Operation Plunder

"Crossing the Rhine" redirects here. Not to be confused with Crossing of the Rhine.
For other similar events, see Crossing of the Rhine (disambiguation).

Operation Plunder
Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II

U.S. 89th Division crossing the Rhine under fire
Date23–27 March 1945 (1945-03-23 – 1945-03-27)
Location
Lower Rhine region, Germany
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Units involved
Strength
  • 1,284,712 men
  • 5,481 artillery pieces[2]
  • 69,000 men
  • 45 tanks
Casualties and losses
  • United Kingdom
  • 3,968 casualties[3]
  • United States
  • 2,813 casualties[3]
  • 6,781 casualties total
 16,000 captured[3]

Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Lippe by the British Second Army under Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey, and the United States Ninth Army under Lieutenant General William H. Simpson.

The Battle of the Rhine was crucial for the advancement of the Allied advance into Germany, and was planned by Montgomery as a three-army assault, including an airborne assault, a five-thousand-gun artillery barrage, and Anglo-American bombers. Thousands of tons of supplies were brought forward including huge amounts of bridging equipment.[4]

The First Allied Airborne Army conducted Operation Varsity on the east bank of the Rhine in support of Operation Plunder, consisting of U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, the British 6th, and the U.S. 17th Airborne Divisions.

Operation Grenade in February by Simpson's Ninth Army and Crerar's Canadians was also expected to prepare the ground.[5]

Preparations such as accumulation of supplies, road construction, and the transport of 36 Royal Navy landing craft, were hidden by a massive smoke screen from 16 March. The operation commenced on the night of 23 March 1945. It included the Varsity parachute and glider landings near Wesel, and Operation Archway, by the Special Air Service.

  1. ^ "Headquarters, 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade". 25 November 2016.
  2. ^ MacDonald 1973, p. 297.
  3. ^ a b c Ford 2007, p. 91.
  4. ^ Trigg 2020, p. 220.
  5. ^ Trigg 2020, p. 178.