadian army also records their arrival:

"Wismar was the end of the road. At this picturesque medieval town, once a Hansa city, the Canadians and the Greys reached the shores of the Baltic and met the Russians. The place fell on the evening of the 2nd without resistance, though tanks did a very little firing at an aerodrome north of the town. That night a Soviet officer arrived "in a jeep, with his driver". He had no idea that Allied forces were in Wismar until he came to the Canadian barrier. "He had come far in advance of his own columns, and was quite put out to find us sitting on what was the Russians' ultimate objective." The next day there was "considerable visiting" between Canadian and Russian officers, and the latter, the Canadians recorded, "proved to be the most persistent and thirsty drinkers we had ever met". The "shooting war" was over for the 1st Parachute Battalion. It had had an excellent fighting record. During the advance from the Rhine to the Baltic, since the day of the "VARSITY" drop, 24 March, it had suffered 61 casualties, 15 men losing their lives. Its casualties for the whole campaign numbered 496, of which 125 were fatal.

It was fitting that the first Canadian unit to fight in Normandy should also be the Canadian unit to penetrate deepest into Germany. Wismar, taken by Lt.-Col. Eadie's men and the Royal Scots Greys, was in fact the most easterly point reached by any Commonwealth troops in this campaign, and the first point where any Commonwealth troops serving in it made contact with the Russian ally. It is satisfactory that a Canadian battalion was there". 

The Canadians shared a strong mutual respect with the British paratroopers. Canadian paratrooper John W. Ross wrote:

"Once in a while we did a 50 mile forced march with full battle order. We were supposed to do it in 24 hours, but to show up those British paratroopers, we did it in 23 hours. They did theirs in 22 hours. We did our next one in 21 hours. And so it went. No brains at all? There was a lot of friendly rivalry. We were very proud to be part of the British 6th Airborne Division...We had a tremendous leader. Brigadier S.J.L. Hill...He attends many of our reunions and when he appears, cheers ring out and tears flow. Make what you will of that".  

The battalion was initially returned to the UK on 20-21 May, before arriving back in Canada on 21 June 1945 and then being disbanded on 30 Sept 1945, after an illustrious 3 years of fighting. They were the first complete Canadian unit to return after VE day and therefore received a "tumultuous homecoming reception in cities right across Canada".

Brigadier Hill wrote to Eadie, 1st Canadian Para's CO, to express his regret at their departure :

"It was very sad to return to Bulford last night, after the two very happy years we have all spent together in the 3rd Brigade, to find that the last member of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion had left. I would be very grateful if you would convey to all ranks of the Battalion my heartfelt thanks for their outstanding contribution to the great successes achieved by the 3rd Parachute Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division during the campaigns in France and Germany starting in the early hours of June 6th 1944. Thanks to the wonderful spirit of co-operation and friendliness shown by every member of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and Training Battalion, there has never been any friction at any level between any units within the Brigade...I shall for ever remember, with great pride, that I had the honour to have under my command, both in and out of battle, a Canadian Battalion which is regarded by all of us as, as fine a fighting unit as has ever left these shores". 

Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Alan Brooke, wrote, 

"I hear that the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion received a great welcome as the first unit to arrive back in Canada. I realise that circumstances have made it inevitable that the Battalion should now cease to form part of the 6th Airborne Division, but I should like to tell you how sorry we all are to lose this magnificent battalion, which has taken such a distinguished part in the great battles of the past year. I know how high is the regard and affection of all ranks of the 6th Airborne Division for their Canadian Parachute Battalion". 

In 1994, Ex Coelis mountain was named in the Battalion's honour. 

Compiled with information from:

Airborne Assault Archive (Boxes 3 F2 3.17.1 and 3 F2 3.17.2) 

Victory from Above: The First Canadian Parachute Battalion (TV Documentary)

At War's End: Allied Forces at Bergen-Belsen, Mark Celinscak

"A Most Irrevocable Step: Canadian Paratroopers on D-Day, The first 24 hours, 5-6 June 1944.", Bernd Horn and Michel Wyczynski, Canadian Military History 13, 3 (2004).

Article updated by Alex Walker 17/04/2024