The first Allied airborne assaults took place during the North African Campaigns in 1942-43 and were carried out by the British 1st Airborne Division--initially by its 1st Parachute Brigade and then by elements of the entire division under Maj. Gen. G. F. Hopkinson. This division also participated in the Sicily Campaign and the Italian Campaign during 1943. In February 1942, a company of the British 2nd Parachute Battalion dropped into Bruneval, France, where it successfully captured a new type of German radar installation. In November of that year, a force from the 1st Airborne Division made a pair of glider landings in Norway for the purpose of sabotaging a German heavy water facility there in an effort to stem German development of an atomic weapon. The raid was unsuccessful.

During November 1943, the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade Group, commanded by British Brig. Gen. C. H. V. Pritchard, participated in Italian operations, then, through 1945, as part of the 1st Airborne Task Force, fought in southern France and Greece. The British 6th Airborne Division, under Maj. Gen. Richard Gale, joined the U.S. 82nd (Maj. Gen. Matthew Ridgway) and 101st (Maj. Gen. Maxwell Taylor) Airborne Divisions in Operation Overlord in preparation for the Normandy landings (D-day) during June 1944.

After its initial drops, the 101st and 82nd Airborne fought as ground units until they were deployed, with the British 1st Airborne Division (Maj. Gen. Roy Urquhart), as the I Airborne Corps (Lt. Gen. "Boy" Browning), in Operation Market Garden (Battle of Arnhem) during September 1944. The I Airborne Corps was now part of the First Allied Airborne Army, under the overall command of Lt. Gen. Lewis Brereton. The 82nd Airborne (Brig. Gen. James Gavin) and the 101st (Taylor) achieved their objectives in Market Garden, but the 1st Airborne, dropping too far from its objectives, was badly defeated and suffered severe losses. Operation Market Garden failed. Nevertheless, lessons were learned from the failure, and in March 1945, when the XVIII U.S. Airborne Corps (Ridgway), consisting of the British 6th Airborne Division and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, participated in Operation Varsity, a Rhine crossing, steps were taken to ensure accurate drops. Both divisions quickly achieved their objectives, and the operation was a success. Operation Varsity was, however, the last major airborne assault in Europe. . .

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