Operation Varsity

This film, taken from the Museum’s archives, was produced by the RAF Film Production Unit and documents the role of the British 6th Airborne Division during Operation Varsity: the Allies last large-scale airborne operation of the Second World War. On 24 March 1945 the Allies successfully crossed the River Rhine in France, the last natural obstacle in the path of the allied armies in their advance toward Berlin. The operation was the largest lift of airborne troops in a single day to a single destination, with in excess of 16,500 British and US airborne troops being transported in an air armada of over 1,700 aircraft and 1,300 gliders.