Airborne forces of Australia

Like the British Army, Australia did not have a parachute operations capability at the outbreak of the Second World War; however, the demonstration of the effectiveness of such forces by the Germans in the early stages of the conflict soon provided the impetus for their development.

[1] In November 1942 the Paratroop Training Unit (PTU) was formed in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), while approval was granted for the establishment of the 1st Parachute Battalion in August 1943.

Later, a specialised airborne artillery battery and engineer troop were also raised, to support the 1st Parachute Battalion on operations.

[3] The 1st Parachute Battalion reached full strength by January 1944, but, although it was warned for action a number of times, including the possible rescue of prisoners of war held at Sandakan in 1945, it did not see any fighting.

[5] The PTW was responsible for all parachute training for Army, Navy and Air Force personnel, with the first course commencing in September 1951.

[10] Although during the Vietnam War the primary method of insertion used by the SASR was by helicopter, 3 Squadron made an operational parachute jump 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north west of Xuyen Moc on 15–16 December 1969.

[1] Meanwhile, the battalion or its sub-units subsequently served multiple operational tours in East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.

[24][25] 3 RAR subsequently relinquished the parachute role to provide the Army with greater flexibility to develop an amphibious infantry battalion.

[32] Other units from Special Operations Command, including the SASR and the reserve 1st Commando Regiment, also maintain a range of parachute capabilities and Combat Controllers from the Air Force's B Flight, No.

[36] During the Second World War members of the 1st Parachute Battalion also wore the dull cherry beret, which they adopted from airborne units of the British Army.