6th Airlanding Brigade

The 6th Air Landing Brigade formed in May 1943 and formed the glider-borne element of the newly formed 6th Airborne Division.
The Brigade landed as the second airborne lift in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and was constantly in action until the break-out to the Seine in August. It fought in the Ardennes during the winter of 1944-5 and landed under fire during the Rhine Crossing operation in March 1945 and participated in the subsequent advance to the Baltic ending in May 1945.

After the war the Brigade participated in the 6th Airborne Division’s internal security role in Palestine during 1945-6. The Brigade lost its airborne role in Palestine in 1946 and was redesignated 31st Infantry Brigade. The 1st Parachute Brigade replaced them in Palestine in April 1946.

Order of Battle:

• 12th Battalion, The Devonshire Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Stevens)
• 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Roberts)
• 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles (Lieutenant-Colonel Jack Carson)
• 53rd Worcestershire Yeomanry Airlanding Light Regiment RA
• 249th (Airborne) Field Company, RE (Major Sandy Rutherford)
• 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance, RAMC (Lieutenant-Colonel Bill Anderson)

Commanders:

• Brig The Honourable Hugh Kindersley. 1943-1944
• Brig Edwin Flavell. 1944-1945
• Brig Robert Hugh Bellamy, DSO. 1945
• Brig Roger H. Bower, CBE. 1945-1946