Editing Paratrooper (section)

===Poland===
[[Image:Sztandar 1 SBS.jpg|thumb|left|Polish paratrooper standard]]
{{main|1st Independent Parachute Brigade (Poland)}}

The '''1st (Polish) Independent Parachute Brigade''' was a parachute [[brigade]] under the command of [[Major general|Major General]] [[Stanisław Sosabowski]], created during the [[World War II|Second World War]] in Scotland in September 1941, with the exclusive mission to drop into [[occupied Poland]] in order to help liberate the country. The British government, however, pressured the Poles into allowing the unit to be used in the [[Western Front (World War II)|Western theatre of war]]. [[Operation Market Garden]] eventually saw the unit sent into action in support of the [[1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 1st Airborne Division]] at the [[Battle of Arnhem]] in 1944. The Poles were initially landed by glider from 18 September, whilst, due to bad weather over England, the parachute section of the Brigade was held up, and jumped on 21 September at [[Driel]] on the South bank of the Rhine. The Poles suffered significant casualties during the next few days of fighting, but still were able, by their presence, to cause around 2,500 German troops to be diverted to deal with them for fear of them supporting the remnants of 1st Airborne trapped over the lower Rhine in Oosterbeek.

The Brigade was originally trained close to [[RAF Ringway]] and later in [[Upper Largo]] in Scotland. It was finally based in Lincolnshire, close to [[RAF Spitalgate]] (Grantham) where it continued training until its eventual departure for Europe after D-Day.

The Brigade was formed by the Polish High Command in exile with the aim of it being used to support the [[Armia Krajowa|Polish resistance]] during the [[Operation Tempest|nationwide uprising]], a plan that encountered opposition from the British, who argued they would not be able to support it properly.<ref name="ZalogaHook1982">{{cite book|author1=Steven J. Zaloga|author2=Richard Hook|title=The Polish Army 1939–45|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAdYFeW2fnoC&pg=PA21|access-date=6 May 2011|date=21 January 1982|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-0-85045-417-8|page=21}}</ref> The pressure of the British government eventually caused the Poles to give in and agree to let the Brigade be used on the [[Western Front (WWII)|Western Front]].<ref name="ZalogaHook1982"/> On 6 June 1944 the unit, originally the only Polish unit directly subordinate to the Polish government in exile and thus independent of the British command, was transferred into the same command structure as all other [[Polish Forces in the West]]. It was slotted to take part in several operations after the [[invasion of Normandy]], but all of them were cancelled.<ref name="ZalogaHook1982"/> On 27 July, aware of the imminent [[Warsaw Uprising]], the [[Polish government in exile]] asked the British government for air support, including dropping the Brigade in the vicinity of Warsaw.<ref name="Ciechanowski2002">{{cite book|author=Jan M. Ciechanowski|title=The Warsaw Rising of 1944|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2kvvMiclgVMC&pg=PA67|access-date=6 May 2011|date=16 May 2002|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-89441-8|page=67}}</ref> This request was refused on the grounds of "operational considerations" and the "difficulties" in coordinating with the Soviet forces.<ref name="Ciechanowski2002"/> Eventually, the Brigade entered combat when it was dropped during [[Operation Market Garden]] in September 1944.<ref name="ZalogaHook1982"/>

[[File:Sosabowski Stanislaw3.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Stanisław Sosabowski]], the brigade's commander]]
During the operation, the Brigade's [[anti-tank]] battery went into [[Arnhem]] on the third day of the battle (19 September), supporting the British paratroopers at [[Oosterbeek]]. This left Sosabowski without any anti-tank capability. The light artillery battery was left behind in England due to a shortage of gliders. Owing to bad weather and a shortage of transport planes, the drop into [[Driel]] was delayed by two days, to 21 September. The British units which were supposed to cover the landing zone were in a bad situation and out of radio contact with the main Allied forces.<ref name="ZalogaHook1982"/> Finally, the 2nd Battalion, and elements of the 3rd Battalion, with support troops from the Brigade's Medical Company, Engineer Company and HQ Company, were dropped under German fire east of Driel. They overran Driel, after it was realised that the Heveadorp ferry had been destroyed. In Driel, the Polish paratroopers set up a defensive "hedgehog" position, from which over the next two nights further attempts were made to cross the Rhine.

The following day, the Poles were able to produce some makeshift boats and attempt a crossing. With great difficulty and under German fire from the heights of Westerbouwing on the north bank of the river, the 8th Parachute Company and, later, additional troops from 3rd Battalion, managed to cross the Rhine in two attempts. In total, about 200 Polish paratroopers made it across in two days, and were able to cover the subsequent withdrawal of the remnants of the [[British 1st Airborne Division]].

On 26 September 1944, the Brigade (now including the 1st Battalion and elements of the 3rd Battalion, who were parachuted near to Grave on 23 September) was ordered to march towards [[Nijmegen]]. The Brigade had lost 25% of its fighting strength, amounting to 590 casualties.<ref name="ZalogaHook1982"/>

In 1945, the Brigade was attached to the [[Polish 1st Armoured Division]] and undertook occupation duties in Northern Germany until it was disbanded on 30 June 1947. The majority of its soldiers chose to stay in exile rather than hazard returning to the [[History of Poland (1945–89)|new Communist Poland]].