Operation Varsity: Allied Airborne Assault Over the Rhine River

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When military strategists debate the outcomes of great battles, one of the toughest questions is whether the advantage gained by the victor was worth the cost. The high-level decisions that initiate battles are also under continuous debate. Airborne operations are frequently subjected to this type of analysis. Almost every Allied airborne assault of World War II has been examined and re-examined, and strong cases have been made against several of them. Should airborne troops have been used in Sicily given that they had to fly over friendly forces during hours of darkness? Was Operation Market Garden in Holland truly ‘a bridge too far,’ as Lieutenant General Frederick A.M. Browning called it?

Operation Varsity, the Allied airborne assault over the Rhine River at Wesel, Germany, on March 24, 1945, is one of those military actions whose value has sometimes been questioned. American forces had already crossed the Rhine at two locations when British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery mounted his assault in the north. Some have speculated that the airborne phase of the assault may have been unnecessary for the success of the overall operation. Montgomery has been accused of using the airborne troops to ‘put on a good show’ and to further his own reputation.

Not so, maintained the British commander, and to some extent, history supports his position. At the time of Montgomery’s decisive thrust, Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodges’ First Army had already seized the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen and Lt. Gen. George Patton’s Third Army had established a bridgehead near Oppenheim. Montgomery punched yet another hole in the weakening German front, which eventually developed more leaks than Adolf Hitler could plug. The German war machine began to grind to a halt.

For some time before Allied forces reached the Rhine, Allied Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters had been working on a plan called Operation Eclipse. It was a daring plan, including an airborne assault on Berlin itself. Before it could be put into action, however, Montgomery’s Twenty-first Army Group would have to cross the Rhine in the north, trapping the Germans between his forces and those of Hodges and Patton driving in from the south. With the enemy caught in that vise, Eisenhower figured the time would be ripe for a daring operation like Eclipse, which could probably end the war.

Eisenhower rather reluctantly agreed to Montgomery’s plan for crossing the Rhine, code-named ‘Plunder,’ which would be second in magnitude only to the Normandy invasion. Operation Varsity, the airborne phase of Plunder, would include the British 6th Airborne Division ‘Red Devils,’ commanded by Maj. Gen. Eric L. Bols, and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division ‘Thunder From Heaven,’ commanded by Maj. Gen. William ‘Bud’ Miley, in the largest airborne drop made in a single day — and would establish many other airborne warfare records that remain unchallenged.

Both divisions were part of the XVIII Airborne Corps, commanded by General Matthew B. Ridgway. The 6th Airborne troopers were veterans of the D-Day drop in Normandy, but Varsity would be the 17th Airborne’s first airborne combat assault. The American paratroopers had already distinguished themselves as a battle-tough outfit, however. Before Christmas 1944, the 17th had been rushed to the Continent from its bases in England and had seen heavy combat during the German Ardennes offensive.

Well-known for his insistence on meticulous planning and attacking only with an overwhelming advantage in manpower, Montgomery set the opening round of Plunder for March 23, 1945. His command included 17 infantry divisions, eight armored divisions and the two airborne divisions; 13 of the divisions were American, 12 British and two Canadian. In addition, he had five armored brigades, a British Commando brigade and a Canadian infantry brigade.

In addition to all the problems inherent in a complicated operation such as the Rhine crossing, the Allied commanders were somewhat distracted by the continuous bickering that went on in the American and British high command. Montgomery continued to maintain that he should be in overall command of the Allied forces, and he never missed an opportunity to take a dig at Eisenhower. The British also criticized Patton and his sometimes outrageous behavior, and they felt that Montgomery did not receive the credit he deserved.

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Tags: 20th - 21st Century, Airborne Operations, Historical Conflicts, World War II

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