Bouncing the Rhine – Operation VARSITY

About

As the Western Allies emerged from the bitter cold winter of 1944-45 victory over Hitler's Third Reich seemed tantalizingly close. Just one last major barrier stood in their path before the anticipated final battles before Berlin: The formidable River Rhine.
Field Marshal Montgomery planned to bounce the Rhine with a combined Anglo-Canadian-US assault. Pushed on by an increasingly impatient Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, he planned to cross the Rhine on 24 March with the meticulously planned Operation Plunder.
A key component of Plunder was Operation Varsity, an Airborne landing involving British, Canadian and American Airborne formations. The British 6th Airborne Division, including the glider-borne troops of 6th (Airlanding) Brigade, would cross the Rhine alongside the recently formed US 17th Airborne Division. Varsity took place just 5 months after the disastrous Battle of Arnhem. Many of the lessons of Operation Market Garden were incorporated into the Varsity plan, however, for the Glider Pilot Regiment crossing the Rhine so soon after Arnhem presented significant challenges.
The ferocious fighting in Arnhem and around Oosterbeek had decimated the Glider Pilot Regiment. The GPR was at peak strength before Arnhem and it had committed over 1300 Glider Pilots to Market Garden. After 9 days of fighting the Regiment's two Wings had suffered 90% casualties. These men were simply irreplaceable. If British Airborne forces were to deploy gliders in meaningful numbers again a radical solution had to be found, and quickly.
In 'Bouncing the Rhine' Military Historian, Mike Peters will be talking about the lessons learned after Arnhem, the reconstitution of the Glider Pilot Regiment in the winter of 1944-45, and the key role played by the men of the Glider Pilot Regiment on Operation VARSITY.
If you are unable to be in the Museum on the night, buy an online pass to watch live and join in the Q&A, or watch on catch up afterwards. The Museum is an independent charity and all proceeds from this event go towards supporting the work we do in preserving the history of British Army aviation.