16,000 Paratroopers & 10,000 Aircraft - The Largest Single Day Airborne Operation in History

It was to be the largest airborne operation in history. As the Allies pushed into Germany seeking an end to World War 2 in Europe, Operation Varsity was launched to secure crossing over the Rive Rhine. More than 16,000 paratroopers and thousands of planes made it the most massive airborne operation in a single day over one location. Their speed and sheer numbers would shatter the defenders’ morale and prepare the way for a surface crossing across the river as part of Operation Plunder…
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Dark Docs brings you cinematic short military history documentaries featuring the greatest battles and most heroic stories of modern warfare, covering World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and special forces operations in between.
As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect and soundtracks for emotional impact. We do our best to keep it as visually accurate as possible.
All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas.

Пікірлер: 450

  • @ronaldrobertson2332
    @ronaldrobertson23323 жыл бұрын

    My dad was with the 194th or 197th Gilder Infantry Regiment, 17th Airborne Division. This is where he earned his purple heart after his Gilder got knocked out of the sky. Him and another guy were the only two survivors out of their stick. He was briefly captured, suffering wounds in his wrists and ankles and a skull fracture, I think. All I know is, he had a steel plate in his skull when he died in August of 1999. He had been first listed as MIA, but later changed to KIA, but Grandma Grace wouldn't believe them. She was later proven right when they got a letter from dad; he was alright and in a hospital in Belgium. Dad was a scout for their outfit only because he was full-blood Santee Sioux Indian. If you ever go up to the Santee reservation in Nebraska, there is a memorial there with his name on it: Pfc Clifford Sterling Robertson. My dad.

  • @harleyrider883

    @harleyrider883

    Жыл бұрын

    Deep respect for your Dad's service and sacrifice.

  • @The508ranger

    @The508ranger

    Жыл бұрын

    Respect 🫡

  • @patriciabowers-fo6yl

    @patriciabowers-fo6yl

    Жыл бұрын

    Good day Are you a member of the Scions of the 17th Airborne Division?

  • @ronaldrobertson2332

    @ronaldrobertson2332

    Жыл бұрын

    @@patriciabowers-fo6yl No ma'me, I am not. I do recognize the "Talons from Above" icon, though.👍

  • @patriciabowers-fo6yl

    @patriciabowers-fo6yl

    Жыл бұрын

    @@ronaldrobertson2332 But he was your father? If so, I would love to hear more about him, we are all descendants of the 17th paratroopers. If you would like more information on us and learn more about your father's service in WWII let me know,

  • @garymcaleer6112
    @garymcaleer61123 жыл бұрын

    Superb! The soldier who withheld his grenade that saved the innocent!

  • @bigblue6917

    @bigblue6917

    3 жыл бұрын

    Sometimes it just takes a moment to think.

  • @mikebather6688

    @mikebather6688

    3 жыл бұрын

    Sounds familiar

  • @mSparks43

    @mSparks43

    3 жыл бұрын

    put a tear in my eye. knew something like was coming. but still.

  • @billyruprecht9581

    @billyruprecht9581

    3 жыл бұрын

    Be merciful. That’s what his letter said.

  • @jedimindtrix2142

    @jedimindtrix2142

    3 жыл бұрын

    War is full of incidents like this. There was an incident during the initial invasion of Iraq where marines who were watching a bridge didn't stop to think before firing. Killed a van full with a family who lived close by. It doesn't always go the way it did for this man in the video. He and that family got very, very lucky.

  • @DavidFraser007
    @DavidFraser0072 жыл бұрын

    My Dad was part of this. He was originally a Lancaster bomber pilot with the RAF, but flew a glider loaded with ammunition. He told me that the glider was overloaded and hit a chimney on a farmhouse, but he managed to land ok. After that he got some home leave then was recalled and flew a Douglas Dakota with Transport Command. I've still got his camouflage para smock.

  • @loganholmberg2295
    @loganholmberg22953 жыл бұрын

    Its easy to call something superfluous in hindsight 80 years later. Considering how much trouble the Germans were giving them at river crossings perhaps it was the best options the generals had with the info they had available and based on their exp. Historians tend to be terrible armchair generals too cause they have hindsight and don't have people breathing down their necks for results in the midddle of the war.

  • @marquisdelafayette1929

    @marquisdelafayette1929

    3 жыл бұрын

    rockit730 anything Montgomery planned ended in disaster.. especially anything involving paratroopers. Market garden anyone ?

  • @andrewhoughton4123

    @andrewhoughton4123

    3 жыл бұрын

    I agree with logan

  • @dukecraig2402

    @dukecraig2402

    3 жыл бұрын

    @rockit730 You're even better at being an armchair General than the narrator is.

  • @dukecraig2402

    @dukecraig2402

    3 жыл бұрын

    @ROBERT DEAN So are you.

  • @david-leethompson62

    @david-leethompson62

    3 жыл бұрын

    Very good point... The Germans were protecting their Homeland and we're tenacious.... Ensure Eisenhower being so intelligent would have said we lose 50% of the people attacking them head-on.... Where are the paratroopers.lol Plus they talk about the paratroopers like we created them**** it was actually the Russians in the thirties that did it.

  • @anubis7173
    @anubis7173 Жыл бұрын

    I thank you with all of my heart for this documentary on operation varsity. I was born in 1971 to a World War paratrooper from the 507 PIR 17th ABD. He died when I was seven but the woman who saved him and made him live again after coming home from operation varsity died six months after my birth. Operation varsity broke my father's heart and it killed him. My Mother's Love & Faith brought him back. I'm told that he never thought of those days until the day she died. That was the day he died a second time. For the next seven years and the first seven years of my life I saw my father go through moments of shell-shocked nightmares anger sadness depression drunkenness and crying. I could never understand the night terrors. Now I am 52 years old. This is the first time in my life I think I understand him. I thank God I found you and your documentary and some of the answers that a dead man can't answer. I'm waiting for the day when I joined him is not an option. I need to be at peace when I die. My father's name is Edward J Wojtal from New York City. His parents came from Poland before and during World War I. My father has a kill list of 24 krauts and a frau I remember grandma and she said to her son the day he left to go to the army: " 12:14 don't you dare let a SINGLE NAZI LIVE! I don't care if it's a man or woman or child because children grow up to be bigger Nazis' I'm so glad he didn't disappoint his mother

  • @larrysanchez5004

    @larrysanchez5004

    6 ай бұрын

    Bless you and your family for all your being there to keep us free 🙏

  • @Silhshoot
    @Silhshoot3 жыл бұрын

    I will forgive the small number of visual errors such as C130 aircraft; I liked the video. The narration is accurate as per the books I have read and my father's, God-rest-his-soul, stories. Cub, flew a CG-4A glider in this operation as a member of the 442nd Troop Carrier Group. He was the single pilot of the glider and responsible for a jeep-trailer of plasma and seven medics. He told accounts of paratroopers doing a war-dance in the early morning hours before they loaded into a C-47. That, upon arrival into Germany, around 9:00 AM, he could see the colored smoke left by the pathfinders to indicate the landing area. He would recount the experience of when he released from the tow-cable to start the descent into combat; the cable immediately slid across the top of the glider because the tow-plane pilots released the cable too soon and did not take it to the appropriate release area. He talked of flack concussions buffeting them from above, but that he was not worried because the Krauts were aiming for the larger planes flying above them. He described that in training he learned how to use the spoiler to drop quickly, but that it maintained airspeed and that his landing was only off by two fields, and that it was a good landing with only the removal of two barbed-wire fences. Then within minutes of landing, they had the front of the glider open and the trailer of plasma hooked-up to a jeep. The medics piled onto the jeep and trailer, drove off, and tended to wounded paratroopers; he was then alone in a field needing to urinate. So he walks over to a shell crater, started to... Hears a shell whistling overhead, and... He ends up in the crater! I miss my Dad; I miss his stores. He lived for 98 years and was definitely part of the greatest generation.

  • @None-zc5vg

    @None-zc5vg

    3 жыл бұрын

    The 1953 Alan Ladd picture "Paratrooper" had to make do with contemporary footage of men parachuting from post-war British "Hastings" transport planes, possibly because no suitable wartime film of C-47s was available, so close in time to WW2.

  • @garryclelland4481

    @garryclelland4481

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for that David , great story .

  • @mathewmcdonald3657

    @mathewmcdonald3657

    3 жыл бұрын

    So many great fascinating stories need to be recorded and shared. Thanks for sharing, first time I’ve heard of soldiers doing a war dance. The magnitude of the task at hand, knowing what they were up against and what they already went through they were stone cold bad asses. Much respect to your father and his brothers in arms.

  • @dukecraig2402

    @dukecraig2402

    3 жыл бұрын

    Did you see in the news where the Army plans on shutting down the Pathfinder School?

  • @luciaconn6788

    @luciaconn6788

    2 жыл бұрын

    Were there a lot of College boys along? Hence Operation Varsity. My Great Uncle paratrooper died when his unarmored plane exploded under machine-gun fire. My neighbor lived and saw hand to hand combat during the battle of the bulge. He'd killed men, was afraid of being a Dad and so never was. Wounded and needed surgery from time to time. It was the greatest generation but the generals were impatient and a lot went wrong on D. Day. They were so casual w/ American lives. Same with the Pacific theater. Beach-heading Islands, huge waste of men, material.

  • @andrewtaylor940
    @andrewtaylor9403 жыл бұрын

    It’s impressive to see those members of the first airborne Battalion as they heroically leap from their C-130’s! In period correct black and white footage. It’s the little details that count.

  • @L_ky

    @L_ky

    3 жыл бұрын

    c130s? im pretty sure c-47s were used, not c130s. C130s were developed in 1950s.

  • @wolfe5993

    @wolfe5993

    3 жыл бұрын

    You do understand that sometimes they use footage that may not be 100% suitable right?

  • @andrewtaylor940

    @andrewtaylor940

    3 жыл бұрын

    L_ky I know that, but the video editor apparently doesn’t. I assume he’s hoping for work on a Michael Bay historical movie.

  • @wolfe5993

    @wolfe5993

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@andrewtaylor940 this is not some big budget documentary they do what they can with what they've got without using the same clips over and over again. If you want an actual documentary go find one.

  • @10poundsofcarp

    @10poundsofcarp

    3 жыл бұрын

    Read the disclaimer at the video description

  • @frankpinmtl
    @frankpinmtl3 жыл бұрын

    "Losses were high..." Hold my beer -Operation Market Garden

  • @skrydon78

    @skrydon78

    3 жыл бұрын

    Laughs in Operation Bagration. ( I know it's not airborne related but eh)

  • @IKE405
    @IKE4053 жыл бұрын

    I just want to say thank you and well done to whomever makes these videos at Dark Documentaries. Each video is interesting and informative, and I appreciate how hard you all must work to vetting them and the hours you spend on making them. You are part of a very select group of history buffs on KZread that do it right. 👍🏼🇺🇸

  • @mrmoelle6139
    @mrmoelle61393 жыл бұрын

    Im a longtime viewer of the channel and i live in hamminkeln the Main drop zone. My grandfather often tells Me about the landing He was about 15 and lived on a farm a bit outside the village right in the Center of the dropzone. He had always good words about the American and british solider who landed There. He telled me the first ciggarett which He smoked was given to him by an GI :)

  • @duncandmcgrath6290
    @duncandmcgrath62903 жыл бұрын

    Even more interesting when I listen to it in Mark Feltons voice

  • @NfcdxAdhmc4993

    @NfcdxAdhmc4993

    3 жыл бұрын

    The man himself!

  • @corpsmitty

    @corpsmitty

    3 жыл бұрын

    The sweet velvet voice of the Felt-man himself.

  • @M_Alistair

    @M_Alistair

    3 жыл бұрын

    Especially along with his trademark intro music

  • @Len1977gt

    @Len1977gt

    3 жыл бұрын

    Mark Felton is great - NO doubt,, all of those English Narrators have that great accent. But, Dark Docs has a cool voice too. Besides, it would be boring if everyone sounded the same.

  • @robashton8606

    @robashton8606

    3 жыл бұрын

    Does it contain fewer inaccuracies in Felton's voice?

  • @trevorhansen1940
    @trevorhansen19403 жыл бұрын

    "The Parachute Test Regiment" You mean, the Balls of Solid Titanium Regiment.

  • @WreckerWarsdotcom

    @WreckerWarsdotcom

    3 жыл бұрын

    lol. yeah great point and much better name

  • @TheDHM3007

    @TheDHM3007

    3 жыл бұрын

    Lol

  • @markpaul8178
    @markpaul81783 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for another great episode DARK DOCS.U had my 💯 percent attention.I can hardly wait for the next one.Your voice and how you use it is over the top!

  • @baddiesluvme
    @baddiesluvme3 жыл бұрын

    by far my favorite channel on youtube, good work

  • @slevinkalevera1260
    @slevinkalevera12603 жыл бұрын

    3rd batt 502nd here.. ...quote a few years behind operation varsity and market garden. Served as those before me. Funny part is I just had me 5th spine surgery on Nov 2nd. Watching this with staples in my back. All the pain and damage to my lower back and I wouldn't change a thing.

  • @elainecummings8236
    @elainecummings823628 күн бұрын

    Thank you for doing this. My father was an engineer on a B-24 with the 448th Bomb Group, 8th Army Air Force. That day after the initial assault his plane was one of, I believe, 256 B-24s that went across the Rhine, flying 100 feet off the deck dropping supplies through their bomb bay doors. His plane, unfortunately, was shot down…by small arms fire, I believe and one of only 15 that didn’t make it.

  • @jettjameson3901
    @jettjameson39013 жыл бұрын

    Always know its gonna be a good day when I see a new video up

  • @TheHistoryReport
    @TheHistoryReport3 жыл бұрын

    Great doc man!

  • @butchseibeck3246
    @butchseibeck32463 жыл бұрын

    Love this channel

  • @lymn2002
    @lymn20023 жыл бұрын

    i love this channel! some other channels use like stock videos of people sitting at a table? interview or presentation

  • @HiVoltish
    @HiVoltish3 жыл бұрын

    There are few docs about operations once the allies entered Germany. Thank you for this excellent effort!

  • @crewsturner607
    @crewsturner6073 жыл бұрын

    I'm a huge fan of your work and I'm also a huge military history buff. This was your best one yetI'm pretty well-informed about world war II but I did not know all this about operation varsity. And the soldier not throwing the grenade caps It off. Greatest one yet!

  • @chrisbundren3775
    @chrisbundren37753 жыл бұрын

    Absolutely amazing video. My grandfather was there. C Company 194th Glider infantry regiment 17th Airborne Division. I've always said the 17th is the forgotten division when it comes to history even though they were there for the Bulge and Varsity...as well as other places. So I greatly appreciate this video!

  • @chrisdingle30
    @chrisdingle303 жыл бұрын

    I have to say, as a veteran you make the most intriguing films. Very good work man keep it up.

  • @blackopscw7913
    @blackopscw79133 жыл бұрын

    Nice video as always

  • @terryhart4090
    @terryhart40903 жыл бұрын

    I really enjoy your videos and your narration is the best out there!

  • @retreathell.1371
    @retreathell.13713 жыл бұрын

    Thanks to Dark Docs I learnt so much things that was kept secret during most of these wars, episcally Vietnam war, Vietnam War has to be favorite due to it making modern era what it is today.

  • @uppercut70
    @uppercut703 жыл бұрын

    9:40 Amazing!

  • @kirkcardoso6137
    @kirkcardoso61373 жыл бұрын

    This is so much better than anything the history channel is producing these days. Thank you for putting this together.

  • @stenkamx5406
    @stenkamx54063 жыл бұрын

    This is the Operation mentioned in Band of Brothers where Captain Nixon jumped with the 17th being one of only 4 to get out of the plane before it took a direct hit. What an operation. Took Brave men to do what they did.

  • @dmeinhertzhagen8764
    @dmeinhertzhagen87643 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for mentioning the Canadians, my wife grandpa was a founding member of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion.

  • @My_Alchemical_Romance

    @My_Alchemical_Romance

    3 жыл бұрын

    d meinhertzhagen us Americans drag you guys into some shit storms eh. Lol

  • @dmeinhertzhagen8764

    @dmeinhertzhagen8764

    3 жыл бұрын

    Canada declared war on Germany in Sept 1939 vs December 1941 for the Americans to do the same. I’d say we dragged you into it ;) Not matter what, unlike most modern wars, fighting fascism during WWII was a just cause in my opinion.

  • @FusionC6

    @FusionC6

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@My_Alchemical_Romance We don't mind, our soldiers are always looking for deployments, lol. You Yanks always manage to find some for us to join in.

  • @tristanbulluss9386
    @tristanbulluss93863 жыл бұрын

    Got this video fresh.

  • @Codevil.
    @Codevil.3 жыл бұрын

    Share these videos with like minded people with respest for greatness, this channel deserves more subscribers

  • @thoggerspass6282
    @thoggerspass62823 жыл бұрын

    I don't know when you changed that intro thing but it looks great.

  • @somebloke3869
    @somebloke38693 жыл бұрын

    That corpsman, thanking his mother. It's those small details that make up the real history.

  • @Jarod-vg9wq

    @Jarod-vg9wq

    3 жыл бұрын

    L I love layering about storys like that.

  • @yassinelsayed
    @yassinelsayed3 жыл бұрын

    love the new intro!

  • @tommcluckie6034
    @tommcluckie60343 жыл бұрын

    cool videos

  • @rogeri2468
    @rogeri24683 жыл бұрын

    I went to a regimental dinner where some of the original Op Varsity old boys were guests of honour. Great night and fantastic company; they had some stories to tell.

  • @bradsaulnier441
    @bradsaulnier4413 жыл бұрын

    You should do a video on the First Special Service Force. My great grandfather was part of it and it’s an amazing story.

  • @Loneranger670
    @Loneranger6703 жыл бұрын

    Respect 👊🏻

  • @Ole4735
    @Ole47353 жыл бұрын

    Whoa I didn’t know we had c-130’s with ‘nam era gear in the 1940s

  • @rutabagasteu

    @rutabagasteu

    3 жыл бұрын

    He has said he uses stock footage. I just watched a documentary on WW2 combat footage. It isn't indexed, cataloged, and some is lost or misplaced.

  • @rubenlopez3364

    @rubenlopez3364

    3 жыл бұрын

    75+ % of all world war 2 footage is either lost or "too graphic for public view" and we only have whats been cleared for documentaries and personal footage

  • @joeyjamison5772

    @joeyjamison5772

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yeah, I noticed that too. 1st flight was 1954. It's such a great plane, it goes through time warps.

  • @Dkthearn

    @Dkthearn

    3 жыл бұрын

    @G Petro damn bro you guys do gods work keep it up guys

  • @TheConsulC17

    @TheConsulC17

    3 жыл бұрын

    Read the disclaimer in the description.

  • @teimondoteimondo
    @teimondoteimondo3 жыл бұрын

    i live near the drop zone , wow

  • @dick4332

    @dick4332

    3 жыл бұрын

    Commie

  • @ahumblerequest5222

    @ahumblerequest5222

    3 жыл бұрын

    Be safe next time

  • @isaacmaxwell256

    @isaacmaxwell256

    3 жыл бұрын

    Go see it

  • @carlosdanger788

    @carlosdanger788

    3 жыл бұрын

    Time to bust out a metal detector

  • @mitchellhawkes22
    @mitchellhawkes22 Жыл бұрын

    This doc's narrator has a voice that is terse and urgent. Makes the documentary dramatic, to match the actual dramatic historical event.

  • @nigeljuniorpeters7831
    @nigeljuniorpeters78313 жыл бұрын

    This channel is my new addiction lol

  • @barrybrevik9178
    @barrybrevik91783 жыл бұрын

    I like the choice of topic. Also, I think that this narrator is great; he has a pleasant voice, and I like his delivery, which has a slight sense of urgency, which for me, adds interest.

  • @derealfantom443

    @derealfantom443

    3 жыл бұрын

    Exactly!

  • @barrybrevik9178

    @barrybrevik9178

    3 жыл бұрын

    @D D I am confused as to the meaning behind your comment. The USA did not have a reason to enter the war until Japan attacked. The USA had an isolationist ideology at that time. Also, you wrote >> ". . . Hitler declared war on Germany." I am sure that this is some kind of typo, but taking that under consideration, I still do not see where you are headed with your comment. Is English your first language?

  • @dewman1485
    @dewman14853 жыл бұрын

    I love alot of your videos, very good information. But chill on the ads could ya? I DO appreciate that they're short as hell as least. Keep up the good work

  • @belag9607
    @belag96073 жыл бұрын

    Dark Docs, thank you for providing information about wars etc. Barely anything you post i knew about beforehand. You are one of the best channels out there who post this type of content.

  • @gabrielredwood8432

    @gabrielredwood8432

    3 жыл бұрын

    If you like these vids worth checking out both of Mark Felton's channels, covers a lot of mostly obscure WW2 events in great but easy to follow detail.

  • @belag9607

    @belag9607

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@gabrielredwood8432 Yeah. I just got onto Mark Felton as well, thank you for the recommendation though.

  • @aapex1

    @aapex1

    3 жыл бұрын

    I agree completely chad. Hell, I spent 28 months in the 82nd 40 years ago and didn't know half this stuff.

  • @DJHLX3
    @DJHLX33 жыл бұрын

    That war was insane

  • @dakkuri1
    @dakkuri13 жыл бұрын

    The soldier that showed restraint from throwing the grenade was badass

  • @mypetblackhole5793
    @mypetblackhole57933 жыл бұрын

    My Grandfather was a 1st Lieutenant in the Army Air Corp during WW2 an the D-Day invasion. He piloted C-130's, C-47's and gliders throughout the rest of the war.

  • @cybercapri
    @cybercapri3 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video as always... Say, I am familiar with both the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions but whatever happened to the 17th? This is the first I am hearing of them do tell more... Thanks... Cheers...

  • @titaniumdiveknife
    @titaniumdiveknife3 жыл бұрын

    Good

  • @joerandom2957
    @joerandom29573 жыл бұрын

    My Great Grandfather flew gliders during this operation. Used to tell my Mom stories about it when she was little.

  • @garryclelland4481

    @garryclelland4481

    3 жыл бұрын

    tell us some Joe , it adds real depth .

  • @MegaTriumph1
    @MegaTriumph13 жыл бұрын

    Just insane.

  • @toddvandervort1377
    @toddvandervort13773 жыл бұрын

    I was in a mass tac jump in Florida, there were 35 C-41’s and close to 8500 jumpers. Nothing like this. AIRBORNE...

  • @PolskaSwagger
    @PolskaSwagger3 жыл бұрын

    Do a video about the miracle on the vistula

  • @DrewJPS
    @DrewJPS3 жыл бұрын

    This is the greatest narrator on KZread. I fucking love his voice, and I'm not even gay.

  • @johnjacobs1625
    @johnjacobs16253 жыл бұрын

    Thumbs up TWICE. Thanks for the great video. Dad was there 508th PIR . JJ USN VF-142 F-14 1975-79

  • @johnstark4723

    @johnstark4723

    2 жыл бұрын

    My mother's cousin was in Company C 513th Regiment 17th Airborne SSGT Robert "Pete" Thomas.

  • @johnjacobs1625

    @johnjacobs1625

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@johnstark4723 I bet Pete could tell some stories, back in the day! JJ

  • @johnstark4723

    @johnstark4723

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@johnjacobs1625 I'm sure he could, however I think he would have been very quiet about just as his brother was after he served in Korea. His brother was a tanker but I didn't know he even served until he passed away. He never talked about even being in the service. He knew however that I was going into the Navy back in 1980 and still never said a word.

  • @johnjacobs1625

    @johnjacobs1625

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@johnstark4723 I get it Dad didn't talk about it Much either! But I was Glad Went to a Couple Paratrooper ReUnions in Ohio, in the 90's. JJ

  • @RivetGardener
    @RivetGardener3 жыл бұрын

    It was an "easy" daylight jump for the troopers, but what they went through afterwards was hell.

  • @scrubsrc4084
    @scrubsrc40843 жыл бұрын

    Whatching that glider fold up 20 feet from the ground in the mist was cold.

  • @markmccummins8049
    @markmccummins80493 жыл бұрын

    Excellent video! I do not think that Varsity was over-planned. It kept the Germans off-balance, and allowed for a more swift move into Germany. They applied the lessons of Market-Garden to get this 99.99% right, instead of 90%.

  • @HARDMAN999
    @HARDMAN9993 жыл бұрын

    Arnhem in the Netherlands is an amazing place to visit to commemorate the Airborne Forces.

  • @daveybernard1056
    @daveybernard10563 жыл бұрын

    I like it that lots of the military footage is from the wrong era and even completely different conflicts. "It's a feature, not a flaw," people!

  • @daveybernard1056

    @daveybernard1056

    3 жыл бұрын

    @therealman I can't read :(

  • @rutabagasteu
    @rutabagasteu3 жыл бұрын

    Some gliders did explode. They were carrying jeeps with gas containers.

  • @duncanmcgee13

    @duncanmcgee13

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thats not how gas works

  • @jimomaha7809

    @jimomaha7809

    3 жыл бұрын

    These gliders more likely exploded because of the ammunition/explosives onboard. Fuel tanks leak when hit and these gliders would be vunerable to fire.

  • @mathewmcdonald3657

    @mathewmcdonald3657

    3 жыл бұрын

    Duncan McGee You’ve peeked my interest, how does gas react and what would the reaction be in the gliders? I’m not being a wise guy just curious. If you have the time to answer or I suppose I could google it.

  • @duncanmcgee13

    @duncanmcgee13

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@mathewmcdonald3657 gasoline doest combust unless its in a mist. Otherwise it just has a flame on the surface. When it comes to the gliders, Jim had the answer.

  • @dukecraig2402

    @dukecraig2402

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@duncanmcgee13 Years back a friend of mine had a video made by a guy dispelling gun myths (before mythbusters!!!), in it the guy shoots a full fuel tank from out of a car with an M2 .50 cal on a tripod, at first he shoots it with ball ammo, then he shoots it with tracers that clearly light off before they strike the tank, then he says "Before I get letters about fumes burn and not gas" he takes another gas tank from a vehicle that's half full and shoots it with tracers clearly near the top above the level of fuel that he'd marked on the outside of the tank with a piece of chalk. If that's doesn't set things to rest then I don't know what will. And yes he even burned a sample of the gas from each tank to prove it wasn't water or something.

  • @IIMoses740II
    @IIMoses740II3 жыл бұрын

    I had learned of Operation Varsity as it was the only time the M22 Locust tank was used as it was intended, and I was hoping to more about that...and they weren't even mentioned Aight...good to hear about those kids, tho.

  • @riverafter9500
    @riverafter95003 жыл бұрын

    I learned that in June of 1940, we had c-130’s!

  • @mbisson5816

    @mbisson5816

    3 жыл бұрын

    Ummm maybe time travel 😜?

  • @buckstarchaser2376

    @buckstarchaser2376

    3 жыл бұрын

    C130 uses turboprop engines. These didn't exist during WWII.

  • @letoubib21

    @letoubib21

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@mbisson5816 Like U.S.S. Eldridge. . . *;-)*

  • @l0rd_of_hollows681

    @l0rd_of_hollows681

    3 жыл бұрын

    you need to watch some dark skies bud

  • @simonkevnorris

    @simonkevnorris

    3 жыл бұрын

    Usually it isn't one of the first clips to show the wrong aircraft or the wrong army.

  • @larrysanchez5004
    @larrysanchez50046 ай бұрын

    My dad was paratrooper and glider trooper his tab on his cap had parachute and glider together

  • @BillHalliwell
    @BillHalliwell3 жыл бұрын

    G'day Dark, It's always a tough decision between lengthy planning and getting the job done in time for it to make a difference and be relevant to future operations. As was discovered in Montgomery's insane plan to execute Operation Market Garden with only 7- or 8-days’ notice; Varsity was probably 'over-planned'. They say the first casualty of any plan is the plan itself. This seems to have applied here. Alarm bells should have rung when various units, either ground or airborne, were dropped, or couldn't make it before Zero hour. I'm a military historian and some would consider me an 'armchair general', yet I did wear a uniform and I have studied this operation and Market Garden in great detail, concentrating on the diaries and records of those who took part. 'Official histories' can deviate from reality for a whole host of reasons. I would have tried to persuade Eisenhower that the Rhine, being a long river, would be best attacked by large forces of paratroopers in several locations, simultaneously, swiftly followed at each location by amphibious crossings with the paratroopers flanking and going behind the Nazis attacking the Allied river crossings. This might have split the German forces trying to respond to each Allied crossing point. If one Nazi tactic was proven again and again, it was that the Germans could always be depended on to make rapid counter-attacks. I think the one great mistake of this operation was the use of smoke screens; in this case the screens were a double-edged sword; working for the Allies on the ground but not in the air. The result was they also benefited the Germans. However, one cannot escape the fact that the larger the attacking force; the larger the number of potential casualties. Don't worry about the criticism of your use of C-130 footage; people don't understand the difficulty in finding images from the battle in question. You were simply showing paratroopers in action. (Besides, I worked closely with 'Hercs' and I always love to see them.) For instance, the only footage extent of US forces landing at Omaha Beach is a mere, short shot of half a dozen men running up the beach as one falls dead from Nazi machine gun fire. This tiny clip has been shown thousands of times because that's all there is. The rest of the footage shot by brave combat photographers on Omaha was lost to history when, at the end of the day a large duffle bag of the exposed film cans was accidentally dropped in the sea while being loaded on-board a US warship. I'm guessing that images for newsreels back home and in England were not high on the agenda of the planners of Operation Varsity. Another excellent video, Dark. You and Dr Mark Felton are the most reliable and interesting KZread producers on this platform. Cheers, BH

  • @luciaconn6788

    @luciaconn6788

    2 жыл бұрын

    I agree. It was very cold in the Arden, the Nazi's fired at treetops that splintered onto our men. My neighbor was reconnaissance and wounded.

  • @bigboyblue7181
    @bigboyblue71813 жыл бұрын

    I went there with the Army. Right to the copse of trees that Colonel Jeff Nicklin (Winnipeg Blue Bombers) was gunned down in. The farmhouse on the DZ is still there and riddled with MG fire. I jumped into Normandy in 94 too. 2 Commando Canadian Airborne Regiment.

  • @johnstark4723
    @johnstark47232 жыл бұрын

    My mother's cousin died when the c46 he was on was shot down over Hamminkeln during the operation. 11 men made it out of the burning transport before it crashed and exploded

  • @tonycallis7086

    @tonycallis7086

    Жыл бұрын

    My Dad jumped with the 6th airborne division into Hamminkeln. I visited with my son in 2012 and was given a book in German about the operation. Went to the hatchet shaped woods where he landed . very sobering. I was given a buckle from a parachute that had been found in the field.

  • @ahumblerequest5222
    @ahumblerequest52223 жыл бұрын

    Dark doc should get an insurance for his voice

  • @vic771
    @vic7713 жыл бұрын

    I can dig it...

  • @DimBeam1
    @DimBeam13 жыл бұрын

    Great video as always. Noted you said the Americans trained para's before WWII in 1940. Just thought you should know, It was already rolling mate, everyone else had been fighting a year by that point already.

  • @crumpetcommandos779
    @crumpetcommandos7792 жыл бұрын

    my great uncle was a glider pilot in the 6th airborne in varsity

  • @thestop-motionguy9909
    @thestop-motionguy99093 жыл бұрын

    Wow

  • @carlstritzinger6724
    @carlstritzinger67243 жыл бұрын

    This speaker is so bad that he almost put me to sleep in the first 2 minutes. Also there were no C119 or C130 aircraft during this period, your selection of stock film is inaccurate making this a poor viewing.

  • @Hornetfbfan95
    @Hornetfbfan953 жыл бұрын

    Serious question. How many adds is considered necessary?

  • @zew1414
    @zew14143 жыл бұрын

    The guy gets criticized for not jumping with his men yet if he jumps when the shots of novacaine will inevitably numbs his legs and they snap like toothpicks when trying to land....

  • @wolfhead21

    @wolfhead21

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yeah but as far as I understood it he withheld that information so the guy criticized him could not have known of the condition.

  • @Ellesmere888
    @Ellesmere8883 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for mentioning the Canadians.

  • @stoneygreek
    @stoneygreek3 жыл бұрын

    imagine the stones on those guys climbing intowooden gliders.

  • @sp1nks248
    @sp1nks2483 жыл бұрын

    Do Project Aqueiline

  • @ericcrites3389
    @ericcrites33892 жыл бұрын

    My great grandpa was a part of this!

  • @zincman1995
    @zincman19953 жыл бұрын

    Just a history note: Market-Garden dropped close to 35,000 troops vs Operation Varsity 16K via Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge to Far in Sept 44; not to

  • @andrewbriggs1356
    @andrewbriggs13563 жыл бұрын

    Can you imagine pitching this to 6th airborne after they heard what happened to 1st?

  • @richardbourne6743
    @richardbourne67433 жыл бұрын

    🇬🇧 We can never repay what we owe these men. 👍👍👍👍👍

  • @andrewrice4513
    @andrewrice45133 жыл бұрын

    OK...aside from the C130 issue, I think many of these excellent little docs could benefit from the judicious use of battlefield maps

  • @robotslug
    @robotslug3 жыл бұрын

    60 mile smokescreen by the Brits, damn Impressive!

  • @joeyjamison5772

    @joeyjamison5772

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not hard for the British. I mean, look at London!

  • @handlesarefeckinstupid

    @handlesarefeckinstupid

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@joeyjamison5772 are you alluding to the pea supers of the 50's? Because London and the UK isn't like that anymore. 😂

  • @joeyjamison5772

    @joeyjamison5772

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@handlesarefeckinstupid I hope not!

  • @FreyaKennafr
    @FreyaKennafr3 жыл бұрын

    I never realized these Operations were not reinforced with future drops but 1 entire drop. Massive scale and honestly very demoralizing to the German troops that paratroopers were dropped continuously for hours. Such a site to see.

  • @fabiosunspot1112
    @fabiosunspot11123 жыл бұрын

    Losing 80 planes isn't success it's a means to an end...

  • @nikolaishriver7922
    @nikolaishriver79223 жыл бұрын

    I like the idea of smoke cover. It’s too bad they couldn’t have somehow used smoke bombs fired via battleship cannons to just blind the entire landing of Normandy .

  • @509Gman

    @509Gman

    3 жыл бұрын

    Nikolai Shriver smoke works against you as much as it works for you (pre thermal imaging).

  • @gypsyjr1371
    @gypsyjr13713 жыл бұрын

    More soldiers came in on gliders by far, than airborne. But they kicked ass and took names once they found each other, being spread over a hundred acres by the wind. Pretty famous quote comes out of this, no spoilers. :)

  • @fooman2108
    @fooman21083 жыл бұрын

    In other words Varsity was the OPPOSITE of Market-Garden ('a Bridge too far') all at once, support ALREADY WITHIN REACH, immediate resupply

  • @auyemra1331
    @auyemra13313 жыл бұрын

    This sounds alot like the plot for A Bridge Too Far. pretty decent movie.

  • @luckiller019

    @luckiller019

    3 жыл бұрын

    I think they made a movie about Varsity . It is the Bridge at Remagen. Fun story about making this movie . They were filming it in Czechoslovakia in 1968. During the summer invasion of warsaw packt to crush the Prague spring the Soviet command almost confused the filmed tanks and military vehicles with a being a real part of Nato army but quickly realized their mistake and didnt start shooting.

  • @newo7692

    @newo7692

    3 жыл бұрын

    Luckiller 01 A bridge too far is about operation Market Garden

  • @eisma002

    @eisma002

    3 жыл бұрын

    A bridge four far took it a bridge too far though

  • @Mulberry2000

    @Mulberry2000

    3 жыл бұрын

    The movie was crap historically, it blames the British for the failure of the market garden but in reality, it was the Americans screwed up. In the movie, it shows only a little bit, why the hold was happening, American and British troops were still fighting in Nijmegen. The question is why were they still fighting a couple of days later?Then you get a shot of an American mouthing off to a tank commander saying how bad he is. The problem is it was the Americans' job to capture the bridge over Nijmegen, Gavin failed to do so, he was running around like a girl looking for enemies in a wood near the landing zone. So he hid behind browning (British) general who knew straight away it is was a mess, so he agreed later on that the landing zone should be secured. By the time he had arrived, surprise had been lost and the bridge was in german hand. The point is quality general would have got the bridge and not hide behind others. The Americans say it was Browning's fault, not so as Gavin was told, get the bridge, get the damn bridge. Soon as he landed he just ignored the bridge and went chicken. Nijmegan is only 15 miles from Arnhem. It is the first time history an American general hides behind British general for his own failure and the same lied was told for 76 years.

  • @Mulberry2000

    @Mulberry2000

    3 жыл бұрын

    @Gareth Thomas Nothing to do with Monty the Americans screwed up. Read about the debacle at Nijmegen, it supposed to be the Americans' job but it took the brits and Americans to clear the town and capture the bridge. That is why they never got to Arnhem. Why was the bridge not captured soon as the Americans landed when they had complete surprise? Why did they allow the bridge to fall into German hands? Why were the germans allowed to capture Nijmegen and fortify it? Why did it take two armies to remove the germans?

  • @Rascal_the_Raccoon
    @Rascal_the_Raccoon3 жыл бұрын

    Did i see a C-130 taking off in black and white to make it look old?

  • @jensonbaker1010
    @jensonbaker10103 жыл бұрын

    The video title sounds like my plan to make varsity on the football team

  • @masterDevis
    @masterDevis3 жыл бұрын

    *shows footage from the freaking Vietnam and Korean Wars in a WW2 documentary, thinking we wouldn't notice* Me: ugh...

  • @bigblue6917
    @bigblue69173 жыл бұрын

    The US started trains paratroopers in 1940 before the war. WW2 started September 1939. You must have heard about it. It was in all the papers

  • @bananagun6598

    @bananagun6598

    2 жыл бұрын

    before the US joined the war, i think he meant to say, since they joined in 41 with the pearl harbour incident

  • @samcoon6699
    @samcoon66993 жыл бұрын

    I always picture Jessie Eisenburg narrating this.

  • @Simirial
    @Simirial3 жыл бұрын

    T 10 bravo chutes, what we called 'em

  • @Contrafactum
    @Contrafactum3 жыл бұрын

    I was all set to learn about this interesting mission, but then I saw the C-130. If the images lie, perhaps the text lies as well.