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The 1st Airlanding Brigade was an airborne infantry brigade of the British Army during the Second World War and the only glider infantry formation assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, serving alongside the 1st Parachute Brigade and 4th Parachute Brigade. The brigade was formed in late 1941 during World War II through the conversion of an existing infantry brigade previously stationed in India, the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade. Two of the initial four infantry battalions left in May 1943 to form the new 6th Airlanding Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division and were replaced by a single new battalion, thereby reducing the brigade's strength by one quarter. The brigade only saw action on two occasions during the Second World War, in Operation Ladbroke, as part of the Allied invasion of Sicily, in July 1943 and later in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. During the second operation, in the fighting around Arnhem, 1st Airlanding Brigade along with the rest of 1st Airborne Division held out against overwhelming German odds, sustaining very heavy losses. Only around 20 percent of the brigade were evacuated south of the River Rhine. The rest had either been killed, were missing or became prisoners of war. Following the German surrender in mid-1945, 1st Airlanding Brigade were sent to Norway to disarm the German garrison. Later the same year the brigade was disbanded. ==Formation== Under the command of Brigadier George F. Hopkinson, the 1st Airlanding Brigade Group was formed on 10 October 1941 through the re-designation of the 31st Independent Infantry Brigade, which had just returned to the United Kingdom after training for mountain warfare in British India.〔Ferguson, p.6〕 Upon formation, the brigade consisted of the 1st Battalion, Border Regiment (Borders), the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment (Staffords), the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (OBLI), the 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles (Ulsters) and supporting units.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Order of Battle )〕 These were the brigade's original infantry battalions and all remained part of its order of battle. Men in the battalions who were unsuitable for airborne service were weeded out and replaced by volunteers.〔Blockwell and Clifton, p.63〕 The strength of the airlanding brigade almost equalled that of an airborne division's two parachute brigades.〔Guard, p.37〕 To support the four infantry battalions, the brigade also had its own artillery, engineer and reconnaissance units until 1942, when they became divisional assets.〔 Another change that affected the brigade occurred in May 1943, when the Ulsters and the OBLI left to form the 6th Airlanding Brigade, of the 6th Airborne Division.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=Order of Battle )〕 When the brigade returned to the United Kingdom, it was assigned the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) in December 1943, a 2nd Line Territorial Army unit, which had until then been on home defence duties, stationed in the Orkney and Shetland islands.〔Blockwell and Clifton, p.58〕 The brigade's glider infantry battalions consisted of 806 men in four rifle companies, each with four platoons along with a support company consisting of two Anti-tank platoons each with four 6 pounder guns, two mortar platoons armed with six 3 inch mortars, and two Vickers machine gun platoons.〔Peters and Buist, p.55〕 Transport for the brigade was normally the Airspeed Horsa glider, piloted by two men from the Glider Pilot Regiment.〔Tugwell, p.39〕 With a wingspan of and a length of , the Horsa had a maximum load capacity of —space for two pilots, a maximum of twenty-eight troops or two jeeps, one jeep and an artillery gun or one jeep with a trailer.〔Fowler, p.9〕〔Peters and Buist, p.9〕 Sixty–two Horsa and one General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders were required to carry the airlanding battalion into action. The Hamilcar carried the battalion's two Universal Carriers used to support the mortar and machine-gun platoons.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1st Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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