2nd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 2nd Parachute Brigade was an airborne forces brigade formed by the British Army during the Second World War.
British paratroopers of the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade in a Dakota on their way to their drop zone at Megara in Greece, 14 October 1944.
4th Parachute Battalion mortar team in action, Italy 1944.
British paratroopers of the 2nd Independent Para Brigade on the drop zone at Megara in Greece, 14 October 1944.
British paratroopers of the 2nd Independent Para Brigade disembarking from landing craft assault at Salonika, 8 November 1944.
British Army during the Second World War
At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enemies, as it had been at the beginning of the First World War in 1914. It also quickly became evident that the initial structure and manpower of the British Army was woefully unprepared and ill-equipped for a war with multiple enemies on multiple fronts. During the early war years, mainly from 1940 to 1942, the British Army suffered defeat in almost every theatre of war in which it was deployed. But, from late 1942 onwards, starting with the Second Battle of El Alamein, the British Army's fortunes changed and it rarely suffered another defeat.
Left to right Bernard Montgomery, Archibald Wavell and Claude Auchinleck who all rose to prominence during the war, pictured here in June 1946.
Valentine tank in the desert, carrying an infantry section.
25-pounders firing in support of the Guards Armoured Division September 1944
Special Air Service North Africa 1943