Instead the brigade first saw action in September 1943, during Operation Slapstick, an amphibious landing at the port of Taranto, as part of the early stages of the Allied invasion of Italy.

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

The first general officer commanding (GOC) of the division, Major-General Frederick "Boy" Browning, expressed his opinion that the fledgling force must not be sacrificed in "penny packets" and urged the formation of more brigades.

[11] Facilities and weather conditions at Kibret proved to be unsuitable for airborne operations, so the brigade moved to RAF Ramat David in Palestine to continue their training.

[14] Slapstick was in part a deception operation to divert German forces from the main Allied landings and also an attempt to seize intact the Italian ports of Taranto, Bari and Brindisi.

[18] During the battalion's assault on the roadblock, the division's GOC, Major-General George Hopkinson (who had succeeded "Boy" Browning in command back in April), observing the action, was hit by a burst of machine gun fire and killed.

On the second day, 4th Parachute Brigade's lift of ninety-two C-47s (for the paratroops), forty-nine Horsa and nine Hamilcar gliders (for the artillery, vehicles and crews),[29] were scheduled to arrive furthest away from Arnhem on Ginkel Heath drop zone 'Y', as early as possible on Monday 18 September 1944.

Being put down where we were, with surprise gone and the opposition alerted, and given the German capability for a swift and violent response to any threat to what really mattered, they could expect their hardest fighting and worst casualties, not in defence of the final perimeter, but in trying to get there.

"[32]The division's fourth unit, the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade, were to arrive on day three, dropping their glider troops in the north and their paratroops south of the river.

[33] Once all units were in place, the division was to form a defensive ring around the Arnhem bridges until relieved by the advance of XXX Corps 60 miles (97 km) to the south.

The delay gave the Germans time to approach the northern landing grounds and engage the defenders from the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB).

[39] The first unit on the ground, 10 Para, attacked and destroyed the Dutch SS Wachbattalion while Brigadier Hackett personally captured ten Germans shortly after landing.

[41] While Hackett formulated a new plan, Mckenzie returned to divisional headquarters, to be informed on his arrival that 60 German tanks were approaching Arnhem from the north.

[40] Transport aircraft passing over occupied channel ports had confirmed German suspicions of a second lift such that they were able to give their troops at Arnhem forty-five minutes advance notice of the allies' arrival.

The battalion's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel des Voeux, out of contact with brigade headquarters, decided to stay where they were for the night and continue the advance in daylight.

The attacked caused heavy casualties including the commanding officer lieutenant-Colonel George Lea, unable to proceed around 150 of the survivors were forced to withdraw towards Oosterbeek.

[53] Captain Lionel Queripel of 10 Para was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the highest British military decoration, for his actions while in command of the battalion's rear guard.

[54] As both battalions headed for the railway line, gliders carrying the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade's vehicles and artillery arrived at landing zone 'L'.

[61] Known as "Lonsdale Force", in the following day's fighting two of its men would be awarded the Victoria Cross, Lance-Sergeant John Baskeyfield,[62] and Major Robert Cain.

[66][nb 1] With 156 Para leading, the remnants of the brigade carried out a bayonet charge and cleared the Germans from a large hollow which provided some shelter for the exhausted troops.

[70][nb 2] In the south-east Lonsdale Force's Major Cain armed with a PIAT anti-tank projectile engaged in a fight with German armoured vehicles for which he would be awarded the Victoria Cross.

[82] The gaps in the perimeter did allow individual German snipers to infiltrate brigade positions and the Glider Pilots had to send out dedicated anti-sniper patrols to hunt them down.

[87] By now the division had made first contact with XXX Corps 11 miles (18 km) to the south and could call upon the guns of 64 Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery to break up German attacks.

[91] With their losses in men and vehicles beginning to tell, German troops attacking the perimeter changed tactics and now tended to rely more on artillery and mortars than on infantry and armour to break through the British line.

Under the command of Captain Harry Brown of the brigade's engineer squadron, fifteen men with a makeshift fleet of six boats, managed to transport fifty-five Poles across the river.

Attacks continued all morning and a shortage of hand held anti-tank weapons allowed German tanks to safely approach the brigade's positions.

He knew there were wounded in the nearby Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) and suggested that the brigade's forward positions were moved 600 yards (550 m) back.

[104] While en route to reinforce 'D' Squadron GPR, the Poles were caught in the open by machine-gun fire, killing their commander, Captain Gazurek, and another man.

[106] The seriously injured Hackett was taken to the CCS in the Hartenstein Hotel, and command of 4th Parachute Brigade given to Lieutenant-Colonel Iain Murray of the Glider Pilot Regiment.

[110] The German force including two Panther tanks and SP guns, came close to cutting the defenders off from the river and were only defeated by the artillery, followed up by bayonet and grenade counter-attacks.