Operation Varsity a veteran division; it had taken part in Operation Overlord, the assault on Normandy in June the previous year. However, the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, under Major General William Miley, had been activated only in April 1943 and had arrived in Britain in August 1944, too late to participate in Operation Overlord. The division did not participate in Operation Market Garden. It did, however, participate in the Ardennes campaign but had yet to take part in a combat drop. The U.S. 13th Airborne Division, under Major General Eldridge Chapman, had been activated in August 1943 and was transferred to France
Vyazma airborne operation in conjunction with the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps and elements of 33rd Army conducted active military operations. Elements of the airborne troops were destroyed during Operation Hannover. In early April, the combined forces were placed under command of Major General Pavel Alexeyevich Belov. The united forces seized the area south of Vyazma and held it until the end of May, pinning down a few German divisions. On the night of 26 May, the group broke through the encirclement and joined the 10th Army to the north of Kirov on 24 June. Soviet Airborne Troops Vyazma airborne operation The Vyazma Airborne