“We ought to have a Corps of at least 5,000 parachute troops” Winston Churchill, June 1940
There is something characteristically British about the origins of Airborne Forces, except, perhaps, for the fact it was not we who first thought of the idea. That honour is shared equally by the Russians and the Germans, both of whom were developing this type of warfare as early as 1936; but even though General Wavell himself saw the former drop 1,500 men, with machine guns and light artillery, during the summer manoeuvres that year, and reported that 'if he had not witnessed it, he would not have believed such an operation possible', his testimony roused no enthusiasm for similar units in Britain. And when, in May of 1940, the Germans employed parachute soldiers and glider-borne troops with such devastating effect during their blitzkrieg on Western Europe, and it seemed that there might be something of value for us in this type of warfare, all that happened was that, as a result of a conference at the Air Ministry, it was stated that 'it has been decided to establish a parachute training centre', and the War Office detailed Major J. F. Rock, Royal Engineers, 'to take charge of the military organisation of British Airborne Forces'. That was about the extent of his brief. 'It was impossible', Major Rock confided, 'to get any information as to policy or task'.
From this indeterminate beginning, and largely through the pioneering work of Major Rock and his Air Force colleagues, Wing Commander L. A. Strange, Wing Commander Sir Nigel Norman and Squadron-Leader Maurice Newnham, Airborne Forces grew and thrived. They received a timely boost from Churchill's minute, quoted above. Its demand for a powerful offensive force at a time when most people in Britain were concerned only with defence was a defiant and far-sighted move that was to justify itself many times over as the tides of war changed. As a result of these separate initiatives, the Central Landing School was set up at Ringway Airport, near Manchester. |
