Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is the airborne infantry regiment of the British Army. The first battalion is part of the Special Forces Support Group under the operational command of the Director Special Forces. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The regiment, along with the Guards, are the only line infantry regiments of the British Army that have not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War.[3]
Parachute Regiment
1942 – present
1st Battalion — Special forces light infantry
2nd Battalion — Airborne Infantry
3rd Battalion — Airborne Infantry
4th Battalion — Airborne Infantry
Four battalions
RHQ – Colchester
1st Battalion – St Athan
2nd Battalion – Colchester
3rd Battalion – Colchester
4th Battalion – Pudsey
"Utrinque Paratus" (Latin)
"Ready for anything"[1]
Maroon
Quick — Ride of the Valkyries
Slow — Pomp and Circumstance No 4[2]
Shetland Pony (Pegasus)
Lieutenant General Andrew Harrison
The Parachute Regiment was formed on 22 June 1940 during the Second World War and eventually raised 17 battalions. In Europe, these battalions formed part of the 1st Airborne Division, the 6th Airborne Division and the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group. Another three battalions served with the British Indian Army in India and Burma. The regiment took part in six major parachute assault operations in North Africa, Italy, Greece, France, the Netherlands and Germany, often landing ahead of all other troops.
At the end of the Second World War, the regiment was reduced to three regular army battalions first assigned to the 16th Parachute Brigade and later the 5th Airborne Brigade. The reserve 16th Airborne Division was formed using the regiment reserve battalions in the Territorial Army. Defence cuts gradually reduced the TA formations to a parachute brigade and then a single reserve battalion. In the same time period, the regular army battalions have taken part in operations in Suez, Cyprus, Borneo, Aden, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Kosovo War, the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, at times being reinforced by men from the reserve battalion.
Regimental museum[edit]
The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces Museum is based at Duxford, Cambridgeshire.[197]
Regimental band[edit]
The Band of the Parachute Regiment is one of many British Army bands in the United Kingdom, representing the Parachute Regiment, as a component of British Army Bands Colchester,[198] it is administratively under the Royal Corps of Army Music. Over the years, the band has visited nations like the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands and Norway. It has a variety of smaller ensembles that include the brass quintet and the fanfare team. On certain occasions, the regimental mascot leads the marching band on parade.[199][200]
The regiment did not have any formal musical activity until 1947, when 1st and 2nd Battalion Bands were formed in Aldershot, with a 3rd Battalion band being formed a year later. As a result of a Defence Review in 1985, the battalion Bands were disbanded and reformed to produce two larger regimental bands, the Falklands and Pegasus Bands.[199]
