First Allied Airborne Army divisions were initially chosen to take part in Varsity: the British 6th Airborne Division, the US 13th Airborne Division and the US 17th Airborne Division, all of which were assigned to US XVIII Airborne Corps. One of these airborne formations, the British 6th Airborne Division, was a veteran division; it had taken part in Operation Overlord and the assault on Normandy. However, the 17th Airborne Division had only been activated in April 1943 and had arrived in Britain in August 1944, too late to participate in Operation Overlord. The division had also been absent from Operation Market-Garden, and the only
6th Airborne Division order of battle 6th Airborne Division order of battle The 6th Airborne Division order of battle lists only those units assigned to the division; units attached only for short periods of time are not included. The 6th Airborne Division was the second of two airborne divisions formed by the British Army during the Second World War. Raised in 1943, the division fought in the Normandy landings (Operation Deadstick, Operation Tonga, Operation Mallard, Battle of Breville), the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. The division then participated in Operation Varsity, the second airborne assault over the River Rhine during the