 The division was still in the midst of formation, reorganisation and training when it was called upon to provide a parachute force to take part in Operation Dracula.This was an amphibious operation intended to capture Rangoon, the capital and principal port of Burma, which was reinstated at short notice after being earlier cancelled.A composite Gurkha parachute battalion was formed from the two Gurkha battalions of the Indian Parachute Regiment, and landed behind Japanese coastal defences at the mouth of the Rangoon river on 1 May 1945.