<P> The last time a British battalion sized unit parachuted into combat was in 1956, but this is still considered a valid method of deployment . </P> <P> Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have interfered with parachute training; however, with re-rolling of UK military into contingency operations, parachuting has come to the forefront again . Details for the 1st Battalion are not known, as the British government does not comment on special forces . But it is believed that in 2010 a company group from the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) parachuted operationally into Afghanistan . </P> <P> Impressed by the success of German airborne operations, during the Battle of France, the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, directed the War Office to investigate the possibility of creating a corps of 5,000 parachute troops . On 22 June 1940, No. 2 Commando was turned over to parachute duties and on 21 November, re-designated the 11th Special Air Service Battalion, with a parachute and glider wing . It was these men who took part in the first British airborne operation, Operation Colossus, on 10 February 1941 . In September, the battalion was re-designated the 1st Parachute Battalion and assigned to the 1st Parachute Brigade . To fill out the brigade, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parachute Battalions were raised by calling for volunteers from all units in the British Army . </P> <P> The first operation by the Parachute Regiment was Operation Biting in February 1942 . The objective was to capture a Würzburg radar on the coast of France . The raid was carried out by' C' Company, 2nd Parachute Battalion, under the command of Major John Frost . </P>

When was the last time the paras jumped