Armoured warriors: Specialised airborne unit remembered 50 years after disbanding

Veterans of a specialised airborne unit that existed for only 11 years have attended the unveiling of a permanent display in recognition of its service.

The history of the Parachute Squadron, Royal Armoured Corps is being marked at the Boscombe Aviation Collection Museum at Old Sarum.

Two vehicles are on display – the Humber Hornet with its Malkara anti-tank guided missiles and the Alvis FV101 Scorpion.

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These vehicles were both light enough to be air-dropped and represent the types that were in use at the beginning and the end of the squadron's life respectively.

The Parachute Squadron, RAC was stood up on 3 February 1965, raised from cadres of Cyclops Squadron 2nd Royal Tank Regiment and The Special Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS).

The Parachute Squadron was the first RAC unit to serve in Airborne Forces since the disbandment of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron and the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment after the Second World War.

It was based in Candahar Barracks, Tidworth, on the edge of Salisbury Plain, some 30 miles from the rest of the Parachute Brigade in Aldershot.

The squadron only moved once again, in 1973, to the airfield at Old Sarum just north of Salisbury.

Serving with distinction

It was formed from volunteers taken from the then-26 regiments in the Royal Armoured Corps.

And despite its relatively short lifespan, the squadron served with distinction.

The Parachute Squadron, RAC was the first and only unit in the British Army to be issued with the Humber Hornet and its Malkara anti-tank guided missile system.

It provided the only long-range anti-tank defence for 16th Parachute Brigade until the advent of hand-held anti-tank defence weapons.

It was one of the few squadron-sized units to complete seven emergency tours in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1975.

And it was the only British airborne unit on UN duty in Cyprus during the Turkish invasion in 1974.

But as a result of the 1974 Defence Review, it was decided that that the airborne capability of the Army would be reduced and the Parachute Squadron RAC would be disbanded, with the squadron holding its final disbandment parade on 12 February 1976.