Battle Honours

From the moment British airborne was formed after Churchill noted the impressive feats of Germany's elite Falschirmjaeger paratroopers, Britain's Airborne were destined to be an elite fighting force - taking part in commando raids and large scale airborne landings.

The story of the armored units who landed in Normandy to spearhead the Allied advance into Nazi occupied Europe and break open the Third Reich's defences ? in the face of minefields, camouflaged anti-tank guns and crack SS Panzer corps equipped with some of the most fearsome enemy tanks of the war.

This is the story of the US 101st Airborne, the Screaming Eagles, who parachuted into their first battle on D-Day, 6th June 1944 and swiftly proved their worth as one of the most accomplished and toughest combat formations ever fielded by the US army.

America's first true Special Forces units, the Rangers were specially selected and trained with the help of British commandos. A select few joined their British counterparts in the ill-fated Dieppe Raid of 1942, and became the first US ground troops to see action in Europe.