44th Parachute Brigade (V)

The 44th Parachute Brigade (Volunteers) was a British Army Territorial Army parachute brigade, active from c.1950 to 1978. From 1950-1967 it was one of the brigades of 16th Airborne Division. It was reformed on 1 April 1967 from 44th Independent Parachute Brigade Group (T.A.). The Brigade was the only Territorial Army Parachute formation in the Army's order of battle. The following units were part of the Brigade:


 * Brigade Headquarters and Defence Platoon - based in Chelsea
 * 289 Parachute Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (Volunteers) located in East Ham, London, (This was the former 289 Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (T.A.), which had been composed of 'P','Q','R' and 'S' batteries). (This Battery left the Brigade in 1977 when it converted to 289 Commando Battery (V), Royal Artillery)
 * 131 Independent Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers (Volunteers) - Squadron HQ in London with Troops in Birmingham, Hull and Grangemouth (In 1978 this became 131 Independent Commando Squadron (V) Royal Engineers)
 * 44 Parachute Brigade Signal Troop, Royal Signals (Volunteers) - Based in Chelsea with the Brigade HQ.
 * 4th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - Battalion HQ in Pudsey with Rifle Companies in Liverpool, Oldham, Gateshead and Norton.
 * 10th (Volunteer) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - Battalion HQ in White City (West London) with Rifle Companies in White City, Finchley, Croydon and Aldershot
 * 15th (Scottish Volunteer) Battalion, The Parachute Regiment - Battalion HQ in Glasgow with Companies in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh
 * 16th (Volunteer) Independent Company, The Parachute Regiment - Lincoln
 * 562 Parachute Squadron Royal Corps of Transport (Volunteers) - Southall with detachments A Troop at West Ham and B Troop in Dulwich.
 * 144 Parachute Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps (Volunteers) - HQ was in Chelsea, London with detachments in Nottingham, Glasgow and Cardiff
 * 44 Parachute Ordnance Field Park, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (Volunteers) - located at Heston in West London.
 * 1 Parachute Provost Platoon, Royal Military Police (Volunteers) - located at Tulse Hill in South London.

The 44th Parachute Brigade (V) was disbanded on 31 March 1978. Only the 3 TA Parachute Battalions and 144 Field Ambulance retained their parachute role; 289 Battery RHA and 131 Squadron RE were converted to Commando units (289 reverting from RHA to RA) while the remainder of the Brigade units were either converted or disbanded.

External links and Sources

 * http://www.arrse.co.uk/cpgn2/Forums/viewtopic/t=11477.html - order of battle source
 * Official MOD Regimental Website
 * Parachute Regiment on Regiments.org
 * http://www.parachuteregiment-hsf.org/
 * http://www.palacebarracksmemorialgarden.org
 * http://www.LothianPRA.org.uk