Operation Deadstick 1944, but was delayed and then cancelled. The plans were adapted, and became Operation Market Garden. This operation would involve three airborne divisions, however the "coup-de-main" assault plans were not carried out. Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, of the Royal Air Force, praised the pilots involved saying the operation included the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war". Of the 181 men (139 infantry, 30 engineers and 12 pilots) of 'D' Company involved in the capture of the bridges, two were killed and an additional fourteen wounded. The 7th Battalion's losses during the defence of the bridges amounted to 18
Operation Airborne Dragon six divisions of Iraqi army in the north instead of being able to deploy them in the south to face the rapidly advancing US led coalition. Operation Airborne Dragon Operation Airborne Dragon was a part of Operation Northern Delay in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. On 7 April 2003, Task Force 1-63 landed 5 M1A1 tanks, 5 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and a battalion command post with satellite communications at Bashur Airfield in northern Iraq. Much of the Iraqi military capitulated 3 days later. The US forces were mostly made up of the 1st Battalion, 63rd Armor Regiment, a subordinate unit