The I Airborne Corps was an

airborne forces Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

raised by the

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 World War II, Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with tho ...

. Together with the

U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II. The corps is designed for Rapid deployment force, rapid deployment anywhere in the world and is ...

it was part of the First Allied Airborne Army.

Formation

Under the command of

Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Frederick Arthur Montague Browning Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Arthur Montague "Boy" Browning, (20 December 1896 – 14 March 1965) was a senior officer of the British Army who has been called the "father of the British airborne forces". He was also an Olympic bobslei ...

, ''I Airborne Corps'' was formed in 1943, with the 1st and

6th Airborne Division The 6th Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. Despite its name, the 6th was actually the second of two airborne divisions raised by the British Army during the war, the other being t ...

s under command.Horn and Wyczynski, p.294 The Corps also contained the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

's SAS Brigade. In August 1944, the corps became part of the First Allied Airborne Army, alongside

. Later in the war, as well as the 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions, the corps had the

1st Special Service Brigade The 1st Special Service Brigade was a commando brigade of the British Army. Formed during the Second World War, it consisted of elements of the British Army (including British Commandos) and the Royal Marines. The brigade's component units saw a ...

, the Polish 1st Parachute Brigade and the

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division The 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that was originally formed as the Lowland Division, in 1908 as part of the Territorial Force. It later became the 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1915. The 52nd (Lowland ...

an air-transportable division under corps command. Other units assigned to the corps were the American 82nd, and

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

s during

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

in September 1944. Lieutenant-General Richard Nelson Gale, who had previously commanded the 6th Airborne Division during the Battle of Normandy, took command of the corps in December 1944.Richard Gale
Pegassus archive

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:1 Airborne

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Airborne units and formations of the United Kingdom 1943 establishments in the United Kingdom 1945 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II