9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion
The 9th Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was created in late 1942 by the conversion of the 10th Battalion, Essex Regiment to parachute duties. The battalion was assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, alongside the 7th and 8th Parachute battalions, then part of the 1st Airborne Division but was later transferred to the 6th Airborne Division.
Cap badge of the Parachute Regiment
Parachute troops jumping from a Whitley bomber near Windsor England.
Men of the 9th Parachute Battalion marching through Amfreville.
Men of the 9th Parachute Battalion in Germany.
Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)
The Parachute Regiment, colloquially known as the Paras, is the airborne and infantry regiment of the British Army. The first battalion is part of the Special Forces Support Group under the operational command of the Director Special Forces. The other battalions are the parachute infantry component of the British Army's rapid response formation, 16 Air Assault Brigade. The Paras, along with the Guards, 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.
British parachute troops on exercise in Norwich 23 June 1941
Parachute training (1942)
British paratrooper of the 8th Parachute Battalion armed with the Sten gun wearing the airborne forces steel helmet and the Denison Smock (1943).
September 1953 parachute exercise by the 16th Airborne Division