2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment

2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment
Cap badge of the Parachute Regiment
Active	1941–1947 1948–Present
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Airborne forces
Role	Air assault infantry
Size	Battalion
Part of	Parachute Regiment 16 Air Assault Brigade
Garrison/HQ	Colchester Garrison
Nickname(s)	Immaculate Second
Motto(s)	Utrinque Paratus (Latin for "Ready for Anything")
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj Gen John Frost CB, DSO & Bar, MC, DL Lt. Col Herbert 'H' Jones VC, OBE
Insignia
Drop zone flash

The Second Battalion, Parachute Regiment (2 PARA), is a battalion-sized formation of the Parachute Regiment, part of the British Army, and subordinate unit within 16th Air Assault Brigade whose Commanding Officer for the period 2013-2016 was Lieutenant Colonel Oliver Kingsbury OBE.

2 PARA is an airborne light infantry unit capable of a wide range of operational tasks, based at Merville Barracks, Colchester Garrison, England. Personnel regularly deploy outside the United Kingdom on operations and training.

All personnel have completed the Pre Parachute Selection (P Company) course at Depot PARA at Catterick, North Yorkshire (previously Aldershot, Hampshire), entitling them to wear the maroon beret.

The 2nd Battalion was formed on 30 September 1941, as the 2nd Parachute Battalion, and later became part of the Army Air Corps. The battalion took part in its first active operation over the night of the 27–28 February 1942, Operation Biting, the raid on Bruneval in France. On 1 August of the same year, the battalion was renamed the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment.

The battalion was part of the 1st Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Division, and fought in the British airborne operations in North Africa, Operation Fustian in Sicily, Operation Slapstick on the Italian mainland and, most famously, the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944.