Part of a coordinated set of Rhine crossings during WWII
"Crossing the Rhine" redirects here. Not to be confused with Crossing of the Rhine.
For other similar events, see Crossing of the Rhine (disambiguation).
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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
Date
23–27 March 1945 (1945-03-23 – 1945-03-27)
Location
Lower Rhine region, Germany
Result
Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom
United States
Canada
Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Montgomery
Miles Dempsey
William H. Simpson
Johannes Blaskowitz
Alfred Schlemm
Units involved
21st Army Group
British 2nd Army
U.S. 9th Army
9th Canadian Infantry Brigade[1]
Army Group H
1st Parachute Army
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]
v
t
e
Western Allied invasion of Germany
Blackcock
Rhineland
Veritable
Grenade
Blockbuster
Plunder
Flashpoint
Varsity
Archway
Lumberjack
Remagen
Cologne
Gisela
Undertone
Aschaffenburg
TF Baum
Frankfurt
Ruhr
Paderborn
Würzburg
Kassel
Heilbronn
Howard
Dortmund
Friesoythe
Nuremberg
Lippach
Düsseldorf
Stuttgart
Hamburg
Itter Castle
Logistics
American
British
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 Allied forces.
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.
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.
^"Headquarters, 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade". 25 November 2016.
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