Without Tradition

This is the inspiring story of the airborne battalion commanded by the redoubtable Lieutenant Colonel John Frost. Formed in late 1941, as part of the new First parachute Brigade, the battalion was in almost constant action until its legendary stand at the Arnhem bridge in September 1944. After that action not one single officer was evacuated; all were either killed or captured. Indeed at the end of the War no less than 38 officers and some 800 men were held in POW camps.

This is testimony to the dedication and fighting spirit that the Battalion possessed and demonstrated so vividly during its five airborne operations. 2 PARA won the first two battle honours (Bruneval and Oudna) on the Parachute Regiment's Standard and no less than five out of the eleven that there are today.

This book describes the actions in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy before the scene shifts to the heroic and dramatic climax at Arnhem