(3) PERSONALITIES
British 21st Army Group
– Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery
First Allied Airborne Army
– Lt Gen Lewis H. Brereton
XVIII Corps (Airborne)
– Maj Gen Matthew B. Ridgway
XVIII Corps (Airborne)
– Deputy Commander, Maj Gen Richard N. Gale
British 1st Airborne Corps
– Maj Gen Richard N. Gale
British VIII Corps
– Lt Gen Evelyn H. Barker
British XII Corps
– Lt Gen Neil Ritchie
8th Bomber Command (B-24 Resupply)
– Maj Gen Frederick L. Anderson
IX Troop Carrier Command
– Maj Gen Paul L. Williams
17th Airborne Division
– Maj Gen William M. ‘Bud’ Miley
British 6th Airborne Division
– Maj Gen Eric L. Bols
British 6th Guards Armored Brigade
– Brig W.D.C. Greenacre
British 1st Commando Brigade
– Brig Derck Mills-Roberts
Special Air Service Ground Force
– Lt Col Brian Forster Mortan Franks
(4) CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS
a. March 24, 1945: (Sketch No. 2)
The operation proceeded according to plan with drops, and landings being made in moderate to intense antiaircraft fire. Details of patterns are a matter of separate study, but in general, they may be classified as good. By nightfall, reports were received that all objectives had been taken by both divisions, except that the 513-PIR (17-A/B) was launching a night attack to secure the high ground in the heavily wooded area north of Diersfordt. This attack was successful. Five (5) bridges across the Issel River had been seized intact and Hamminken had been seized by the 6th Airlanding Brigade of the British 6th Airborne Division. The 194th Glider Infantry Regiment (17-A/B) held crossings of the Issel River within its zone. Contact had been made between all units. The 1st Commando Brigade held the western half of Wesel. The build-up of supporting units across the Rhine River proceeded slowly due to difficulty with Class 50-60 Rafts. The Corps Commander crossed during the afternoon and joined the Commanding General, 17-A/B. Two-hundred and forty (240) B-24 aircraft dropped five hundred and forty (540) tons of ammunition, food, and gasoline at 1300 hours. The British 6th Airborne Division reported the capture of fifteen hundred (1500) prisoners while the US 17th Airborne Division reported two thousand (2000) prisoners, during the day, with the identification of the German 84.Infantry-Division predominating. The airborne drop was of such depth that all enemy artillery and rear defensive positions were included and destroyed, reducing in one (1) day a position that might have taken many days to reduce by ground attack only. The resupply mission by air for March 25, 1945, was canceled. (Captured today: 3789 Prisoners of War)
b. March 25, 1945: (Sketch No. 3)
The XVIII Corps (Airborne) assumed control of the 1st Commando Brigade at 0930, (which was confirmed later by Headquarters, British Second Army) and it was attached to the US 17th Airborne Division. Wesel was not completely clear at the opening of this period. The US 17th Airborne Division launched an attack with the 194-GIR and the 507-PIR at 1500 to seize Phase Line London. The 194-GIR reported on it by 1800; resistance was classified as light with no enemy artillery or mortar fire encountered. The 507-PIR with stiffer resistance in the vicinity of Wesel had two (2) battalions on Phase Line London prior to midnight. Build-up proceeded slowly with each division reinforced by one (1) battery self-propelled antitank gun (UK 17 pounder), and the US 17th Airborne Division reinforced by one (1) tank company. The British 6th Airborne Division had been reinforced by the equivalent of one (1) tank, company (amphibious) on D-Day. Corps Tactical Command Post opened on the east bank at Diersfordt (178442) at 1400, and the same afternoon issued orders for the attack on Phase Line New York with divisions abreast, formation and boundaries as planned at 0900, March 26, 1945; the British 3rd Parachute Brigade (6th British Airborne Division) was placed in Corps Reserve. (Captured today: 844 Prisoners of War)
c. March 26, 1945: (Sketch No. 4)
The British 6th Airborne Division and the US 17th US Airborne Division attacked as planned and secured all objectives on Phase Line New York. Resistance was classified as light along the entire front. Only two (2) counterattacks were reported up to this time each about company strength. Plans were completed for the continuation of the attack on Phase Line Paris at 0900, March 27, 1945, with arrangements made for the relief of elements of the British 6th Airborne Division by British XII Corps north of the previously agreed inter-Corps boundary by 0200, March 27, 1945. The build-up of reinforcements proceeded more rapidly due to the opening of a Class 40 Bridge ahead of schedule and the construction of two (2) Class 40 Bridges at Wesel by the US Ninth Army. The British 6th Guards Armored Brigade after crossing the Rhine River during the night of March 26/27, 1945, was attached to the XVIII Corps (Airborne), and plans were prepared to reinforce it with the following units: the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (less one (1) battalion); the 144th Self-Propelled Antitank Battery; the 6th Field Regiment and 1 Air Support Tentacle, and to attack Corps Order to seize the line Dorsten (4740) – Rhades (4450). The US 17th Airborne Division secured the bridge site at (323397) to safeguard the bridging operation of the US XVI Corps on the following day. The British 1st Commando Brigade replaced the British 3rd Parachute Brigade at 1800, as Corps Reserve in the vicinity of Wesel. (Captured today: 827 Prisoners of War)
d. March 27, 1945: (Sketch No. 5)
During the night of March 26/27, 1945, the British 6th Airborne Division sent patrols as far out as Phase Line Paris, and upon finding no resistance quickly pushed two (2) battalions forward so that by daylight they were on that line. The Corps-Commander issued instructions to disregard Phase Line Paris and to advance aggressively on the line Dorsten Wulfen and Lembeck with particular attention to bridges on the Lippe River. Units were instructed to push the attack relentlessly day and night in order to obtain maximum exploitation with minimum delay. The British 6th Guards Armored Brigade was delayed crossing the Rhine River bridges, but with the 513th Parachute Infantry Regiment (less than one (1) battalion) attached, attacked at 1500 and passed through leading elements of the US 17th Airborne Division during the night. Despite stiff resistance in the Weselerwald (Welsel Forest) Area, gains Up to nine thousand (9000) yards were made in the Corps Zone. The XVIII Corps (Airborne) Command Post opened at 1500, north of Wesel (225427). (Captured today: 493 Prisoner of War)
