In March 1945, the 21st Army Group, commanded by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, closed up to the River Rhine in Western Germany.
On the night of the 23/24 March, the Army Group launched an offensive to establish a bridgehead on the East bank of the river; involving both ground and airborne troops, this offensive was on a scale not seen in the North-West European theatre since the invasion of Normandy in June 1944.