Six Airborne Division (British)

Six Airborne Division (British). “Go to it!”. On 23 April 1943, Major General Richard N. “Windy" Gale, a veteran brigade commander who had served with the 1st Airborne Division (British) in North Africa, received orders to raise the 6th Airborne Division and lead its preparations for the Allied assault on France. Selecting "Go to it!" early on, Gen. Gale directed, "This motto will be adopted by the 6th Airborne Division and as such should be remembered by all ranks in action against the enemy, in training, and during the day to day routine duties." The 3rd Parachute Brigade and 1st Airlanding Brigade (redesignated the 6th Airlanding Brigade) provided the core of the new division, which soon added the 5th Parachute Brigade; supporting armor, artillery, and engineer units; and the necessary combat-support services. In July, the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was attached. , , The 3rd Parachute Brigade, commanded by 31-year-old Brigadier James Hill (still recovering from wounds received in North Africa) comprised the 7th, 8th, and 9th Parachute Battalions, peopled respectively by paratroopers from Somerset, the Midlands, and Essex. To the glider-borne 1st and 2nd Battalions (respectively the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry) of Brigadier Hon. K. K. M. Kindersley's 6th Airlanding Brigade was added the 12th Battalion, the Devonshire Regiment. Brigadier Nigel Poett's 5th Parachute Brigade included the 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions which respectively absorbed elements of the Yorkshire Green Howards and South Lancashire Regiment. Leading up to Operation Overlord, the division grew to more than 12,000 men. Weaponry ranged from knives and pistols to 75mm towed pack howitzers and cruiser tanks; the division's 6,200 vehicles, included some 3,200 bicycles and 1,200 motorcycles. Forward observers from the 3rd Infantry Division (British) and 1 Corps accompanied the 6th Airborne Division on D-Day to adjust reinforcing artillery fire. The division's D-Day mission was to (1) capture and hold two key bridges spanning the Orne River and Caen Canal, (2) neutralize the enemy battery at Merville, (3) delay enemy movement from the east to southeast, and (4) destroy the Dives River bridges. , , By 0100 on 6 June, the division had captured both bridges with textbook precision, which enabled the 7th Battalion to cross the Caen Canal at 0300 and deploy to spend the balance of the day fending off the counterattacks of the 716th Infantry Division (German). The 9th Parachute Battalion jumped in over Varaville at 0050, but dispersion was such that it took two hours to assemble enough men to prepare to move against the Merville battery. Minutes earlier, the RAF had launched a hundred Lancaster bombers against the battery, but most of the 4,000-pound bombs fell south of the target. None of the gliders scheduled to crash-land on the battery's casemates did so. Even so, the 9th assaulted and captured the casemates, silencing the artillery, and eighty men strong moved out to clear Le Plein. The 8th and 1st Canadian Parachute Battalions and their supporting engineers destroyed the Dives bridges as planned and set in defensive positions around Le Mesnil and in the Bois de Bavent. All but ten of 248 gliders bearing the 1st and 2nd Battalions landed by 2130. , , Given by the Garland and Agnes Taylor Gray Foundation and by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas H. Tollidge Sr. in memory of Sergeant George Bowler Tullidge III, 507th PIR, and in tribute to the 6th Airborne Division and all paratroopers of the Allied Expeditionary Force.