In February 1945 the 1st Battalion, Ox and Bucks was involved in the Allied invasion of the German Rhineland, including taking part in Operation Veritable (the Battle of the Reichswald): the five-division assault on the Reichswald Forest, where the battalion was involved in heavy fighting against German paratroopers and armour at the village of Asperberg. During Operation Veritable, 21-year-old Lieutenant Tony Paget, the youngest son of General Sir Bernard Paget, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The battalion crossed the River Rhine in late March and, attached to 7th Armoured Division, continued its eastwards advance, seeing action at among other places, Ibbenburen in April where it saw heavy fighting against determined German Marines; although the British succeeded in capturing the town. The battalion met fierce enemy resistance at Gross Hauslingen before continuing the advance through Dauelsen, Gyhum and Wehldorf and the 1st Ox and Bucks eventually reached the city of Hamburg – captured on 3 May by British forces – where they remained until the end of the war in Europe on 8 May 1945, Victory in Europe Day.