At 10.00 am on 24th March 1945 airborne troops of the 18th Airborne Corps – British 6th Airborne Division and the US 17th Airborne Division - began dropping behind the enemy lines, north of Wesel and near Hamminkeln. More than 3,000 planes and gliders, escorted by a thousand allied fighters, dropped over 16,000 troops in three and a half hours – the largest airborne operation in a single day.
They were landing in part of ‘Flak Alley’ (as the RAF called it) - the Ruhr’s defences and were met by an inferno of German anti-aircraft guns taking advantage of the enforced break in Allied artillery fire.
The two airborne divisions attacking in Operation Varsity received more than 2,000 casualties but captured about 3,500 German soldiers. They also succeeded in severing communications, capturing vital routes and diverting attention from the forces crossing the Rhine.
By nightfall they had joined up with ground forces that had crossed the Rhine, establishing a firm bridgehead on the east bank.
(See the film Operation Varsity : Airborne Invasion East of the Rhine .)
Sandy Handley watched Operation Varsity begin from the banks of the River Rhine:
“In the early hours of the next morning the guns had ceased firing and we could actually hear birds singing. One of the Officers in charge of our section came over to our Daimler and said “Well done men!” although I didn’t think we’d done anything except cringe under the Daimler. It was really frightening. I think this Officer was more pleased to think none of us had gone round the bend with the noise and we were glad we weren’t on the receiving end of the bombardment. Although grovelling about under the vehicles was bad enough - we looked dirty and disheveled.
The officer then said at 10 o’clock this morning the Airborne paratroops and gliders will come over and land on the other side of the river near Wesel and precisely at 10 o’clock we heard a roar which grew louder and louder. Someone said “Here they come”. They flew low. It was one of the greatest memorable sights I have ever seen, unforgettable. First the paratroopers, then the gliders being towed over this great river.
As the planes reached the other side the enemy started to fire their anti-aircraft guns, several of the gliders were caught in the flack. My mate said “Look, the gliders are on fire. There’s men being burned alive up there.” It was terrible to watch.
A day or two after we left the banks of the Rhine and later crossed the Rhine on pontoon bridges ourselves. We could see the results of all that bombardment – whoever came out of that alive was lucky.”
(From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy etc 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)
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