1st Canadian Parachute Battalion

1st Canadian Parachute Battalion
Men of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, about to leave for the D-Day transit camp, England, May 1944.
Active	1942–1945
Country	Canada
Branch	Canadian Army
Type	Airborne forces
Role	Parachute infantry
Size	Battalion
Engagements	Operation Tonga Battle of the Bulge Operation Varsity
Battle honours	Normandy landing Dives Crossing The Rhine Northwest Europe 1944–45
Commanders
Notable commanders	H.D. Proctor, July 1st, 1942–Sept. 7, 1942 G.F.P. Bradbrooke, 1942–1944 Jeff Nicklin 1944–1945

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Canadian Army formed in July 1942 during the Second World War; it served in North West Europe, Landing in Normandy during Operation Tonga, shortly before the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 and in the airborne assault crossing of the River Rhine, Operation Varsity, in March 1945. After the end of hostilities in Europe, the battalion was returned to Canada where it was disbanded on 30 September 1945.

By the end of the war the battalion had gained a remarkable reputation: they never failed to complete a mission, and they never gave up an objective once taken. They are the only Canadians to participate in the Battle of the Bulge and had advanced deeper than any other Canadian unit into enemy territory. Despite being a Canadian Army formation, it was assigned to the British 3rd Parachute Brigade, a British Army formation, which was itself assigned to the British 6th Airborne Division.

Colonel E.L.M. Burns was the leading mind behind the creation of a Canadian parachute battalion and fought endlessly for its creation. The idea was denied several times because of its lack of relevance in regards to the home army. Burns' attempted to suggest that the paratroopers would serve as a good way of transporting troops into obscure parts of Canada if a German attack were to occur. It was not until the stunning accomplishments of the German fallschirmjägers, and the creation of British and American parachute regiments, that Canada's military would grant Burns' request.