Editing Operation Varsity (section)

==Battle==
[[File:VarsityDropZones.svg|thumb|300px|Planned drop zones for Operation Varsity]]
[[Operation Plunder]] began at 9 pm on the evening of 23 March, and by the early hours of the morning of 24 March [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] ground units had secured a number of crossings on the eastern bank of the Rhine.<ref name="Tugwell273">Tugwell, p. 273</ref> In the first few hours of the day, the transport aircraft carrying the two airborne divisions that formed Operation Varsity began to take off from airbases in England and France and began to rendezvous over Brussels, before turning northeast for the Rhine dropping zones. The airlift consisted of 541 transport aircraft containing airborne troops, and a further 1,050 troop-carriers towing 1,350 gliders.<ref name="Tugwell273"/> The [[17th Airborne Division (United States)|U.S. 17th Airborne Division]] consisted of 9,387 personnel, who were transported in 836 [[C-47 Skytrain]] transports, 72 [[C-46 Commando]] transports, and more than 900 [[Waco CG-4]]A gliders. The [[6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 6th Airborne Division]] consisted of 7,220 personnel transported by 42 [[Douglas C-54]] and 752 C-47 Dakota transport aircraft, as well as 420 [[Airspeed Horsa]] and [[General Aircraft Hamilcar]] gliders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/operation-varsity-allied-airborne-assault-over-the-rhine-river.htm |title=Operation Varsity: Allied Airborne Assault Over the Rhine |access-date=2008-05-01 |author=Hagerman, Bart |date=12 June 2006 |orig-year=originally in February 1998 issue |work=World War II Magazine |archive-date=25 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080425004633/http://www.historynet.com/operation-varsity-allied-airborne-assault-over-the-rhine-river.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Otway307"/> This immense armada stretched more than {{convert|200|mi|km|0}} in the sky and took 2 hours and 37 minutes to pass any given point, and was protected by some 2,153 Allied fighters from the [[Ninth Air Force|U.S. Ninth Air Force]] and the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref>Devlin, p. 616</ref> The combination of the two divisions in one lift made this the largest single day airborne drop in history.<ref>Whiting, p. 113</ref> At 10 am British and American airborne troops belonging to the 6th Airborne Division and 17th Airborne Division began landing on German soil, some 13 hours after the Allied ground assault began.<ref name="Tugwell273"/>

===6th Airborne Division===
The first element of the [[6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)|British 6th Airborne Division]] to land was the [[8th (Midlands) Parachute Battalion|8th Parachute Battalion]], part of the [[3rd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|3rd Parachute Brigade]] under [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)|Brigadier]] [[James Hill (British Army officer)|James Hill]].<ref name="Devlin624">Devlin, p. 624</ref> The brigade actually dropped nine minutes earlier than scheduled, but successfully landed in drop zone A, while facing significant small-arms and 20&nbsp;mm anti-aircraft fire. The brigade suffered a number of casualties as it engaged the German forces in the Diersfordter Wald, but by 11:00 hours the drop zone was all but completely clear of enemy forces and all battalions of the brigade had formed up.<ref name="Otway307">Otway, p. 307</ref> 

The key place of Schnappenberg was captured by the [[9th (Eastern and Home Counties) Parachute Battalion|9th Parachute Battalion]] in conjunction with the [[1st Canadian Parachute Battalion]].

The [[1st Canadian Parachute Battalion]] lost its [[commanding officer|Commanding Officer]] (CO), [[Lieutenant-colonel (Canada)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Jeff Nicklin]], to German small-arms fire only moments after he landed.<ref name="Devlin624" /> Despite taking casualties, the brigade cleared the area of German forces, and by 13:45 Brigadier Hill reported that the brigade had secured all of its objectives.<ref name="Otway307" /> Canadian [[Orderly|medical orderly]] [[Corporal]] [[Frederick George Topham]] was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]] for his efforts to recover casualties and take them for treatment, despite his own wounds and great personal danger.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=37205|page=3965|date=31 July 1945}}</ref>

[[File:Paras hamminkeln 25 march 1945.jpg|thumb|[[Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)|British paratroopers]] in [[Hamminkeln]], 25 March 1945]]

The next British airborne unit to land was the [[5th Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|5th Parachute Brigade]], commanded by Brigadier [[Nigel Poett]].<ref>Ministry of Information, p. 139</ref> The brigade was designated to land on drop zone B and achieved this, although not as accurately as 3rd Parachute Brigade due to poor visibility around the drop zone, which also made it more difficult for paratroopers of the brigade to rally. The drop zone came under heavy fire from German troops stationed nearby, and was subjected to shellfire and mortaring which inflicted casualties in the battalion rendezvous areas.<ref name="Otway308">Otway, p. 308</ref> However, the [[7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion|7th Parachute Battalion]] soon cleared the DZ of German troops, many of whom were situated in farms and houses, and the [[12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion|12th Parachute Battalion]] and [[13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion|13th Parachute Battalion]] rapidly secured the rest of the brigade's objectives.<ref name="Otway308"/> The brigade was then ordered to move due east and clear an area near Schermbeck, as well as to engage German forces gathered to the west of the farmhouse where the 6th Airborne Division Headquarters was established. By 15:30 Brigadier Poett reported that the brigade had secured all of its objectives and linked up with other British airborne units.<ref name="Otway308"/>

The third airborne unit that formed a part of the 6th Airborne Division was the [[6th Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)|6th Airlanding Brigade]], commanded by Brigadier [[Hugh Bellamy]].<ref>Otway, p. 302</ref> The brigade was tasked with landing in company-sized groups and capturing several objectives, including the town of [[Hamminkeln]].<ref>Otway, pp. 302–303</ref> The gliders containing the airborne troops of the brigade landed in landing zones P, O, U and R under considerable antiaircraft fire, the landing being made even more difficult due to the presence of a great deal of haze and smoke. This resulted in a number of [[Glider Pilot Regiment|glider pilots]] being unable to identify their landing areas and losing their bearings; a number of gliders landed in the wrong areas or crashed.<ref name="Otway308"/> However, the majority of the gliders survived, allowing the battalions of the brigade to secure intact the three bridges over the [[Oude IJssel|River Issel]] that they had been tasked with capturing, as well as the village of Hamminkeln with the aid of American paratroopers of the [[513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)|513th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], which had been dropped by mistake nearby. The brigade secured all of its objectives shortly after capturing Hamminkeln.<ref name="Otway308"/>

===17th Airborne Division===
The [[507th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)|507th Parachute Infantry Regiment]], under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] [[Edson Raff]], was the lead assault formation for the [[17th Airborne Division (United States)|17th Airborne Division]], and was consequently the first American airborne unit to land as part of Operation Varsity. The entire regiment was meant to be dropped in drop zone W, a clearing {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} north of Wesel; however, excessive ground haze confused the pilots of the transport aircraft carrying the regiment, and as such when the 507th dropped it split into two halves.<ref name="Devlin617">Devlin, p. 617</ref> Colonel Raff and approximately 690 of his paratroopers landed northwest of the drop zone near the town of Diersfordt, with the rest of the regiment successfully landing in drop zone W.<ref name="Devlin617"/> The colonel rallied his separated paratroopers and led them to drop zone W, engaging a battery of German artillery en route, killing or capturing the artillery crews before reuniting with the rest of the regiment.<ref name="Devlin617"/> By 2 pm, the 507th PIR had secured all of its objectives and cleared the area around Diersfordt, having engaged numerous German troops and also destroying a German tank.<ref name="devlin619">Devlin, p. 619</ref> The actions of the 507th Parachute Infantry during the initial landing also gained the division its second [[Medal of Honor]], when [[Private (rank)|Private]] [[George J. Peters|George Peters]] [[Posthumous recognition|posthumously]] received the award after charging a German machine gun nest and eliminating it with rifle fire and grenades, allowing his fellow paratroopers to gather their equipment and capture the regiment's first objective.<ref name="MOHMS">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-m-s.html |title=Medal of Honor Recipients World War II (M-S) |access-date=2008-05-24 |author=United States Army, Centre of Military History |date=16 July 2007 |publisher=United States Army |archive-date=30 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080430113840/http://www.history.army.mil/html/moh/wwII-m-s.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>
[[File:Wesel 1945.jpg|thumb|left|The city of [[Wesel]] lies in ruin after [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombardment.]]

The [[513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)|513th Parachute Infantry Regiment]] was the second American airborne unit to land after the 507th, under the command of Colonel [[James Coutts (United States Army officer)|James Coutts]].<ref name="devlin619"/> En route to the drop zone, the transport aircraft carrying the 513th had the misfortune to pass through a belt of German antiaircraft weapons, losing 22 of the C-46 transport aircraft and damaging a further 38.<ref>Devlin, p. 620</ref> Just as the 507th had, the 513th also suffered from pilot error due to the ground haze, and as such the regiment actually missed its designated drop zone, DZ X, and was dropped on one of the landing zones designated for the [[6th Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)|British 6th Airlanding Brigade]].<ref name="Tugwell274"/> Despite this inaccuracy the paratroopers swiftly rallied and aided the British glider-borne troops who were landing simultaneously, eliminating several German artillery batteries that were covering the area.<ref name="Tugwell274">Tugwell, p. 274</ref> Once the German troops in the area had been eliminated, a combined force of American and British airborne troops stormed [[Hamminkeln]] and secured the town.<ref name="Devlin621">Devlin, p. 621</ref> By 2 pm, Colonel Coutts reported to Divisional Headquarters that the 513th Parachute Infantry had secured all of its objectives, having knocked out two tanks and two complete regiments of artillery during their assault.<ref name="Devlin621"/> During its attempts to secure its objectives, the regiment also gained a third Medal of Honor for the 17th Airborne Division when [[Private first class|Private First Class]] [[Stuart S. Stryker|Stuart Stryker]] posthumously received the award after leading a charge against a German machine-gun nest, creating a distraction to allow the rest of his platoon to capture the fortified position in which the machine-gun was situated.<ref name="MOHMS"/>

[[File:GLIDER TROOPS AFTER LANDING NEAR WESEL (Operation Varsity).jpg|thumb|American [[Glider infantry|glider troops]] of the [[194th Glider Infantry Regiment (United States)|194th Glider Infantry Regiment]] after landing near Wesel]]

The third component of the 17th Airborne Division to take part in the operation was the [[194th Glider Infantry Regiment (United States)|194th Glider Infantry Regiment]] (GIR), under the command of Colonel [[James Pierce (U.S. Army officer)|James Pierce]].<ref name="Devlin624"/> Troopers of the 194th GIR landed accurately in landing zone S, but their gliders and tow aircraft took heavy casualties; 12 C-47 transports were lost due to anti-aircraft fire, and a further 140 were damaged by the same fire.<ref name="Devlin624"/> The regiment landed in the midst of a number of German artillery batteries that were engaging Allied ground forces [[Operation Plunder|crossing the Rhine]], and as such many of the gliders were engaged by German artillery pieces that had their barrels lowered for direct-fire.<ref name="Devlin624"/> However, these artillery batteries and their crews were defeated by the glider-borne troops, and the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment was soon able to report that its objectives had been secured, having destroyed 42 artillery pieces, 10 tanks, 2 [[Self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon|self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles]] and 5 self-propelled guns.<ref name="Devlin624"/>