Misplaced Pages

#241758

106-404: [REDACTED] XVIII Airborne Corps Logistics Operation Varsity (24 March 1945) 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 largest airborne operation ever conducted on a single day and in one location. Varsity was part of Operation Plunder ,

212-400: 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. The 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment was the second American airborne unit to land after the 507th, under the command of Colonel James Coutts . En route to the drop zone, the transport aircraft carrying the 513th had

318-465: A captured Kϋbelwagen ; to report by radio. But the Kϋbelwagen was put out of action while in the glider; three tires and the long-range radio were shot up (German gunners were told to attack the gliders not the tow planes). Operation Varsity was a successful large-scale airborne operation. All of the objectives that the airborne troops had been tasked with had been captured and held, usually within only

424-399: A cost-cutting measure—the same will occur to the divisional headquarters of the 82nd Airborne Division . This plan is designed to follow the U.S. Army's restructuring plan to go from being division-based to brigade-based. This will mean that the largest units that will be airborne – specifically parachute certified – will be at the brigade level. Even so, for traditional and historical reasons,

530-475: A distraction to allow the rest of his platoon to capture the fortified position in which the machine-gun was situated. The third component of the 17th Airborne Division to take part in the operation was the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR), under the command of Colonel James Pierce . 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

636-508: A few hours of the operation beginning. The bridges over the Issel had been successfully captured, although one later had to be destroyed to prevent its capture by counter-attacking German forces. The Diersfordter Forest had been cleared of enemy troops, and the roads through which the Germans might have routed reinforcements against the advance had been cut by airborne troops. Finally, Hamminkeln,

742-449: A fortified position by the Germans. The casualties taken by both airborne formations were quite heavy, although lighter than had been expected. By nightfall of 24 March, the 6th Airborne Division had suffered around 1,400 personnel killed , wounded or missing in action out of the 7,220 personnel who were landed in the operation. The division also claimed to have secured around 1,500 prisoners of war . The 17th Airborne Division suffered

848-521: A further 1,050 troop-carriers towing 1,350 gliders. The 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 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. This immense armada stretched more than 200 miles (322 km) in

954-485: A further 140 were damaged by the same fire. The regiment landed in the midst of a number of German artillery batteries that were engaging Allied ground forces crossing the Rhine , and as such many of the gliders were engaged by German artillery pieces that had their barrels lowered for direct-fire. However, these artillery batteries and their crews were defeated by the glider-borne troops, and the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment

1060-1005: A joint training exercise between the Republic of Korea Army and coalition forces stationed there. In mid-April, 2007, the Department of the Army confirmed the next OIF deployment schedule, with XVIII Airborne Corps deploying to relieve III Corps as the MNC-I at Camp Victory , Baghdad, Iraq. XVIII Airborne Corps is scheduled to replace III Corps in November, 2007. The corps will deploy along with 1st Armored Division and 4th Infantry Division , as well as 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division , and 1st BCT, 82nd Airborne Division. On 21 December 2016, Stars and Stripes reported that in August

1166-452: A lack of transport aircraft to drop this division led to it being excluded from the final plan. Thus, the unsolved problem of a shortage of transport aircraft meant that a third of the planned troops to be used were discarded, weakening the fighting power of the airborne formation. In the event, the airborne troops actually employed were sufficient to overwhelm the defenders. There was also a shortage of gliders, although Brereton eventually got

SECTION 10

#1732772406242

1272-501: A night-assault. The airborne landings were conducted during the day primarily because the planners believed that a daytime operation had a better chance of success than at night, the troops being less scattered. However, landing paratroopers, and especially gliders, without the cover of darkness left them exceedingly vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. The official history of the British Airborne Divisions highlights

1378-647: 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. The key place of Schnappenberg was captured by the 9th Parachute Battalion in conjunction with the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion , the latter unit having lost its Commanding Officer (CO), Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Nicklin , to German small-arms fire only moments after he had landed. Despite taking casualties

1484-537: A number of objectives: they were to seize the Diersfordter Wald, a forest that overlooked the Rhine, including a road linking several towns together; several bridges over a smaller waterway, the River Issel , were to be seized to facilitate the advance; and the village of Hamminkeln was to be captured. The Diersfordter Wald was chosen by Lieutenant-General Dempsey, the British Second Army commander, as

1590-572: A number of operations since then: Individuals who have commanded XVIII Airborne Corps include: Lippe The district of Lippe is named after the Lords of Lippe, who originally lived on the river Lippe and founded Lippstadt there, and their Principality of Lippe . It was a state within the Holy Roman Empire and retained statehood until 1947, when it became a district of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Lippe district nearly covers

1696-454: A relatively short distance behind German lines, thereby ensuring that reinforcements in the form of Allied ground forces would be able to link up with them within a short period: this avoided risking the same type of disaster that had befallen the British 1st Airborne Division when it had been isolated and practically annihilated by German infantry and armour at Arnhem . It was also decided by

1802-419: A similar casualty rate, reporting around 1,300 casualties out of 9,650 personnel who took part in the operation, while the division claimed to have taken 2,000 POWs, a number similar to those taken by 6th Airborne. This made a total of around 3,500 POWs taken by both airborne formations during the operation. Between 24 and 29 March, the 17th Airborne had taken a total of 1,346 casualties. The air forces involved in

1908-474: The 15th Panzergrenadier Division 15 tanks and between 20–30 assault guns. Intelligence also pointed to the possibility of a heavy anti-tank battalion being stationed in the area. Also, the Germans possessed a great number of antiaircraft weapons; on 17 March Allied intelligence estimated that the Germans had 103 heavy and 153 light anti-aircraft guns, a number which was drastically revised a week later to 114 heavy and 712 light anti-aircraft guns. The situation of

2014-477: The 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley , Kansas, and the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg were to provide backup in the event of general war. The 5th Logistical Command (later inactivated), also at Fort Bragg, would provide the corps with logistics support, while Fort Bragg's XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery would control artillery units. The Corps deployed forces to the United States occupation of

2120-456: The 5th Parachute Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Nigel Poett . 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

2226-632: The C-47s used in Operation Varsity had been retrofitted with self-sealing fuel tanks, the much larger C-46 Commando aircraft employed in the drop received no such modification. This was exacerbated by the C-46's unvented wings, which tended to pool leaked gasoline at the wing root where it could be ignited by flak or a stray spark. Although 19 of 72 C-46 aircraft were destroyed during Operation Varsity, losses of other aircraft types from AA fire during

SECTION 20

#1732772406242

2332-683: The CENTCOM area of responsibility. In 1958 the XVIII Airborne Corps was given the additional mission of becoming the Strategic Army Corps . The corps was now tasked, in addition, to provide a flexible strike capability that could deploy worldwide, on short notice, without a declaration of an emergency. The 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis , Washington, and the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell , Kentucky, were designated as STRAC's first-line divisions, while

2438-930: The River Rhine . The Rhine was a formidable natural obstacle to the Allied advance, but if breached would allow the Allies to access the North German Plain and ultimately advance on Berlin and other major cities in Northern Germany . Following the Broad Front approach laid out by General Eisenhower , the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force , it was decided to attempt to breach

2544-596: The U.S. 13th Airborne Division and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division , all of which were assigned to U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps , commanded by Major General Matthew B. Ridgway . One of these airborne formations, the British 6th Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General Eric Bols , was a veteran division; it had taken part in Operation Overlord , the assault on Normandy in June the previous year. However,

2650-476: The 1st Battalion (Airborne), 39th Field Artillery. The living quarters for these three units were situated between the 82d Airborne Division and the Special Forces at Fort Bragg . Of the three units, only 1-39th was airborne qualified and served as the only fully airborne deployable 155 mm Field Artillery unit in history. The 1-39th FA and 3-8th FA were key components of the thrust into Iraq in

2756-416: The 507th dropped it split into two halves. 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. 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

2862-422: The 513th Parachute Infantry had secured all of its objectives, having knocked out two tanks and two complete regiments of artillery during their assault. 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 Stuart Stryker posthumously received the award after leading a charge against a German machine-gun nest, creating

2968-557: The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, 24th Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment , XVIII Airborne Corps also gained operational control of the French 6th Light Armor Division (LAD) (which also included units from the French Foreign Legion ). During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, XVIII Airborne Corps Artillery consisted of the 3d Battalion, 8th Field Artillery; 5th Battalion, 8th Field Artillery; and

3074-519: The 906 CG-4As he needed for Varsity and 926 for Operation Choker II, an American crossing of the Rhine at Worms planned for March. New gliders were shipped crated from America for assembly in Europe. Some were recovered from the Netherlands despite pilfering for fabric and instruments and a storm which destroyed over a hundred; after two months only 281 of the 2000 gliders there were retrieved. There

3180-400: The Allied ground assault began. The first element of the British 6th Airborne Division to land was the 8th Parachute Battalion , part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade under Brigadier James Hill . The brigade actually dropped nine minutes earlier than scheduled, but successfully landed in drop zone A, while facing significant small-arms and 20 mm anti-aircraft fire. The brigade suffered

3286-725: The Anglo-American-Canadian effort, led by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery , to cross the northern Rhine River and from there enter Northern Germany . Varsity was meant to help the surface river assault troops secure a foothold across the Rhine in Western Germany by landing two airborne divisions on its eastern bank near the village of Hamminkeln and the town of Wesel . The plans called for dropping two divisions from U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps , under Major General Matthew B. Ridgway , to capture key territory and to generally disrupt German defenses to aid

Operation Varsity - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-685: The Corps first rotated elements to the Sinai Peninsula as part of the Multinational Force and Observers (UN) to guarantee the Camp David Peace Accords. In 1983 elements of the Corps were deployed to the island of Grenada as part of Operation Urgent Fury, with the stated goal of reestablishing the democratically elected government. In 1989 XVIII Airborne Corps, commanded by then LTG Carl Stiner , participated in

3498-538: The Dominican Republic ('Operation Power Pack') in 1965. The Corps deployed forces to the Vietnam War , including the entire 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Brigade of the 82nd Airborne division. In 1967 elements of the Corps were deployed to Detroit to suppress riots, and also to The Congo to support the government there and to rescue civilian hostages as part of Operation Dragon Rouge. In 1982

3604-424: The German defenders, and their ability to counter any assault effectively, was worsened when the Allies launched a large-scale air attack one week prior to Operation Varsity. The air attack involved more than 10,000 Allied sorties and concentrated primarily on Luftwaffe airfields and the German transportation system. The German defenders were also hampered by the fact that they had no reliable intelligence as to where

3710-537: The Germans fielded around 10 divisions, all weakened from constant fighting. The best German formation the Allied airborne troops would face was the 1st Parachute Army , although even this formation had been weakened from the losses it had sustained in earlier fighting, particularly when it had engaged Allied forces in the Reichswald Forest in February. First Parachute Army had three corps stationed along

3816-493: The Rhine at Rees , Wesel , and an area south of the Lippe Canal. To ensure that the operation was a success, Montgomery insisted that an airborne component be inserted into the plans for the operation, to support the amphibious assaults that would take place; this was code-named Operation Varsity. Three airborne divisions were initially chosen to participate in the operation, these being the British 6th Airborne Division ,

3922-549: The Rhine in several areas. Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery , commanding the Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group , devised Operation Plunder , subsequently authorized by Eisenhower, for a Rhine crossing by the forces under his command. Plunder envisioned the British Second Army , under Lieutenant-General Miles C. Dempsey , and the U.S. Ninth Army , under Lieutenant General William Simpson , crossing

4028-537: The Rhine. During the earliest planning stages, it became apparent that the 13th Airborne Division would be unable to participate in the operation, as there were only enough combat transport aircraft in the area to transport two divisions effectively. The operation was then altered to accommodate the two remaining airborne divisions, the British 6th and U.S. 17th Airborne Divisions. The two airborne divisions would be dropped behind German lines, with their objective to land around Wesel and disrupt enemy defences in order to aid

4134-777: The U.S. 17th Airborne Division, under Major General William Miley , had been activated only in April 1943 and had arrived in Britain in August 1944, too late to participate in Operation Overlord. The division did not participate in Operation Market Garden . It did, however, participate in the Ardennes campaign but had yet to take part in a combat drop. The U.S. 13th Airborne Division, under Major General Eldridge Chapman , had been activated in August 1943 and

4240-558: The XVIII Airborne Corps deployed to Iraq for Operation Inherent Resolve , in December this included the XVIII Airborne Corps headquarters and the 1st Special Forces Command , which is deployed as the Special Operations Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. The 18th Field Artillery Brigade deployed into Iraq with High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. A Canadian Army General has served with

4346-540: The XVIII Corps since 2007. XVIII Airborne Corps returned to Fort Liberty in October 2022 after a nine month deployment to Germany, in support of NATO and European Allies and partners. The mission was to provide a joint task force-capable headquarters in light of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . [REDACTED] XVIII Airborne Corps , Fort Liberty Other supporting units: The corps has participated in

Operation Varsity - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-421: The actual assault would be launched; although German forces along the Rhine had been alerted as to the general possibility of an Allied airborne attack, it was only when British engineers began to set up smoke generators opposite Emmerich and began laying a 60-mile (97 km) long smokescreen that the Germans knew where the assault would come. Operation Plunder began at 9 pm on the evening of 23 March, and by

4558-436: The advance of Allied ground forces. The British 6th Airborne Division was to capture the villages of Schnappenberg and Hamminkeln, clear part of the Diersfordter Wald (Diersfordt Forest) of German forces, and secure three bridges over the River Issel . The U.S. 17th Airborne Division was to capture the village of Diersfordt and clear the rest of the Diersfordter Wald of any remaining German forces. The two divisions would hold

4664-584: The advance of the British Second Army towards Wesel. "To disrupt the hostile defence of the RHINE in the WESEL sector by the seizure of key terrain by airborne attack, in order [...] to facilitate the further offensive operations of the SECOND ARMY." Operational orders for 6th and 17th Airborne Divisions To achieve this, both divisions would be dropped near the village of Hamminkeln , and were tasked with

4770-430: The airborne assault. After their retreat to the Rhine both divisions were under-strength and did not number more than 4,000 men each, with 84th Infantry Division supported by only 50 or so medium artillery pieces. The seven divisions that formed the 1st Parachute Army were short of manpower and munitions, and although farms and villages were well prepared for defensive purposes, there were few mobile reserves, ensuring that

4876-488: The airborne forces would also be made as soon as possible to ensure adequate supplies were available to the airborne troops as they fought. By this period of the conflict, the number of German divisions remaining on the Western Front was rapidly declining, both in numbers and quality, a fact in the Allies' favour. By the night of 23 March, Montgomery had the equivalent of more than 30 divisions under his command, while

4982-414: The airborne troops; he notes that a large number of artillery pieces were available to cover the landings and that observers were dropped with the airborne forces, thus augmenting the firepower and flexibility of the airborne troops. He also highlights the development of a technique that allowed entire brigades to be landed in tactical groups, giving them greater flexibility. Dropping the airborne forces after

5088-452: The battalion rendezvous areas. However, the 7th Parachute Battalion soon cleared the DZ of German troops, many of whom were situated in farms and houses, and the 12th Parachute Battalion and 13th Parachute Battalion rapidly secured the rest of the brigade's objectives. The brigade was then ordered to move due east and clear an area near Schermbeck, as well as to engage German forces gathered to

5194-462: The brigade cleared the area of German forces, and by 13:45 Brigadier Hill could report that the brigade had secured all of its objectives. Canadian 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. The next British airborne unit to land was

5300-419: The command of Colonel Edson Raff , was the lead assault formation for the 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 2 miles (3 km) north of Wesel; however, excessive ground haze confused the pilots of the transport aircraft carrying the regiment, and as such when

5406-493: The commander of the First Allied Airborne Army , General Lewis H. Brereton , who commanded all Allied airborne forces, including U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, that the two airborne divisions participating in Operation Varsity would be dropped simultaneously in a single "lift", instead of being dropped several hours apart, addressing what had also been a problem during Operation Market Garden. Supply drops for

SECTION 50

#1732772406242

5512-573: The concept of armored corps proved unnecessary, II Armored Corps was re-designated as XVIII Corps on 9 October 1943 at the Presidio of Monterey, California . XVIII Corps deployed to Europe on 17 August 1944 and became the XVIII Airborne Corps on 25 August 1944 at Ogbourne St. George , England , assuming command of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions , as part of the preparation for Operation Market Garden . Prior to this time,

5618-402: The conflict; more significantly, it would contradict previous airborne strategy by having the airborne troops drop after the initial amphibious landings, in order to minimize the risks to the airborne troops learned from the experiences of Operation Market Garden , the attempt to capture the Rhine bridges in the Netherlands in 1944. Unlike Market Garden, the airborne forces would be dropped only

5724-514: The constituent parts of the new republic. In 1932 the Free State of Lippe was subdivided into two districts, Detmold and Lemgo. These continued to exist when in 1947 Lippe lost its status as a state of Germany and by order of the British military government was incorporated into the new federal state North Rhine-Westphalia ; in 1949 this change was approved by the parliament. In 1969/70 the 168 cities and municipalities were merged to 16; and as

5830-438: The cost of this trade-off, stating that of the 416 gliders that landed, only 88 remained undamaged by enemy fire, and that between 20–30 percent of the glider pilots were casualties. Another historian argues that the gliders landing in daylight was a calamity, with the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment having two-thirds of their gliders hit by ground fire and suffering heavy casualties as they landed. The casualty rates were worsened by

5936-446: The defenders had little way to concentrate their forces against the Allied bridgehead when the assault began. The mobile reserves that the Germans did possess consisted of some 150 armoured fighting vehicles under the command of 1st Parachute Army, the majority of which belonged to XLVII Panzer Corps . Allied intelligence believed that of the two divisions that formed XLVII Panzer Corps, the 116th Panzer Division had up to 70 tanks, and

6042-515: The district the Weser . The Lippe River , which shares the district's name, does not flow through Lippe, but has its headwaters right across the district line in Bad Lippspringe , Kreis Paderborn . The small territories of Lippstadt , Lipperode, and Cappel that belonged to Lippe until the mid 19th century, do lie in the valley of the river. The coat of arms shows the traditional symbol of

6148-539: The early hours of the morning of 24 March Allied ground units had secured a number of crossings on the eastern bank of the Rhine. 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

6254-467: The early stages of the battle, the corps was commanded by Major General James M. Gavin of the 82nd Airborne), all American airborne units on the Western Front fell under command of the corps. XVIII Airborne Corps planned and executed Operation Varsity , the airborne component of Operation Plunder , the crossing of the River Rhine into Germany . It was one of the largest airborne operations of

6360-417: The east bank of the river, penetrating up to 10 miles (16 km). According to Generalmajor Heinz Fiebig , commanding officer of one of the defending German formations, 84th Infantry Division , the German forces defending the area had been greatly surprised by the speed with which the two airborne divisions had landed their troops, explaining that their sudden appearance had had a "shattering effect" on

6466-490: The first Gulf War , providing fire support for the French Foreign Legion and the 82nd Airborne Division . The 5th Battalion, 8th Field Artillery also served in a major support role for 82d and French troops during the Gulf War. It consisted of three individual batteries. Batteries A and B were Airborne-qualified, while Battery C was air assault . Batteries A and B were assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Battery C

SECTION 60

#1732772406242

6572-463: The formation will continue to be called the XVIII Airborne Corps. The divisions that fall under the XVIII Airborne Corps (as well as the other two corps in the Army) are in a period of transition, shifting from corps control to fall directly under FORSCOM , eliminating the corps status as a middle man. This ties in with the Army's broad modularity plan, as a corps can deploy and support any unit, not just

6678-483: The glider-borne elements. The operation also suffered from poor piloting. Although the piloting was of a better quality than in the Sicilian and Normandy operations, there were still significant failures on the part of the pilots, especially when it is considered that the drop was conducted in daylight. A significant error occurred when the pilots of the transports carrying 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment dropped much of

6784-406: The gliders were easy targets for anti-aircraft fire and short-range small-arms fire once landed; Otway concluded that in any future operations, troops dropped by parachute should secure landing zones prior to the arrival of glider-borne units. Thus, by having the landings conducted during daylight to ensure greater accuracy, the Allied planners incurred a far greater casualty rate, particularly amongst

6890-454: The greatly outnumbered defenders. He revealed during his interrogation that his division had been badly depleted and could muster barely 4,000 soldiers. The U.S. 17th Airborne Division gained its fourth Medal of Honor in the days following the operation, when Technical Sergeant Clinton M. Hedrick of the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment received the award posthumously after aiding in the capture of Lembeck Castle , which had been turned into

6996-480: The ground forces had breached the Rhine also ensured that the airborne troops would not have to fight for long before being relieved, a major improvement on the manner in which the previous large-scale airborne operation, Market Garden , had been conducted. Historian Peter Allen states that while the airborne forces took heavy casualties, Varsity diverted German attention from the Rhine crossing onto themselves. Thus,

7102-457: The initial objective because its seizure would deny the Germans artillery positions from which they could disrupt Second Army's bridging operations. Once these objectives were taken, the airborne troops would consolidate their positions and await the arrival of Allied ground forces, defending the territory captured against the German forces known to be in the area. Operation Varsity would be the largest single-lift airborne operation conducted during

7208-593: The invasion of Panama in Operation Just Cause . Stiner served concurrently as Commander of Joint Task Force South. At the end of the Cold War in 1989 the corps consisted of the following formations and units: In 1991, XVIII Airborne Corps participated in the Persian Gulf War . The corps was responsible for securing VII Corps' northern flank against a possible Iraqi counterattack. Along with

7314-419: The misfortune to pass through a belt of German antiaircraft weapons, losing 22 of the C-46 transport aircraft and damaging a further 38. 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 British 6th Airlanding Brigade . Despite this inaccuracy

7420-522: The operation also suffered casualties; 56 aircraft in total were lost during the 24th, 21 out of the 144 transport aircraft transporting the 17th Airborne were shot down and 59 were damaged by antiaircraft fire, and 16 bombers from the Eighth Air Force were also shot down during supply drops. In the British and Commonwealth system of battle honours , there was no distinct award for service in Operation Varsity. Instead, units that participated in

7526-419: The operation and the improvements that were made for Varsity. G. G. Norton argued that the operation benefited from the lessons learned from previous operations, and Brian Jewell agrees, arguing that the lessons of Market Garden had been learned as the airborne forces were concentrated and quickly dropped, giving the defenders little time to recover. Norton also argues that improvements were made for supporting

7632-420: The operation showed "the highest state of development attained by troop-carrier and airborne units". In the official summary of the operation, Major General Ridgway wrote that the operation had been flawless, and that the two airborne divisions involved had destroyed enemy defences that might otherwise have taken days to reduce, ensuring the operation was successful. Several modern historians have also praised

7738-479: The operation were included in the awards made between 1956 and 1959 to all units that participated in the Rhine crossing between 23 March and 1 April 1945: Rhine , or The Rhine to Canadian units, later translated to Le Rhin for French Canadian units. Contemporary observers and historians generally agree that Operation Varsity was successful. General Eisenhower called it "the most successful airborne operation carried out to date", and an observer later wrote that

7844-473: The operation, with one historian, Barry Gregory, arguing that "Operation Varsity was not entirely necessary...". Another historian, James A. Huston, argues that "...had the same resources been employed on the ground, it is conceivable that the advance to the east might have been even more rapid than it was". In The Last Offensive the US Army official history by Charles B. MacDonald (1990) he asked whether under

7950-404: 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. 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. By 2 pm, Colonel Coutts reported to Divisional Headquarters that

8056-399: The prevailing circumstances an airborne attack (was) necessary or .. even justified . One specific failure in the massive operation was the critical lack of transport aircraft for the operation, an unsolved flaw that had dogged every large-scale airborne operation the Allies had conducted. In the original planning for Varsity , an extra airborne division, the 13th, had been included; however,

8162-497: The regiment several miles from their designated drop zones, with the mis-dropped units actually landing in the British landing zones. XVIII Airborne Corps Persian Gulf War Global War on Terrorism The XVIII Airborne Corps is a corps of the United States Army that has been in existence since 1942 and saw extensive service during World War II . The corps is designed for rapid deployment anywhere in

8268-400: The rest of the regiment. 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. The actions of the 507th Parachute Infantry during the initial landing also gained the division its second Medal of Honor , when Private George Peters posthumously received the award after charging

8374-542: The river; the II Parachute Corps to the north, LXXXVI Army Corps in the centre, and LXIII Army Corps in the south. Of these formations, the II Parachute Corps and LXXXVI Corps had a shared boundary that ran through the proposed landing zones for the Allied airborne divisions, meaning that the leading formation of each corps—these being the 7th Parachute and 84th Infantry Divisions —would face

8480-467: The same area as the historic county of Lippe. The first mention of this country was in 1123; it grew in power slowly in the following centuries. In 1528 it became a county, in 1789 it was elevated to a principality. Unlike many other countries of the Holy Roman Empire in the area, Lippe kept its independence in the Napoleonic era, and thus wasn't incorporated into Prussia afterwards. It was one of

8586-517: The same operation were also significant, including 13 gliders shot down, 14 crashed, and 126 damaged; 15 Consolidated B-24 bombers shot down, and 104 damaged; and 30 C-47s shot down and 339 damaged. Lieutenant-Colonel Otway, who wrote an official history of the British airborne forces during World War II, stated that Operation Varsity highlighted the vulnerability of glider-borne units. While they arrived in complete sub-units and were able to move off more quickly than airborne troops dropped by parachute,

8692-535: The second part of the administrative reform in 1973 the two districts Lemgo and Detmold were merged to the district Lippe. The Lippe district covers the northern part of the Teutoburg Forest , which also contain the highest elevation of the district, the 496 meter high Köterberg near Lügde . The lowest elevation is at the Weser river with 45.5 m. The main river is the Werre , and at the northern border of

8798-505: 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 U.S. Ninth Air Force and the Royal Air Force . The combination of the two divisions in one lift made this the largest single day airborne drop in history. 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

8904-453: The slow rates of release and descent of the gliders themselves, and the fact that each aircraft towed two gliders, slowing them even further; as the time to release a glider unit was 3–4 times longer than a parachute unit, the gliders were vulnerable to flak. A large number of paratroop drop aircraft were hit and lost as well. This was largely due to the hostile conditions encountered by the drop aircraft. Operation Varsity's paratroop drop phase

9010-732: The smaller member states of the German empire. After the death of Prince Woldemar in 1895, the two lines of the House of Lippe fought over the regency for over a decade. The last prince of Lippe was forced to abdicate during the November Revolution of 1918 following the Collapse of the Imperial German Army , whilst Germany as a whole became the Weimar Republic . The district became a Freistaat one of

9116-547: The state of Lippe, the rose, as the district covers nearly the same area as the historic country. In the middle of the rose 16 stamens symbolize the 16 cities and municipalities of the district. The coat of arms was granted in 1973. Despite the relatively small size of Lippe, the Lippish rose is also one of only three symbols included in the coat of arms of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The most famous dish served in Lippe

9222-403: The territory they had captured until relieved by advancing units of 21st Army Group, and then join in the general advance into northern Germany . The airborne forces made several mistakes. Pilot error caused paratroopers from the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment , a regiment of the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, to miss their drop zone and land on a British drop zone instead. Still, the operation

9328-404: The town of Hamminkeln . 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 pilots being unable to identify their landing areas and losing their bearings; a number of gliders landed in

9434-409: The troops fighting to create a bridgehead , across the Rhine, suffered relatively few casualties, and were able to "break out from the Rhine in hours rather than days". Despite a great deal of official accolade and praise over the success of the operation, a number of criticisms have been made of the operation and the errors that were made. Several military historians have been critical of the need for

9540-523: The two divisions were assigned to VII Corps and jumped into Normandy during Operation Overlord , the Allied invasion of Normandy , as part of VII Corps. Major General Matthew Bunker Ridgway , a highly experienced airborne commander who had led the 82nd Airborne Division in Sicily , Italy and Normandy, was chosen to command the corps, which then consisted of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and

9646-467: The units subordinate to the corps. The 3d Infantry Division , the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), and the 101st Airborne Division ( Air Assault ) have already changed over to direct FORSCOM control. The 82nd Airborne Division will transfer after the division returns from Afghanistan. In August 2006, XVIII Airborne Corps traveled to South Korea to participate in Ulchi Focus Lens,

9752-409: The village that dominated the area and through which any advance would be made, had been secured by air-lifted units. By nightfall of 24 March, 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division had joined up with elements of 6th Airborne, and by midnight the first light bridge was across the Rhine. By 27 March, twelve bridges suitable for heavy armour had been installed over the Rhine and the Allies had 14 divisions on

9858-586: The war, with the British 6th and U.S. 17th Airborne Divisions under command. After taking part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany , the XVIII Airborne Corps, still under Ridgway, returned to the United States in June 1945 and was initially to take part in the invasion of Japan , codenamed Operation Downfall . However, the Japanese surrendered just weeks later and XVIII Airborne Corps

9964-472: 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. The third airborne unit that formed a part of the 6th Airborne Division was the 6th Airlanding Brigade , commanded by Brigadier Hugh Bellamy . The brigade was tasked with landing in company-sized groups and capturing several objectives, including

10070-475: The world and is referred to as "America's Contingency Corps." Its headquarters are at Fort Liberty , North Carolina . Its command group includes: The corps was first activated on 17 January 1942, five weeks after the entry of the United States into World War II , as the II Armored Corps at Camp Polk , Louisiana , under the command of Major General William Henry Harrison Morris, Jr. When

10176-501: The wrong areas or crashed. However, the majority of the gliders survived, allowing the battalions of the brigade to secure intact the three bridges over the 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 , which had been dropped by mistake nearby. The brigade secured all of its objectives shortly after capturing Hamminkeln. The 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment , under

10282-416: Was a success: both divisions captured Rhine bridges and secured towns that could have been used by Germany to delay the advance of the British ground forces. The two divisions incurred more than 2,000 casualties, but captured about 3,500 German soldiers. The operation was the last large-scale Allied airborne operation of World War II. By March 1945, the Allied armies had advanced into Germany and had reached

10388-534: Was assigned to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. All of the battalions were subsequently re-flagged during the years following the Gulf War. Task Force 118 had flown the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior off naval vessels during Operation Prime Chance in the 1980s, operating against Iran in the Persian Gulf . It was redesignated the 4th Squadron, 17th Cavalry on 15 January 1991. During the Gulf War of 1991 it

10494-560: Was deployed from January 2005 to January 2006 to Baghdad , Iraq, where it served as the Multi-National Corps – Iraq . Following its return, XVIII Airborne Corps and its subordinate units began the process of modernization and reorganization. Under the previous Army Chief of Staff 's future restructure of the Army , the corps headquarters of the XVIII Airborne Corps will lose its airborne (specifically parachute) certification as

10600-552: Was flown in daylight at slow speeds at very low altitudes, using unarmed cargo aircraft, over heavy concentrations of German 20 mm, 37 mm, and larger calibre antiaircraft (AA) cannon utilizing explosive, incendiary, and armor-piercing incendiary ammunition. By that stage of the war, German AA crews had trained to a high state of readiness; many batteries had considerable combat experience in firing on and destroying high speed, well-armed fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft while under fire themselves. Finally, while many if not all of

10706-471: Was inactivated on 15 October 1945 at Fort Campbell , Kentucky . The Corps was reactivated at Fort Bragg on 21 May 1951 under the command of Major General John W. Leonard . Since then, the corps has been the primary strategic response force, with subordinate units participating in over a dozen major operations (listed below) in both combat and humanitarian roles, primarily in Central America and

10812-411: Was little recovery of gliders from Normandy. Some historians have commented on this failure; Gerard Devlin argues that because of this lack of aircraft the remaining two divisions were forced to shoulder the operation by themselves. Losses of airborne troops were high. The cause of this high casualty rate can most likely be traced to the fact that the operation was launched in full daylight, rather than

10918-403: Was part of the 18th Aviation Brigade . The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions have served with the corps since the 1950s. The 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) was 'reflagged' as the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized) in April 1996. The Corps headquarters was deployed to Afghanistan from May 2002 – 2003, and became Combined Joint Task Force 180 for the deployment. XVIII Airborne Corps

11024-527: Was part of the newly created First Allied Airborne Army . The corps headquarters did not see service in Operation Market Garden , with the British I Airborne Corps being chosen instead to exercise operational command of all Allied airborne forces in the operation, including the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Following the Battle of the Bulge , in which the corps played a significant part (and which, during

11130-509: Was soon able to report that its objectives had been secured, having destroyed 42 artillery pieces, 10 tanks, 2 self-propelled anti-aircraft vehicles and 5 self-propelled guns. The Office of Strategic Services sent four teams of two (codename Algonquin , teams Alsace, Poissy, S&S and Student), with Operation Varsity to infiltrate and report from behind enemy lines, but none succeeded. Team S&S had two agents in Wehrmacht uniforms and

11236-613: Was transferred to France in 1945; the formation itself had never seen action, although one of its regiments, the 517th Parachute Infantry , had fought briefly in Italy , and later in Southern France and the Ardennes campaign. Operation Varsity was planned with these three airborne divisions in mind, with all three to be dropped behind German lines in support of the 21st Army Group as it conducted its amphibious assaults to breach

#241758