The 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance was a Royal Army Medical Corps unit of the British airborne forces during the Second World War. The 224th Field Ambulance was converted to an airborne unit in 1942, and assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade, part of the 6th Airborne Division. They first saw active service in 1944 during the invasion of Normandy, and remained in France until September. They were then withdrawn back to England only to return to the continent at the end of the year in response to the German surprise winter offensive in the Ardennes forest. Their final mission of the war was the airborne assault over the River Rhine in 1945. They remained in Germany until the final surrender in May that year. After the war the 224th remained with the 6th Airborne Division, and following a brief period in England were sent to Mandate Palestine on an internal security role. In 1948, the field ambulance and most of the division was disbanded. Background 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. In September 1941 the 1st Parachute Brigade began forming, comprising three parachute infantry battalions. In keeping with British Army practice at the time, airborne supporting arms were created, including Royal Army Medical Corps volunteers. Of the seven airborne field ambulances formed during the Second World War, two were glider borne the 181st and the 195th. While the other five were parachute trained the 16th, 127th, 133rd, 224th and the 225th. 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance The 224th (Parachute) Field Ambulance was formed in December 1942, by the conversion of the 224th Field Ambulance to parachute duties. Once converted, they were assigned to the 3rd Parachute Brigade in the 6th Airborne Division. The war establishment of a parachute field ambulance was 177 all ranks, consisting of thirteen doctors in two surgical teams and four sections. The doctors could deal with 330 cases in a twenty-four-hour period. Each surgical team could handle 1.8 operations an hour. This rate could not be sustained and if they were required to operate the following day, the team had to be relieved after twelve hours. The 224th Parachute Field Ambulance was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Alistair Young, with a major as the second in command and a regimental