26 March 2025
On 24 March 2025, commemorative services took place on WW2 airfields across the Diocese to remember the 80th anniversary of Operation Varsity.
At Marks Hall in Coggeshall, the Rev'd Canon Janet Nicholls invited a large congregation to remember how, on 24th March 1945, gliders of the Glider Pilot Regiment, towed by tug aircraft of the Royal Airforce, took off from Earls Colne airfield carrying troops of the 6th Airlanding Brigade. The gliders from Earls Colne and other Essex airfields joined the largest single airborne operation in history. By the evening of 24th March 1945, the glider pilots and the troops had secured crossings over the Rhine and taken the strategic town of Hamminkeln.
The sacrifices of those who lost their lives in this courageous mission were remembered with respect and thanksgiving by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, a range of serving forces personnel, ex-service men of the Glider Pilot Association, civic dignitaries and members of the public.
Following the service, Janet said,
‘It was with profound gratitude that we remembered all those who took part in Operation Varsity, recognising that it paved the way to VE Day and the end of World War II. The obelisk memorial to Operation Varsity in Marks Hall Arboretum, surrounded by its many wreaths, is open to the public. No doubt it will be a place of poignant reflection throughout this year as we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the hard-won peace in Europe.’
