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Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)

The Parachute Regiment
Parachute Regiment cap badge.jpg
Cap Badge of the Parachute Regiment
Active 1940 – present
Country  United Kingdom
Branch  British Army
Type Airborne Infantry
Role 1st BattalionSpecial Forces Support
2nd BattalionParachute Infantry
3rd Battalion—Parachute Infantry
4th BattalionArmy Reserve
Size Four battalions
Part of 16 Air Assault Brigade
Special Forces Support Group
Garrison/HQ 1st Battalion—St Athan
2nd Battalion—Colchester
3rd Battalion—Colchester
4th Battalion—Pudsey
Nickname(s) The Paras
Motto(s) "Utrinque Paratus" (Latin)
"Ready for Anything"
March Quick—Ride of the Valkyries
Slow—Pomp and Circumstance No 4
Mascot(s) Shetland Pony (Pegasus)
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief HRH Prince of Wales
Colonel Commandant Lieutenant General John Gordon Lorimer DSO MBE
Notable
commanders
General Anthony Farrar-Hockley GBE KCB DSO MC ADC Gen
General Roland Gibbs GCB CBE DSO MC ADC Gen
General Mike Jackson KCB CBE DSO ADC Gen
General Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM
Insignia
Parachute Wings Wings badge.JPG
Drop zone flashes Paras DZ Flash updated.GIF

The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is an elite airborne infantry regiment of the British Army. One battalion is permanently under the command of the Director Special Forces in the Special Forces Support Group. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras are the only line infantry regiment of the British Army that has not been amalgamated with another unit since the end of the Second World War.

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 Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and Afghanistan, at times being reinforced by men from the reserve battalion.


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Wikipedia

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