Opération Varsity 1945 en Allemagne
Posté : 25 juil., 13:43
Ici qq images de l'opération "Varsity"
Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany as a part of Operation Plunder. It involved two divisions and 1,700 transport aircraft. This was the single largest airborne drop in history.
The operation took place on 24 March 1945, led by the British 6th Airborne Division (including Canadian troops) with Lt. R.M. Nelson, KIA leading a small company across the River Maas, and the US 17th Airborne Division, in concert with a ground offensive. The US 82nd Airborne Division had originally been scheduled to participate in the jump as well until a shortage of transport aircraft forced the use of just two divisions. For the first time C-46 Commando transport aircraft (one group) operated with the reliable C-47 Skytrain used in previous airborne operations. In all 4,978 British and 9,387 American troops were either dropped or flown in.
Called "perhaps the most successful Allied airborne operation in Europe" it demonstrated primarily that extremely weak opposition is the only real guarantee in war. The German estimations of their own forces before the battle, were merely "twenty-six infantrymen, one to two artillery pieces, and less than one antitank gun" per kilometer of front. Their northern army group possessed less than 200 armored vehicles. German Army Group G in the South was still worse off. German air forces were almost absent.
Even so, losses in aircraft were not insignificant: of the 72 C-46s of the 313th Troop Carrier Group assigned to drop on Drop Zone B, 20 were shot down or otherwise lost to anti-aircraft fire, a loss ratio of 28%, although all but one completed their paratroop drop. Although the C-46, which equipped only one of the 14 groups of IX Troop Carrier Command, was exceptionally vulnerable due to its high inflammability, the overall loss rate for the troop carriers in Varsity was 5%, totalling 46 troop carrier planes.
Even so, gathering resistance to the crossing over the next three days caused nearly three thousand allied casualties.
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
A+
Patrick
Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany as a part of Operation Plunder. It involved two divisions and 1,700 transport aircraft. This was the single largest airborne drop in history.
The operation took place on 24 March 1945, led by the British 6th Airborne Division (including Canadian troops) with Lt. R.M. Nelson, KIA leading a small company across the River Maas, and the US 17th Airborne Division, in concert with a ground offensive. The US 82nd Airborne Division had originally been scheduled to participate in the jump as well until a shortage of transport aircraft forced the use of just two divisions. For the first time C-46 Commando transport aircraft (one group) operated with the reliable C-47 Skytrain used in previous airborne operations. In all 4,978 British and 9,387 American troops were either dropped or flown in.
Called "perhaps the most successful Allied airborne operation in Europe" it demonstrated primarily that extremely weak opposition is the only real guarantee in war. The German estimations of their own forces before the battle, were merely "twenty-six infantrymen, one to two artillery pieces, and less than one antitank gun" per kilometer of front. Their northern army group possessed less than 200 armored vehicles. German Army Group G in the South was still worse off. German air forces were almost absent.
Even so, losses in aircraft were not insignificant: of the 72 C-46s of the 313th Troop Carrier Group assigned to drop on Drop Zone B, 20 were shot down or otherwise lost to anti-aircraft fire, a loss ratio of 28%, although all but one completed their paratroop drop. Although the C-46, which equipped only one of the 14 groups of IX Troop Carrier Command, was exceptionally vulnerable due to its high inflammability, the overall loss rate for the troop carriers in Varsity was 5%, totalling 46 troop carrier planes.
Even so, gathering resistance to the crossing over the next three days caused nearly three thousand allied casualties.
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview.ph ... u=11336843
A+
Patrick