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6th Airborne Division

6th Airborne Division
2nd Ox and Bucks.jpg
Glider infantry of the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, in Normandy 1944.
Active 1943–1948
Country  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Infantry
Role Airborne forces
Size Division
Nickname(s) Red Devils
Motto(s) Go To It
Engagements World War II
Operation Deadstick
Operation Tonga
Battle of Merville Gun Battery
Operation Mallard
Battle of Bréville
Advance to the River Seine
Battle of the Bulge
Operation Varsity
Mandate Palestine
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Sir Richard Gale
Sir James Cassels
Insignia
Emblem
of the
British
airborne
forces
UK 6th Airborne Division Patch.svg

The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being the 1st Airborne Division. The 6th Airborne Division was formed in World War II, in mid-1943, and was commanded by Major-General Richard N. Gale. The division consisted of the 3rd and 5th Parachute Brigades along with the 6th Airlanding Brigade and supporting units.

The division's first mission was Operation Tonga on 6 June 1944, D-Day, part of the Normandy landings, where it was responsible for securing the left flank of the Allied invasion during Operation Overlord. The division remained in Normandy for three months before being withdrawn in September. While still recruiting and reforming in England, it was mobilised again and sent to Belgium in December 1944, to help counter the surprise German offensive in the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge. Their final airborne mission followed in March 1945, Operation Varsity, the second Allied airborne assault over the River Rhine.


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