he Parachute Regiment’s origins can be traced back to 1940, when Hitler’s effective use of paratroopers, or Fallschirmjäger, in his conquest of Europe inspired Britain to create its own airborne army. On 22 June, as France was falling, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sent a letter to his chief of staff Lord Ismay. “We ought to have a corps of at least 5,000 parachute troops,” he wrote. “Advantage must be taken of the summer to train these forces,
