The untold story of the battle that helped end WW2 in Europe

[oldbrownhat]

BBC article here
Operation Varsity "was the battle that ended" World War Two in Europe, yet it is largely unknown to all but military history buffs.

British, Canadian and American forces took off mostly from Essex airfields on 24 March 1945, to be dropped directly on top of the German lines at the River Rhine.

Paratroopers and gliders packed with men descended into fierce fighting conditions which resulted in rapid success, but huge loss of life. About six weeks later, Victory in Europe was declared...

...Operation Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history, with more than 16,000 men were dropped into western Germany on the same day.

 

[Rammer Jammer]

Not to take away from the valiant efforts of the Western Allies, but the Soviet conquest of Berlin had the greatest effect on ending the war.

 

[VaTom]

Yes. The American troops were the 17th Airborne Division. I worked with an older fellow for years here in SW Va. Quiet, unassuming. Never knew he was a paratrooper and jumped in Varsity until I attended his funeral. His family had his military items on display including his brown leather jump boots. He was a good man!

 

[DWalt]

The Russian storming of Berlin played a role in German capitulation. Had Hitler fled Berlin to safety instead of committing suicide rather than risking capture by the Russians, the war could have continued for a while longer. There was still considerable personal loyalty to Hitler remaining within the German officer corps, even under impossible conditions. Once he was dead, that was the end, even for the hardest of the hard core Nazis.

 

[Rudi]

A two front war spelled defeat for Germany early on.

 

[22hipower]

Not to take away from the valiant efforts of the Western Allies, but the Soviet conquest of Berlin had the greatest effect on ending the war.

And not to take away from the Soviet effort, without the US/UK providing 400,000 jeeps and trucks, 14,000 airplanes, 8,000 tractors, 13,000 tanks, and vast quantities of other supplies like food, clothing, and fuel worth some $11.3 billion, and a lot more from the UK, the Soviets would never have gotten to Berlin.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Not to take away from the valiant efforts of the Western Allies, but the Soviet conquest of Berlin had the greatest effect on ending the war.

The Allies back off and let Ruskies take Berlin........Allies could have steam rollered it at anytime then.

 

[djohns6]

A two front war spelled defeat for Germany early on.

It was a foolish move . I read an interview with Hermann Goring . He said that he had opposed Operation Barbarossa but Hitler was dead set on it .

 

[Delta Expatriate]

Lets not forget that just four days after Pearl Harbor (December 11), Hitler declared war on the U.S., which meant a two-front war for us. If he had not, I think public opinion would have had our efforts focused only on Japan, and the British and Russians would not have had our help.

 

[DWalt]

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

 

[rwsmith]

Yes. The American troops were the 17th Airborne Division. I worked with an older fellow for years here in SW Va. Quiet, unassuming. Never knew he was a paratrooper and jumped in Varsity until I attended his funeral. His family had his military items on display including his brown leather jump boots. He was a good man!

Sounds like my neighbor who I found out at his funeral that he was a B-17 tail gunner with two Purple Hearts.

 

[rwsmith]

Lets not forget that just four days after Pearl Harbor (December 11), Hitler declared war on the U.S., which meant a two-front war for us. If he had not, I think public opinion would have had our efforts focused only on Japan, and the British and Russians would not have had our help.

I think Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreed to 'take care of Hitler first' when we needed time to build up in the Pacific in order to take the fight to Japan instead of just slowing down their advances.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

HINDSIGHT IS CRYSTAL CLEAR...................

 

[444 Magnum]

The Allies back off and let Ruskies take Berlin........Allies could have steam rollered it at anytime then.

My understanding is that the US correctly anticipated heavy casualties in the taking of Berlin. Allowing the USSR to take Berlin was a matter of saving Allied lives. The US lost roughly 250K troops in the European theater while the USSR lost an estimated 9-10 million. Soviet casualties taking Berlin are estimated at 80-100K. Eisenhower thought more of his men than Stalin.

 

[22hipower]

My understanding is that the US correctly anticipated heavy casualties in the taking of Berlin. Allowing the USSR to take Berlin was a matter of saving Allied lives. The US lost roughly 250K troops in the European theater while the USSR lost an estimated 9-10 million. Soviet casualties taking Berlin are estimated at 80-100K. Eisenhower thought more of his men than Stalin.

Yes, probably saved some Allied lives but I think it was more of a political calculation, that the Allies would shore up strategic objectives elsewhere and allow Stalin the political victory of occupying Berlin first. It had already been agreed that post war Berlin, and all of Germany, would be divided up in to areas to be managed by the various Allies. Not that the Soviets didn't want all of Berlin, as Stalin's efforts to cut off West Berlin in June of 1948 indicated. The blockade became a crisis but one that Truman managed to handle.

 

[Rammer Jammer]

And not to take away from the Soviet effort, without the US/UK providing 400,000 jeeps and trucks, 14,000 airplanes, 8,000 tractors, 13,000 tanks, and vast quantities of other supplies like food, clothing, and fuel worth some $11.3 billion, and a lot more from the UK, the Soviets would never have gotten to Berlin.

Yup, to put it too simply American manufacturing and Russian blood won WWII.

The Allies back off and let Ruskies take Berlin........Allies could have steam rollered it at anytime then.

Maybe...Eisenhower let the Russians take Berlin and the heavy casualties. Yalta conference had already established many of the post war boundaries. Then came Potsdam...

 

[S-W4EVER]

Sounds like my neighbor who I found out at his funeral that he was a B-17 tail gunner with two Purple Hearts.

It's funny how the Greatest Generation kept that kind of stuff to themselves. After my favorite Judge died I learned he earned the Bronze Star as a machine gunner during the Battle of the Bulge. R.I.P.

 

[Hair Trigger]

Not to take away from the valiant efforts of the Western Allies, but the Soviet conquest of Berlin had the greatest effect on ending the war.

Not to mention Der Fuhrer ventilating his brain pan and the rest of his bunker buddies drinking the koolaid or joining the 9mm club.

 

[oworthsr]

It's funny how the Greatest Generation kept that kind of stuff to themselves. After my favorite Judge died I learned he earned the Bronze Star as a machine gunner during the Battle of the Bulge. R.I.P.

Same experience here. Only when my father was close to death did he talk about his WW II experiences - fire controlman on a destroyer in the Pacific from 1942 through end of war. Prior to that he never brought up his combat experiences, only his Royal Shellback initiation and other "in between combat action" events.

 

[DR505]

My high school principal was a P-47 pilot in the ETO. My 1st grade principal was a Marine in the PTO. Amazing men.

 

[S-W4EVER]

When we were kids, it seemed like everyone's Dad was a WW2 Vet. I'm a first-born so my Dad was a Korean War Vet.

Many of these men were wounded but no one made an issue out of it. My Pee Wee Football Coach's knee would lock up periodically from an old wound, and he was a mail man.

When I worked after school at the local (DFW) Ford-Mercury dealership, one day the Vets were reminiscing about WW2 and the Sales Manager showed a horrible shrapnel scar on the right side of his stomach. He got it at Anzio and said the seawater was blood red…

The younger guys were Vietnam War Veterans. Being younger than my Dad, I could really relate to them. I knew if I didn't serve I would someday have to sit on my hands while the Vets told their war stories.

Ultimately I quit HS and enlisted in the Army and I still believe that is one of the best decisions I ever made. It changed my life.

I taught my daughters that all US Soldiers are in a way related and we live on a continuum. We are related to the Soldiers at Valley Forge. My girls served in the Army too (they were pretty young when I began training them. We spent a lot of time on the Range).

In less than two weeks our Army will be 250 years old, older than our Country.

 

[CajunBass]

I used to work in a grocery store in Fredericksburg, Va. One afternoon, taking a customers groceries out, I noticed his 17th Airborn cap. We got to talking about his experiences in the war. He said his unit had missed D-day, and Market Garden, but "We were in on the last big jump crossing the Rhine. Some genius, who no doubt went to West Point, came up with the bright idea to drop us on top on the German Artillery. Right on top. That way we didn't have to march far to get into the fight, I guess."

"Those Krauts shot the "stuffing" (not his word) out of us on the way down." Then pulling himself up to his full 5-6, he snapped almost to attention and said, with pride filling his voice, "But we took those guns."

It was a real honor to meet him, and several other WWII vets.

 

[fordson]

The zones of occupation were already decided at Yalta with Berlin and its approaches in the Soviet zone. Eisenhower had previously decided that he didn't want to "waste" Allies lives and material taking territories that would be handed back to the Soviets. The prestige of marching to Berlin did not outweigh the cost.

 

[Mr. Vito]

When France fell to the Germans, the remnants of the British Army were trapped at Dunkirk. Goering wanted the honor of destroying the British force with his Luftwaffa, but bad weather kept them from effectively doing the job, giving the Brits the opportunity to evacuate most of the troops back to the U.K. Had it not been for the bad weather, the Brits likely would have lost their entire military force, increasing the likelihood of a German invasion of Britain itself. Without military forces its very likely that the Brits would have quickly fallen or surrendered to the Germans. And without the U.K. as a staging area, the U.S. would probably have not had a viable option for engaging the Germans and would have focused solely on the Pacific theater. Germany would have not had a second front, and likely would have ultimately defeated the Soviet resistance. Our world today would have been totally different, and all due to a few days of bad weather over the Atlantic coast of France.

 

[S-W4EVER]

Amazing how a little out-of-the-box thinking can change the course of history. Absolutely brilliant…