[烛光生存狂]-二战加拿大伞兵简史

Early Beginnings

The 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was created by an order of the Canadian War Cabinet on Canada Day, July 1, 1942. Its early mandate was to be a highly mobile quick strike force that could easily respond to any invasion threat within Canada, as there was a great fear at that time that the Japanese might invade. It was thought that such a highly mobile force would be able to quickly respond (and repel) any invaders, especially to the more remote islands in British Columbia.

Planning began in earnest with the Canadian Military Headquarters sending two groups of potential paratroopers, one each to the Airborne schools of the American and British Armies, both of which already had well-established training programs. The goal was to combine the best aspects of both the American and British systems in an attempt to create the best system of airborne troopers to meet Canada’s needs.

The initial group that traveled to Fort Benning in the United States consisted of 7 Officers and 20 other ranks, including the unit’s first Commanding Officer, Major H.D. Proctor (left).

The American system consisted of four stages, each stage one week in duration and teaching a different aspect of airborne training. The focus was on harsh instructing in an attempt to weed out those that were not strong enough to meet the high expectations of the Airborne soldier. Any hesitation on the part of the trainee meant immediate dismissal. Training was done using a variety of training equipment including 250 foot high towers and the American T-5 parachute assembly jumping from C-47 Dakota aircraft. Five jumps were required to earn your jump wings. The first casualty of the young Parachute Battalion occurred during their first training jumps when Major Proctor was killed on September 7, 1942 when his rigging lines were severed by a following transport aircraft.

Lt. Col. G.F.P. Bradbrooke (left).

Took over command of the unit following the death of Major Proctor.

He would lead the unit until the end of Operations in Normandy June 14, 1944.

The RAF Ringway group was larger, consisting of 25 officers and 60 other ranks. The British system was vastly different from that of the Americans, only lasting sixteen days. The course was more intensive, focusing on skills necessary in the airborne descent. The system was also different in that the instructors aim was to help along the trainee building up their confidence to complete the task at hand. The trainees also needed to complete seven jumps, not the five in the American system, two from static balloons and five from aircraft.

It was decided to continue Airborne training for Canadian soldiers at Fort Benning while a Canadian parachute training centre was being built at Camp Shilo, Manitoba. The first class of 54 recruits arrived in Fort Benning to commence their training on October 10, 1942, then another class of 55 candidates every week following.

Training continued throughout the fall reasonably well, but there were some problems in recruiting members for the new Parachute Battalion, largely due to the fact that many did not want to volunteer for a unit who’s primary role was considered to be home defence. This fact was brought home when a call for recruits for a new 2nd Canadian Parachute Battalion (to become the Canadian Contingent of the 1st Special Service Force) resulted in a large number of soldiers volunteering for this newly formed Battalion, mostly because of the promise that this new unit would see service before the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion would.

This problem was addressed by requiring all new recruits to go “active” before transfer, thereby allowing the unit to be available for overseas service should it be required. It seemed to have worked, because a second call for recruits for the 2 Cdn Para Btn made in the spring of 1943 was unsuccessful in recruiting many for this second battalion.

The facilities at Camp Shilo were finally ready by early spring and the Canadian Paratroopers left Fort Benning on March 22, 1943 having qualified 34 officers and 575 other ranks as parachute qualified. The parachute training started at Fort Benning continued at Camp Shilo while the Battalion aimed to improve on the skills they had already learned.

The die was set for the unit’s future when, on April 7, 1943 Canada agreed to contribute the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion to a new British Parachute Division that was being formed. They would be fighting as a part of the British 3rd Brigade, 6th Airborne Division under Brigadier J. Hill as brigade commander with Major-General Gale commanding the division. The Canadian Paratroopers boarded their ship bound for the U.K. on July 23, 1943 with 30 officers and 543 other ranks and landed in Greenock, Scotland July 28.

The Battalion in England

When the Canadians arrived in England it was of utmost importance that they started immediate conversion to the British method of parachuting, which was quite different than that of the U.S.-style system the Battalion had been using previously. The biggest difference was in the parachute system used. In the U.S. and Canada the unit used the American T-5 assembly, but now that they were a part of the British 6 Airborne Division they needed to be trained on the British X-type parachute. The main, and most obvious difference, was the absence of any reserve parachute on the British X-type. This was due to several reasons, largely because the British jumped from a much lower altitude than the Americans did, not allowing adequate time to use a reserve should it be needed. The other reason was the British commonly jumped from a hole in the floor of a converted bomber (usually from where the belly turret was removed) and a trooper with a reserve chute would simply not have fit through the opening.

The unit needed to bring itself up to British training standards in several other areas as well, including qualifying soldiers as heavy machine gun, mortar and anti-tank rifle teams, in wireless operations and intelligence. There were also 50 troopers that were sent for training in the use of the new leg kit bag that gained so much notoriety on the D-Day jumps, both with British and American jumpers.

The Canadians took to the training in earnest. Their first Brigade-level exercise was “Exercise Schemozzle”, November 9-10, 1943. Its intended role, in forecasting events to come, was to see the effectiveness of units separated from the main force during a simulated drop. The exercise was deemed a success as all companies managed to complete their objectives even with their scattered nature.

There were several more exercises the Battalion participated in over the late fall/early winter, all preparing the men for the inevitable. On January 5, 1944 the 6 Airborne Division was mobilized for operations within Europe. Mobilization Order #98, the order for 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion was issued on February 23, 1943 mobilizing the battalion for operations in Europe and to be ready no later than February 29.

The Battalion, sensing their imminent deployment to the continent, picked up the pace of training. They completed their first Battalion-level drop, Exercise Manitoba on January 20, 1944. The main points of this exercise, was to practice co-operation with 38 Group RAF, to see if they could land the entire Battalion on the DZ within 5 minutes of the first jumper leaving the plane, then clear the DZ within 15 minutes.

Following their first successful Battalion-level drop January 20, the Battalion participated in the first Brigade-sized drop on February 7-8, called “Exercise Co-Operation”. The goals were much the same as Exercise Manitoba, co-operation between 38 Group RAF and 435 Group Transport Carrier Command, USAAF as well as to see if they could get all 1,370 paratroopers landed on the DZ within 10 minutes and have the area cleared within 30 minutes.

With sev

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