Part 1: 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in the last seven weeks of the war

This article is part of a four-part series on the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion in the last seven weeks of the war. Click below to read the accompanying sections. Written and researched by Norma Graham.

• PART 2: The Fighting Trek Across Northern Germany
• PART 3: A Quick Advance
• PART 4: Reaching Wismar

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Once we dropped in on Operation Varsity, the battalion had become purely a professional unit…In my opinion, there was none better.

– Lt.-Col. Fraser Eadie, “Victory from Above: First Canadian Parachute Battalion”.

I got out of my parachute harness very quickly. There were bullets flying over my head. The crack past your ears makes you wake up quickly…What we were told was ‘don’t just lay there, get on your feet and do something.’ We were trained to expect this and to do it, so we charged this position and we knocked it out.

– Major Bob Firlotte, “Victory from Above: First Canadian Parachute Battalion”

In March of 1945, the Germans were preparing to make a last stand in defense of their homeland. The writing was on the wall, so clear that anyone except Hitler could see it: the Western Allies stood on the western bank of the Rhine, and the Red Army stood menacingly on the eastern side of the Oder. The endgame from the west commenced on March 23, with Operation Plunder.

The purpose of Operation Plunder was to cross the Rhine and create a secure bridgehead that could be widened as the German defences crumbled. The region of Emmerich – Wesel was chosen by the Allied planners due to its location near the Ruhr industrial region, which could then be isolated. It was also good ground both for mechanized warfare and for airborne landings to support the river crossing.

British Second Army under Sir Miles Dempsey was tasked with taking Wesel. This town had a population of about 25,000 in 1939; by the end of the war, repeated bombardments by Allied aircraft and artillery had reduced the town to rubble with only about 1900 people living in the ruins. Dempsey’s army was to be supported by the First Allied Airborne Army, made up of American XVIII Airborne Corps, US 17^th Airborne and the British 6^th Airborne. Their mission, codenamed Operation Varsity, was to seize key terrain – mostly high ground near the Rhine – to secure the bridgehead and clear the way for Second Army. The airborne troops were to be dropped three to five miles east of the Rhine and north of Wesel. This was to prevent reinforcements from reaching German forces, and to take control of an area of woods and high ground around Diersfordt that could be used by the enemy to camouflage gun positions that would delay Second Army’s breakout.

Specifically, 3^rd Parachute Brigade of 6^th Airborne, to which 1^st Can Para belonged, was to drop first, secure the DZ, then clear the northern area of Diersfordter woods. They were also to seize Schnappenburg Ridge, a daunting task given it was defended by 7^th German Fallschirmjäger (parachute) Division. But the enemy guns had to be put out of action to protect the ground troops.

In an unusual turn of events, the airborne troops would be dropped in daytime, after the ground troops had made their first surge across the river Rhine. The hope was that the enemy would be distracted by the ground troops so that the airborne could land at their rear and surprise them. Major-General Eric Bols announced, “Well, gentlemen, you’ll be glad to know that this time we’re not going to be dropped down as a carrot held out for the ground forces. Army and Navy are going to storm across the Rhine, and just when they’ve gained Jerry’s attention in front – bingo! We drop down behind him.”

Timing and placement had to be perfect. Unlike Operation Market Garden, there was to be less than a day’s delay for the airborne and the ground forces to link up. Fortunately, March 24 was a clear sunny day. Commanders were hopeful that a preliminary aerial bombing of the region, along with artillery bombardments, would soften up the German defenses sufficiently that their landing would be, if not unopposed, at least only weakly opposed. But their hopes were dashed. Heavy flak (anti-aircraft fire) from the ground damaged or destroyed several of the transport aircraft. Major Bob Firlotte recalled that he was thrown, rather than jumped, from the Dakota he was in when it was hit by flak. Veterans remembered the coolness and courage of the pilots, who were so determined to drop their men accurately on the Drop Zone (DZ) that they took no evasive action.

 As we were approaching the drop zone, we were hit in the right engine and tail section, killing the American Sergeant jump master…The plane was on fire and losing altitude fast…On the way down I was able to see the plane hit the ground and burst into flames.”

– Pte. L. H. Hellerud, unpublished manuscript, 1 Can Para Archives, Petawawa, Ontario

The battalion descended through heavy fire, with many of the men recalling seeing bullet holes in their parachutes as they descended. Major Fraser Eadie, with bullets flying all around him, sagged in his harness, feigning death so the German gunners would direct their fire elsewhere. The landing zone was “hot”, the Germans still determined to hold their ground. Several men lay dead or wounded on the DZ. It was, as expected, chaotic. But the training held firm, with every man displaying initiative and leadership, regardless of rank. This was the ‘secret weapon’ of the parachute battalions: their training was such that they could function effectively in battle whether they had a commanding officer giving them orders or not.

For about two hours, there was “flat-out fighting”, until the battalion had taken their objectives. By 1400 hours, enemy resistance had ceased. 24 hours later, the Canadians had linked up with British ground troops.

CONTINUE TO PART 2: The Fighting Trek Across Northern Germany