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BBC News
24-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
Operation Varsity: Families remember the men who were there
Eighty years ago, planes and gliders packed with troops took to the skies to take part in "the battle that ended" World War Two in was Operation Varsity when more than 16,000 British, Canadian and American troops, who took off from 11 Essex and two Suffolk airfields at 07:00 GMT on 24 March 1945, dropped directly on top of strongly defended German lines at the River Rhine. It was the largest single airborne operation in history and achieved its objectives in just hours, but at huge loss of life. Within weeks Victory in Europe was story has been resonating with relatives of the men who served in Varsity. They have been getting in touch with the BBC to share their stories. 'How young they were' "The whole glider pilot thing is little-known and people don't appreciate this was the method of taking freight to battle before helicopters, so it's good to have it more widely known," said Barbara 72-year-old described her father Bert Bowman as "a very quiet, considered person - people often described him as a true gentlemen". That calmness held him in good stead when, with co-pilot Peter Davies, he took part in Varsity."To my horror, I found the whole of my landing area covered in smoke and I just could not distinguish a thing," he wrote years later. The staff sergeant received a Distinguished Flying Medal (DFC) for his "coolness and his skill in the face of a grave emergency" when he manged to land his huge Hamilcar cargo glider, which had been badly damaged by defending German forces. Mr Bowman had been brought up in Tottenham and Edmonton, in north London, before he was called up, aged 20, in 1940. Two years later, he was accepted into the Glider Pilot Regiment and began intensive training as a pilot, as well as taking courses in artillery, infantry and how to survive behind enemy lines. He was one of the first glider pilots to land during the disastrous Battle of Arnhem, which resulted in 90% casualties to the regiment, and one of the first to leave in an evacuation eight days later. Mrs Forey, 72, from Dartford, Devon said her father was demobbed in 1946 and was offered his old job back in insurance. She told the BBC her father rarely talked about his wartime experiences during her childhood. While she knew he was involved in Operation Varsity, she learned a great deal more about his experiences from notes for a talk he gave years after - as well as the information he gave her son for a school project about World War Two. "It gives me a catch in my throat when I read about these things and you think how young they were and what they went through," she said. 'We never knew' Laurence Neal's uncle was one of at least 1,070 British, Canadian and American men who died at Varsity. "We never really knew what happened to Eddie until we saw an eyewitness source of his glider blowing up," he said. All 31 men on board were killed and today they rest in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery."He was in a lead glider and they didn't have a chance," said Mr Neal, 79, who suspects the German defenders scored a direct hit on the troop's ammunition cart. "His platoon, B Company, had six officers and 100 other ranks before Varsity and afterwards there were two officers and 45 other ranks - more than 50% losses." Alfred Edward Thomas "Eddie" Annetts, who served in the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Airborne), was just 22 years old. However, "the country boy from Wiltshire" was already a veteran of the D-Day landings and among 55,000 British and Canadian troops who contributed to the primarily American-fought Battle of the Bulge, said Mr Neal, from Totton in Hampshire. "My mother always said one of our uncles went missing and was killed, but nobody had any detail until my brother Tony started looking into it about 20 years ago," he said. "One story he found out was there was a bit of confusion when loading the gliders at RAF Gosfield in Essex, and some blokes got onto the wrong glider, which saved their lives." After Mr Neal's brother died, he used that research and his own to tell their uncle's story in a book By Glider to Normandy and Beyond, saying "these are the men who died for their country"."Everyone writes biographies of generals, but ordinary fighting man are forgotten a lot of time - it's important they are remembered," he said. 'Plenty of vodka' "My dad's Varsity story starts with a glider crossing the Rhine as part of the 6th Airborne and then he teams up with Maj Gen Eric Bols and is among the first British troops to meet the Russian army," said John Lloyd, from Wrexham, Clwyd. Jack Lloyd was a career soldier in his early 30s by this stage, having "joined the Army in 1933 to get away from his five sisters", according to his expected to join his local regiment - the Royal Welsh Fusiliers - but instead was sent to join the The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. Mr Lloyd said: "The first active wartime service he saw was D-Day and he progressed through France, receiving five minor wounds, until he received a nasty knock with shrapnel and was sent to recover in Brussels."A [Belgian] vicar sent a letter to my mother Jenny saying he was on holiday, when in fact he was sick, and then he had a few months at home with her to recover." The rifleman was part of the 6th Airborne during Varsity and after "a hell of a fight", he appears to have become Gen Bols' batman, a uniformed orderly "who kept him clean, tidy and fed", said Mr Lloyd, as they made a rapid 600 mile (965km) dash across Germany. "He didn't tell me the gory details of his war service, but once he told me they came within 10 miles down wind of a concentration camp and the smell was terrible, it made him ill," said Mr Lloyd. But they did not stop because Gen Bols was under orders from Field Marshal Montgomery, the commander behind Rhine crossing operations, to get to Wismar, "to prevent the Russians from encroaching on Belgium". Mr Lloyd said: "The British couldn't speak Russian and the Russians couldn't speak English, but there was a lots of vodka so they didn't need to speak - they just got stuck into having a party." Eventually his father was demobbed and Gen Bols helped him find his first post-war job as a gardener in Andover, Hampshire. "He only ever told me the slightly amusing stories - such as when he got lost driving a general in Scotland in 1940, or how he had his bagpipes nicked in Gibraltar - so I was shocked when I told him I was thinking of joining up and he said, 'Don't do it -war is horrible, you must avoid it at all costs," said Mr Lloyd. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Ceremony will honour pilots of key WW2 operation
Managers at a country estate are preparing to host a special commemorative service to honour pilots who flew on a major World War Two mission. The ceremony at Markshall Estate near Braintree in Essex will mark the 80th anniversary of Operation Varsity. The mission on 24 March was the largest single airborne operation in history, with more than 16,000 men dropped into western Germany. A total of 102 glider pilots lost their lives and another 102 sustained injuries. Sam Gentry, head of operations and visitor engagement at Markshall, said: "It is a privilege to stand together and pay tribute to those who played a vital role in this historic mission." The invite-only ceremony on Monday will feature a walk to the memorial site, readings, a wreath-laying and moments of reflection. During World War Two, Markshall served as the headquarters for RAF Squadrons 296 and 297 which were based at nearby Earls Colne Airfield. The untold story of Operation Varsity More than 1,500 aircraft and 1,300 gliders - carrying British, American, and Canadian airborne soldiers - participated in the operation. Sixty of those gliders were flown from Earls Colne. The forces captured crucial bridgeheads across the Rhine, paving the way for the final advance into Nazi Germany. The Braintree and District Amateur Radio Society will be at the ceremony, showcasing equipment that would have been used during the operation. Markshall is a registered charity which manages 200 acres of arboretum and gardens, as well as a further 2,000 acres of ancient woodlands and tenanted farmland. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. The untold story of the battle that helped end WW2 in Europe Markshall Estate
Yahoo
16-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The untold story of the battle that helped end WW2 in Europe
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, the Western Allies had met the Russians in Berlin and Victory in Europe was declared. Chris Bullock has organised an event at one of the departure airfields, RAF Rivenhall, to remember those who died, saying "it's an untold story". "When you see a video of the men at Rivenhall with their final brew, giving the thumbs up and the V for victory sign before they get into their gliders and you know some of them didn't come home, within three hours they were dead – it's important to tell that story," he said. Peter Davies, 102, took off from RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk towed by a Dakota plane and carrying "a 17-pounder gun, towing vehicle and gun detachment of eight personnel". He had volunteered for the Glider Pilot Regiment in 1942 because he thought it would be "more exciting" than his time as an Army private manning a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft unit. "It's like flying a brick – there's only one way, and it's down," said Mr Davies, from Bollington, Cheshire, describing what it was like once the the glider was loosed. "There was a hell of a lot of flak, we lost our controls and having lost a great chunk of one wing, we were pulling deeper and deeper into enemy ground. "When we hit the ground – and I do mean hit – we were very much in the wrong place amongst a load of very angry Germans, and it was total chaos." One American glider came down within 50m (about 160ft) of him, "and not one man got out alive because the Germans were there as well". But with co-pilot Bert Bowman, he made it across the battlefield to their intended drop zone and returned to Britain. "The Allies landed directly on top of the Germans and lots of gliders were shot down and lots of paratroopers were shot in the skies – 80 people from RAF Rivenhall alone lost their lives," said Mr Bullock, 56, who served in the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment for 25 years. 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. Its aim was to establish a bridgehead across the River Rhine for the main Allied advance into Germany and push rapidly towards the Russian forces arriving from the east. The first part was the ground offensive Operation Plunder, "which was the biggest-ever river crossing and was done by British and Canadian forces", Mr Bullock said. The intention was for the amphibious troops on the western side of the Rhine to join up with the airborne troops dropped to its east. Varsity took place just five months after the disastrous Battle of Arnhem, which resulted in 90% casualties to the Glider Pilot Regiment. RAF pilots such as Brian Latham, who had been sent to Texas, to learn to fly fighter planes, were among hundreds who "volunteered" for glider service. "If we didn't volunteer, we were told we'd never fly again and be made to join the infantry or go down a mine," said Mr Latham, 101, from Llandudno, Conway, Wales. However, he soon realised being a gilder pilot was "an elite, like the Commandos". "We were not toughies and they made us toughies – I became a trained infantry man," he said. Flying from RAF Gosfield, near Braintree, Essex, Mr Latham carried a mortar section, with a Jeep and trailer, and was dropped into ground smoke and heavy anti-aircraft fire. "We just dived into the smoke and it was all very exciting and we landed just where we should have done at Hamminkeln," he said. "We were then by a bridge, held by the Royal Ulster Rifles, which was attacked by German tanks until the British 2nd Army came up [having crossed the Rhine]." Eventually he was returned to the UK, but grateful not to go back to his home station of RAF Broadwell in Oxfordshire, because "we'd lost too many people". Of the 890 Glider Pilot Regiment personnel who took part in Varsity, more than 20% of them were killed or wounded. "We were dropped right in amongst the Germans, which had never been tried before, and we knew it was a suicide drop," said Danny Mason, who had qualified to join the Parachute Regiment aged 19 just a week earlier. "But it didn't bother us. We were young and keen and thought, 'We'll be all right, we'll be fine'." Now 98 and living in Ludlow, Shropshire, Mr Mason added: "We also thought the Germans were losing and weren't in good fighting condition and this'll be easy – but it wasn't. We had a very high casualty rate." At least 1,070 members of the US 17th Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division, which included the Canadians, were killed and thousands more were wounded. "But within four or five hours we had accomplished what we had set out to do," Mr Mason said. He advanced 600 miles through Germany within a fortnight until he was injured. "It was the battle that ended the war, yet nobody was interested in it," he said. "I asked my old commanding officer about it and he said it was because everyone was fed up. It was six years of war and it was such a huge relief when VE Day came." Mr Bullock provided some additional context. "Three weeks after Varsity, Belsen concentration camp was liberated. Two weeks after, Hitler killed himself, and a week after that Germany capitulated – it's probably hardly talked about because events overtook themselves." Now working as an international operations security manager for the BBC, he lives near RAF Rivenhall and began researching its story 10 years ago. Sixty gliders towed by two RAF squadrons left the airfield at 07:00 GMT on 24 March 1945, carrying part of the 6th Airborne Division. But some of that history is still lost. "There are no records left of who flew on which glider and what happened to each man – only the anecdotal evidence and individual stories I've managed to track down," he said. He has commissioned a memorial to "remember all those who flew from Rivenhall and died on that day". It will be unveiled at an event on 23 March, with military vehicles, static stands, re-enactors, presentations and a flypast by a Dakota. A memorial service will be held the next day at 07:00 GMT. With thanks to The Glider Pilot Regiment Society and The Parachute Regimental Association. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. Cadets remember Canadian airmen of WWII Their plane went down - how this WW2 crew survived 'I heard the shout, fire, and dived to the ground' The Glider Pilot Regiment Society The Parachute Regimental Association
BBC News
16-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
RAF Rivenhall event remembers 'forgotten' WW2 airborne operation
Operation Varsity "was the battle that ended" World War Two in Europe, yet it is largely unknown to all but military history 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 and gliders packed with men descended into fierce fighting conditions which resulted in rapid success, but huge loss of life. About six weeks later, the Western Allies had met the Russians in Berlin and Victory in Europe was Bullock has organised an event at one of the departure airfields, RAF Rivenhall, to remember those who died, saying "it's an untold story". "When you see a video of the men at Rivenhall with their final brew, giving the thumbs up and the V for victory sign before they get into their gliders and you know some of them didn't come home, within three hours they were dead – it's important to tell that story," he said. Peter Davies, 102, took off from RAF Woodbridge in Suffolk towed by a Dakota plane and carrying "a 17-pounder gun, towing vehicle and gun detachment of eight personnel".He had volunteered for the Glider Pilot Regiment in 1942 because he thought it would be "more exciting" than his time as an Army private manning a Royal Artillery anti-aircraft unit."It's like flying a brick – there's only one way, and it's down," said Mr Davies, from Bollington, Cheshire, describing what it was like once the the glider was loosed."There was a hell of a lot of flak, we lost our controls and having lost a great chunk of one wing, we were pulling deeper and deeper into enemy ground."When we hit the ground – and I do mean hit – we were very much in the wrong place amongst a load of very angry Germans, and it was total chaos."One American glider came down within 50m (about 160ft) of him, "and not one man got out alive because the Germans were there as well".But with co-pilot Bert Bowman, he made it across the battlefield to their intended drop zone and returned to Britain. "The Allies landed directly on top of the Germans and lots of gliders were shot down and lots of paratroopers were shot in the skies – 80 people from RAF Rivenhall alone lost their lives," said Mr Bullock, 56, who served in the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment for 25 Varsity was the largest single airborne operation in history, with more than 16,000 men were dropped into western Germany on the same aim was to establish a bridgehead across the River Rhine for the main Allied advance into Germany and push rapidly towards the Russian forces arriving from the first part was the ground offensive Operation Plunder, "which was the biggest-ever river crossing and was done by British and Canadian forces", Mr Bullock intention was for the amphibious troops on the western side of the Rhine to join up with the airborne troops dropped to its east. Varsity took place just five months after the disastrous Battle of Arnhem, which resulted in 90% casualties to the Glider Pilot pilots such as Brian Latham, who had been sent to Texas, to learn to fly fighter planes, were among hundreds who "volunteered" for glider service. "If we didn't volunteer, we were told we'd never fly again and be made to join the infantry or go down a mine," said Mr Latham, 101, from Llandudno, Conway, he soon realised being a gilder pilot was "an elite, like the Commandos"."We were not toughies and they made us toughies – I became a trained infantry man," he said. Flying from RAF Gosfield, near Braintree, Essex, Mr Latham carried a mortar section, with a Jeep and trailer, and was dropped into ground smoke and heavy anti-aircraft fire."We just dived into the smoke and it was all very exciting and we landed just where we should have done at Hamminkeln," he said."We were then by a bridge, held by the Royal Ulster Rifles, which was attacked by German tanks until the British 2nd Army came up [having crossed the Rhine]."Eventually he was returned to the UK, but grateful not to go back to his home station of RAF Broadwell in Oxfordshire, because "we'd lost too many people".Of the 890 Glider Pilot Regiment personnel who took part in Varsity, more than 20% of them were killed or wounded. "We were dropped right in amongst the Germans, which had never been tried before, and we knew it was a suicide drop," said Danny Mason, who had qualified to join the Parachute Regiment aged 19 just a week earlier. "But it didn't bother us. We were young and keen and thought, 'We'll be all right, we'll be fine'."Now 98 and living in Ludlow, Shropshire, Mr Mason added: "We also thought the Germans were losing and weren't in good fighting condition and this'll be easy – but it wasn't. We had a very high casualty rate." At least 1,070 members of the US 17th Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division, which included the Canadians, were killed and thousands more were wounded."But within four or five hours we had accomplished what we had set out to do," Mr Mason advanced 600 miles through Germany within a fortnight until he was injured. "It was the battle that ended the war, yet nobody was interested in it," he said."I asked my old commanding officer about it and he said it was because everyone was fed up. It was six years of war and it was such a huge relief when VE Day came." Mr Bullock provided some additional context."Three weeks after Varsity, Belsen concentration camp was liberated. Two weeks after, Hitler killed himself, and a week after that Germany capitulated – it's probably hardly talked about because events overtook themselves."Now working as an international operations security manager for the BBC, he lives near RAF Rivenhall and began researching its story 10 years gliders towed by two RAF squadrons left the airfield at 07:00 GMT on 24 March 1945, carrying part of the 6th Airborne some of that history is still lost."There are no records left of who flew on which glider and what happened to each man – only the anecdotal evidence and individual stories I've managed to track down," he has commissioned a memorial to "remember all those who flew from Rivenhall and died on that day".It will be unveiled at an event on 23 March, with military vehicles, static stands, re-enactors, presentations and a flypast by a Dakota.A memorial service will be held the next day at 07:00 thanks to The Glider Pilot Regiment Society and The Parachute Regimental Association. Follow Essex news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
