A time for heroes

Essex airfields played a vital role in the Allies’ ultimate victory during World War II, but here Stephen L Wright reveals the rarely told tale of Operation Varsity and the Glider Pilot Regiment

- Stephen L Wright

As March 1945 dawned, the remnants of the German forces which had received a sustained mauling from their Allied opponents found themselves with their backs to the Rhine. A heavy rainstorm on March 10 gave them the cover they needed to cross to the other bank, blowing the bridge behind them.

Allied plans for an operation to land in the heart of Germany had been mooted in the previous November with an execution date for January. The Ardennes Offensive had put this on hold. Now, the time was ripe. Analysis showed that there were enough open spaces for Drop Zones and Landing Zones. The code name for the operation was Varsity and the British 6th and the US 17th Airborne Divisions, refitted and reinforced after the Ardennes Campaign, were assigned.

Travelling from France, the 17th would take and hold the environs of the town of Wesel while the 6th would do the same for the Schnepfenberg, a high feature, topped by the Diersfordter Wald and the outskirts of the village of Hamminkeln.

In Essex, airfields at Chipping Ongar, Boreham and Wethersfield became home to 6th Airborne’s paratroop units. They would be carried by aircraft of the US 9th Troop Carrier Command.

Meanwhile the squadrons of the Glider Pilot Regiment (GPR), with their Horsa gliders, moved onto airfields at Birch, Earls Colne, Gosfield, Great Dunmow, Matching and Rivenhall. The GPR comprised of soldiers who had volunteered for this unique unit and had successfully passed a rigorous selection process.

In September 1944 the GPR took great losses in the battle for Arnhem. With no time to train soldiers, RAF pilots were brought in. Together with their Army colleagues they would fly gliders loaded with 6th Airborne’s vehicles, guns and tanks and the men of the Airlanding Brigade.