The 1st Airlanding Light Regiment was an airborne forces unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery during the Second World War.
The regiment was raised in 1943, by the expansion of an existing airborne artillery battery. Attached to the 1st Airborne Division in 1943, the regiment landed in Italy as part of Operation Slapstick—part of the Allied invasion of Italy—and then, when the division was withdrawn, it stayed behind to support other divisions of the British Eighth Army in the Italian Campaign until the end of the year. In 1944 the regiment rejoined the 1st Airborne Division in England and, in September 1944, took part in Operation Market Garden, which was the airborne assault in the Netherlands. During the battle of Arnhem that followed the regiment was one of the divisional units that formed a defensive ring around Oosterbeek.
Reformed after Arnhem, the regiment never fought in another battle. They did, however, take part in Operation Doomsday, the repatriation of the German occupation army in Norway in May 1945. After this the regiment returned to England and was disbanded in December 1945.
Formation
Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops. In September 1941 the 1st Parachute Brigade began forming, comprising three parachute infantry battalions. In keeping with British Army practice at the same time as the brigade's infantry battalions were forming, airborne supporting arms were formed including men from the Royal Artillery.
The origins of the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment can be traced to the formation of the 458th Independent Light Battery, Royal Artillery in February 1941. At the time, the battery was commanded by Major Pat Lloyd and, equipped with the First World War vintage 3.7-inch mountain howitzer, served on the North-West Frontier in India. The 3.7 inch Howitzer could fire a shell and weighed .
In 1941, the British airborne forces were being raised and needed an artillery formation, so the battery was renamed the 1st Airlanding Light Battery and it was converted into an airborne unit. Assigned to the 1st Airborne Division, the battery moved to the airborne forces depot at Bulford Garrison in April 1942.
The battery spent the next eleven months training for their new role. In February 1943, however, it was expanded to a full regiment commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel R. W. McLeod. The regiment now consisted of three batteries, each of two troops, with four guns per troop, or twenty-four guns in the regiment. At the same time their 3.7 inch Howitzers were replaced by the newer American 75 mm Pack Howitzer. The 75 mm Howitzer could be broken down into six components. It fired a shell a maximum of and weighed . Being the only field artillery unit in the division, one battery of eight guns could be expected to support each of the division's three brigades.
At this time the only way airborne forces could transport artillery guns and their towing vehicles by air was by using gliders. In the regiment's case this was normally the Airspeed Horsa, piloted by two men from the Glider Pilot Regiment. 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; alternatively: one jeep, an artillery gun and a half ton trailer; or one jeep with up to two trailers. One disadvantage of being transported by the Horsa glider, was that only three artillerymen and the two pilots could be carried with the gun.
Operations
Italy
The regiment left England for North Africa on 16 May 1943, arriving at Oran in Algeria on 26 May. The 1st Airborne Division as a whole did not take part in the Allied invasion of Sicily. However, the 1st Parachute and 1st Airlanding brigades took part in brigade sized operations, Ladbroke and Fustian, without any artillery support from the regiment. While in Sicily Lieutenant-Colonel Crawfurd, the Division's Commander Royal Artillery (DCRA), was killed. He was replaced by Lieutenant-Colonel McLeod and the second in command, Major W. F. K "Sheriff" Thompson, was given command of the regiment.
In September 1943, they were involved in Operation Slapstick, part of the Allied invasion of Italy. The division in North Africa boarded the ships of the Royal Navy's 12th Cruiser Squadron at Bizerta on 8 September 1943. At 15:00 on 9 September, the flotilla reached the port of Taranto on the heel of Italy. The landings were unopposed and the troops were soon disembarked.