The 6th Airborne Division order of battle lists only those units assigned to the division; units attached only for short periods of time are not included.
The 6th Airborne Division was the second of two airborne divisions formed by the British Army during the Second World War. Raised in 1943, the division fought in the Normandy landings (Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges, Operation Tonga, Operation Mallard, Battle of Breville), the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. The division then participated in Operation Varsity, the second airborne assault over the River Rhine during the war. Afterwards the division advanced north to the Baltic sea, reaching Wismar by the end of the war.
In the immediate post war period the 1st Airborne Division was disbanded leaving the 6th as the only airborne division in the British Army. Near the end of 1945, the division was named the Imperial Strategic Reserve and posted to the Middle East and deployed in an internal security role, during unrest in the British mandate of Palestine. By 1948, the British Army numbers had returned to peace time levels and the division was disbanded leaving the independent 2nd Parachute Brigade as the only regular army airborne formation.
Order of battle
Second World War
The Second World War formation, that participated in the Normandy landings, and Rhine Crossing. 3rd Parachute Brigade 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion 5th Parachute Brigade 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion 6th Airlanding Brigade 12th Devonshire Regiment 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1st Royal Ulster Rifles Divisional troops 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment 53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery 2nd Forward Observer Unit, Royal Artillery 3rd Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery 4th Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, Royal Artillery 2nd Airlanding Light Anti-Aircraft Battery, Royal Artillery 3rd Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers 591st Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers 249th Field Company. Royal Engineers 286th Field Park Company, Royal Engineers 6th Airborne Division Postal Unit, Royal Engineers 6th Airborne Divisional Signals 22st Independent Parachute Company (Pathfinders) 127th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 195th (Airlanding) Field Ambulance 63rd Company, Royal Army Service Corps 398th Company, Royal Army Service Corps 716th Company, Royal Army Service Corps 6th Airborne Division Ordnance Field Park 6th Airborne Division Workshop 6th Airborne Division Provost Company 245 Provost Company, Headquarters, Corps of Military Police (6th Airborne Division)
1946
This represents the division formation on arrival in the Middle East. 2nd Parachute Brigade 4th Parachute Battalion 5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion 6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion 3rd Parachute Brigade 3rd Parachute Battalion 8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion 6th Airlanding Brigade 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry 1st Royal Ulster Rifles 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Divisional troops 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment 53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment 2nd Airlanding Anti-Tank Regiment 2nd Forward Observer Unit 1st Airborne Squadron, Royal Engineers 9th Airborne Squadron, Royal Engineers 286th Airborne Park squadron, Royal Engineers 6th Airborne Division Postal Unit, Royal Engineers 6th Airborne Divisional Signals 21st Independent Parachute Company 63rd Composite Company (Airborne), Royal Army Service Corps 398th Composite Company (Airborne), Royal Army Service Corps 716th Company (Airborne Light), Royal Army Service Corps 127th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance 195th (Airlanding) Field Ambulance 74th Field Hygiene section 6th Airborne Division Ordnance, Field Park Royal Army Ordnance Corps 6th Airborne Division Workshops. Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 6th Airborne Division Battle School 6th Airborne Division Training School 6th Airborne Division Provost Company 317th Field Security Section 16th Field Cash Office (Light) 6th Airborne Division Air Photographic Interpretation Section 2nd Mobile Photographic Enlargement Section