1st Airborne Division Headquarters Defence Platoon
The 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, became part of the 1st Airlanding Brigade of the 1st British Airborne Division in December 1941. It provided men for the 1st Airborne Division Headquarters' Defence Platoon.
In 1943, the Battalion was transferred to the newly formed 6th Airborne Division but its men in the 1st Airborne Division Headquarters' Defence Platoon remained with the 1st Airborne Division.
By the time of the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944, the Platoon contained men from other regiments and it was commanded by a Parachute Regiment officer. However, men of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry were still the majority of the Platoon.
For more information on these men and the history of the Platoon, please visit these websites:
Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum
A jeep towing a 6-pounder anti-tank gun from the 2nd Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment, moving east along the Utrechtseweg, Oosterbeek, towards Arnhem on Monday, 18th September 1944.
British 1st Airborne Division
A paratrooper makes a heavy landing during an exercise. (Critical Past film 65675058877)