Operation Plunder

• 1. Strategic Planning And Logistics

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  Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery launched Operation Plunder on the night of the 23rd of March 1945. Thousands of tons of supplies moved forward to support the assault across the Rhine. Massive amounts of bridging equipment accumulated near Rees and Wesel. Road construction projects expanded to handle the heavy traffic of tanks and trucks. A smoke screen covered preparations from the 16th of March until the operation began. This concealment hid the transport of 36 Royal Navy landing craft. The British Second Army under Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey coordinated with the United States Ninth Army led by William H. Simpson. Their goal was a three-army assault including an airborne component. Five thousand guns prepared for the opening barrage. Anglo-American bombers joined the artillery fire in the days leading up to the crossing.

• 2. The Amphibious Assault Phase

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  Companies E and C of the 17th Armored Engineer Battalion constructed treadway rafts south of Wesel. Bridge construction started at 9:45 a.m. on the 23rd of March 1945. By 4:00 p.m., the first truck crossed the floating pontoon bridge. Over 8,000 feet of M2 treadway and 93 pneumatic floats were laid during the six hours and fifteen minute project. Twenty-five 2 ton GMC CCKW trucks transported the bridge parts to the site. The Red Ball Express delivered these vehicles to the front lines. The British 79th Armoured Division provided specially adapted armored vehicles known as Hobart's Funnies. An LVT-2 Buffalo operated by the 4th Royal Tank Regiment served as the spearhead infantry transport. Lieutenant Colonel Alan Jolly commanded this amphibious tracked personnel carrier. These machines could cross soft and flooded ground without sinking. The first part of Plunder began at 21:00 on the 23rd of March near Rees. The 51st Highland Infantry Division led the initial assault with the 7th Battalion Black Watch.

• 3. Operation Varsity Airborne Support

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  The First Allied Airborne Army conducted Operation Varsity on the east bank of the Rhine. U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps joined forces with the British 6th and U.S. 17th Airborne Divisions. This operation started at 10:00 on the 24th of March to disrupt enemy communications. Despite heavy resistance, airborne troops made progress and repelled counterattacks. Hard lessons from Operation Market Garden applied to this massive drop. The 15th Scottish Division linked up with both airborne divisions in the afternoon. Over 15,000 paratroopers landed during the largest single-day airborne operation in history. They secured the eastern bank against German defenses. The landing zones sat directly north of Wesel where the river flowed. Parachutes opened over fields that had been cleared by artillery fire. Gliders touched down alongside the infantry to deliver heavy equipment. The air support proved vital for establishing a firm bridgehead by the 27th of March.

• 4. German Defensive Collapse

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  Alfred Schlemm commanded the German 1st Parachute Army opposing the Allied advance. This formation was severely depleted from previous action in the Battle of the Reichswald. Unable to withstand pressure, the army withdrew northeast toward Hamburg and Bremen. Joseph Goebbels noted the critical phase of the situation in his diary entry on the 24th of March. He foresaw Allied attempts to encircle the Ruhr industrial heartland. Günther Blumentritt took command of the 1st Parachute Army after Schlemm was wounded. Communications were weak as one corps remained uncontacted throughout the fighting. Reinforcements were so poor that generals decided against using them to avoid casualties. Within a week of the start of Plunder, Allies captured 30,000 prisoners north of the Ruhr. By the 1st of April, Blumentritt managed a withdrawal beyond the Dortmund-Ems Canal to the Teutoburg Forest. The front line became incomplete with no reserves or air support available.

• 5. Political Visits And Observations

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  British Prime Minister Winston Churchill stood at Field Marshal Montgomery's headquarters near Venlo on the eve of Plunder. Churchill and Montgomery watched the Varsity air landings on the 24th of March together. They visited General Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters the next day for lunch and a briefing. A party including U.S. commanders and armed guards took an LCVP landing craft to enemy territory. They landed for 30 minutes without challenge on a quiet stretch of riverbank. The group then visited the destroyed railway bridge at Wesel before departing when German artillery appeared. This dangerous excursion occurred while Allied forces fought across the Rhine. Churchill observed the destruction firsthand from a sandbagged house overlooking the water. His presence demonstrated high-level political interest in the military operation. The visit highlighted the risks taken by leaders during active combat phases.

• 6. Inter-Allied Command Rivalries

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  The Yalta Conference decided to add another crossing south of the Ruhr in early February 1945. Two earlier crossings actually happened before Operation Plunder began. U.S. troops captured the Ludendorff Bridge unexpectedly on the 7th of March during the Battle of Remagen. Six divisions and 25,000 troops established a bridgehead within the next 10 days. General George S. Patton sent his Third Army across the Rhine at Nierstein on the 22nd of March. Omar Bradley released news of this crossing to the press at a calculated time. He wanted to take some lustre from Montgomery's upcoming announcement. Patton urged the announcement saying he wanted the world to know the Third Army made it first. Bradley later remembered that Patton strongly pushed for the timing despite operational realities. These rivalries created tension between American commanders regarding credit for separate crossings. The strategic competition influenced how information reached the public during the war.