Operation Varsity
Map of the Allied military operations in the period from March 24 to 28, 1945 on the Lower Rhine
| date | 23. bis 27. March 1945 |
|---|---|
| place | Landing zone A - south and northwest of Hamminkeln Landing zone B - northwest of Wesel |
| output | Allied occupation |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 8000 | 16,870 |
| losses | |
|
Losses unknown |
approx. 2700 |
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The Operation Varsity was a airborne operation of the Allies at the end of World War II on the Lower Niederrhein . It was conducted on March 24, 1945 as part of Operation Plunder . Operation Varsity served the goal of building a bridgehead over the Rhine northwest of Wesel in order to then exploit the significant industrial potential on the Rhine, Emscher, Ruhr and Wupper in conjunction with armed forces that had crossed the Rhine in the Remagen area via the Ludendorff Bridge and to be able to include victory in the so-called Ruhr basin .
This military operation was named with the special term varsity , which in sport designates a school selection or a "university team". For Operation Plunder , a term was chosen which, as a verb, means “to plunder, to plunder”.
course
Operation Varsity included the largest airborne operation in World War II that was carried out in a day. It was attended by the British 6th Airborne Division and the 17th US Airborne Division (combined in the XVIII Airborne Corps ) with 540 transport aircraft and 1,300 cargo gliders . The British 6th Airborne Division consisted of five British and one Canadian battalion. Originally the 82nd US Airborne Division was planned for this operation, but the limited transport capacity required a limitation to two divisions . A total of 4,978 British and 9,387 American soldiers were released. The soldiers had the task of capturing the bridges of the Issel , which flows north and east of the airborne area, and the area of the Diersfordt Forest, in which units of the Wehrmacht were concentrated , which were important for the further advance .
During the operation, the first and only use of the American light airborne tank M22 Locust took place , but exclusively on the British side.
The operation was a success, but the remaining units of the Wehrmacht had expected the attack, so that they could inflict heavy losses on the Allies. The British losses on the first day alone amounted to 1,078 dead and injured. The 84th Infantry Division deployed on the German side was destroyed in the fighting.
Web links
- Operation Varsity on pegasusarchive.org (Engl.)
Movie
- Heinz Bosch, Wilhelm Haas: War on the Lower Rhine , Kleve district, 1976: Part 3: The jump over the Rhine (film documents about the Plunder and Varsitiy operations )
literature
- Johann J. Nitrowski: The air landing - The end of the war in the area of the cities Hamminkeln and Wesel . Hamminkeln 1997.