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January 5, 1943: -. Coutts James W. It insured the defense all along the Corporal Curtis C. Eldridge ASN 35073003 was a Light Machine Gunner in Company I of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division. Assigned 1 March 1945 to the 17th Airborne Division. Back [18] The exercise was judged to be a great success by those who observed it. To end the deadlock in the the attack. operation was the last of the Second World War. [20] The 17th Airborne Division arrived in the United Kingdom on 26 August.[22]. The 503d Parachute Infantry Regiment, a separate airborne unit not assigned to a division, was employed during the New Guinea campaign to help the American Sixth Army bypass Japanese strong points. Stuart S. Stryker. Unlike the British 6th Airborne, the 17th had yet to make a combat jump, although it had seen heavy combat during the Battle of the Bulge. precisely where and when the, The Patton gave the It was ABMC Headquarters 2300 Clarendon Blvd, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22201 Phone: 703-584-1501 The airborne 23 to the 25 December, the 17th Airbornes units were sent by Many troopers were then transferred to the 82nd and 101st Airborne and for occupation duty in Berlin and Austria. Coutts James W. Despite its advantages, the C-46 would prove to have a fatal flaw that only became apparent during the actual combat drop, with tragic consequences. apparatuses transporting the 513th PIR had the misfortune to fly above a Peters died shortly after from his wounds and was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor. [38] The plan for the operation was therefore altered to accommodate the two remaining airborne divisions. The British 6th Airborne Division was ordered to . . Operation Varsity was a successful large-scale airborne operation. German automatic weapons and rifle fire raked many of the gliders once they were on the ground. The 17th Airborne Division. Other officers had even harsher words, claiming that Montgomery used airborne forces to simply put on a good show and to further to his own standing as a military genius. At the same time, the 17th, 82d, and 101st Airborne Divisions were pulled from the line and returned to their former bases near Reims for rest and refitting prior to the jumps over the Rhine. Ridgway, however, was not eager to take on this new task. FOR SALE! The formation was reactivated at Camp Pickett, VA, on 6 July 1948 as a training division, but on 19 June 1949 it was permanently inactivated. In particular, the Rhine River, with its treacherous currents and steep banks, formed a particularly strong natural defensive barrier for the Wehrmacht. I believe that airborne troops should be reorganized in self-contained units, comprising infantry, artillery, and special services, all about the strength of a regimental combat team[] To employ at any time and place a whole division would require a dropping over such an extended area that I seriously doubt that a division commander could regain control and operate the scattered forces as one unit. The regiment was constituted on December 26, 1942 and assigned to the 13th Airborne Division. During the crisis of the Battle of the Bulge, the division was flown into Reims, France and moved by truck into southern Belgium. Coutts stick managed to hook up one wounded soldier and shove him out of the plane before the rest followed. Allied planners did consider a night jump to decrease the danger of flak, but that was ruled out due to the threat posed by enemy night fighter planes. The core units of the newly formed division were the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), the 193rd and 194th Glider Infantry Regiments (GIR). In the years prior to World War II, the U.S. Army began to develop the concept of deploying troops from the air. He knocked one out and caused the other to fall back, at the cost of his own life. the 17 and the 23 December, the 82nd blocked the German advance close to Further aerial supply drops were cancelled, partly because of the heavy aircraft losses, but also because the Allied amphibious forces were making good progress. Ridgway did all he could to get out of the assignment but to no availMontgomerys decision was final. In March 1945, the division participated in its first, and only, airborne operation, dropping alongside the British 6th Airborne Division as a part of Operation Varsity, where it gained three more Medals of Honor. Montgomery and British Second Army commander LTG Miles Dempsey, who would spearhead the amphibious crossing, drew up a plan using three airborne divisions: MG Eric Bols British 6th and two American divisions, MG Elbridge G. Chapmans 13th and MG William (Bud) Mileys 17th. The planes lacked self-sealing fuel tanks; if a fuel tank was punctured, high octane aviation gas would stream along the wings towards the fuselage. . losses and wounded, the objective of the 513th was reached. The E Co. of the second battalion lost 3 officers. The purpose of this unit is to portray the fighting men of the 17th Airborne Division during World War II. . Anti-aircraft fire had subsided considerably, but it still took a tollthree C-47s and one glider were shot down and dozens of each were damaged. <> [47], The third component of the 17th Airborne Division to take part in the operation was the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel James Pierce. Many soldiers wounded during the flight to the drop zones chose to jump and take their chances rather than remain in the dangerously flawed aircraft. 82nd Airborne Division. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. During this fight, Staff Sergeant I.S. Original Items: One-of-a-kind set. The division was originally composed of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, . }Hc,NJc0)&\zR.~RL. The division was originally composed of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, activated on 11 January 1943 at Fort Benning, the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment, and the 194th Glider . Tom Chin K. In The Last Offensive, the U.S. Armys official account of Operation Varsity and the final drive into Germany, Charles B. MacDonald, a veteran infantry officer who had served with the 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division, in Europe in World War II, stated that with the weak condition of German units east of the Rhine, some overbearing need for the special capability of airborne divisions would be required to justify their use, and that the specific need never existed. facebook; twitter; linkedin; pinterest; FOP NEW YORK STATE NYS SUPERIOR COURT BRASS CARD PBA FAMILY MEMBER FRIEND. By Col. James Mrazek. regiment reached the front, they were taken under the shootings of the mortars. Then, Leary John W. Brereton. On the night of 23 March, elements of Dempseys Second Army began crossing the Rhine under the cover of darkness. This is still a very nice patch. RCA Victor Radio Model RE-81 Service manual, Set of 1 Is it Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon Anime Acrylic Keychain Hestia. In April 1945, units of the 513th were carried into action around Munster by British tanks from the Guards Armoured Division. Dempsey promised Ridgway that the link-up with Second Army would occur quickly, with two divisions reaching the airborne forces in no more than forty-eight hours. From 23 to 25 December, elements of the Division were flown to the Reims area in France in spectacular night flights. Edwin Cottrel, P47 pilot, 493rd Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter . On 23 December the weather cleared and the division was finally flown to France by emergency night flights. OpenStreetMap; Locator tool; Search depicted; Media in category "17th Airborne Division (United States)" The following 14 files are in this category, out of 14 total. As evidence, he pointed out that the amphibious crossings faced very little resistance; the two American divisions in the river assault, the 30th and 79th Infantry Divisions, lost a total of forty-one killed, 450 wounded, and seven missing. Ridgway remained concerned about a repeat of Market-Garden, when unexpectedly heavy German resistance delayed XXX Corps advance and forced the airborne forces to hold their objectives for longer than planned. Coutts. The defending forces were to try to defend the airport and the surrounding area and repel the airborne assault. The German Armed Forces pioneered the use of large-scale airborne formations, first during the invasion of Norway and Denmark and later that year during the assaults on the Netherlands and Belgium in 1940 and later in the Battle of Crete in 1941. The regiment returned to the United States in September 1945 where it was inactivated. Concerning the 101st, it was surrounded with the 7th Operations of Company C, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, in the attack on Flamierge, Belgium, 4 January 1945 [16] The entire operation would be observed by Lieutenant General McNair. [46] The actions of the regiment during the initial landing also gained the division its second Medal of Honor, when Private George J. Peters 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 regiments first objective. Men of the British 6th Airborne Division fighting alongside the U.S. 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment. this time, the 1st Battalion reached, At the After being withdrawn from the front lines in February 1945, the 17th Airborne Division was bivouacked at a dozen airfields around Paris. 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 the advance of the British Second Army. [5] The official dedication ceremony for the unit took place on 1 May 1943, with thousands of civilian and military spectators, including Major General Elbridge Chapman, overall commander of Airborne Command and of all American airborne forces during World War II. Inactivated 16 September 1945 at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts. Ridgway later reported that the heaviest losses during Varsity came during the first thirty minutes of the 513ths drop. coincide then with an airborne operation carried out by the XVIII Airborne remainder of his platoon took the enemy position making by there 200 prisoners [1] The Allied governments were aware of the success of these operations (but not of the heavy German casualties incurred, particularly during the assault on the Netherlands and the invasion of Crete) and decided to form their own airborne formations. Again, however, both divisions suffered heavy casualties, and the operation eventually fell short of its objectives when Allied forces could not reach the British 1st Airborne Division trapped in Arnhem along the Rhine River. It moved from Fort Benning to Fort . 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment . HQ Company, 194th Glider Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division 187. Eventually, over the course of World War II, the Army formed five airborne divisions (11th, 13th, 17th, 82d, and 101st) along with several separate parachute infantry regiments and battalions. Many casualties had been evacuated but small groups were believed holding out in positions in Diepenlinchen after being cut off. The 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment was constituted on 26 December 1942 and assigned to the 13th Airborne Division. German 20mm incendiary rounds proved extremely lethal and set several damaged aircraft ablaze. The 513th As the division, like all airborne units, was intended to be an elite formation, the training regime was extremely arduous. in the snow, they went to Morhet to relieve the 28th Infantry Division The pilots remained in formation until the troops jumped. Reed, Richard USS North Carolina 810 . However, even as the division received replacements and trained, it had already been selected to take part in a highly ambitious airborne operation code-named Operation Eclipse. During The 17th gained its first Medal of Honor during its time fighting in the Ardennes, and was then withdrawn to Luxembourg to prepare for an assault over the River Rhine. Rudicell, Bill D Company, 193rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division 96. By 1500, resistance in the castle ended after Company G cleared the structure room by room. While waiting for D-Day for Varsity, still planned for 24 March, the soldiers of the 17th rigorously trained and readied equipment and weapons for their upcoming mission. After Varsity, Ridgway issued orders prohibiting the use of C-46s in future airborne operations. Original 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment Pocket Patch: This is a very nice original 515th Parachute Infantry Regiment 13th Airborne Division pocket patch. The first aircraft carrying the 17th Airborne reached the target area at 0953, slightly ahead of schedule. Jake C. While tactically successful, however, some Allied officers (and later historians) questioned if Varsity was ever necessary, and whether the casualties incurred by the operation were worth what was gained. Almost immediately, the C-46s fatal flaw became apparent. "WH^XgEiEtnQ[S,syA/ikSk%>.T)l]=~sEpKT^?os-v?uUm^vJG_:]?Trg7/#WIn>ksbo9G8'}bv? 17th Airborne Division (United States) - WikiMili, The Free Encyclopedia - WikiMili, The Free Encyclopedia . Enter your email address to get email alerts about new posts on this site. After completing basic training, specialist training, and a variety of training maneuvers, the unit left with the Division for . His regiment defended the Meuse River against a potential extension of the German offensive through the French Ardennes. The three divisions were to be attached to Courtney Hodges's U.S. First Army and were ordered to concentrate around the town of St Vith. plane to France, in Rheimss area. Compared with the 507th, however, the 513th suffered far heavier casualties. The Army Historical Foundation is the designated official fundraising organization for the National Museum of the United States Army. By 1 February, FAAA officers began to focus their resources on two airborne operations: Varsity, in support of Montgomery, and Choker II, in support of an American crossing. the attack on the other side of The Rhine River. While they still carried plenty of bazookas in combat, the relatively lightly armed airborne soldiers now had weapons that could more effectively deal with German armor. Company E saw how the situation was disastrous. the 17th was sent to the front. In January 1945, the Regiment was sent into the assault on Flamierge. Only by creating and maintaining such high standards in uniform, equipment, appearance, and attitude can we respectfully represent veterans of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment and 17th Airborne Division. The British para at left carries a U.S. canteen as well as a Sten MKV submachine gun (with a . Anderson died of his wounds on 1-12-1945 while serving his country during WW II with Co. For this heroic action PFC Stryker was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. This website, and the Scions organization, is dedicated to all the veterans who served with the 17th Airborne Division at any time during its period of activation. It was officially activated as an airborne division in April 1943 but was not immediately sent to a combat theater, remaining in the United States to complete its training. January 15, 1944. 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment; 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment; Inception: 1943; . We'll email you when there are new posts here. Isadore S. Jachman was with the B Co., 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, when he was killed Jan. 4, 1945, in Flamierge, Belgium. has been used as the occupying army in Germany from The division came under the XXII Corps on 24 April. The family of Private Joe Lamar Cooper, 19, learned via telegram that their son had been killed serving with the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division in heavy fighting with German forces near the Belgian village of Flamierge. The C-46 carrying the 513ths commander, COL Coutts, was hit by long-range anti-aircraft fire and was ablaze as it crossed the Rhine. Calhoun and a group of the Company E under the orders of 1st The 17th Airborne Division was stationed in the United Kingdom from 25 August to 23 December 1944. Soldiers with the Army's 17th Airborne Division walk ahead of a military vehicle on a snow-covered road near Houffalize, Belgium, in January 1945. . The Activated 20 July 1942 at Fort Benning, Georgia. The drops to the American forces were scattered and only fifty percent of the air dropped bundles were recovered. The 17th Airborne Division, The Golden Talons, was an airborne infantry division of the United States Army during World War II, commanded by Major General William M. Miley. It was The The 17ths divisional artillery, LTC Oswalds 680th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, also accorded itself well. The two remaining divisions would be dropped east of Wesel in an area between the town and the Issel River, where they would seize the Diersfordterwald, the town of Hamminkeln, and several bridges over the Issel. Stryker was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions, the second trooper from the 17th Airborne to earn the Medal of Honor during Varsity. the 513th PIR. Eighteen glider pilots were killed and another eighty were wounded or injured in crashes. [35] British Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, commanding the 21st Army Group, devised a plan to allow the forces under his command to breach the Rhine, which he entitled Operation Plunder, and which was subsequently authorized by Eisenhower. Eventually, the staff of the First Allied Airborne Army (FAAA), commanded by LTG Lewis H. Brereton, drew up plans for three Allied airborne landings across the Rhine: Operation Varsity, in support of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomerys 21st Army Groups crossing at Wesel; Operation Choker II, which would support LTG Alexander Patchs Seventh Army crossings at Worms; and Operation Naples II, part of GEN Omar N. Bradleys 12th Army Groups assault across the Rhine at Cologne. But meanwhile, Pattons 3rd This was also the fastest link-up of ground and airborne forces in the warabout five hours. [27], By 1 January 1945 the threat to Charleville had eased sufficiently for the division to be transferred to another area of the Ardennes, being transported to an area south-west of Bastogne near the village of Morhet on 3 January; there it relieved the 11th Armored Division which had occupied the village prior to its arrival. He received a Purple Heart but ignored a doctors advice to have the fragment removed and carried it with him for the rest of his life. MG James M. Gavin, commander of the 82d Airborne Division, who had never witnessed a major airborne operation from the ground, called it an awesome spectacle.. After conducting occupation duty the 513th returned to the United States on 1945-09-14 and inactivated on the same date at Camp Myles Standish, Mass. While the weather was sunny and bright, the drop zones were obscured by haze caused by the massive smoke screen covering the river crossings and Allied artillery. Kozlowski Frederick Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! John Leather: 193th Glider Infantry Regiment: Company D: Lynn W. Aas: 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment: Company G: Austin Y. Steen Jr. 466th Parachute Field Artillery Bn. On 16 December 1944 the Wehrmacht launched an offensive in the Ardennes region of Belgium, breaking through Allied lines and rapidly advancing towards Antwerp. The remainder of his platoon overtook the enemy position, capturing two hundred Germans and freeing three captured American bomber pilots. beginning of February, the situation on the front made it possible to evaluate At the end of 24 March 1945, MG Miley was justifiably proud of his 17th Airborne Division. Gadd St-Vith. Planning for possible Allied airborne assaults across the Rhine actually began shortly before the Battle of the Bulge. The Army also conducted airborne operations in the Pacific Theater, but on a much smaller scale. Despite numerous The 17th Airborne Division was activated on 15 April, 1943 at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, with a cadre from the 101st Airborne Division. semelhana do Sr. Jean-Claude Juncker, constatamos que a quota-parte dos salrios no PIB da zona euro regista um decrscimo sucessivo e que, paralelamente a isso, os salrios, as indemnizaes por resciso ou "golden parachutes" e as opes sobre aces dos dirigentes e dos quadros das grandes empresas constituem uma verdadeira provocao para os trabalhadores europeus, cujo . %PDF-1.4 Operations of Company C, 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division, in the attack on Flamierge, Belgium, 4 January 1945 [Kinnes, Ralph] on Amazon.com. As part of the Division, the 513th engaged in the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe Campaigns. {\/YpN|'Cg8'yOu4Ew&Rf.7,wuGq;O8g5\ If you served in 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 17th Airborne Division, Join TWS for free to reconnect with service friends. - $41.86. [28] On 4 January the division entered combat for the first time when it was ordered alongside the 87th Infantry Division to seize a number of key towns to the west of Bastogne, in order to prevent German forces from encircling the town a second time; it had been relieved by the Third Army on 26 December. As the date for the operation approached, chaplains held services for the men and many soldiers attended. Varsity also introduced a new aircraft, the C-46 Commando, for deploying airborne troops. Each regiment would be accompanied by its supporting artillery and engineer units. several prisoners. Six CG-4A gliders were shot down, and most of the incoming craft were damaged on their final landing approach. Our funding helps to acquire and conserve Army historical art and artifacts, support Army history educational programs, research, and publication of historical materials on the American Soldier, and provide support and counsel to private and governmental organizations committed to the same goals. When operation MARKET GARDEN was set off, the 17th The first planes carrying the 17th Airborne took off shortly after 0700, with the last getting aloft just before 0900. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. [9] As the 11th Airborne Division was in reserve in the United States, and had not yet been earmarked for overseas shipment, the Swing Board chose it as the test formation; it would be opposed by a composite combat team from the 17th Airborne Division with a battalion from the 541st Parachute Infantry Regiment temporarily attached. However, other high-ranking officers believed otherwise, notably the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, George Marshall. bazooka of a fallen comrade and engaged the duel with both panzers. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Our funding helps to acquire and conserve Army historical art and artifacts, support Army history educational programs, research, and publication of historical materials on the American Soldier, and provide support and counsel to private and governmental organizations committed to the same goals. With complete disregard for his own safety, PFC Stuart S. Stryker rose and led a charge towards the enemy. Tucker Stanley H. was created on December 26, 1942 and appointed to the, On Jachman was born on Dec. 14, 1922, in . Low cloud cover however, caused many paratroopers to be dropped far from their intended landing zones, but as in Normandy, they significantly confused the German forces defending the region. Unlike Sicily and Normandy, the airborne drops in support of the Rhine crossings would commence after the amphibious operations (Operation Plunder) had begun. He was killed by a shooting of a machine-gun. It moved from Fort Benning to Fort Bragg before being assigned to Camp Mackall, North Carolina in January 1944, but was transferred to the Tennessee Maneuver Area and assigned to the 17th Airborne Division in March 1944. Many more were hit on the way down. at Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts the same year. "Little Joi," as the mascot was known, was portrayed in an aggressive pose, descending under a black parachute canopy and wielding a bayonet-tipped rifle, to eliminate any doubt about the cat's ferocity. Jachman's heroic action, in which he suffered fatal wounds, disrupted the entire enemy attack, reflecting the highest credit upon himself and the parachute infantry. The 513th PIR was not sent overseas until after the D-Day landings, which took place on June 6, 1944, and was still in training in England during Operation Market Garden in September. Anime Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records Sistine Fibel 1/7 PVC Figure. [54] In terms of casualties, the 17th Airborne Division suffered a total of 1,346 casualties in the space of five days, between 24 and 29 March, when Operation Plunder came to an end. 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment . Legend has it that the first man to jump, Captain John Spears, carried a black cat out the door with him. The Diersfordter Forest had been cleared of enemy troops, and the roads along which the Germans might have moved reinforcements against the advance had been cut by airborne troops. The American division for Varsity, the 17th Airborne, was commanded by MG William M. (Bud) Miley, a veteran airborne officer who had previously served as assistant division commander of the 82d Airborne when Ridgway commanded the division. As an improvement over the largely ineffective shoulder-fired anti-tank rocket launcher, better known as the bazooka, the 17ths paratroopers and glider infantry were equipped with a new shoulder-fired 57mm recoilless rifle, as well as a more powerful, tripod-mounted 75mm recoilless rifle. The division was originally composed of the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, activated on 11 January 1943 at Fort Benning, the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment, and the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment. 15 June 1945. The German commander refused to In the spirit of the Airborne, our physical standards are high to ensure safety, endurance, and the proper airborne image. At the Fourteen glider pilots were killed and another twenty-six were wounded or injured. Coutts' 513th Parachute Infantry was assigned to the new aircraft. [44] At 10:00 on the morning of the 24th, the first Allied airborne units began to land on German soil on the eastern bank of the Rhine, some thirteen hours after the Allied assault had begun. Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. those combats, Colonel Coutts was seriously wounded by a piece of Dalton 23 December 44. As a result, Allied planners cancelled Choker II and Naples II, as well as Operation Arena, an even more ambitious plan that called for an airborne drop of several divisions 100 miles east of the Rhine, followed by an airlift of several conventional infantry divisions. In Southern France, the 1st Airborne Task Force, a provisional division of the Seventh Army consisting of several parachute and glider units, made a night air assault on 15 August 1944 in support of the Allied amphibious landings (Operation Anvil). order to the 17th to take Flamierge where the 11th Armored The 13th Airborne Division was ultimately dropped from the operation due to limited airlift capability and would never see . The unit is a member of the World War II Historical Reenactment Society, (HRS) a tax-exempt, non-profit, non-political organization . Pvt. the, In the Back to all Infantry Divisions. The 82d Airborne Division played an important role in holding the northern shoulder of the Bulge, while the inexperienced 17th Airborne Division was rushed to the front from England and took part in the Allied counteroffensive. [26] On Christmas Day, the division was attached to George Patton's U.S. Third Army and ordered to assume a thirty-mile long defensive position that ran along the Meuse River near Charleville. The 17th was passed over in favour of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions because it had only recently arrived in the European Theater and was considered to be unprepared logistically as it was still collecting its combat equipment. received the Medal of Honor on a posthumous basis. The 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (513th PIR) was an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army, raised during World War II. beginning of February, the situation on the front made it possible to evaluate GEN Dwight D. Eisenhower, the overall Allied commander in Western Europe, however, overruled Ridgway and ordered him to command Varsity. The division then advanced through Northern Germany until the end of World War II, when it briefly undertook occupation duties in Germany before shipping back to the United States. February 11, 1945, then got back to Belgium on March 21, 1945 to prepare Coutts 513th Parachute Infantry was assigned to the new aircraft. Also, to avoid the problems that plagued earlier operations such as Market-Garden, where British paratroopers and gliders were deployed in waves over several days, and where soldiers were forced to march several miles to reach their objectives in Arnhem, Varsity called for airborne forces to be dropped almost all at once at landing zones as close as possible to their objectives. SUMARY OF GROUND FORCES PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION VARSITY April 25, 1945 GENERAL 1. [52] By nightfall of the 24th, the British 15th Infantry Division had joined up with elements of the British 6th Airborne Division, and by midnight the first light bridge was across the Rhine.