Last weekend I came across this ‘new’ video on YouTube. We see glider troops preparing their jeeps and artillery equipment before loading onto gliders and aircraft for Operation Varsity, which took place on 24 March 1945.

There is so much to see in this video that you have to watch it several times to pick up on everything. Some things that stood out for me:

A pile of paratrooper letdown ropes. Nobody wearing any 17th Airborne or other unit patches on their M43 jackets! They only wear arm flags, and the officers wear their ranks. At some point we see Major General William M. “Bud” Miley, who was the commander of the 17th Airborne from its activation on 15 April 1943 until the division’s inactivation on 16 September 1945. He also led them during Operation Varsity.

I also see yellow aerial recognition scarves with brown trimming.

The description below the video says that the footage was originally filmed by Lt. Col. George Stevens and the U.S. Army Signal Corps’ Special Coverage Unit (SPECOU). Thanks for putting this video on YouTube for everybody to watch!