A List of battalions of the Parachute Regiment from formation in 1940 to the present day. The Parachute Regiment is a

parachute infantry A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

that was formed in the early stages of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. * 1st Battalion 940–present* 1st (Guards) Parachute Battalion 946–1948* 2nd Battalion 941–present* 2nd/3rd Battalion 946–1948* 3rd Battalion 941–present* 4th Battalion 942–1946* 4th/6th Battalion 946–1948*

5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion The 5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The four proceeding British parachute infantry battalions had been raised by volunteers ...

942–1948– formed from 7th Battalion,

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Al ...

6th (Royal Welch) Parachute Battalion The 6th (Royal Welch) 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 1942 by the conversion of the 10th (Merionethshire and ...

942–1946– formed from 10th Battalion,

Royal Welch Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion The 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, formed by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was raised in November 1942 by the conversion of the 10th Battalion, ...

942–1948– formed from 10th Battalion,

Somerset Light Infantry The Somerset Light Infantry (Prince Albert's) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army, which served under various titles from 1685 to 1959. In 1959, the regiment was amalgamated with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to form the Some ...

8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

942–1946– formed from 13th Battalion,

Royal Warwickshire Regiment The Royal Warwickshire Regiment, previously titled the 6th Regiment of Foot, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. The regiment saw service in many conflicts and wars, including the Second Boer War ...

* 8th/9th Battalion 946–1948– *

9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion The 9th (Eastern and Home Counties) 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 Ba ...

942–1946– formed from 10th Battalion,

Essex Regiment The Essex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment served in many conflicts such as the Second Boer War and both World War I and World War II, serving with distinction in all three. ...

* 10th (Sussex) Parachute Battalion 943–1944– formed from volunteers from the 2nd, 4th and

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

battalions,

Royal Sussex Regiment The Royal Sussex Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that was in existence from 1881 to 1966. The regiment was formed in 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 35th (Royal Sussex) Regiment of Foot ...

* 11th Parachute Battalion 943–1944– formed from cadre of the 156th Parachute Battalion *

12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion The 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was formed by the conversion of the 10th (East Riding Yeomanry) Battalion ...

943–1956– formed from the 10th Battalion,

Green Howards The Green Howards (Alexandra, Princess of Wales's Own Yorkshire Regiment), frequently known as the Yorkshire Regiment until the 1920s, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, in the King's Division. Raised in 1688, it served under vario ...

13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion The 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was formed in May 1943 by the conversion of the 2/4th Battalion, South L ...

943–1945– formed from the 2/4th Battalion,

South Lancashire Regiment The South Lancashire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1958. The regiment, which recruited, as its title suggests, primarily from the South Lancashire area, was created as part of the Childers Ref ...

15th (King's) Parachute Battalion The 15th (Scottish Volunteer) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, originally raised as 15th (King's) Parachute Battalion by the British Army in World War II. The 15th Parachute Battalion was formed i ...

945–1947– formed from the 1st Battalion,

King's Regiment (Liverpool) The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which we ...

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

16th (Staffords) Parachute Battalion The 16th (Staffords) Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army in World War II. World War II The battalion was formed in India from the 1st Battalion of the South Staffordshire R ...

945–1947– formed from the 1st Battalion,

South Staffordshire Regiment The South Staffordshire Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence for only 68 years. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot an ...

in Rawalpindi * 17th Parachute Battalion 945–1967* 151st Parachute Battalion 941–1942 – formed in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

from volunteers of 27 different battalions. Redesignated 156th Battalion. *

156th Parachute Battalion The 156th Parachute Battalion was a battalion of the Parachute Regiment raised by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was formed in 1941 from volunteers serving in India initially numbered the 151st Parachute Battalion a ...

942–1944

Territorials and Volunteers

* 4th/6th Parachute Battalion 947–1948*

4th Parachute Battalion The 4th Battalion, Parachute Regiment (4 PARA), is an Army Reserve unit of the British Army. Now recruiting across the United Kingdom originally the Battalion covered the North of England, with its headquarters located in Pudsey, West Yorkshire ...

967–present*

10th (County of London) Parachute Battalion The 10th Battalion, The Parachute Regiment was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, originally raised as the 10th (Sussex) Battalion by the British Army during the Second World War. The battalion was raised during the Sec ...

947–1999*

11th (Middlesex) Parachute Battalion The 11th Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, raised by the British Army in World War II. The battalion was formed in the Middle East and was assigned to the 4th Parachute Brigade, 1st Airborne Div ...

947–1956*

943–1956* 12th/13th (Yorkshire and Lancashire) Parachute Battalion 956–1967*

947–1956* 14th Parachute Battalion 948–1956*

15th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion The 15th (Scottish Volunteer) Parachute Battalion was an Airborne forces, airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom), Parachute Regiment, originally raised as 15th (King's) Parachute Battalion by the British Army during ...

947–1992* 16th (Welsh) Parachute Battalion 947–1956*

17th (Durham Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion The 17th Parachute Battalion was an airborne infantry battalion of the Parachute Regiment, which was raised by the British Army during the Second World War. Regular army The battalion was raised in August 1945 and assigned to the reformed 1st ...

948–1967* 18th (Warwickshire) Parachute Battalion 947–1956

Notes

{{reflist 01 Parachute Regiment Parachute Regiment .