The brigade first saw action in the British airborne landings on D-Day Operation Tonga, where it was responsible for capturing the Caen canal and Orne river bridges.

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

[17] By 1944 a headquarters or support company was added to the battalion, comprising five platoons: motor transport, signals, mortar, machine-gun and anti-tank.

Training was therefore designed to encourage a spirit of self-discipline, self-reliance and aggressiveness, with emphasis given to physical fitness, marksmanship and fieldcraft.

Military exercises included capturing and holding airborne bridgeheads, road or rail bridges and coastal fortifications.

[22] In April 1944, under the command of 1st Airborne Corps, the brigade took part in Exercise Mush, in the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire.

To assist the brigade in its mission, 'D' Company from the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry was taken under its command to carry out a coup de main operation on the bridges.

[26] Just after midnight on 6 June 1944, six Halifax bombers towing Horsa gliders, with the reinforced 'D' Company from the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry on board, crossed the French coast.

[nb 4] Major John Howard commanded the company for the assault, which in short order captured the Benouville and Ranville bridges intact,[28] for the loss of two dead and several wounded.

A second German attack was also stopped, this time assisted by the 4th Airlanding Anti-Tank Battery, which destroyed three self propelled guns and a tank.

[34] The 13th Parachute Battalion secured Ranville, which had been held by a company from the German 711th Infantry Division, and was the first French village to be liberated during the landings.

The attack was beaten off for the loss of three tanks, but caused several casualties amongst 'A' Company, including the crew of their only supporting 6 pounder anti-tank gun.

On 10 June a large German force assembled to the south west of Breville and at 09:00 attacked across DZ-N towards the bridges and the 13th Parachute Battalion.

[43] At the same time, the 3rd Parachute Brigade, supported by the 5th Battalion, Black Watch from the 51st (Highland) Division, were attempting to capture Breville, the only German held village on the high ground overlooking the British positions.

[46] The next day, 13 June, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division crossed the waterways and took over the defence of the southern sector from the airlanding brigade.

[50] The three divisions east of the Orne together became I Corps; its commander, Lieutenant General John Crocker, knowing that the 6th Airborne had almost no artillery, vehicles or engineer equipment, did not expect it to advance very quickly.

The German counter-attack was halted by an artillery barrage, and Putot en Auge was captured by the combined forces of the 7th and 12th Parachute Battalions.

The battalion reached and safely crossed the westernmost branch, but heavy German resistance prevented them from securing the main part of the town.

[57] Overnight a patrol managed to cross the eastern branch, using a girder that had been left spanning the river when the bridge had been blown up.

[61] In nine days of fighting the 6th Airborne Division had advanced 45 miles (72 km),[62] despite, as the divisional commander Major-General Gale put it, his infantry units being "quite inadequately equipped for a rapid pursuit,".

[62] In England the division went into a period of recruitment and training, concentrating on house-to-house street fighting in the bombed areas of Southampton and Birmingham.

[66] The 5th Parachute Brigade was ordered towards Grupont, 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Rochefort, and on 3 January became involved in the division's only fighting in the Ardennes.

Near the end of February the division returned to England to prepare for another airborne mission, to cross the River Rhine into Germany.

The 5th Parachute Brigade would land on the northernmost DZ, DZ-B, and hold the area east of the Wesel railway line.

Their section of the DZ was only 700 yards (640 m) from a battery of German 88 mm guns, which also targeted the brigade headquarters and the assembly areas of the 12th Parachute Battalion.

Supported by tanks from the 4th Armoured Battalion, Grenadier Guards, they captured two bridges at Bordenau and Neustadt, and fought a small battle at Wunstorf airfield.

The 3rd Parachute Brigade won the race and led the division to Wismar, arriving on 1 May only 30 minutes before the lead troops of the Soviet Red Army advancing from the east.

Only the 7th and 12th Parachute battalions landed, and they re-embarked the next day to sail for Singapore as part of Operation Tiderace; they arrived on 21 September.

[94] Under the command of the 23rd Indian Infantry Division, the brigade carried out Operation Pounce, clearing the town and surrounding region of dissidents.

[96][nb 6] The 4th Anti-Tank Battery carried out patrols inside the town limits, while the Royal Army Service Corps platoon distributed food supplies.