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16 Airborne Division TA badge 16 Airborne Division TA

After WW2, the Territorial Army was reformed. Part of the reformation was the creation of 16 Airborne Division (TA), a completely new formation intended to take the place of the now disbanded wartime 1st and 6th Airborne Divisions. The number 16 evolved from an amalgam of the divisional numbers of the wartime Airborne Divisions and would be purely Territorial in its nature.

Spread UK wide, the Division comprised of 3 Brigades with the 44th (London) Brigade based throughout what is now the Greater London area. In addition the Divisional Headquarters was situated within Duke of York's Barracks, Chelsea, SW3.

In 1947 the 16 Airborne Division units in Greater London were:

Divisional Engineers

Headquarters 16 Airborne Division RE (TA)
Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea
301 Airborne Field Squadron
Drill Hall Mitchum Barracks, Croydon
302 Engineer Park Squadron
Drill Hall, The Hyth, Hendon
131 Airborne Engineer Regiment

Pont Street, Westminster

Divisional Artillery
880 Forward Observation Battery RA (TA)
Drill Hall Algernon Road, Hendon
285 (Essex) Airborne Field Regiment RA (TA)
Drill Hall Stratford Green
291 (4th London) Airborne Field Regiment RA (TA)
Drill Hall Ennersdale Road, Lewisham
292 (5th London) Airborne Field Regiment RA (TA)

Drill Hall Reedworth Street, Kensington

Royal Army Medical Corps
144 Parachute Field Ambulance

Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea

Divisional Column Royal Army Service Corps (TA)
Headquarters 16 Airborne Divisional Column RASC (TA)
Duke of York's HQ initially then moving to Hayes Bridge,
Southall in 1949
1560 Company RASC (TA)
Drill Hall Park Lane, Tottenham
1561 Company RASC (TA)
Drill Hall Vine Street, Uxbridge
1562 Company RASC (TA)

Drill Hall Hayes Bridge, Southall

Other Units
4th Airborne Workshop REME (TA)
Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea
21st Special Air Service Regiment (TA)
Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea
16th Airborne Division Royal Signal Regiment 
(Middlesex Yeomanry) (TA)
Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea
301 Airborne Field Park Squadron
Drill Hall Algernon Road, Hendon
302 Airborne Field Park Squadron
Drill Hall Algernon Road, Hendon
16th Airborne Division Provost Company (TA)
Drill Hall 456 Uxbridge Road
16th Airborne Division Field Security Section (TA)

Duke of York's HQ, Chelsea

4th Parachute Brigade
Infantry – 10th Battalion (County of London)
The Parachute Regiment (TA)

Battalion Headquarters 
Drill Hall 84 Victoria Way, Charlton
Defence & Employment Platoon
Drill Hall Rochester Row, Westminster
No. 1 Company
Drill Hall Rochester Row, Westminster
No. 2 Company
Drill Hall Poplar Walk, Croydon
Support Company

Drill Hall 84 Victoria Way, Charlton

Infantry – 11th Battalion
(8th Middlesex) The Parachute Regiment
Battalion HQ and HQ Company
Drill Hall Hanworth Road, Uxbridge
A & Support Company
Drill Hall Twickenham
B Company
Drill Hall Churchfield Road, Ealing
C Company
Drill Hall, Whitefriers, Wealdstone
D Company
Drill Hall Church Lane, Edmonton

 

The establishment of the Division was 3,500 men and in 1947 there were high hopes that this target would be achieved. Recruiting was brisk with many experienced airborne veterans from the wartime 1st and 6th Airborne being first to join along with young men with no previous military experience. However, it soon became clear that such a large airborne formation relying on reserve force soldiers could not be recruited and trained to standards demanded in anything like the numbers required.

In 1955, 16 Airborne Division (TA) was reduced to a Brigade-size formation and became an Independent Parachute Group. Many of the formations that made up the Division were either disbanded or, like the 11th Battalion, reverted to their former Regiment, the 8th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment.

In 2014, the only units within Greater London that were once part of the mighty 16th Airborne Division and still in the Airborne role are:

B Company 4th Battalion The Parachute Regiment based at the Army Reserve Centre, White City, Shepherd's Bush  W12 7RW

144 Parachute Medical Squadron based at the Army Reserve Centre, 2 Priory Road, Hornsey  N8 7QT

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