Before the end of the Second World War in Europe the brigade saw active service in Italy, the South of France and Greece.

Instead the brigade was assigned to the 6th Airborne Division, which had been named the Imperial Strategic Reserve, and sent to serve in the Mandate of Palestine.

Impressed by the success of German airborne operations during the Battle of France in May 1940, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops.

Its General Officer Commanding (GOC), Major-General Frederick Arthur Montague "Boy" Browning, expressed his opinion that the fledgling force must not be sacrificed in "penny packets" and urged the formation of a third brigade.

[11] A lack of transport aircraft reduced the number of men that could be deployed, and the 2nd Parachute Brigade remained in Tunisia in a reserve role.

[10] Fighting ended in Sicily on 17 August without use of the brigade; they were, however, selected to take part in Operation Slapstick, an amphibious landing at the port of Taranto on mainland Italy.

Their only casualties were 58 men from the 6th Parachute Battalion who drowned after their transport ship, HMS Abdiel, hit a mine in the harbour.

[7] The British 1st Airborne Division was withdrawn to England soon after, in preparation for Operation Overlord, codename for the Allied invasion of Normandy, leaving the 2nd Parachute Brigade in Italy.

The brigade returned to the front line and took part in the Battle of Monte Cassino on 4 April, once again coming under command of the 2nd New Zealand Division.

The 6th (Welch) Battalion occupied La Motte and, when the Germans at Clastron surrendered, moved a company into the village.

[20] At the drop zone the pathfinders and Royal Engineers were removing anti-glider poles so that the brigade's glider force could land.

The gliders, except for those carrying the anti-tank battery, which were unable to locate the site in the heavy mist and had returned to Italy, landed successfully at 09:20.

The missing men continued to come into the brigade's area during the morning, and contact was made with American units who had dropped west and south of them.

[22] The company sustained several casualties while landing in adverse weather conditions that forced the remainder of the brigade to delay their arrival for another two days.

[19] They fought the retreating Germans for the next three months, advancing from Athens to Salonika, where elements of the 2nd Para Brigade arrived by landing craft on 8 November.

Having been moved to Italy, the brigade had to return to Greece immediately after the outbreak of the Greek Civil War in December, becoming involved in several fights, suffering heavy casualties.

[26] The 6th Airborne Division had been named the Imperial Strategic Reserve and served in Egypt until September 1945, when it moved to Palestine in an internal-security role, to counter the activities of the Jewish paramilitary movements Hagana, Palmach, Irgun and the Stern Gang.

[28] In February 1948 the 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade left the 6th Airborne Division and moved to Germany, becoming part of the British Army of the Rhine.