24/03/2025
OTD- today Mark's the 80th anniversary of Operstion Varsity the crossing of the river rhine and final leg into germany.
It was the largest concentration of airborne forces of the entire war with hard learnt lessons from previous drops being put to good use.
Early in the morning on March 24, 1945, two airborne divisions, one American and one British, flew over the Rhine River. This was the first airborne mission ever conducted into Germany. The Rhine was the final barrier keeping Allied forces from the heart of Germany.
The US 17th Airborne was to land in the southern portion of the XVIII Airborne Corps zone, and the British 6th Airborne was headed for the northern portion. The entire area was only 5 miles deep and 6 miles wide, and a total of nearly 18,000 airborne troops had to be inserted, making the airhead east of the Rhine the most congested airborne assault ever attempted at that time.
A total of 9,387 men of the 17th Airborne Division were transported in 72 C-46s and 226 C-47s, while 610 C-47s towed 906 Waco CG-4A gliders.
The British lift consisted of more than 8,000 men aboard 42 Douglas C-54s and 752 C-47s, with 420 Airspeed Horsa and General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders. In all, the sky train stretched nearly 200 miles and took two hours and 37 minutes to pass any given point. A protective blanket of 676 fighters from the U.S. Ninth Air Force and 213 fighters of the Royal Air Force escorted the armada.
On March 24, 1,070 members of the 17th Airborne and the 6th British Airborne Divisions were killed and thousands more wounded.
Source: Article in World War II by Bart Hagerman (1998)
Follow us on instagram for more pictures and stories 👉 https://www.instagram.com/joelstoppels/
