THE FIRST BRIDGE TOO FAR: The Battle of Primosole Bridge 1943

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Primosole Bridge in Sicily (13-16 July 1943) provided the stage for the first instance of opposing elite paratroopers parachuting into battle and then fighting each other in a see-saw battle raging under the blazing Mediterranean sky.

The British paratroopers of the famed Parachute Regiment's 1st Parachute Brigade, known as the 'Red Devils,' fought their equally esteemed German paratrooper opponents, known as the 'Green Devils,' in a battle of attrition central to the entire success of the Allies' first invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe.

These two sets of elite Devils fought each other to a standstill in Hellish conditions. The paratroopers found themselves cut off behind enemy lines with dwindling ammunition and ever-growing enemy forces encircling. Their courage and determination in standing up to overwhelming odds allowed the ground forces to arrive and capture the bridge in the nick of time before it was destroyed. The hard-won experience gained by the 1st Parachute Brigade was again tested only a year later at the Battle of Arnhem, the battle christened 'a bridge too far.'

It was in fact an almost identical battle, but on a larger scale, to the ferocious fight that the British paratroopers had faced at Primosole Bridge. The Battle of Arnhem is well documented. The Battle of Primosole Bridge, which provided the foundations for the men and planning for later operations, is virtually unheard of and needs to be told at last in order to honor the sacrifice of the Britain's unsung war heroes.