Operation Varsity
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Operation Varsity was a successful airborne forces operation launched by Allied troops toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it is the
C-47 transport aircraft drop hundreds of paratroopers as part of Operation Varsity.
C-47s and CG-4A gliders before take-off, 24 March 1945
British paratroopers in Hamminkeln, 25 March 1945
The city of Wesel lies in ruin after Allied bombardment.
Operation Plunder
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Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Re
Operation Varsity
…paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it is the largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location. Varsity was part of Operation Plunder, the Anglo-American-Canadian effort, led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, to cross the northern Rhine River and from there enter Northern Germany…
U.S. 89th Division crossing the Rhine under fire
British Commandos on the outskirts of Wesel
3-inch mortar of the 8th Royal Scots during the Rhine crossing, 24 March 1945