History of the Royal Military Police out their duties. In addition, 28 Officers were killed or died whilst serving with CMP units. On 6 June 1944, the Allies launched Operation Overlord, the invasion of the European mainland. CMP units taking part included: "The Battle of Normandy and subsequent battles would never have been won but for the work and co-operation of the Provost on the traffic routes." (Field Marshal Montgomery, 1945) In 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, the airborne assault to capture bridges over the Lower Rhine in the Netherlands. The 1st (Airborne) Divisional Provost Company, CMP captured the police station in Arnhem, but
Airborne forces and were rarely used as parachute troops afterward. On 6 December 1944, a 750-strong detachment from "Teishin Shudan" ("Raiding Division") and the "Takachiho" special forces unit, attacked U.S. airbases in the Burauen area on Leyte, in The Philippines. The force destroyed some planes and inflicted casualties, but was eventually wiped out. Japan built a combat strike force of 825 gliders but never committed it to battle. Ironically, the battle that ended Germany's paratrooper operations had the opposite effect on the Allies. Convinced of the effectiveness of airborne assaults after Crete, the Allies hurried to train and organize their own airborne