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
Operation Carentan Operation Carentan Operation Carentan was a security operation conducted during the Vietnam War by the U.S. 1st and 2nd Brigades, 101st Airborne Division and the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division in Thừa Thiên Province, South Vietnam from 18 March to 18 April 1968. Following the conclusion of the Battle of Huế, General William B. Rosson, the I Field Force commander ordered MG Olinto M. Barsanti, commander of the 101st Airborne Division to deploy the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division and the newly deployed 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division to take over the Jeb Stuart operational area from the 1st Cavalry