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72 aircraft |casualties2=Unknown total casualties 3,500 captured〔 |notes= }} Operation ''Varsity'' (24 March 1945) was a successful airborne forces operation launched by American, British and Canadian troops that took place toward the end of World War II. Involving more than 16,000 paratroopers and several thousand aircraft, it was the largest airborne operation in history to be conducted on a single day and in one location. Part of Operation ''Plunder'', the effort by the British 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to cross the Rhine River and from there enter Northern Germany, ''Varsity'' was meant to help the 21st Army Group to secure a foothold across the Rhine River in western Germany by landing two airborne divisions on the eastern bank of the Rhine near the village of Hamminkeln and the town of Wesel. The plans called for the dropping of two divisions from the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, to capture key territory and to generally disrupt German defenses to aid the advance of Allied ground forces. The British 6th Airborne Division was ordered 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 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, most notably when pilot error caused paratroopers from the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment, a regiment in the US 17th Airborne Division, to miss their drop zone and land on a British drop zone instead. However, the operation was a success, with both divisions capturing Rhine bridges and securing 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.〔Jewell, p. 27〕 ==Background== By March 1945, the Allied armies had advanced into Germany and had reached 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 Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, it was decided to attempt to breach the Rhine in several areas.〔Saunders, Tim, p. 41〕 Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commanding the British 21st Army Group, devised a plan entitled Operation Plunder that would allow the forces under his command to breach the Rhine, which was subsequently authorized by Eisenhower. Plunder envisioned the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Dempsey, and the U.S. Ninth Army, under Lieutenant General William Simpson, crossing the Rhine at Rees, Wesel, and an area south of the Lippe Canal.〔Devlin, p. 258〕 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''.〔Devlin, pp. 258–259〕 Three airborne divisions were initially chosen to participate in the operation, these being the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 13th Airborne Division and the US 17th Airborne Division, all of which were assigned to the US XVIII Airborne Corps. One of these airborne formations, the British 6th Airborne Division, was a veteran division; it had taken part in Operation ''Overlord'', the assault on Normandy in June the previous year. However, the 17th Airborne Division had been activated only in April 1943 and had arrived in Britain in August 1944, too late to participate in Operation ''Overlord''. The division had also been absent from Operation ''Market Garden'', and the only action it had seen was during the Ardennes campaign; it was, therefore, a relatively inexperienced formation that had never taken part in a combat drop.〔 The 13th Airborne Division had been activated in August 1943 and was transferred to France in 1945; the formation itself had never seen action, although one of its regiments, the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment, had fought in Italy, Southern France and the Ardennes.〔Flanagan, p. 289〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Varsity」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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