From early December 1944 VIII Corps, was commanded by Lieutenant-General Evelyn Barker, and took part in Operation Plunder, crossing the Rhine 28th March 1945. Following the crossing, the corps was reactivated and allocated the 2nd Army's right flank for the advance into Germany. By April 1945 the principal formations of the corps were, 11th Armoured Division and 6th Airborne Division reinforced by 6th Guards Armoured Brigade and 1st Commando Brigade. The 15th Scottish Infantry Division joined the Corps on the 4th April. The following weeks were filled with many short but intense battles and fighting across Northern Germany. The Corps crossed the Elbe Operation Enterprise at midnight 30th April advanced north east and occupied Plön in Schleswig-Holstein. The fighting continued until the unconditional surrender by German forces on the 7th May 1945.

Despite being a major assault in terms of manpower and equipment, and a complete success, the River Rhine was last major barrier to the allies' advance from the West, is not as well known as D-Day, Arnhem or the Battle of the Bulge. Perhaps to historians by 1945 there was an inevitability to the German defeat and also it was not actually a single battle but a series of separate advances.