The Men of the Red Beret : Airborne Forces 1940 to Present Day

After the fall of France in 1940, Churchill was determined to get back into Europe.

He wrote to the War Office: "We ought to have a corps of at least 5000 parachute troops." Thus "The Red Berets" were born, and this is their story.

Their reputation was forged on the World War II battlefields in North Africa and Normandy, during the Rhine Crossing and, most famously, at Arnhem, since when they have been deployed in Palestine, Malaya, Cyprus, Suez, Borneo and Aden.

They were involved in some of the fiercest fighting in The Falklands and have had a long commitment in Northern Ireland.

Told entirely in the words of the men themselves and those closely involved in their major operations, this is a first-hand account of war and a testament to the courage, adaptability and loyalty of the Paras.