![]() To date, none of the members of 1 Para have been prosecuted. The second official inquiry of the killings found 1st Para's actions "unjustified and unjustifiable". ![]() A week later, on 30 January 1972, the battalion carried out the Bloody Sunday killings, when they opened fire on unarmed protesters in Derry, leaving 14 Catholic civilians dead and 13 wounded the greatest killing of British subjects by government forces in one incident since the Irish War of Independence. In January 1972, both the press and some in the Army accused the battalion of brutality against protesters outside Magilligan internment camp. The battalion was involved in the Ballymurphy Massacre in August 1971, when 11 Catholic civilians were shot dead and many wounded over a two-day period. In the 1970s, the battalion first deployed to Northern Ireland in Operation Banner. It also took part in the Cyprus Emergency fighting against EOKA. The battalion was part of Operation Musketeer in 1956. It was disbanded in 1948, only to be reformed by the renumbering of the 4th/6th Battalion. Finally, in September 1944, the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel David Dobie, dropped into Arnhem the Netherlands with the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, as part of Operation Market Garden, where they suffered extremely heavy casualties and never saw combat again for the rest of the war.Īfter the war the battalion was reconstituted in 1946, and affiliated to the Brigade of Guards and served with the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. During the fighting in Normandy numerous plans to drop the 1st Airborne were formed, none of which came to fruition. The battalion wasn't used in the initial invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day, but was held back in the UK in reserve in case any of the five invasion beaches encountered serious difficulties and needed support. The battalion and the brigade took part in Operation Fustian, when the Allies invaded Sicily and, again, suffered heavy casualties and was withdrawn to England in late 1943 to train and prepare for the Allied invasion of France. The battalion took part in operations in Tunisia in late 1942 to May 1943, suffering heavy casualties. ![]() The 1st Parachute Brigade was part of the 1st Airborne Division and remained with it throughout the war. In 1941, the battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ernest Down, was assigned to the 1st Parachute Brigade which also included the 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalions. The 1st Battalion can trace its origins to 1940, when No.
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