The airborne soldiers were well suited to exploit the fluid situation that occurred following the collapse of the Rhine barrier defence. Short fierce actions were fought from the tanks of the 4th Tank Battalion of the Grenadier Guards and whatever transport could be purloined.
They advanced past Osnabrück, Minden, Celle and crossed the Elbe. The 3rd Parachute Brigade reached Wismar on 2nd May, racing just ahead of the Russians. Many soldiers had completed the 350 miles on foot. The Russians were deterred from entering Lubeck. On the 8 May 1945 the war in Europe ended.
Three days before, the 1st Parachute Brigade landed at Copenhagen in Denmark to preserve law and order after outbreaks of fighting between Danish civilians and German troops. The last German garrison surrendered in Denmark on 16 May.
At the end of May the 6th Airborne Division returned to its bases at Wiltshire in England.
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Units Engaged
Photos_33
Five paratroopers have a roadside rest on the way to Wismar.
1 Image Buy PrintsMontgomery and his Russian counterpart Rokossovsky in Wismar, May 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsBritish Airborne troops with a Russian telegraphist near Wismar.
2 Images Buy PrintsGroup photo of J section Signals, 3rd Parachute Brigade in Wismar May 1945.
2 Images Buy PrintsCanadian paras meeting Russian troops on the east side of Wismar. May 2nd 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsAllied POWs making their way home. Wismar 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsInside of camouflaged chemical factory near Melbeck, Germany. April 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsThree paratroopers including Col Pine-Coffin stand outside battalion HQ at Calle.
2 Images Buy Prints5th Parachute Brigade listen to Field Marshal Montgomery at HQ near Osnabruck, 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsThe farm where Pte Harold Smollan was buried in the garden until 1956, date unknown.
1 Image Buy PrintsSweetheart brooch owned by Mrs Slater, made in Palestine
1 ImageMembers of 6th Airborne Division take the German surrender at Wismar, 1945
1 ImageHilt of Nazi dagger captured in NW Europe by Sgmn Tom Stevens in 1944-45, undated.
1 ImageHilt of Nazi ceremonial dagger captured in NW Europe by Sgmn Tom Stevens in 1944-45, undated.
1 ImageTwo members of Scout Platoon, 13th Para Bn, with Para dogs and horse, c1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsTwo members of 13 Para Battalion with German POWs in background, c1945.
1 Image Buy Prints9th Parachute Battalion file past carrying equipment, Germany, March 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsThe Neustadt bridge following Royal Engineers' repairs, 9 April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsMembers of the 12th Para Bn rest prior to final dash to the Baltic, April 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsCaptured enemy aircraft at Wunstorf airfield, April 1945
1 ImageA British soldier examines captured Messerchmitts at Wunstorf Airfield, 1945
1 ImageA captured Junkers Ju 88G aircraft in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield, April 1945
1 ImageA captured Junkers Ju 88 aircraft in a hangar at Wunstorf airfield, April 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsNeustadt bridge following Royal Engineers' repairs, 9 April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsField burial site for members of B Coy 7 Para Bn killed at Neustadt bridge, April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsField burial site for members of B Coy 7 Para Bn killed at Neustadt bridge, April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsNeustadt bridge after the Royal Engineers' repairs 9 April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsRoad repairs being carried out by Royal Engineers, near Moordorf, 18 April 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsFormer members of 6 Airborne Division commemorate the loss of comrades on Neustadt bridge, March 1986
1 Image Buy PrintsWunstorf Aerodrome, 2005.
1 Image Buy Prints7th Battalion memorial at the Lion Bridge Neustadt, August 2011
2 ImagesBob Hilton at the 7th Battalion memorial, Lion bridge Neustadt, August 2011
1 Image Buy PrintsNeustadt bridge, August 2011
2 Images Buy Prints
Audio_3
Maps_2
Map showing 6th Airborne Divisions route from the Rhine to the Baltic.
1 Image Buy PrintsMap of Neustadt and Wunstorf area
1 Image
Video clips_2
Personal accounts_1
Group photos_12
Canadian Paratrooper with two members of a Russian tank crew. Probably Wismar 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsLt Col GF Eadie with Captain John Simpson, 1 Canadian Para Bn
1 Image Buy PrintsMen of the 1st Canadian Parachute Bn crammed aboard a handcar, Greven 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsCanadian Paratroopers aboard a Sherman Firefly, near Minden April 1945
1 ImageCanadian Paratroopers with a mannequin, Ladbergen Germany April 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsCanadian Paratroopers Sam Malette and 'Sullivan' with liberated wine, 1945
1 ImageTwo Paratroopers from the 1st Canadian Para Bn, one wearing a German Sumpftarn smock
1 ImageMembers of 12th Para Bn rest during the advance to the Baltic, 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsMembers of No 1 Parachute Platoon 716 Coy in Wismar, 1945
1 Image Buy PrintsPtes Piercey, Salter and Murray with liberated Polish slave workers, April 1945.
1 Image Buy PrintsGroup photograph of officers decorated by Field Marshal Montgomery, Lüneburg Heath Germany, 1945.
1 ImageScout Platoon of 13th (Lancs) Parachute Battalion with Para Dogs, Wismar, Baltic, May 1945.
1 Image Buy Prints
Letters and Cards_1
Medal Citations_3
Documents_3
Pegasus Goes To It! No 136, 14 April 1945.
2 ItemsCitation for award of Military Cross to Major Archie Bookless, 1946.
2 ItemsFinal WWII Operations Europe Commemorative Cover signed by Gen Sir Kenneth Darling
4 Items
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