The 2nd Ox and Bucks were once again involved in a gliderborne air assault landing, known as Operation Varsity: the largest airborne operation in the history of warfare and the airborne support for Operation Plunder: the Rhine Crossing in late March 1945. The Germans were defending their last great natural barrier in the West and Operation Varsity which began on 24 March 1945 was the last major battle on the Western Front during the Second World War. The 2nd Ox and Bucks landed on the north-east perimeter of 6th Airborne Divisions's landing zone, the furthest east of any British Army unit, to capture bridges from the Germans. The battalion, like many others during the assault, suffered heavily as the Germans met the landing gliders with ferocious fire in the air and on the ground; the 2nd Ox and Bucks lost 400 killed or injured out of a total battalion strength of 800 men. The battalion's objective was to capture the line of the River Issel northwest of Hamminkeln. This included the Hamminkeln-Ringenburg road bridge, the railway bridge, Hamminkeln railway station and the road junction to the west. On 19 March the battalion moved to Birch camp, RAF Birch, near Colchester, Essex. The 2nd Ox and Bucks took off from Birch and Gosfield airfields at 06.30hrs on 24 March and the gliders moved southwards over the North Sea, then east over Brussels and landed in Hamminkeln area at about 10.00hrs. Each company was designated a landing zone in the area of its objective. On the approach to the landing area east of the Rhine the sky was full of aircraft. At Hamminkeln the gliders flew into a barrage of anti-aircraft fire; there were 4 enemy anti-aircraft guns gun-pits positioned near Hamminkeln station. During the landing which took only 10 minutes to complete there was thick smoke and dust from the area of Wesel and many of the battalion's 30 gliders were on fire and there were many casualties.