The 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment was formed on 30 September 1941 at
Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, as the 2nd Parachute Battalion, from volunteers drawn from units across the British Army (retaining a notably strong Scottish character throughout the war). Its first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel E. W. C. Flavell. The battalion initially formed part of the
Army Air Corps.
Second World War Its first active operation was the night of 27-28 February 1942, when C Company, commanded by Major
John Frost, spearheaded
Operation Biting (the Bruneval Raid) against a German
Würzburg radar station near
Le Havre, France. The company captured vital radar components and a German technician; the force was successfully evacuated by Royal Navy landing craft. The raid yielded critical technical intelligence and was a major propaganda success. In honour of the achievement, C Company received the permanent nickname "C (Bruneval) Company", and Bruneval became the first battle honour of the Parachute Regiment. On 1 August 1942 the battalion was redesignated the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. Isolated 56 miles behind enemy lines and facing strong German armour, artillery,
Stuka dive-bombers and fighters, the battalion, now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Frost after Lieutenant Colonel G. P. Gofton-Salmond fell ill, conducted a fighting withdrawal to
Medjez el Bab. The action cost 16 officers and 250 other ranks; Oudna was nevertheless awarded as a battle honour. The survivors then fought as conventional infantry through the
Tunisian campaign until April 1943. This was followed in September 1943 by
Operation Slapstick, a seaborne landing at
Taranto on the Italian mainland. The defence of Arnhem Bridge remains one of the most famous feats of British airborne troops in the Second World War.
Post-war reorganisation After the war the battalion was reformed and served with the
6th Airborne Division in Palestine from late 1945. Sent initially as the Imperial Strategic Reserve, the division (and 2 Para as part of the 2nd Parachute Brigade, based in the Gaza area) rapidly assumed internal security duties amid escalating violence between Jewish and Arab communities and attacks by Zionist insurgent groups such as
Irgun and
Lehi. The battalion conducted cordon and search operations, road blocks, convoy protection and guarding of key installations throughout the
Mandate period. The 6th Airborne Division as a whole suffered 58 killed and 236 wounded during its time in Palestine. On 13 December 1947 the battalion was amalgamated with the 3rd Parachute Battalion to form the 2nd/3rd Parachute Battalion, which was disbanded shortly afterwards. A new 2nd Battalion was created later the same year by redesignating the
5th (Scottish) Parachute Battalion.
Suez Crisis and Middle East In the early postwar years the battalion conducted internal security duties with the
16th Parachute Brigade. It deployed to the
Canal Zone in Egypt from 1951 to 1954 to safeguard the Suez Canal amid regional unrest, undertaking guard duties, mobile patrols and training drops into neighbouring Jordan. In July 1956 it moved to Cyprus to conduct anti-terrorist operations against the
EOKA insurgency in the
Kyrenia Mountains and around Nicosia. Later that year it took part in
Operation Musketeer during the Suez Crisis as part of
16 Independent Parachute Brigade Group, conducting sea-borne landings at
Port Said and occupying El Cap. In July 1958 the battalion flew into Amman, Jordan, as part of the brigade intervention force to stabilise the kingdom. The intervention was bloodless and widely regarded as a successful hearts-and-minds operation; the battalion was later awarded the
Wilkinson Sword of Peace for acts of humanity and kindness overseas. The first 700-pound bomb, hidden in a parked trailer, destroyed part of a convoy; a second device detonated as rescuers arrived. This was the deadliest single attack on the British Army during the Troubles. Command passed to Major Chris Keeble. After fierce trench-to-trench fighting, A Company cleared Darwin Ridge by midday, B Company captured Boca Hill with
MILAN anti-tank missiles, and D Company pushed on to the settlement. By last light on 28 May all positions except Goose Green itself had been taken. Negotiations overnight led to an unconditional Argentine surrender on the morning of 29 May. The battalion took approximately 961-1,250 prisoners and inflicted around 45-55 Argentine killed, at the cost of 15 men killed (including the commanding officer) and 33 paratroopers wounded. Several gallantry awards were made for the battle, including the
Distinguished Service Order to Major
Chris Keeble, Military Crosses to Majors John Crosland and Charles Farrar-Hockley, Distinguished Conduct Medals to Corporal David Abols and others, and numerous Military Medals. The action opened the way for the advance into
Port Stanley; 2 Para was among the first British troops to enter the capital on 14 June as the Argentine forces surrendered. The battalion subsequently guarded Argentine prisoners of war (including at sheep sheds in Fitzroy) before repatriation and performed deterrent duties on the islands. It is estimated the battle group inflicted around 150 Taliban casualties. The intensity of contacts was compared to some of the heaviest fighting of the Second World War. The tour involved further patrolling and mentoring Afghan forces in a still-dangerous environment but saw a lower tempo of contacts than 2008. The battalion completed the six-month deployment as part of the ongoing drawdown and transition to Afghan-led security.
Phantom Platoon In 2026 the battalion formed Phantom Platoon, a Cyber and Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) platoon assigned to provide tactical
electronic‑warfare and spectrum‑management support to 16 Air Assault Brigade. The platoon deployed with 2 PARA to Exercise Orion in France, a multinational airborne exercise led by
11e Brigade Parachutiste and involving about 2,000 personnel from 16 Air Assault Brigade and French units. Organised into elements for signals collection, electronic attack and spectrum management, Phantom Platoon was reported to operate "
Kraken" (a software‑defined radio signal tracker), "
Unagi" (a reconfigurable transmitter for jamming and deception) and "
Plankton" (a Wi‑Fi extender used against unmanned systems), and to use mission software for signal analysis and geolocation. The platoon’s activities on Orion were described as trials to assess battalion‑level
SIGINT reporting, coordination of electronic‑attack effects with manoeuvre, and brigade spectrum deconfliction in an electronically contested training environment. == Structure ==