Teams from the whole Airborne community are making special pilgrimages to Arnhem for the 75th Anniversary Commemorations of Op Market Garden 1944. And they have chosen to support us while they are it.

Steve Larken and team (above) are cycling from the Cenotaph in London to John Frost Bridge in Arnhem. The team consists of injured & able bodied former soldiers.

They will depart the ferry on the 19th, ride to John Frost Bridge to enjoy a beer or two with friends and former colleagues. The following day we will cycle the battlefield tour and join in with the parade and celebrations. On the 21st we will cycle to Ginkel Heath DZ for the day’s events.

Ian Dorling is leading an Arnhem Bimble of retired Airborne REME. The first of these ‘Bimbles’ took place in 1986 and then every other year for about 20 years.

The current team consists of 19 men the oldest being 64 and the youngest 40ish. Our planned route is to depart from Aldershot and tab, with 35 lbs bergens, to Arnhem via London, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harwich, Utrecht and Ede. The event will be a relay with two men tabbing at any one time over short legs of approx 3 miles.  Our final leg will be from Ede to the John Frost Bridge via Heelsum and following Route Lion to arrive at the John Frost Bridge at approx 1500hrs on Fri 20 Sep 19

In August 2019, two Officers from 2 PARA completed an endurance triathlon over three days to raise money for Support Our Paras. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pegasuscrossing

Jamie and Matt, both Captains, wanted to recognise the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy landings and raise money for their regimental charity in doing so.

The event involved:

• 21-mile relay swim across the English Channel.
• 150-mile bike from Calais to Bruneval (the scene of the first airborne raid).
• 50-mile TAB from Bruneval to Pegasus Bridge (the first objective to be seized on D-Day in 1944).

The event was quite a challenge but they both reached the finish line in true PARA fashion, raising a great amount for the charity in the process. https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pegasuscrossing

3 PARA returned from Ex SWIFT RESPONSE in July where they were working alongside their French and American counterparts in Croatia. However, a small team from C Coy have chose to take the long route home and tabbed 500 miles back across Europe.

Exercise Enduring Heritage was the brainchild of OC C Coy, Maj Andrew Fox, and involved a team of guys conducting a weighted march from Arnhem to Normandy, two places that are very significant to the history of The Parachute Regiment, in order to raise money for the regimental charity, Support Our Paras. You can sponsor them here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/enduringheritage

We are pleased to report that just after lunch on 18 July, after 20 solid days tabbing, the team crossed the finish line at Pegasus Bridge!

The guys were joined along the way by superstar DJ and ex-PARA, Danny Rampling, for 75 miles of their epic journey. Danny has been a huge supporter of the charity over the years and regularly joins us for PARAS’10. Professional MMA fighter and Police Officer, Kerry Hughes also joined the team and crossed the finish line with them on 18 July.

To catch up with the team’s journey and see the highlights of their challenge, check out Maj Fox on Twitter at https://twitter.com/maj_fox

Merville Barracks is rather quiet at the moment as the majority of 3 PARA are away on exercise in a variety of locations. One of those locations is The Falkland Islands, where A Coy deployed almost two months ago.

Not content with just going on exercise, A Coy decided they wanted to take PARAS’10 back to the Falklands, two years after the inaugural race when 3 PARA were last out there in 2017.

At the end of June, A Coy held their own PARAS’10 with finisher t-shirts and medals like every other race, and raising money for their Regimental Charity. You can sponsor them here https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JamesThwaite

Their aim was to raise £5,000 which will go towards supporting their brothers and their families when they are in times of need, but they need your help to make that target a reality.

This event was the second international PARAS’10 this year and the third 2019 race. The first was held in Kabul, where 3 PARA were deployed earlier this year and the second was our regular Colchester event, which saw record numbers attend.

If you’d like to test yourself against The Parachute Regiment standards, you can join us at our Catterick event this September. For more information or to sign up, please visit https://paras10.com/

Two brothers, David and Colin Richardson, both former members of The Parachute Regiment, paddled their boat, a WW2 copy folding kayak (TONGA TWO), 100NM from Portsmouth Harbour to Pegasus Bridge, Benouville, Normandy on 05-06 June 2019,  in support of The Parachute Regiment Charity. You can support them here https://mydonate.bt.com/events/peggypaddle  

Having served in the 1st and 2nd Battalions around the globe, often in the same operational theatre at the same time, the Richardson Brothers wanted to to continue to contribute to the wider Parachute Regiment family, ensuring that those members and their families affected by recent and not so recent operations can continue to get the vital support they require and deserve. 

Colin & David set off at 0400 from Portsmouth Harbour on 5 June 2019 with their 6 man support crew getting ready for the journey ahead.

Their support boat SEALEGS IV and rescue zodiac were manned by ardent mariners who were all up for the challenge of supporting these brothers on their challenge.

Colin said, “The people of Normandy have pulled out all the stops to assist us and Madame Arlette Gondree has marshalled support from the Mayor of Benouville and the Harbour Master and his team at Ouistreham.”

We are pleased to report that Colin & David made it to Pegasus Bridge at 1201hrs on 6 June, having completed the crossing in just 30hrs 27mins.

A huge well done from the team at SUPPORT OUR PARAS!