FULL AUDIOBOOK – Antony Beevor – The Battle of Arnhem[1-2]

FULL AUDIOBOOK – Antony Beevor – The Battle of Arnhem[1-2]
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This is audible penguin Random House audio presents the battle of arnam the deadliest Airborne operation of World War II by Anthony Beaver read for you by Sha Barrett chapter 1 the chase is on Sunday the 27th of August 1944 was a day of perfect summer weather in Normandy the soporific sound of a

Cricket match could be heard from a field at s Faron leer Southwest of I in the adjoining pair Orchard Sherman tanks of the Sherwood Rangers yry had just been refitted and repaired after the battle of the fet Gap the culmination of the battle for Normandy bats balls pads

And stumps had been smuggled ashore on one of their supply trucks never let it be said that we invaded the continent unprepared wrode one of the players the regiment was supposed supposedly on 24 hours notice to move but just after lunch the order came to

Move out in an hour its tanks were on the road in 70 minutes heading for the river s which the first British formation the 43rd wesex division had crossed at Veron the day before British troops were rather jealous that General George paton’s us third Army had beaten them to a San

Crossing by Six Days on the 29th of August the Allied armies now nearly a million strong lunged forward from their Bridge heads east of the S heading for Belgium and the German border the battle for Normandy had finally been won and the German Army was in chaotic Retreat along

The main supply routes an American officer wrote in his diary you see the evidence of our air effort against the enemy trucks have been bombed and strafed rusted and twisted in Wild profusion along the roads occasionally a truckload of gas cans with the cans bulging out like a swollen dead cow

Black and charred or a train with mounds of bulging cans Twisted steel frames from the destroyed box cars for British Cavalry regiments the chase was on Lieutenant General Brian horx the commander of 30 core mounted in the turret of a command tank could not resist joining in this was the type of

Warfare I thoroughly enjoyed he wrote later who wouldn’t with more than 600 tanks Shermans Churchills and cromwells the guards Armored Division the 11 armor Division and the eighth armor Brigade charged forward on a frontage of 80 km siing passages through the enemy rear areas he added like a combine harvester

Going through a field of corn the country between the sen and the Som was open and rolling with wide Fields no Hedges and good roads the dangerous Norman bage of tightly enclosed pasture and sunken roads lay far behind them the Sherwood Rangers adopted their old desert formation from

The North African campaign with a squadron of Sherman spread out in front regimental headquarters just behind it and the other two saber squadrons on the flanks to travel at top speed across hard Open Country on a lovely morning a Cavalry troop leader wrote knowing that the Germans were on the Run was

Exhilarating to say the least and everyone was in the best possible Spirits it was almost like taking part in a CrossCountry steeple chase judge Bells peeled at their approach almost every house was festooned in the French national colors of red white and blue villagers Overjoyed to be spared the destruction

Of Normandy waited to greet them with bottles of wine and fruit unshaven members of the resistance wearing armbands tried to mount the leading vehicles to show the way a staff officer with the guards Armored Division in a stag Hound armored car noticed their odd assortment of weapons which they

Brandished with more exuberance than safety from time to time a tank would run run out of fuel the vehicle then had to sit immobilized by the side of the road until one of the regiment’s three tunners caught up and pulled alongside Jerry cans would then be swung across to

The crew members standing on the engine deck there were the occasional short sharp firefights when a German group overtaken by the advance refused to surrender clearing out such pockets of resistance was called delousing on the afternoon of the 30th of August horox felt the advance was still not fast enough he ordered Major

General pip Roberts to send his 11th Armored Division through the night to take Amia and its bridges over the river Som by Dawn although the tank drivers were falling asleep from exhaustion they made it to the bridges and three ton trucks brought in a brigade of infantry

At first light to secure the town orox was close behind to congratulate Roberts on the success after reporting on the operation Roberts then said to his core Commander I have a surprise for you General a German officer in black paner uniform was brought round he was unshaven and

His face was scarred from a wound received in the first world war which had removed most of his nose Roberts horox noted was exactly like a proud farmer leading forward his champion bull his trophy was Geral de pan Trooper hinich iak the commander of the seventh Army who had been surprised in his

Bed the next day the 1st of September was the fifth anniversary of the German invasion of Poland which had started the war in Europe by a curious coincidence both Allied Army group commanders of the Normandy campaign happened to be sitting for portraits at their respective headquarters Basking in the glow of

Victory after General George C Patton’s triumphant charge to the sin General Omar N Bradley near shart was being painted by Kathleen man who was married to the Marquis of Queensbury they could at least enjoy cool drinks on that beautiful day the Supreme Commander General Dwight D Eisenhower had just

Sent Bradley a refrigerator with the message God damn it I’m tired of drinking warm whiskey every time I come to your headquarters Field Marshal subard Montgomery wearing his trademark outfit of gray polar neck sweater corduroy trousers and black double badged ber was sitting for the Scottish portraitist James gun his tactical headquarters in

Caravan were in the park of the chatau de dongu halfway between Ro and Paris despite the messages of congratulation that morning on his promotion to field Marshall Mongomery was in such a bad mood that he refused to meet his host the Duke dongu and members of the local

Resistance all Montgomery’s hopes of a joint offensive under his leadership into Northern Germany had been dashed because Eisenhower was replacing him as commander-in Chief land forces Bradley was no longer his subordinate but his equal in in Montgomery’s view eisenhard was throwing away the victory by a refusal to concentrate his forces senior

American officers on the other hand were far angrier at Montgomery’s promotion it made him a five-star general while eisenh har his Superior still had only four stars Pon whose third Army troops were already close to Verda in eastern France wrote to his wife that day the field Marshall thing made us sick that

Is Bradley and me even a number of senior British officers thought that Winston Churchill’s sof to Monte and the British press to camouflage the implied demotion was a grave mistake Admiral s Bertram Ramsey the Allied Naval commander-in-chief wrote in his diary Monty made a field Marshal astounding

Thing to do and I regret it more than I can say I gather that the PM did it on his own damn stupid and I warrant most offensive to Eisenhower and the Americans the next day Saturday the 2nd of September Patton Eisenhower and Lieutenant General Courtney H Hodes the

Commander of the first US Army met at Bradley’s 12th Army group headquarters where lady Queensbury had put away her paintbrushes according to Bradley’s Aid Hodes was neat and trim as usual in his battle dress while Patton was gudy with brass buttons and the big car they were there to discuss strategy

And the great supply problem the unexpectedly rapid Advance meant that they were outrunning the capacity of even the huge American military transport Fleet Patton begged Bradley that morning give me 400,000 gallons of gasoline and I’ll put you in Germany in 2 days Bradley had every sympathy so Keen

Was he that all available aircraft continued to supply Patton’s thirdd Army that he had opposed the plans for Airborne drops ahead to speed the Allied Advance Patton who longed to go through the seed line like through a goose was already bribing the transport Pilots with cases of looted champagne but that

Was still insufficient Eisenhower refused to budge he was also being badgered by Montgomery who demanded the bulk of supplies to enable him to mount the main attack in the North Allied diplomacy required the Supreme Commander to balance the Rival demands of the two Army groups as far as was humanly

Possible this led to eisenhard adopting a broad front strategy which satisfied neither Commander footnote eisenh House’s broad front strategy was greeted with Relief by the German High command the okw according to German conceptions wrote a staff officer it remained a mystery why the enemy had failed to mass

All his troops at one point and force a breakthrough instead the enemy did the German command the favor of Distributing his forces in a fan type manner over the entire front end of footnote I ashar’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Walter beel Smith commented after the war on the problems

With Montgomery and Bradley it is amazing he said how good commanders get ruined when they develop a public they have to act up to they become primas even the seemingly modest Bradley developed a public and we had some trouble with him Eisenhower’s failure to resolve the competing strategies of Montgomery and

Bradley was then made worse by an accident after leaving 12th Army group headquarters near chart that afternoon he was flown back to his own command post at gonville on the Atlantic coast of Normandy it was a grave mistake to have chosen a spot so far behind the rapidly developing battlefronts in fact

As Bradley pointed out he would have been better placed for communications if he had stayed in London towards the end of the flight back to Granville his light aircraft developed engine trouble and the pilot had to land on a beach eisenh who had already damaged one knee

Now wrecked the other one while helping to turn the aircraft round on the sand he was confined to bed with the leg in plaster just before Bradley and Montgomery were due to meet he stayed immobilized for a whole week which proved to be a crucial one that same evening of the 2nd of

September horo arrived at the headquarters of the guards Armored Division in Du he felt frustrated by the need to hold back his troops that day to allow an Airborne drop on T it had then been cancelled at the last moment due to bad weather and because the American 19

Core had already reached the Drop Zones so with a certain theatrical flourish horo announced to the assembled guards officers that their objective for the next day was Brussels some 110 km further on there was a gasp of delighted astonishment horox also ordered Roberts’s 11th armor division to charge

Straight for the great Port of antp in operation Sabo with the Welsh guards preceded by the armored cars of the second household Cavalry Regiment on the right and the Grenadier guards group on the left the spirit of competition was irresistible and nothing could stop us that day an

Officer recorded the betting on who would reach Brussels first was intense Le Ru was apparently the roulette kuper’s cry at 0600 hours as both contingents set off the Irish guards group in reserve followed a few hours later it was our longest drive 82 mi in 13 hours their second armored Battalion

Noted in the war diary but for some units the headlong Advance did not turn out to be so sporting the grenadiers lost more than 20 men in a vicious engagement with a group of ss the unexpected appearance of the guards Armored Division in the Belgian Capital that evening triggered an even

Greater Jubilation than had been seen during the liberation of Paris the chief trouble was the mobbing of the crowds the household Cavalry noted as they were constantly brought to a halt by exultant belgians packed along the road a dozen deep singing tiporary and making V for victory signs another

Universal habit of the liberated is to write messages of Welcome All Over the vehicles as they slowly nose their way through the crowd wrote the same officer if you stop they swarm over the vehicle cover it with fruit and flowers and offer wine the household Cavalry and the Welsh

Guards won the race by a short head although it was a hazardous task because every time one stopped to ask the way one was hauled from the car and soundly kissed by both sexes German troops still held the aerodrome outside the capital and fired five rounds of high explosive into the

Park in front of the Royal Palace where Major General Alan Adair was establishing his command post under canvas British troops were greatly helped by the army of blanch of the Belgian resistance which proved of enormous value for rounding up the many stray Germans who were trying to escape civilians when not kissing their

Liberators hissed and booed and kicked any German prisoners they saw many British soldiers were struck by the contrast with Normandy where the welcome had often been half-hearted amid the terrible destruction wre on their towns and Villages the people dressed better an officer wrote clothes seemed more plentiful everyone looked clean and

Healthy whereas France gave one the impression that everyone was shoddy and tired but appearances of comparative Prosperity could be misleading the German occupiers had seized Food Supplies coal and other resources for themselves and more than half a million belgians had been shipped off for forced labor in German factories Belgium however at least

Benefited from the rapidity of the Allied Advance this saved it from the destruction of battle last minute looting and the usual scorched Earth tactics of the vermar but to the southeast Reckless attacks by the Belgian resistance on retreating groups of German soldiers led to vicious and indiscriminate reprisals by SS units in

Particular the Germans were shaken by the rapidity of the Allied advance that day an NCO described it in his diary as an event that surpasses all expectations and calculations and even puts our Blitz Greg in the summer of 1940 in the shade OB L and full reader noted the

Conversation of officers in the parck the Western Front has had it the enemy is already in Belgium and on the German border Romania Bulgaria Slovakia and Finland are asking for peace it’s just like in 1918 others blame their first Ally most of all the Italians are the most guilty

Un officier Oscar seel wrote home and some compared Italy’s betrayal of Germany to that of Austria in the first world war in some cases this produced reactions of bewildered self-pity we Germans have only enemies in the world and one has to ask why are we so hated everywhere there is no

Nation which wants to know us Allied generals also Drew parallels with the end of the first world war the optimism was such that Bradley’s 12th Army group headquarters had already ordered up 25 tons of maps for operations in Germany and Bradley’s Aid major Chester B Hansen remarked that

Everyone was getting as excited as a sophomore class on the Eve before a dance at 12th Army group headquarters everything we talk about now is qualified by the phrase if the war lasts that long they had completely misunderstood the consequences of Ober clus gra shank Von stenberg’s attempted bomb attack

Against Hitler on the 20th of July Alli commanders assumed that this event had signaled the start of the German Army’s disintegration in fact its failure and the repression which followed meant the very opposite the Nazi party and the SS now had total control and the general staff and all Army formations would be

Forced to fight to the fur’s last breath on the morning of the 3rd of September while Allied spearheads Advanced on antb Brussels and Mar Street generals Bradley and Hodes flew to the headquarters of lieutenant General miles Dempsey’s second British Army the purpose was to discuss future operations towards the ru with

Montgomery apart from eisenh her laid up with his bad leg in Granville another absentee from the conference was liutenant General Henry Kira the commander of the first Canadian Army who had insisted on staying in deep to take a memorial parade for all of his countrymen killed in the disastrous raid of August

1942 he would have pointed out the difficult difficulties of seizing the channnel ports and dealing with the German 15th Army which had retreated from the pical to a pocket west of ANP on the Shel Esty the port of antp was also vital to any idea of advancing

Across the rine into Germany yet both Montgomery and Bradley were fixated with their own diverging intentions the British heading north and the Americans heading east no proper minutes of this conference were taken and afterwards Bradley became convinced that Montgomery had deliberately misled him Bradley said that the Airborne drop planned for the

Next day on the bridges over the river M or mass in Dutch around Li should be cancelled Montgomery apparently agreed we both consider the field Marshall said afterwards that all available aircraft should go on transport work so that we can maintain momentum of Advance yet later that very afternoon at

1600 hours mom ordered his chief of staff to ask the first Allied Airborne Army back in England to start working on another plan a far more ambitious one his new idea was to seize the bridges between vasil and arnam to launch his 21st Army group across the rine north of

The ru Montgomery evidently calculated that if he could be the first to establish a bridge head over the rine Eisenhower would have to give him the bulk of the supplies and support him with American formations it was a great pity that Eisenhower had not been at the meeting when Bradley

Found out that montomery had reneged on what had been agreed without telling him he was Furious Montgomery refused to acknowledge what almost all other senior British officers had understood Britain was now very much the junior partner in the alliance because the Americans were providing the bulk of

The troops much of the hardware and most of the oil the idea that Britain remained a first rate power was a fantasy which Churchill desperately tried to promote even though he knew in his heart that it was not the case in fact one could argue that September 1944

Was the origin of that disastrous cliche which lingers on even today about the country punching above its weight chapter 2 mad Tuesday on Monday the 4th of September the second day of celebration in Brussels queen V helmina of the Netherlands broadcast a message from London compatriots you know our

Liberation is coming I wanted you to know that I have nominated Prince Bernhard as commander of the Dutch forces under the Supreme Commander General Eisenhower Prince Bernhard will be the commander of the Armed resistance until soon B helmina the German Retreat through the Netherlands towards the Reich had begun

On the 1st of September and reached its peak 4 days later on what became known as doin or mad Tuesday rumors spread that Montgomery’s armies were already at the border and a mistaken report by the Dutch service of the BBC Radio on the evening of the 4th of September even claimed that the

Allies had reached breeda and rund in Amsterdam people went out the next morning expecting to see Allied tanks on their way in most Retreats are sorry sites but the bedraggled dejected mass of verar stragglers from France and Belgium caused an unusual degree of Jubilation disdain and harsh laughter in the Dutch

People after the humiliations of the Arrogant occupation never have we enjoyed anything as much as watching the disorderly Retreat of this once great Army a woman in a Hoven wrote some in improvised units such as Creeks Marina Sailors form Med into Shi stom of tyun had trudged most of the way from the

Atlantic coast others had seized any vehicle they could find along the way cars such as old citrons with running boards and wood burning trucks with smoke stacks the spectacle which fascinated and thrilled the Dodge seemed to confirm the impression of total defeat they took chairs out onto the side of the street

To watch the formerly invincible and mechanized vermar which had crushed their country so easily in the summer of 1940 had now been reduced to stealing every imaginable form of conveyance especially bicycles there had been 4 million bicycles in the Netherlands at the beginning of the war half as many as

The total population the vermar had commandeered 50,000 at the beginning of July 1942 and now thousands more were headed for Germany most of them loaded with solders equipment and booty as they pushed them along the roads with no rubber for tires pedling them on wooden Wheels was Heavy work but their loss hit

Hard the Dutch underground movement needed them for their couriers and ordinary families relied on bicycles for seeking out food from farms in the countryside most of the Motorcars looted in France and Belgium also lacked tires driven on the rims of their wheels they made a noise which caused everyone to

Wince the majority were occupied by German officers and as an onlooker in einhoven noted many vehicles had young women sitting in them the sort that usually fraternized with Germans these French Belgian and Dutch women who were presumably guilty of collaboration orizontal clearly wanted to avoid a predictable fate at home in

Arnam too the neurologist Louis van ER saw a number of German officers with women on their laps partly German partly French women and the officers were flourishing bottles of branding in some towns the day was called cognac Tuesday German soldiers tried to sell some of the bottles and other items they

Had stolen only a few Dutch took advantage of the bargain offered which included sewing machines cameras watches textiles and birds in cages unlikely to survive the journey some Motorcars belong to Dutch Nazi sympathizers in the NSP the national socialistic Bing they knew that the Southern Netherlands province of

Brabant would prove too dangerous for them without German protection others fleeing Vengeance included collaborators from France and Arch Catholic pro-nazi rexist from Belgium the loyal Dutch called members of the NSP the wrong netherlanders or the black karadin and saw them as somehow worse than the Germans the attitude of the Dutch

Population towards the NSB remains totally opposed a German officer in utre reported better 10 Germans than one NSB is the general View and considering the rejection of everything German that really means something other vehicles included the odd Omnibus and Red Cross ambulances packed with soldiers and their weapons

Contrary to all the rules of War there were German soldiers on horsedrawn Farm carts loaded with chickens ducks and geese in wooden cages and trucks with stolen sheep and pigs somebody spotted two ox stumbling about in a bus and a none saw a cow in an ambulance such sides produced a bitter

Smile at the Shameless theft of food from occupied countries there was the odd fire engine and even a hearse with ostrich plumes covered in dust their marked Vehicles had branches from pine trees tied to the front in an attempt to sweep away the tacks and Nails scattered

On roads by members of the underground the exhausted foot soldiers the muffin as the Dutch called their German occupant Empires contemptuously looked disheveled bearded and black with dirt footnote the Dutch word Morphin for Germans was the equivalent of Kraut or Bosch in English or French it dated from

The early 17th century when the areas of Northern Germany just east of the Netherlands were referred to as the Muer the much richer and more sophisticated Dutch looked down on their inhabitants as unsophisticated and crude the term was revived during the German occupation end of footnote their appearance and that of

Their officers sitting back in cars caused a sensation once the Dismal cavalcade crossed the Reich Frontier there were wild rumors and numerous black jokes a Grier heard from his family yesterday evening people were saying that in Kaiser Lon the furer himself was inspecting the cars civilians also resented the

Privileges of officers and their treatment of the ordinary Soldier the laner the gentlemen traveled in their fully loaded automobiles leaving the laner in the Lurch a marked difference in Attitude had developed in Germany towards the Eastern Front Soldier and his counterpart the vest front gimper there was a general suspicion that the German

Army in the west had been softened by its four years of easy occupation in France and the low countries the feeling of the civilian population towards the soldier on the Western Front is not altogether good a woman wrote to her husband and I too am convinced that if the soldier of the

Eastern Front had been in the west then the Breakthrough would not have happened a gner wrote home rather confirming the impression of collapse in the west I cannot convey what the sin is like this isn’t a retreat but a flight yet he went on to admit that it was a well-provisioned

Departure the cars were Laden with schnaps cigarettes and hundreds of tins of fats and meat the German occupation authorities also engaged in last minute plundering having already seized church bells to melt down they hurriedly shipped raw materials especially coal and iron ore to the Reich and held on to the engines and

Wagons such Acts were Justified on the grounds that they should not leave an economic advantage to the Allies a certain amount of scorched Earth actions were also carried out in einhoven a series of enormous explosions could be heard as the German destroyed installations on the Airfield and blew

Up munition dumps a huge pole of smoke blotted out the sun transporting all these resources to the Reich was not easy the Dutch underground carried out acts of sabotage during the first part of September yet a German officer observed that the fact that Railway traffic is almost at a

Standstill is not a question of fuel but can be put down much more to the effects of English fighter pilots who have shot to death the majority of locomotives Ives to the dismay and even anger of the Dutch government in Exile in London ourf fighter pilots could not resist the

Thrill of blasting Railway engines with cannon fire because it produced such a spectacular explosion of steam the only satisfaction for civilians was to see how NSP members and their families were made frantic by these delays in their desperation to escaped to Germany in a town Southwest of arnam their plight produced intense Sharden

Freuder it was a wonderful site a local called Paul fonvil wrote the station waiting room looked like a junk store with tramps crying faces and hanging heads around 30,000 NSP members and their families went to Germany where they were ignored in the disintegration of the last months of the war as one

Historian put it organized fascism in the Netherlands virtually collapsed on the 5th of September during what appeared to be an interregnum and with the Dutch police more or less in hiding after their equivocal role during the occupation underground groups kidnapped members of the NSP and even a few German officials

Some were freed soon afterwards by the German police on that mad Tuesday the r commissar Dr arur Z inquir declared a state of emergency resistance against the occupying forces will be broken with arms in accordance with the orders given to German troops he went on to threaten death sentences for the slightest

Opposition footnote Z inquart full title of R commit netherlandish g r commiss for the occupied netherlandish areas reflected the earlier Nazi plan of incorporating the Netherlands into the Reich end of footnote many German officers were angry that the Dutch were preparing to welcome their Anglo-Saxon liberators with

Flowers and flags this was a typical Nazi confusion of cause and effect having treacherously invaded and occupied a neutral country they still expected the population to remain loyal to them the Dutch are not just cowardly but lazy and slow Roe OB liutenant Helmut Hensel with bitterness many ordinary soldiers did

Not however agree those who were sick of the war used to remark ironically my longing for a heroic death has been fully satisfied Reich Germans residing or working in Holland even the 60-year-olds were appalled to be mobilized during this crisis they wear civilian clothing under their uniforms hoping to escape a

Sympathetic Dutchman observed but are never left alone a very wet and stormy day Admiral Ramsey noted in his diary British in Brussels and antp L port not badly damaged but of course it is useless until the Esty and approaches are cleared of the enemy ramsy’s concern did not register with his colleagues in

Khaki they were still glowing with the success of their great Advance the 11th armored division’s progress into antp was extremely difficult owing to the great joy and enthusiasm shown by the enormous crowds the Germans had been so taken by surprise that only a few of them put up

A determined fight most important of all the resistance had managed to secure the port installations and prevent any last minute destruction by the Germans its members had also proved of great assistance in dealing with snipers and Prisoners the prisoners were locked up in empty cages in antp zoo one for

German officers ncos and soldiers others held traitors and collaborators and another held their wives and children as well as young women accused of having slept with Germans the animals had starved to death or been eaten during the occupation to protect the narrow Allied Corridor to anwb forces were pushed out

Sideways to defend it the Sherwood Rangers reached Reni south of gent after a 400 km advance from their abandoned game of cricket 8 days before with their Sherman tanks they surrounded a German regiment some 1200 men strong the German Commander a stout taer little man with a bull neck insisted during protracted

Negotiations that his honor as an officer required at least an impression of fighting on time was wasted but the Sherwood Rangers knew that this was better than even a one-sided battle which would take longer the German Commander finally agreed that he and his men would March out that evening bearing

Arms and would surrender on condition that no German Soldier was handed over to the resistance the Oberst insisted on addressing his men for about 15 minutes assuring them that they had made an honorable surrender he then nodded to his TOS Phil vible who shouted in order

And almost as one they smashed the butts of their rifles on the road then each man raised his right hand and shouted zek Hy three times which seemed rather paradoxical at the moment of giving in members of the resistance deprived of their Revenge watched angrily as their former occupiers were

Marched off to a holding Camp oro’s two armored divisions having achieved their dramatic Dash forward Ed where they were in antp and Brussels to service their vehicles and rest horx on his way to Brussels was shot at by a German tank overtaken in the advance armored cars of the second household

Cavalry were sent back to patrol the road while their core Commander set up his headquarters in the park of the Palace of Len it was another day of celebration in the city with a triumphal procession through the town the guards Armored Division was followed by a brigade of

Belgian troops brought forward to share in the event a guard’s officer called it a most remarkable site with literally the whole of Brussels lining the streets and cheering meanwhile batches of prisoners were being marched about by the members of the Belgian resistances arm blanch who from time to time fired

Their rifles in the air shortly afterwards the Grenadier guards group one battalion of infantry and one of Tanks moved due east from Brussels to take Lan or Len in Flemish for many in the ment it brought back memories of an action there during the retreat towards Don Kirk just over 4 years

Before field Marshall Montgomery also returned to Old haunts he set up his headquarters at the Chateau Deber 15 km east of Brussels on the road to Lou Montgomery knew the place well this 18th century building restyled later had been the third division’s headquarters just over four years before in the late

Spring of 1940 the chatain the prcess deoda was not Overjoyed to see her visitors as she apparently remembered her Montgomery staff officers had depleted the wine seller on the previous occasion she could not help feeling that her home was being treated just like a hotel only that morning Lu off a fighter

Pilots from JG 51 the famed yada MERS had pulled out hurriedly and 3 hours later the British arrived to take possession by the end of the first week in September the fuel shortage had really started to affect both Montgomery’s 21st Army group and Bradley’s 12th Army group Bradley’s Aid

Hansen wrote on the 6th of September that even core commanders were forced to go borrowing cans of gas to keep their cars fueled with none of the channel ports yet open supplies had to be brought all the way from Western Normandy in a constant shuttle known as

The red ball Express with thousands of trucks driven by African-American soldiers huge red ball Express convoys Hansen added are speeding up the highways with tons and tons of gas rolling at 50 mph all night long with their Bright Lights Illuminating the road the guards Armored Division in Brussels received orders to advance onto

The Albert canal and then onto leopoldsburg Close to the Dutch Frontier before carrying on to an Hoven only slight opposition was expected with resistance harder on the canals and bridges a large Warehouse full of drink reserved for the vermark had been discovered so the Irish guards sent a

Truck and collected 28 cases of champagne as well as wine and lures to fuel their triumphant Advance the guards managed to secure a foothold over the Albert Canal at bingan despite the Germans blowing the bridge during the night their sapper Squadron erected a Bailey bridge to replace it by the

Middle of the next day the guards armored realized that we would have to stop thinking in terms of flowers fruit and kisses and get down to some steady stuff opposition had Suddenly strengthened at one moment during that very complicated day it even looked as if the bridge might go when a

Desperate force of one officer and 40 SS troops crept onto the barges nearby after knocking out no less than 40 Supply Vehicles both the Welsh and the Coldstream had taken quite a knock the war diary keeper noted and added SS troops should all be either killed or wounded but preferably the

Former observant Dutch civilians had already started to notice a change in German military activity even while The Columns of dispirited troops continued to pass through their Town one bystander in an Hoven noted The Retreat of the Germans continued on the Monday but at the same time a counter movement was

Seen to develop a large formation of troops heavily camouflaged with branches of trees marched through the city in the direction of the Belgian Frontier the British capture of antp on the 4th of September had created a storm at fura headquarters in East Prussia the wul shansa hler on hearing the news

Wiped from his mind the circumstances in which he had sagged G alfeld Marshall gon runed at the end of June and recalled him to duty once again as commanderin-chief West General Orest cour student was in Berlin on the island of vanzi at the headquarters of the luers falima or

Paratroop arm when a call came through from the W chansa stent the architect of the falima force had commanded the Airborne operations in the Netherlands in 1940 and increte the following year the order from Hitler was to build a new defense line along the Albert canal and to hold it

Indefinitely student’s formation was given the inflated designation of first fum Army according to one of of his more cynical officers Hitler chose student because the furer the greatest commander of all time said to himself who shall defend Holland only he who conquered Holland can do that so student came to

Holland student was to take every paratroop unit he could lay his hands on starting with ores L and fried frer from the heer’s sixth falima regiment he also brought in new formations those in training establish ments and even luffer ground crew turned into infantry battalions he a veteran of the Airborne

Invasion of C in 1941 was scathing about the way untrained luffer Personnel were being designated as falim Yer those new paratroop division a second rate Flack Field divisions he told fellow officers it’s just pure vanity on ging’s part the point seems to be that he thinks if

Peace breaks out I don’t see why himler should be the only one to have a private Army the sixth Lu craer Battalion for special missions was in fact a penal Battalion brought back from Italy it consisted of lra Airmen and ground crew convicted of crimes and officers sacked for incompetence their Weaponry was

Pitiful and they were still wearing tropical uniforms even hea’s famous regiment was a shadow of its former self after its battles against the American 101st Airborne in Normandy the fighting strength of the regiment was weak he report Ed the men were not yet welded together the young Replacements made up

75% of the strength and they were barely trained hundreds of members of the regiment had never had a weapon in their hand and fired the first shots of their lives in their first engagement three of the new regiments were formed into the seventh Fimo division student told his chief of staff

Geral lant edman to command it student was also given the 719th Infantry Division of coastal defense and the 176th Infantry Division composed mostly of battalions with convalescence and the chronically sick to command them he had the headquarters of the 88 Corp under Geral de infant Hans vong Reinhard

A calm and experienced troop leader although he received a brigade of assault guns including some heavy yaged punter tank destroyers his small and barely mobile Army had only 25 tanks along a front which stretched for nearly 200 100 km all the way from the North Sea to mastri student’s parachute Army was to

Come under the command of army Group B having no artillery student ordered in flag units from LOF clauter Reich because their 88 mm anti-aircraft guns were also devastatingly effective against tanks and then he wrote with only slight exaggeration one could admire once again the astonishing Precision of German organization and of

The general staff all these troops which were strewn all over Germany from Gust in mecklinburg to in Loren were sent as Blitz transports to the Albert Canal here they arrived on the 6th and 7th of September 48 to 72 hours after being alerted the most remarkable aspect

Was that when the troops arrived at the stations arms and Equipment lay ready for five newly formed falim Yer regiments having been brought in from other parts of Germany there had been also some spontanous reactions against the headlong Retreat on the 4th of September ginal Lan cill with the

Remnants of his 85th infant division had halted at Tor hood on hearing that the British had entered antp and Brussels he turned his men around to redeploy along the Albert Canal Shield’s division had been reduced to less than a single regiment in Normandy it had retreated fire Brussels having picked up a

Battalion of barely armed Replacements on the way pure early by chance gal Reinhardt had come across the 85th division’s signals officer and was thrilled to hear that shill had begun rounding up stragglers and seizing any artillery units still withdrawing he was using them to man a defense line along

The Albert Canal between hustle and herentals the 85th division thus became one of the key building blocks of student’s parachute Army in many places officers and the hated fil shary known as chain dogs or kitten h because of the metal goette worn on a chain around their necks had seized

Stragglers at gunpoint and forced them into scratch units in a retreat a com commandant was designated and as one officer explained he is an officer who has the right to stop any officer up to and including the rank of obest at any time and to force him to go into action

Immediately even at pistol point if necessary on Tuesday the 5th of September student flew to see mudel at verier near Le he argued that their only hope of obtaining enough troops to hold the line was General Gustaf adol Fon sangan’s 15th Army thanks to the British decision

To Halt at anwb and not secure the Shel Esty student did indeed start to receive reinforcements from the 15th Army its men and guns were shipped in barges across the Shel Esty at night to avoid Allied Air Attack this failure to trap such a large force was to have a major

Influence later in the month when these German troops were able to attack the Western flank of the American paratroopers trying to defend the route north towards arnam student went on to see gin Al Reinhardt of 88 Corp on the way he passed Shire horses pulling the wagons of the 719th

Division this provided a bleak reminder that Germany was now fighting a poor man’s war on the next day the 6th of September when guanill finally had a chance to report to student the two men heard that British tanks had crossed the canal at bingan student ordered shill to supervise a Counterattack with heas

Sixth falima regiment and the Battalion of the second falima they were supported by an army pansa battalion of tank destroyers just north of bingan at bevu there was hard fighting in the village with the guards Armored Division losing a number of Tanks to paner house rocket propelled grenades Allied commanders

Underestimated the energy of General felt Marshall valta Mell whom Hitler had brought in to take over Army Group B during the final crisis in Normandy Mell a short stocky man with a monacle was totally unlike the sort of aristocratic staff officer whom Hitler loathed from a modest background and with a popular

Touch Mell was unswervingly loyal to Hitler who in turn had trusted him implicitly as his fireman to resolve a crisis on the Eastern Front Modell provoked mixed reactions among his own officers while one regimental commander in an SS P Grenadier division said that Modell is the Grave Digger of

The Western Front another from the same division clearly admired him he is a First Rate artist of improvisation he’s an exceptionally coldblooded dog extraordinar popular with the men because he has a certain amount of feeling for them and doesn’t push himself forward in any theatrical sort

Of way but is thoroughly Ed by his own headquarters staff because he demands as much from them as from himself Modell is conceited and exuberant always has new ideas and at least three solutions to any awkward situation and is the complete autograt he won’t stand any contradiction another senior officer

Agreed that Modell never let his subordinates get a word in edgeways and was a little Hitler The Retreat of the stragglers from France horrified General de fer friederick Christensen the verar commander-in chief for the Netherlands he felt that their disheveled appearance demoralized his own troops at bridges

Over the main rivers especially the Val men were halted and reformed into scratch groups called alamine heighten Christensen one of the three men who wielded power in the Nazi controlled Netherlands had been a SE plane Ace in the first world war he was not known for his intelligence only for

His passionate admiration for the fura and his total subservience to R Marshall Helman guring his second in command was General liutenant hin helmwood Fon Vish a gaunt old Prussian warhorse who had gathered a staff of like-minded officers Christensen however had a deeply suspicious streak he tried to recruit

Spies in the wake of the bomb plot against Hitler because he regarded Vish as a real or potential traitor he was guilty Christensen insisted after the war he committed suicide he added as if that proved his point in theory the leadership of the Nazi Administration in the country lay

With an Austrian R commissar Dr arur zenart zart a b spectacled lawyer had in March 1938 been the organizer of Hitler’s anlos turning their mother country into the ostmark province of gross deand Zen Kart became its governor and promptly ordered the conf ion of Jewish property after the invasion of Poland he

Became Deputy to Hans Frank the notorious Nazi in charge of the Geral Gore in Poland then following the invasion and occupation of the neutral Netherlands in May 1940 this convinced anti-semite instigated the persecution of all Jews in the country tragically Dutch officials had failed to destroy the administrative records before the

Vermark seized public buildings the religious affiliation of each person marked marked in the official rules identified the vast majority of the 140,000 Dutch and foreign Jews now in September 1944 Zin quart greatly overestimating the strength of the Dutch underground movement feared a general Uprising so he planned to make

Reddam Amsterdam and the hag into centers of Defense the third and in some ways the most powerful member of the Nazi triumvirate in the Netherlands was another Austrian SS group in fur Hans Alin rter the her SS and poit fur when the main German roundup of Jews

Took place in June 1942 there were strikes and protests but apart from demonstrating great bravery they only increased the repression approximately 110,000 Jews out of 140,000 were deported from the Netherlands and only 6,000 of these survived the war the other 30,000 were in most cases hidden or smuggled out of the country by

Ordinary Dutch people more than 1500 of aram’s 1700 Jews were deported to concentration camps in Germany and murdered a number however were hidden and saved by the underground especially by Johannes Pinel and his family a fugitive from the Germans whether Jewish or Gentile who disappeared was known as an underager or

Diver some areas were better than others in hiding Jews for example as many as half of AO 500 Jews were concealed as divers and saved since armed resistance was almost impossible in a country lacking mountains and large forests the Dutch underground concentrated on helping those in danger with fake identities and

Ration books as well as collecting intelligence for the allies and passing shot down Pilots along Escape lines through Belgium and France to Spain R was merciless he proudly reported on the 2nd of March 1944 the Jewish Problem in the Netherlands properly speaking can be considered solved within the next 10

Days the last full Jews will be taken away from Vestor Camp to the east he also ordered many reprisals for acts of resistance which were later termed systematic terrorism against the Netherlands people prominent Dutchmen were seized as hostages and executed after a train had been blown up by the Dutch underground the Germans

Seized as a hostage count Otto F limberg steum the uncle of Audrey Heen who was then living just outside Aram he was executed with four others on the 15th of August 1942 mostly the German authorities picked doctors and teachers as hostages by 1944 their expectation of an Allied invasion made them nervous and

Cruel with constant reprisals for sabotage or the killing of German Personnel mad Tuesday had its own tragic consequences in the general Panic the SS decided to evacuate the remaining 3,500 prisoners in the concentration camp at V known to the Germans as concentrationa hogen bu few Jews were left in the

Netherlands by this stage so most of the prisoners were Gentiles Dutch but also French and Belgian some 2,800 men were sent to Zenus and more than 650 women to ravensbrook footnote it has been suggested that of all nationalities the Dutch suffered the lowest survival rate in concentration

Camps because their bodies had been used to a diet of high fat content from dairy products the sudden change to an almost total lack of fat in the camp food proved devastating end of footnote the occupation of the Netherlands was probably the most brutal of all those in Western Europe German

Nazis had hoped that the Dutch would join their as fellow arens router even insisted on referring to the Dutch SS as the Germanic SS so the German authorities were first astonished then enraged by the determined opposition from the great majority of the population all students were ordered to declare their support

For the Nazi regime any who refused were arrested on the 6th of February 1943 in Mass roundups those who escaped had to disappear and become divers too almost 400,000 citizens of the Netherlands were conscripted and sent to the Reich for arites aats which effectively meant slave labor the country’s Food Supplies

Were systematically looted those living near the coast were forcibly removed and large areas of Farmland were deliberately flooded by breaking dikes this part of Hitler’s plan to defend Fortress Europe made further inroads into a food supply already greatly reduced by German depredations malnutrition began began to have its effect especially on children

Diptheria and even typhus spread in certain secret places the brutality was far worse ger liutenant valter dornberger the inspector of long range rocket troops was later recorded secretly in a British prisoner of war camp speaking of the activities of his colleague sart fur in the Netherlands he made Dutchmen

Build the sites for the V2 dornberger told fellow officers then he had them herded together and killed by Machine Gun fire he opened brothel for his soldiers with 20 Dutch girls when they’d been there for 2 weeks they were shot and new ones brought along so that they couldn’t divulge anything they might

Discover from the soldiers unfortunately the Dutch suffered from their allies as well as from their enemy occupiers the most unforgivable security lapses in the whole War by the Special Operations executive in London led to the serial betrayal of Dutch agents parachuted in to help the underground the englan Spiel operation mounted by

The upair German Counter Intelligence Hoodwink the British s soe officers in charge and constituted a huge blow to Anglo Dutch relations and on the 22nd of February 1944 a terrible mistake was made when part of an American bomber Force heading for the M Smith Factory at go was

Recalled the formation decided to drop their bombs instead on a German Town not realizing that they had just crossed the border of the Netherlands the American bomber Crews destroyed a large part of the Old Town in nigan and killed 800 people that day sadly the battles ahead to liberate Southern Holland were to

Lead to even greater suffering but the Dutch so desperate to be free proved not just remarkably brave but also remarkably forgiving chapter 3 the first Allied Airborne Army while the British and the Americans were charging forward from the river s towards the German border the British first Airborne Division back in Britain

Seed with frustration as one operation after another was cancelled Saturday the 2nd of September major J Blackwood of the 11th parachute Battalion wrote in his diary briefed to drop southeast of crae to stem the H Retreat across the river Esco cancelled because of storm damn the storm Sunday

The 3rd of September briefed to drop near MRI operation cancelled because Yankee armor advancing too fast damn the Yanks members of the first Airborne Division were the most exasperated because they had been left out of the dday operation kept in reserve for a followup or for an operation of

Opportunity they had been stood to and stood down so many times that they were starting to become cynical on a couple of occasions the operation had not been cancelled until after they had been loaded into their aircraft and gliders on the runway the first plan hatched by

Montgomery in the second week of June was to drop the division around ay to create a breakthrough to seiz K for a number of reasons air Chief Marshall s traford Lee man opposed the idea with determination he was almost certainly right to do so but as he had wrongly

Predicted total disaster for the Airborne drops on D-Day Montgomery felt confirmed in his opinion that the Airman was just a gutless buger in August with Patton’s breakout from Normandy one Airborne operation after another was dreamed up and the transport aircraft were consigned to fuel deliveries to help his Advance Lieutenant General

Lewis H gon the Air Force Commander of the newly created first Allied Airborne Army complained to the Supreme Commander I must emphasize that continued cargo carrying will render The Troop Carrier command unfit for a successful Airborne campaign he had a point it was Eisenhower who had insisted when

Appointing Bron that his chief priority was to improve the navigation training of nine Troop Carrier command so that paratroops were no longer dropped in the wrong places as had happened in the invasion of Sicily in 1943 and then again in Normandy the next idea was to seize Crossings across the river s but

Patteron was already there on the 17th of August planning started on a drop in the paral east of bull but then Bron and Montgomery’s Chief of Staff Major General Francis de Gango known as Freddy agreed that the effort should be switched to the enemy’s main line of retreat operation lined planned for the

3rd of September would aim for T over the Belgian border and for a bridge head over the river Esco linit was cancelled on the 2nd of September with the Poss possibility of switching to a linit 2 to seize Bridge heads over the river Ms with three Airborne divisions ahead of

The American first Army that too was cancelled at the meeting between Montgomery and Bradley the next day the first Allied Airborne Army had only been called into being on the 2nd of August 1944 by General Eisenhower despite Eisenhower’s Devotion to balanced Allied relations General Lewis Bron’s staff consisted mainly of

American Air Force officers at their had quarters Sunny Hill Park near Ascot they enjoyed Saturday night dances at their own club and watched movies such as Kansas City Kitty and Louisiana hayride the only senior British officer with the first Allied Airborne Army was Bron’s Deputy Li tenant General

Frederick Browning the whole setup with the US aaf general and staff commanding two major Army formations the American 18 Airborne Corp and the British one Airborne Corp was bound to complicate priorities and roles matters were not helped by a strong Mutual dislike between Bron and boy Browning the only

Characteristic the two men had in common was vanity Brien a small difficult man with such a compulsive womanizer that his activities provoked a severe abuke from General George C Marshall the American chief of staff and a man of the strictest moral rectitude Browning a hawf Grenadier

Guards officer with the air of a Mae Idol was married to the writer Daphne dorier she had chosen maroon for the paratroopers ber as it was one of the General’s racing colors although undoubtedly Brave Browning was highly strong he could not help tugging at his mustache when nervous his barely

Concealed ambition combined with an Immaculate uniform and a perm manner did not endear him to other senior officers especially the American paratroop commanders they regarded the sve and Polished boy Browning as a patronizing and manipulative Empire Builder unfortunately when the tensions came to a head Browning picked the wrong

Fight with Pon threatening to resign on the 3rd of September he wrote to oppose operation linit 2 which was intended to help Bradley’s Advance sir I have the honor to forward my protest in writing he began in the formal way he went on to list his reasons for concluding that

Dropping three Airborne divisions one British and two American to seize Crossings over the river Ms between mastri and Li would fail the whole Enterprise was to be launched in less than 36 hours the first Allied Airborne Army had no maps of the area to brief troops no information on enemy

Dispositions and Flack defenses and Allied fighter cover would not include the whole area of operations Browning was undoubtedly right but linit 2 was cancelled by proudley and Montgomery during their meeting that same day on very different grounds the greater the need for fuel deliveries as a result Browning’s

Protest served only to Riyal Brion who seemed much Keener to help Bradley’s forces than the British and whatever the circumstances a threat to resign cannot be repeated with any effect soon afterwards Browning who was desperate to command an Airborne Corp in action before the war came to an end knew only

Too well that next time it would be seized upon his American counterpart Major General Matthew bunker Ridgeway the commander of 18 Airborne Corp longed to take over and was better qualified Ridgeway had led the 82nd Airborne Division into Sicily into Italy and into Normandy in June so he had seen far more

Airborne combat Browning had not been in action since the first world war immediately after Montgomery’s meeting with Bradley on the 3rd of September where he had disingenuously agreed not to use Airborne forces he promptly signaled his chief of staff Freddy Gango at600 hours require Airborne operation of one British

Division and polls on evening 6th September or morning 7th September to secure bridges over rine between vasel and Anam this was to be called operation Comet D gangang contacted Bron’s headquarters and at 2230 hours Brigadier General Floyd L Parks Bron’s Chief of Staff telephone General Browning to pass

On the order you will immediately prepared detailed plans for an Airborne operation along the river R between arnam and vasel Browning did not object this time as well as his own determination to lead an Airborne attack the morale of the first Airborne Division badly needed an end to the dispiriting series of last

Minute cancellations Browning was far from alone in his desire to use Airborne forces in a dramatic and decisive way both Brigadier General James M Gavin the commander of the 82nd Airborne and Major General Maxwell D Taylor who commanded the 101st were Keen to prove that airborne troops were critical to winning

The war Churchill also wanted the operation to boost British Prestige just as it was flagging and Montgomery saw it as a chance to seize control of Allied strategy both the Americans and the British had invested major resources to create the first Allied Airborne army with six and a half divisions

Footnote the first Allied Airborne Army consisted of the American 18 Airborne Corp with the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions and the 17th Airborne Division still in training and the British W Airborne Corp with the first and sixth Airborne divisions the Polish First Independent parachute Brigade attached

And the 52nd lur land division as an air Landing formation to be flown in later to a captured Airfield end of footnote although a small army in conventional terms it was by far the largest at and best equipped Airborne Force ever assembled General Marshall chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in

Washington and general Hap Arnold head of the US Army Air Force were impatient to use it in a major strategic operation the American Press was carried away by the idea that Airborne operations represented the future of warfare Time Magazine even believed that peace could be maintained in the

Post-war world with the establishment of an Airborne International Army this was a fantasy which ignored basic limitations such as the comparatively short range of fully loaded troop carrying aircraft it was a mistake often shared by generals who should have known better on the 4th of September Browning

And de Gango flew to France and at 1900 hours a conference began at Dempsey’s second Army Headquarters we discussed plans for the capture of Nan and Aram Dempsey noted I will start with 30 core from an on the morning of the 7th of September 44 an Airborne Corp will drop two or three

Airborne brigades on the morning of the 7th of September to get the bridges back in England British and polish Airborne officers did not share their superiors enthusiasm for operation Comet the plan for a parachute Brigade to drop nearly 110 km behind German lines to seize the bridge over the nidar

Rain or lower rine at arnam and for Major General stanislav sosi’s polish independent Brigade and and an a landing Brigade to take Nan the Great Bridge and The High Ground to the southeast of the city prompted ironical remarks about the British and the poles capturing Holland all by

Themselves soosi who had been a professor at the Polish War College interrupted Major General Roy urart in the briefing but the Germans General the Germans you also referred sarcastically to these planning Geniuses who had come up with such an idea Brigadier John Shan hacket also became Restless at the naive

Assumptions that all would go well on the day Lieutenant Colonel John Frost who would command the troops at arnam Bridge was completely Frank with his officers believe me it will be some bloodbath he told them encouraged by the hey optimism prevailing in headquarters on the continent the first Allied Airborne Army also grossly

Underestimated the determination of the enemy large forces of air for troops their intelligence Chief wrote having the audacity to drop in daylight May well scare the enemy into a state of complete disorganization despite Eisenhower’s instruction that the first Allied Airborne Army was to support Montgomery’s forces briten also favored using it to help

Bradley on the 5th of September 2 days after agreeing to Comet Bron even approved the preparation of a plan to lift the US Airborne core and drop it back of the sea creete line in the vicinity of col alone this would have led to a terrible disaster if it had gone ahead because

The Germans would have concentrated all available forces to defend the city and the Ry Crossings there Eisenhower had insisted that something must be done to secure the sheld Esty to open the port of antp and trap the German 15th Army Montgomery’s headquarters reacted to this only on the

8th of September demanding an Airborne assault on the island of werin despite the fact that planning for comet was underway this time Browning and Bron were United in their opposition Browning believed that the Air Forces could achieve almost as much by attacking the shipping by which troops are being

Evacuated from south of the Shel Esty but this would have been hard since the Germans were moving them only at night Breen turned the project down because the small size of the island indicate successive losses due to Drowning of troops Dropped In The Water the terrain

Was no good for lighters and Vin had strong flag Flack defenses the almost casual way in which both first Allied Airborne Army and Montgomery’s headquarters came up with one Airborne plan after another and in this case two at the same time almost Beggar’s belief Brigadier Edgar Bill Williams Montgomery’s Chief intelligence officer

Admitted later that we didn’t work in the serious way we did for D-Day we were in Brussels where we had parties and a gay time everyone worked but the psychology was wrong in addition Montgomery saw only Browning when discussing Airborne operations he did not want to consult the RAF even

Though the war office and air Ministry had agreed after the Airborne chaos in Sicily that the Air Force side must lead the planning process and Browning probably did not want to admit to the field Marshal that the real decisions would be taken by us aaf officers at Bron’s

Headquarters in any case the lack of liazon between ground and air was pitiful if not scandalous it was bad even on the air side Lee mallerie had to write to Bron to point out that he had failed to invite to planning meetings the RAF commanders of 38 and 46 groups whose

Transport Aircraft would be an integral part of operation comet on the 9th of September sosabowski accompanied by Major General Ard the commander of the first airborn division met Browning at cotmore Airfield in the Midlands to discuss comet sir sosabowski said to Browning without any Preamble I am very sorry but this Mission cannot

Possibly succeed why Browning demanded soosi replied that it would be suicide with such small forces Browning then attempted flattery but my dear sosabowski the Red Devils and the Gallant poles can do anything sosabowski although distinctly unimpressed by such a fasile compliment restricted himself to the observation human abilities to

Have limits after all he then told urer that he would have to have all his orders in writing as he refused to be held responsible for such a disaster Browning even though he had obliquely acknowledged that the forces might be insufficient took deep offense at sosi’s attitude in Belgium General Dempsey had

Just reached similar conclusions to those of Sosi the day before he had summoned general horo of 30 core to Brussels Aerodrome for a quick conference as he expected horo confirmed that their Bridge head over the Albert Canal was being strongly opposed by the enemy Dempsey expressed his concerns to

Montgomery the next day then flew to see horox again in the afternoon it is clear tsey wrote in his diary that the enemy is bringing up all the reinforcements he can lay his hands on for the defense of the Albert canal and that he appreciates the importance of the area arnam

Nan it looks as though is going to do all he can to hold it this being the case any question of a rapid advance to the Northeast seems unlikely owing to our maintenance situation we will not be in a position to fight a real battle for

Perhaps 10 days or a fortnight are we right to direct second Army to Aram or would it be better to hold a Left Flank along the Albert canal and strike due east towards cologne in conjunction with first Army but this was the last thing that Montgomery wanted he wanted to go

North and force The Americans to support him early the next morning Sunday the 10th of September Dempsey went to Montgomery’s headquarters and managed to persuade him that in view of increasing German strength on the second Army front in the Aram Nan area the employment of one Airborne Division in this area will

Not be sufficient I got from CNC his agreement to the use of three Airborne divisions Montgomery liked the idea of cancelling operation Comet and replacing it with a larger one which brought the American 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions under his command but to Dempsey’s dismay Montgomery also

Brandished a signal at him which had arrived from London the day before two V2 Rockets had exploded in England having apparently been fired from the area of Rotterdam and Amsterdam the government asked urgently for an estimate of how long it would take his army group to seal off the area

For Montgomery who wanted to go North Via arnam and not East Via vasel Dempsey and others on his staff preferred this was just the confirmation he needed to justify his decision there was only one Cloud on the field Marshall’s Horizon but for him it was a dark one Eisenhower he discovered

Was allowing Bradley and patton to advance into the S southeast of Luxembourg the Supreme Commander was not according full priority to his Northern group of armies as he thought had been promised matters were not improved by Communications failures at Eisenhower’s Tactical headquarters back at Granville 650 km to the West at that moment

Montgomery was having typed a long letter to field Marshal sir Alan Brook the chief of the Imperial general staff complaining that Eisenhower was totally out of touch that there was no grip on operations and it included the lines Eisenhower himself does not really know anything about the business of fighting

The Germans he has not got the right sort of chaps on his staff for the job and no one there understands the matter dempy summoned Browning to his tactical headquarters where in the next two hours they put together an outline plan the new operation which would be called

Market Garden consisted of two parts Market was the Airborne operation in which the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions would seize River and Canal crossings from a Hoven to nigan with the big bridges over the Rivers’s Mars and Val the largest in Europe while further on the British first Airborne

Division and the Polish Brigade would drop near arnam to capture the Great Road bridge over the nidar Browning was pleased with his phrase describing Market as an Airborne carpet as if it simply had to be unrolled in front of the ground troops operation Garden would consist principally of horus’s 30 core led by

Tanks charging North up a single road with poer land flood plane on either side broken only by wood and plantations they would keep going all the way over the bridges secured by the paratroopers after crossing the bridge at arnam they would occupy the lofer air base of Dyan the 52nd air Landing

Division would be flown in and from there 30 core would carry on all the way to the shore of the oelm a total distance of more than 150 km from the start line the objective for the British second Army was to cut off the German 15th Army and the whole of the western

Netherlands out flag the SE freed line be across the rine and in a position to encircle the RAR from the North or even charge on towards Berlin Montgomery meanwhile headed for Brussels Aerodrome to see Eisenhower who had flown in with his Deputy air Chief Marshall Sir Arthur tedar this meeting

Had been arranged some days before and discussion of the Airborne operation was not on the agenda Eisenhower still suffering badly from his knee could not descend from the aircraft so proceedings took place on Board Montgomery incensed by the frustration he had been expressing in his letter to Brooke was

In a fractious mood he refused point blank to allow Eisenhower’s Chief Supply officer Lieutenant General Sir Humphrey Gail to be present but insisted that his own chief administrative officer Major General miles Graham should remain Montgomery pulled from his pocket a sheath of telegrams did you send me

These he demanded waving them yes of course Eisenhower replied why well they’re nothing but balls sheer balls rubbish after letting him run on for a short time eisenh how leaned forward put his hand on Montgomery’s knee and said Mii you can’t speak to me like that I’m your

Boss halted in his Harang Montgomery could only Mumble an apology but he still insisted that Patton Must Be Stopped that his own Army group should be given to American Corp from hodges’s first Army and that it should receive absolute priority in supplies if necessary to the exclusion of all other

Operations Eisenhower rejected that interpretation of the word priority and emphasized that the objective was the ru not Berlin he was prepared to give Montgomery priority but he was not going to Halt Patton Eisenhower reminded him that he already had the support of the first Allied Airborne Army this led to a

Very brief discussion of the latest Airborne plan Eisenhower followed standard US Army practice having agreed an overall strategy he did not believe in interfering further Montgomery was able to use this later to imply that at this meeting eisar had given his Blessing to the New Market Garden plan they

Discussed only the timing and the problem of supplies which Montgomery dramatized in order to obtain more Eisenhower should perhaps have raised the question of aircraft range he’ received a warning from Bron that the Allied Airborne divisions and Troop carrier form misss should move to the continent otherwise an operation across

The rine would be too far he was however alarmed at the administrative picture as painted by Monty and agreed to see if supplies to Dempsey’s second Army could be increased Graham who should have known the situation believed that the 500 tons a day they were receiving was

More than enough for Market Garden but not enough for the deep penetration into the north German plane which Montgomery wanted both Eisenhower and tedar considered it fantastic to talk of marching to Berlin with an army which is still drawing the bulk of its supplies over beaches north of

Bayer the port of antp had to be opened first Dempsey meanwhile had worked fast by the time Montgomery returned from Brussels Aerodrome to his tactical headquarters Dempsey had fixed with Browning the outline of the operation his diary entry stated he can be ready to carry this out on the 16th of

September at the early horo was his next visitor that afternoon saw Commander 30 cor at my headquarters and gave him the plan for the operation to be carried out by Airborne core and 30 core with a cooperation of eight core on the right and 12 core on the

Left Montgomery had wanted to present the first Allied Airborne army with a fit compley approved by the Supreme Commander and this he achieved he had also decided on arnam and not visel acrossing which he would almost certainly have had to share with the American first Army there have been suggestions that

Browning too preferred visel but Browning had strenuously supported Comet which included arnam now he was to command three and a half Airborne divisions to do the same job not just one and a half so he was unlikely to oppose the field Marshal on the subject and the suggestion that on the 10th of

September Browning had said to Montgomery that arnam might be going A Bridge Too Far is highly improbable since they do not appear to have met that day there is no mention in Dempsey’s Diary of Browning at the early morning meeting with Montgomery and he had reached Dempsey’s headquarters only

At midday when Montgomery was with eisenh Browning’s excitement was quite palpable at the prospect of the Airborne core seeing action at last he sent the single code word new from Dempsey’s headquarters back to the first Allied Airborne Army at sunning Hill Park this sign ified that a planning conference

Was to be called that evening when he returned General Bron on the other hand must have felt deeply affronted that Montgomery had made no attempt to consult Him in Advance his resentment would have been perfectly Justified Eisenhower’s original directive had insisted that planning should be shared footnote the commanderin-chief

Northern group of armies in conjunction with the Commanding General first Allied Airborne Army will plan and direct the employment of the entire Airborne Force which is made available to the northern group of armies to expedite the accomplishment of its assigned missions end of footnote Montgomery had deliberately

Ignored this he wrote to field Marshall Brook Airborne Army HQ had refused my demand for airborne troops to help capture werin and they are now going to be ordered by Ike to do what I ask 27 senior officers gathered in the sunny Hill Park conference room at 1800 hours to hear Lieutenant General

Browning’s account of decisions taken that day in Belgium Brion was there servic his chief of staff Brigadier General Parks Major General Paul L Williams of nine Troop Carrier command Brigadier General James Gavin of the 82nd Airborne Division and Brigadier General Anthony C mcff of the 101st astonishingly neither Major

General Ard of the first Airborne nor Major General sosabowski had been invited the only British officer present from outside brion’s staff was air Vice Marshall hollinghurst of 38 group it is more than likely that Browning did not want urart present so that he controlled his planning entirely Browning presented what he and

Dempsey had worked out using an airlift timetable based on operation lineid disingenuously he implied that it had Eisenhower’s blessing when the Supreme Commander had not seen it Brien and his staff privately dismissed it as just a tentative skeleton plan Browning finished by declaring that the operation would take place between the 14th and

16th of September just over 3 days away it was a dangerously short time Britain raised the first key decision was it to be a night or a day operation German night Fighters would be more effective than their day Fighters but Flack would be much more accurate by day than by

Night decided on a daylight operation in the belief that a proper employment of the supporting Air Forces available could knock out flag positions in advance and beat them down during the Airborne operations themselves his headquarters claimed that this was a bold decision since the flag was known to have increased by 35% in

The market area The Troop Carrier aircraft were unarmored were not equipped with leak proof tanks and flew at speeds between 120 and 140 mph but Brigadier General Gavin’s Chief intelligence officer who was present felt they had exaggerated Bron’s estimate of flack differed widely from that given me at second us bombardment

Division Just 4 hours previous this bombardment division was flying missions daily over the Nan area Breen then asked Major General Williams to speak The Troop Carrier Commander’s words must have come as a bombshell to Browning most of the key assumptions on which he and Dempsey had

Worked that day were now thrown in the air General Williams stated that the lift would have to be modified due to the distance involved which precluded the use of double toe lift single toe only could be employed this meant that with each plane Towing one American glider instead of

Two as Browning had calculated with Dempsey only half the number of gliders could be taken on each lift and since the mid-september days were shorter and the mornings mistier Williams ruled out two lifts in a day these changes meant that it would take up to 3 days to deliver the

Airborne divisions and that depended on perfect flying weather operation Market the Airborne side of Market Garden would thus not be landing any more assault troops on the crucial first day than operation Comet because half the force would have to be left behind to guard landing and Drop

Zones for the subsequent lifts and the Germans having identified Allied in itions would be able to concentrate troops and anti-aircraft batteries against these areas on subsequent days Williams’s obdurate attitude might be seen to contain an element of Revenge after the deliberate refusal to consult the Air Force side in advance but the

Fault lay far more with Montgomery and his determination to impose an ill-considered plan next morning the 11th of September Major General urer attended Browning’s briefing there headquarters of first British Airborne core was just Northwest of London in the large and elaborate palladian building of Moore Park with its great Portico of Corinthian columns

Browning Drew three large circles on the tal covered map to show the objectives of the three divisions as he finished drawing the third one he fixed uret with a deliberately unsettling stare saying Aram bridge and hold it later a more detailed examination of the terrain revealed that The High Ground north of

The narain meant that their defense plan would have to include the whole city of arnam with a population of nearly 100,000 as well as the Drop Zones outside that signified a perimeter many times the size of a usual division Frontage UT could not help wondering whether his first Airborne had been

Given the furthest and most dangerous objective as a complement to its Effectiveness or because Allied diplomacy could could not survive a disaster to an American formation under British command he strongly suspected the latter and he was right footnote Eisenhower’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Walter Beetle Smith

When asked after the war whether scha dictated that the division at arnam should be the British one replied no we did not dictate it but I am damn glad it was the political Fallout in the United States would have been disastrous if an American airborne division had been

Chewed to pieces in a British plan end of footnote a follow-up meeting took place at nine Troop Carrier commands headquarters at eot also on the Northwestern edge of London American Air Force officers more or less dictated the choice of drop and Landing zones their main priority was to avoid German Flack

Batteries on the way in and on the way out for Simplicity in the short time available the Air transport chiefs were working from the plans elaborated for earlier operations yet Major General Williams rejected the gler born kand parties to seize the main Bridges by surprise attack which had been a key element in

The previous plan air Vice Marshall hollinghurst of the raf’s 38 group said that he was perfectly happy to go ahead with them Williams overruled him on the grounds that normalized K demand parties would not have been strong enough to seize and hold the major Bridges but

According to holling Hur in a memo the decision to mount the whole operation in broad daylight was because the American e8th Air Force cannot operate their Fighters at early Dawn or Dusk and this was why the Kuda parties were cancelled the Americans had stricter rules on

Visibility than the RAF but it was also true that a company landed Before Dawn like the Pegasus Bridge operation in Normandy would have attracted all available German forces to the bridge well before the arrival of the main force and Browning refused to consider a daylight Kuda Major General Maxwell

Taylor the commander of the 101st Airborne which was responsible for the first 60 km of the road refused Drop Zones in seven separate areas close to the Seven Bridges he had to seize he feared too great a dispersal of his division they were reduced to two and

Later after a meeting with Dempsey his responsibility for defending the route North was reduced to 25 kilm Gavin was also unhappy with the dispersion of his dropping zones Williams flatly refused to change them the 101st at least was to have the greatest number of aircraft because it

Was closest to the base of the operation the 82nd Airborne had the next largest allocation and the British first Airborne the fewest partly because General Browning appropriated 38 gliders for his own core headquarters German officers when analyzing the operation afterwards came to the opposite conclusion they believed that the furthest division should have

Been the strongest German flag concentrations dominated the planning of the air rots and the Drop Zones Troop Carrier command wanted to stay well away from the key objectives of arnam and nagan bridges because of their anti-aircraft defenses at arnam they were also threatened by the lraa

Airfield of Dyan just to the north of the town as a result the British division was to be dropped well to the West with an approach March of between 10 and 13 km to the road bridge through a major town surprise the most vital element in Airborne operations was

Therefore lost before they even took off one of the greatest difficulties in mounting this operation rested on the inflexible planning of Troop Carrier command Gavin’s Chief intelligence Officer Colonel Norton recorded the ground plan became practically secondary to the air plan Major General urer of first Airborne simply did not have the

Experience to negotiate forcefully with Troop Carrier command he accepted the landing and Drop Zones he had been given the Airmen had the final say UT wrote later and we knew it but those Airmen were firmly convinced that there were no alternative sites many historians with an if only

Approached to the British defeat have focused so much on different aspects of operation Market Garden which went wrong that they have tended to overlook the central element it was quite simply a very bad plan right from the start and right from the top every other problem stemmed from that Montgomery had not

Shown any interest in the Practical problems surrounding Airborne operations he had not taken any time to study the often chaotic experiences of North Africa Sicily and the drop on the coton toown peninsula in Normandy Montgomery’s intelligence Chief Brigadier Bill Williams also pointed to the way that

Aram depended on a study of the ground which Monty had not made when he decided on it in fact he obstinately refused to listen to The Dutch commander-in-chief prince perard who had warned him about the impossibility of deploying armored vehicles off the single raised Road onto the low-lying Poland flood plane

Williams also acknowledged that a 21st Army group enemy appreciation was very weak we knew very little about the situation yet towering over everything else and never openly admitted was the fact that the whole operation depended on everything going right when it was an written rule of warfare that no plan

Survives contact with the Enemy this was doubly true of Airborne operations the probability of the Germans blowing the huge road bridge at Nyan over the river Val was barely discussed had they done so 30 core could not possibly have reached the first Airborne at arnam in time the German failure to destroy it

Was an astonishing and totally uncharacteristic mistake on their part and one which Allied planners should never have counted on also on the 11th of September Admiral Ramsey flew to Granville where Eisenhower had returned after the meeting with Montgomery at Brussels Aerodrome went on to see Ike and found

Him in pajamas with his knee bad again Ramsey wrote in his diary stayed to tea and he let himself go on the subject of Monty command his difficulties future strategy Etc he is clearly worried and the cause is undoubtedly Monty who is behaving badly Ike does not trust his

Loyalty and probably with good reason you never let himself go to me like this before over the next few days Ramsey kept trying to have a meeting with Montgomery about the Shel Esty to open the great Port of antp the field Marshall would not see him as far as he

Was concerned antp had been settled as an objective for the first Canadian Army but his obsessively tidy mind had insisted on a geographical progression the Canadians should continue advancing up the coast to capture and open the much smaller and more damage Channel ports first in any case Montgomery

Clearly believed that if he could get across the rine then antp could be dealt with later at the same time Montgomery was trying to extract everything he could on the 11th of September the day after their meeting in the aircraft at Brussels Aerodrome he sent a signal to Eisenhower your decision that the

Northern thrust towards the r is not to have priority over other operations we’ll have certain repercussions which you should know revised operation Comet cannot repeat not take place before the 23rd of September at the earliest the delay will give the enemy time to organize better defensive Arrangements he claimed that he now

Found that he lacked sufficient supplies Eisenhower horrified that the Allies might fail both to achieve a bridge head across the rine and to secure antp sent his chief of staff General Walter beetles Smith to sort things out the next day Beatles Smith Smith flew to the field Marshall’s tactical headquarters he promised an

Extra 500 tons of supplies a day even if that meant depriving three American divisions of their transport and assured Montgomery that the US first Army would receive priority too so that his right flank would be protected this would mean holding back pattern in the Zar Montgomery felt he had won a great

Victory he boasted to field Marshall Brook that his signal to Eisenhower had produced electric results I is given way and he sent Beetle to see me today the SAR thrust is to be stopped Montgomery having obtained what he wanted dispatched another signal to Eisenhower thank you for sending Beetle

To see me as a result of the guarantee of 1,000 tons a day and a fact that Hodges will now get all the maintenance he needs I’ve investigated my own problem again I have now fixed D-Day for operation market for Sunday the 17th of September Bradley meanwhile was Furious

That he had never been consulted and as soon as he heard he told eisenh how he objected strenuously to the plan Patton was sickened mty does what he pleases he wrote in his diary and Ike says yes sir in fact Montgomery received nothing like what he had been promised and he

Used this later in an attempt to divert blame for the failure of operation Market Garden General eisenh until the very end of his life could not get over the Way Montgomery was never able to admit that he had been responsible for anything going wrong chapter 4 doubts

Dismissed early on the 10th of September when Dempsey had persuaded Montgomery to cancel operation Comet a message with the news reached the British first Airborne Division according to an officer in Frost’s second Battalion the whole Brigade went to Nottingham and Lincoln to get tied as only the first par Brigade knows

How but on returning with massive hangovers they heard that they were going after all but on a new and bigger Mission Lieutenant Colonel Charles McKenzie ‘s chief of staff was a small man with a neatly trimmed mustache an amused look in his eyes and a dry sense

Of humor he and some fellow officers when they heard of the cancellation decided to enjoy that day boating on the temps when they arrived back in the afternoon they found General uret excited come on he told them we’re on with the next one and we’ve got some work to

Do they started to pour over the maps trying to work out what might have changed they did not have a clear idea of course until after the two briefing sessions the next day McKenzie thought the new operation with more than three divisions seemed at least more realistic than some of the previous

Plans American paratroopers who had seen their fil of action in Normandy did not suffer from the same sort of cynicism which had started to build up in the British first Airborne their own version was part of the devil mayare self-image which they cultivated Frank brumo in the 82nd

Airborne had returned to Nottingham from Normandy with a Barrack’s bag of German helmets to sell a souvenirs but he found his customers wanted the beaten up ones with bullet holes in not the shiny new ones so he began firing at his stock with a looted vault of P38 and the went

Up from 1B to 5 lb we also took every chance we got to comfort the English wives and girls whose husbands and boyfriends were off in the Far East with the blackout one had to shovel one’s feet walking through the parks so as not to step on the many loving couples in

Twined on the ground while looking for a place for ourselves and our own temporary girlfriends losses had been so heavy in Normandy that in some battalions new Replacements accounted for up to 60% of their strength the 58th parachute Infantry Regiment had returned with only 9918 men out of

2,55 training was intensified to get the new arrivals prepared for combat but the jokes kept coming American paratroopers claimed that unlike the British first Airborne they were not disappointed when operations were cancelled combat is a place where a guy could get hurt and let padon win the war became the cry after

Missions were canceled at the last moment because the third Army’s rapid Advance had overrun the target area most of the 101st Airborne felt relief when an operation was canceled unlike their Commander Major General Maxwell Taylor was thought to be too much of an eager beaver he kept telling his men that he

Would not rest until he had a good mission for us they preferred to boast of a different sort of combat that a military police unit would be given a presidential citation if they were on duty when the 101st were in town on leave it was for forunate that the 82nd

Airborne was quarted in the East Midlands while the 101st was in the south of England as the two enjoyed coming to blows the 82nd would provoke the 101st by pointing at their shoulder badge and cry in mock Terror Screaming Eagles help help not all members of the two American

Airborne divisions were obsessed with women drink gambling and fighting the poet Louis Simpson in the 327th glider infantry with the 101st reflected on the character of their host nation the English are a very great race and take things in their stride without the dramatization Americans love any

Girl will show you a picture of her family and mention as though it were funny that they were blitzed and that brother John was killed in Africa last year sometimes this apparent coldness makes me Shiver I prefer our overemphasis on the value of Life polish paratroopers could not have

Been more different they were not like the British who just wanted to make the best of a bad War by joking and referring to any battle as a party nor were they like the Americans who wanted to finish it quickly so they could go home the poles were Exiles fighting for

The very survival of their national identity an American officer who saw them in training described them as killers under the silk polish patriotism was nothing like the rather embarrassed British equivalent theirs was a burning spiritual flame at that moment their countrymen and women were suffering terribly in the Warsaw Uprising against impossible

Odds as poles we knew we had to die for a lost cause said Corporal V woodka but as soldiers we wanted to fight hoping that it would shorten the war some of us hoped that the Russians would be stopped before taking Poland and very naively we were praying for

Miracles the British could not really understand what the war meant to Poland my Scottish girlfriend is crying wrote one parupa she knows we have to part maybe forever she cannot understand that a soldier must carry on the battle for Poland’s sake their Commander Major General Stanis sovi was a difficult and

Demanding man he was not loved by his men but they respected feared and also trusted him because he would do anything that he asked of them they referred to him aari the old one in Polish this violently patriotic and tough 52-year-old had deep set eyes and a weather-beaten face he was fiercely

Obstinate and far from deferential when it came to dealing with senior officers when he thought they were wrong soovi and his men had one idea which dominated everything their Brigade motto was the shortest way and their mission was to spearhead the liberation of their Homeland as early as October 1940 the Polish commander-in-chief

General varis Sikorski issued his order regarding preparations to a national rising in Poland it was like many of the papers which followed a remarkable document far cited about the likely course of the war and yet also hopelessly optimistic that polish forces in Britain could come to grips with the Enemy on home territory

They even considered the future possibility of flying in armored divisions sec I was undeterred by British officialdom he had insisted that when the first polish independent parachute Brigade was set up under sosabowski it would not be deployed under Allied command but held back to assist an uprising in Poland the British

Accepted this stipulation although No Doubt with some head shaking and matters about the crazy polls but on the 17th of May 1943 Browning approached sosabowski with a view to changing the agreement as plans began to be considered for the invasion of France according to sovi 4 months later

Browning told him that unless you become part of the British Airborne forces I will take away your equipment and training opportunities the following year when planning for D-Day was well Advanced the war office considered any rising or operation in Poland as nothing more than a diversion to the main effort in

Normandy Montgomery refused to accept any restrictions upon the use of the Brigade so bossk’s command was to be deployed as part of the British one Airborne Corp the tragedy for Poland was the unexpectedly rapid advance of the Red Army in operation Barun which brought it almost to the gates of Warsaw

By the end of July 1944 polish plans had never intended the great Uprising to take place until the defeat of Germany becomes inevitable but desperate to forall a Soviet occupation of the Polish Capital the home army or armia kova started the Warsaw Uprising on the 1st of

August just over 2 weeks later as Warsaw burned in the vicious battle the Polish commander-in-chief wrote half apologetically to sovi I made every effort about which you will hear at the right time for at least part of the Brigade to be used where your hearts and dreams have driven you

For the past years unfortunately obstacles proed more powerful than my will or yours but we shall bite the bullet and carry on along our straight and honest Road keep a cheerful spirit and show the world the grand polish soldierly flare which challenges fate and breaks through all obstacles beat

The Germans and fight well thus helping warsa at least indirectly we for our part will not cease in efforts to organize sufficient help for her in weapons and ammunition but resupply by air was almost as difficult for the insurgents in Warsaw as it would prove to be for paratroopers at arnam

Despite a recent training accident in which 36 of their comrades had been killed when two Dakota c47s collided soos’s men had lost none of their determination they still tried to comfort themselves with the idea that if they were not dropping on wara they would at least be close to walking into

Germany through the kitchen but as the uprising approached his terrible climax they were boiling with rage not to be dropped there that was where they should be and that was what they had trained for the fact that the c47 simply lacked the capacity to deliver a full load of

Paratroopers over Poland and return to British bases did not diminish the intensity of their emotions on the 12th of September at Mo Park sski had another meeting with uret who told him that the Polish Brigade group had been allocated only 114 aircraft and 45 horseed Riders soovi was

Not pleased it meant that he would have to leave behind his own artillery while his anti-tank Detachment could take just their guns and jeeps and a crew of only two men each they were to be landed with the first Airborne Division north of the Nar rine while the bulk of the Polish

Brigade was to land on the south side flws in the plan became even more evident day by day on the 14th of September at 1600 hours sosabowski met Ur at wittering Airfield near Stamford in Lincolnshire he pointed out that his Brigade would be able to cross the nidar

At Aram only if the British had already secured the bridges in his minute of the meeting the Polish Commander wrote in his stilted way so Sosi permitted himself the liberty of pointing out that the bridge had to be held by the first Airborne division’s first brigade is

More than 10 mil away and before the Polish Brigade arrives it might not even have reached the area and might be surrounded in an even smaller area in that case the Polish Brigade would have to wait for them before they they can take up positions he also pointed out that the

Bridge head to be held by first Airborne Division and first polish parachute Brigade group extends for over 10 mil in difficult terrain and there is always the possibility that until the Polish Brigade group arrives on D+ 2 its defensive positions might be seized and held by the enemy as first Airborne

Division might be unable to establish and hold such a large perimeter in this case the Polish Brigade group will have to attack in order to reach the allotted positions to the east of Anam Ur could apparently agreed that such a situation might occur but he did not expect any strong enemy

Opposition so sovi emphasized that in order to enable the Brigade group to cross the river narain the first Airborne Division should hold the bridge or should possess some other means of crossing the river apparently Ard assured him that first Airborne Division would be able to

Do that and protect the drop zone of the Polish Brigade group events would prove sosi’s concerns to be abundantly Justified the British Brigade commanders were not nearly so critical of the plan mainly because the first Airborne simply could not face another cancellation they just wanted to get on with it and in the

View of Brigadier Philip Hicks who commanded the first air Landing Brigade Market Garden at least seemed to stand a better chance of success than several of the previous plans some of them were absolutely insane he said another Factor could not be ignored officers and Men alike knew that if they were not dropped

In an operation then they would either be forced to serve as an ordinary Infantry Division in the field or the whole formation would be split up as replacements for other units Brigadier General Jim Gavin of the 82nd Airborne was appalled that urer should have accepted drop and Landing zone so far

From his main objective yet Gavin himself had been told by Browning that his first priority was to secure the Ros Heights southeast of Nan they overlooked the rashal a great Forest just across the German border which was thought to conceal tanks Browning’s argument was that if the Germans occupied the rosbeg

Heights then their artillery could stop 30 core reaching Nan its Great Road Bridge thus slipped down to become a lower priority partly because the first Allied Airborne Army refused to land keman glider parties General Brion meanwhile explain to General Arnold in Washington that the ground force planners persist in presenting a multitude of

Objectives that of course was hardly surprising when Montgomery’s plan involved Crossing no fewer than three major and countless lesser water obstacles nobody Britain included dared to say that it was a thoroughly bad plan based purely on the assumption that the German Army was collapsing even though the British were

Over the Albert Canal at bingan on the 6th of September gineral student was comforted by the idea that they would find the terrain ahead far from Easy the general consensus of opinion he wrote later was that the enemy would now enter the Maze of the Dutch Canal system a

Terrain most favorable for defense and in which the enemy would be unable to use his masses of Tanks to the same extent on the 7th of September while the battle continued at bingan and hiel Dempsey ordered the 50th North umbrian Division to cross the Albert Canal south of

K this sector was defended by the Kupa daa led by General Lan schills most energetic regimental Commander the sixth green Howards managed to establish a bridge head ober’s liutenant gor drer no doubt Furious that his men had been surprised counterattacked again and again the 50th division Commander seeing

That this was developing into a serious battle called for support from another Brigade near Brussels the f following morning the 9th of September the tanks of the Sherwood Rangers yry rattled over a prefabricated Bailey Bridge erected by Royal Engineers the night before they were to support the sixth Durham light

Infantry and together they captured the town of K on the 10th of September as a troop leader in the Sherwood Rangers wrote later I ought to have known enough about the German Army from my time in Normandy to realize that wounded and cornered tigers have to be treated with the greatest caution and

Respect this lesson I was soon to learn in kale gual Reinhardt lost little time he ordered in a company of the heavy pansa Battalion 559 and a battalion of he’s 6th falima regiment to help dr’s com Trooper retake the place after the first day of fighting sea Squadron of the Sherwood Rangers in

Hil were well satisfied with their capture of the town and the pleasure it seemed to give many of its inhabitants but towards the end of the day the tank Cruis began to feel apprehensive they noticed that the locals were hurriedly taking down their Belgian and Allied Flags the Squadron

Was very short of ammunition and the durhams were already short of men after all their casualties in Normandy the Germans still left in positions around the town were shouting Defiance as night fell over the radio reports came in of German tanks or panser self-propelled guns in the area fortunately a courageous sergeant from

Headquarters Squadron drove it truck stacked with ammunition through the German positions to get to them German infantry made probing attacks a troop leader was shot through the head as he peered out of the turret of his Sherman then the tank itself was hit and burst into flames burning the

Rest of the crew to death steuart Hills another troop leader spotted a panuga just in time his Gunner knocked it out just as it was aiming at their Sherman another tank in the troop a firefly with the immensely powerful 17 pound gun managed to Ambush a heavy yaged punter

At a range of 10 m as it came round a corner the blast from the explosion could be felt at some distance by Dawn the Sherwood Rangers were concerned that the durhams exhausted by all their battles were starting to abandon positions it soon became clear that they had no infantry

Left in front to protect them from being stalked by German Lancers with Panera rocket propelled grenades by late morning the Squadron was down to six tanks and by the time the order to withdraw came 11 of the Sherwood Rangers tanks had been destroyed and two badly damaged it was a

Bloodier engagement than any they had experienced in Normandy they were not facing a defeated Army chapter 5 the day of the hatchet although the British second Army was starting to receive a bloody nose as it approached the Dutch Frontier from the south German occupation forces in the Netherlands were distinctly nervous

And Dutch collaborators in the NSP were again fleeing the country on the 8th of September pay Master Heinrich kuglin in utre described another wave of chaotic withdrawal when news arrived of the offensive with British tanks towards the southern Netherlands border he wrote an almost completely unplanned Retreat of

Military and civil establishments led to some random Looting of transport trains and vehicles occupied by those fleeing caused jams and were shot up by Allied ground attack aircraft and set a light ensured a very regrettable image which unfortunately showed a lack of leadership and discipline his own Department had

Summoned all their female staff from Rotterdam and Amsterdam to utr and trains were waiting ready if needed to take people to Germany or the northern Netherlands the Dutch have behaved themselves in a comparatively calm fashion he went on on top Nazi officials in the Netherlands were clearly a good deal more anxious

Than pay Master clug line they greatly overestimated the strength of the Dutch underground whose members in some places had started blowing trees down across the road they feared AAR or day of the hatchet when the underground would rise up and kill them Z inart feared being

Torn limb from limb by the populace yet he knew that to escape back to Germany risked a tribunal and hanging on Hitler’s orders his plan was to make Amsterdam the ha and Rotterdam the colonel of the German defense and withdraw there with what forces remained SS OB fur router was furiously opposed

To such a defensive response despite their shared Austrian background the two men did not get on Ze inquart once remarked in a striking understatement that the hura SS and pit fura proud of his mass murder of Dutch Jews were simply a big child with a child’s

Cruelty to calm I inquart gual Von Vish announced that he would issue a proclamation threatening that in any case of sabotage the Germans would set fire to houses in the neighborhood and seize their inhabitants as hostages C inquart was impressed by such ruthlessness but ralter who disliked and

Distrusted Vish as well decided to issue his own order the next day which would go much further thus the leadership of both the verar and the SS in Holland were vying with each other to see who could display the most violence to deter the Dutch underground the next day rout issued his Secret

Order terorist to the gestapo and SD s height stating that any illegal assemblies must be blown up mercilessly and the houses smoked out using English explosives and Hand Grenades footnote the explosive was from supplies dropped by S soe with the unfortunate Dutch agents captured on arrival as a result of British incompetence end

Footnote 3 Days Later router received an order by teleprinter from rash fur SS hinr Kimler saying Mell is in your area contact him immediately router discovered that Army group Beast headquarters had been withdrawn to ig he went to the hotel top beer where he had a discussion with Mell and his

Chief of staff ginen and hunts cribs router later claimed that at this meeting he had predicted the Allied Airborne operation to capture the bridges over the mass Val and narain but Mell and Krebs had dismissed his idea they argued that the Bridget arnam was far too distant from the troops who

Would have to come to relieve the parachute formation entrusted with its capture that the English will come to arnam is is not possible Modell apparently said he considered the whole plan far too Reckless for a commander as cautious as Montgomery in any case Airborne divisions were too valuable to

Be thrown away England only has two as has America the Allies would therefore hold on to them until they really were in a position to cross the rine Christensen and his headquarters known as wbn for Mark pil Harbor inanda did expect Airborne Landings but only combined with an amphibious Invasion on

The Dutch Coast the lraa third fighter division based at Dyan just north of arnam was more preent it had recorded in its War diary a few days before that a parachute Landing in our area is expected footnote a myth arose just after the war that the plan for Market

Garden had been betrayed to the Germans by a traitor in the Dutch underground called Christian Antonius lindemans now known as King Kong because of his size lindamans born in Rotterdam worked in his father’s garage during the war he helped an escape line of the Dutch underground in March 1944 he was

Recruited by Major Herman gizz the opair counterintelligence chief in the Netherlands the suggestion that the whole plan had been betrayed was never convincing because all German sources admit that they were taken completely unawares sentenced to death by a Dutch Court lindamans committed suicide di in prison in

1946 according to the end of War report by Hugh Trevor Roper the historian and wartime intelligence officer SS briard fura valta shellenberg the head of the STD foreign intelligence Department received information in mid September 1944 predicting an Allied Airborne Landing in Holland to seize a rbridge but he took no action in

Response end footnote himler had told router that he was responsible for the demolition of the key Bridges should the Allies invade Southeast Holland so on this visit to ig router raised the question with Modell Modell insisted that the decision on blowing the bridges was entirely his to

Make he said later that his intention had always been to keep the Nan Bridge intact so that he could Counterattack any spearhead and cut it off he had even ordered that the explosive charges already laid should be removed in case they were set off by artillery fire SS

Obr fural router satisfied with his Savage record in the Netherlands was now longing to assume an active military role the Airborne Landings a week later would give him the opportunity to command what he called Kupa routa this would consist of the SS guard or vak Balon Norwest from amas for

Concentration camp a regiment of OD Pai and the so-called 34th SS Grenadier division landstorm Netherland in fact just a couple of battalions of Dutch volunteers who had already been mauled on the Albert Canal by the princess Arena Brigade of the royal Netherlands Army Bradley’s troops on the other hand

Reported a very tough battle with Dutch SS just to the southeast 19 core on the 14th was fighting a brigade of Dutch SS troops who continued to fight stubbornly Bradley’s Aid Road they were mercenaries with little to look forward to and had to be killed almost mercilessly we

Compared their fighting to that of the Japs in their refusal to surrender rout was proud of his Dutch Germanic SS yet many in its ranks were not even members of the NSB most were simply weak-willed or opportunistic youngsters who wanted to avoid being sent to Germany as forc laborers they

Were promised that all they had to do on joining the SS was to guard Jews and political prisoners in the concentration camp at armas for they would not be in danger and and their families would benefit with extra rations of food and fuel since there were insufficient volunteers even then numbers were made

Up through recruitment in prisons and corrective schools these volunteers were forced to sign a contract in German which most of them could not read their officers and Senior ncos were German and the Battalion Commander sto banura Paul Hiller was an Austrian from the tiol Hiller was a shamelessly corrupt opportunist

Although he had wife and children in Germany wrote The Dutch historian of the battle Colonel Theodor bu he had a very intimate lady friend she was rather Brown as her cradle had been in Java and the whole Battalion grinned when Hela held his usual lecture about the superiority of the Nordic race with

Their Fair hair and blue eyes Ellis subordinates loathed him because he fawned on his superiors and treated his Juniors with arrogance neither hel nor his men expected that they would ever have to do more than bully the prisoners in their charge certainly not fight British paratroopers a very different Force

North of the naren was the two SS panacor commanded by SS overr fur vilhelm bitri it consisted of the 9th SS paner division hen Sten and the 10th SS pan division frb constant air attacks and fatigue as well as the loss of almost all its tanks in the retreat from Normandy had reduced

What he called its feeling of combat superiority even its Manpower was down to less than 20% of full strength on the 3rd of September the 10th SS paner division fburg had been ordered to MRE where it was told to re-equip Itself by requisitioning motor vehicles and ammunition from the

Supplies of retreating lift raffer elements the 9th SS puner division hen stafen and core headquarters staff were directed to hustle in Belgium 35 km to the West the very next day bitri received orders to withdraw his two divisions north of the nidar rain to the area of appledorn and Aram to refit but

To remain combat ready he took his staff as well as some core units to Dam with its fine moted Castle 30 km east of arnam bitri was just about the only vafan SS General respected and liked by his counterparts in the army tall and direct he was intelligent

Cultivated and thoughtful and had a good sense of humor he’ originally wanted to be a musician and conductor having studied at the conservatoire in lipik although officially a Nazi he had nothing but contempt for senior party members and Hitler’s Entourage in a conversation with gal field Marshall

Irvin ruml on the 16th of July in Normandy he was so critical of hura headquarters and its refusal to acknowledge the developing disaster in the west that he indicated his agreement to rl’s plan to enter secret negotiations with the Allies berri’s Fierce objection to the hanging of

General orer Eric hopner who had been implicated in the 20th of July plot against Hitler was reported back to Berlin by one of his officers He was ordered to surrender his command but as the situation in Normandy became catastrophic he could not be spared G alfeld Marshall Mel then thwarted

Further attempts to disob in him during the retreat to the Netherlands bick’s priority was to restore the fighting strength of his two divisions apart from eight Antiquated Renault tanks brought back by the 9th SS horfun there were just three serviceable Mark 5 Panther tanks left in the frur

10th paner division with another two in workshops in addition the two divisions had a combined total of 20 assault guns self-propelled artillery and heavy mortars in those desperate days pitri had to weaken his command still further he was told to send the com group of

Zler of the 9th SS Hornen and the K groupa Hena from 10th SS fburg to strengthen the very mixed force under obers valter facing the newly won British Bridge head across the marass shil canal almost on the Dutch border on the other hand the reconnaissance Battalion of the horn Sten and three

Paner Grenadier battalions remained formidable fighting units there has been much debate about the strength of the two SS panacor when Market Garden was being planned its presence in the Aram area had been known to Allied intelligence through the Dutch underground and from alter signals intercepts even while Comet was being

Prepared but partly because of a belief that it had been virtually destroyed in the retreat from France and partly in a misguided attempt to avoid dismaying the troops little mention of its presence was made in briefings when Beetle Smith went to see Montgomery on the 12th of September to promise him the extra

Supplies demanded he took the chief intelligence officer a chief Major General Kenneth strong the operation was conceived at 21st Army group beo Smith said after the war we were always a bit dubious about it strong thought there might be parts of three paner divisions in and around

Where the first Airborne was to drop beetles Smith also thought that the British Force being sent to arnam was too weak Montgomery’s headquarters on the other hand had passed on their view to the first Allied Airborne Army that the only reinforcements known to be arriving in Holland are the demoralized and

Disorganized remnants of the 15th Army now escaping from Belgium by way of the Dutch Islands Montgomery refused even to allow strong into his presence with the retort I have my own intelligence and he waved Beatles Smith’s objections heily aside the Rivalry and mutual dislike between intelligence Chiefs was

Sometimes even greater than that between their respective commanders Brigadier Bill Williams Montgomery’s brilliant but also erratic intelligence Chief was vitriolic about Eisenhower’s Major General strong you worried about everything Williams told Forest Pogue the American official historian after the war and called strong The Headless horror and the faceless wonder he even

Considered him a coward saying that he wouldn’t go near the front leaving aside The Clash of personalities they were all wrong in their different ways the horn Sten and the fburg were indeed in the area and were not the entirely spent Force which Montgomery and Williams imagined but with only three serviceable Panther

Tanks and fewer than 6,000 men between them they could hardly be counted as proper SS paner divisions in point of fact one of their commanders said they had scarcely the strength of regiments what all those involved in the argument on the Allied side failed to grasp was the extraordinary ability of the German

Military machine to react with speed and determination and the two paner divisions even in their weakened state were able to form a nucleus onto which other less experienced units could be grafted Browning’s intelligence officer major Brian urer on the other hand became increasingly nervous at his Chief’s complacency he was so convinced

That there were German tanks in the Aram area that he requested a photo reconnaissance mission the shots revealed Mark II and markv tanks used for driver training which belonged to the training and replacement Battalion of the Herman ging division they were not part of the two SS panacor as Ur

Thought the vast majority of the tanks which Allied troops faced in Market Garden were not present at the start of the operation but were brought in from Germany with astonishing speed on Blitz transport trains whatever the strengths or weaknesses of the two SS panacor the survival of the British first Airborne Division entirely

Depended on the speed with which horox is 30 core could Advance up a single road all the way to arnam for 103 kilomet the original distance had been reduced because the guards Armored Division now occupied a bridge head over the mar shell Canal at nilt Lieutenant creswell’s troop with

The second household Cavalry Regiment had managed to out flank the Germans in front of the canal as the division reported with their uncanny Knack of finding a way around they concealed their armored and Scout cars in a wood well to the rear of German lines Creswell and Corporal of horse Cutler

Stole bicycles for their reconnaissance and finally climbed up onto a factory roof from where they could survey the German positions from behind they reported that the bridge at the DEA barrier was intact but although it was strongly held they could identify the position on the

Map we reached the area of the bridge as light was falling the war diary of the Third Battalion Irish guards recorded on the 10th of September and the commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Joe veler after a rapid Wy decided to try and rush it number two company and one Squadron

Of tanks were detailed for the job the tanks put down a hail of fire on the area of the bridge itself and succeeded in knocking out several 88mm guns Lieutenant Stanley Clark’s platoon preceded by a troop of tanks then charged the bridge and succeeded in reaching the other side the remainder of

Number two and number three companies were quickly pushed across to join them and the position was rapidly Consolidated the Royal Engineers officer with the Battalion succeeded in disconnecting all the charges which were in position to blow the bridge this remarkable kuder was achieved at the cost of only one man killed and five

Wounded the Irish guards intensely proud of their exploit called their prize Joe’s bribri after Lieutenant Colonel Joe veler our success had saved the whole of second Army days in its Advance the war Diary of their companion armored Battalion posted next day at 0900 hours the Germans counterattacked with self-propelled assault guns and infantry

One of the assault guns got within 100 m of Battalion headquarters but the Germans were thrown back with heavy losses the Irish guard’s infantry battalion suffered 14 casualties including a captain killed while stoking an assault gun with a p anti-tank launcher the divisional Commander Major General Alan Adair asked the household

Cavalry to scout out the road leading North to einhoven he wanted to know whether the bridge over the river DL near vinard was strong enough to take tanks with the nent com group of VTA reinforcing the sector rapidly it was a formidable Mission Lieutenant Rupert Buchanan jardan a German speaker took

Just two Scout cars in the morning before the Mist gave way to Sun they charged through German lines passing virtually unchallenged they drove almost to Falcon vard some 10 km behind German lines bualan Jardine asked locals about the bridge and having had a good look himself he returned to the vehicles they

Closed their hatches and charged back through the German positions deafened by the Machine Gun and Rifle fire peppering their armor they were exceedingly fortunate that the Germans along the road had had no time to swing round anti-tank weapons their little salty caused a great commotion well behind

German lines the police in an Hoven using loud speakers ordered all civilians to clear the streets immediately at first light on the 13th of September the Germans launched a small Counterattack on the near Pelt Bridge head the guards automatically on Dawn stand 2 were not taken by surprise their supporting artillery

Having registered the likely forming up points reacted immediately and the attack was over almost before it began in einthoven the woman diarist recorded that morning we hear artillery fire the latest news is that the Allies have come closer by 15 kilm they must be in Balkans for will einhoven be the first

Liberated City in Holland will The Liberation come without too much Bloodshed we pray to God that our country will be saved too much Agony that same day obes leand full reader of the Herman ging division passed down the road up which 30 core would Advanced less than a week later he

Considered the major Bridges at nean and graa to be guarded by totally insufficient forces and in his view they had not been properly prepared for demolition that is a c crime he added in his diary the guards Armored Division settled into several days rest bite as its Battalion prepared for operation

Garden and received replacement tanks to bring them up to strength the Irish guards described the 30 core order on the subject as top up tidy up tails up and no move for several days for officers tailes of seems to have meant slipping away to Brussels to visit newly acquired girlfriends and

Enjoy the restaurant leil de where payment was refused guards men were not so fortunate their ncos kept them harded work on the vehicles Le on between the first Allied Airborne Army and the British commanders in Belgium who had thought up the plan did not improve Brion and his staff only

Discovered several days after planning had started that 30 cores Advance was going to be 30 ft wide and 70 Mi deep nobody had worked out exactly when the Airborne cor’s main reinforcement the British 52nd air Landing division was to land there was a general assumption that it might be flown into the luffer

Airfield of dalan once that was taken on the 12th of September the first Allied Airborne Army held a conference to discuss air support principally the bombing targets of German barracks and Flack defenses this was followed by a larger meeting 3 days later with representatives from the US 8th Air

Force the US 9th Air Force bommer command air defense of Great Britain which would provide the RAF fighter escorts Coastal command and the Allied navies nobody came from second Army 30 core or even the raf’s second Tactical Air Force on the continent only the American 101st Airborne made an effort

To liaz with 30 core Brigadier General Anthony mcff the deputy Commander flew to Brussels on the 12th of September with Lieutenant Colonel CD D Renfro who was to be its liazon officer with horus’s staff they went to Dempsey’s headquarters and then to see horox south of hell where Renfro stayed on politely

Ignored also on Tuesday the 12th of September Major General urer called an orders group to brief his Brigade and some unit commanders Robert urer known as Roy was a large heavy man with a thick black mustache a brave infantry Brigadier in Italy he had been astonished when told that he was to

Command the first Airborne Division I had no idea at all how these chaps functioned he confessed he’d never parachuted in his life knew nothing of Airborne operations and suffered from terrible air sickness yet he could hardly refuse such a promotion at the beginning of January 1944 Ard had reported to Browning still

Dressed in The Tartan truths of his old regiment the Highland light infantry Browning observed briskly you had better go and get yourself properly dressed ER could suggested that considering his inexperience he’ better do some practice parachute jumps Browning glanced at his bulk and replied I shouldn’t worry about

Learning to parachute your job is to prepare this division for the invasion of Europe not only are you too big for parachuting you’re also getting on Ard was 42 brownie explained that he had done two jumps and had injured himself both times that is why he had decided to

Train instead as a glider pilot well aware that he would be seen as an outsider even a curiosity by the Airborne fraternity a could knew that officers and soldiers alike would be sizing him up nobody disliked him and most came to admire him for his courage good humor and fairness but perhaps the

Biggest disadvantage of his conventional military background was the simplistic assumption that an Airborne Division was a force of highly trained infantry with the usual Gunner and sapper support and once it had descended from the sky it resorted to normal ground fighting this was not exactly the case

As soon as an Airborne Division landed it had to exploit the element of surprise immediately to make up for the fact that it lacked the transport and the bulk of the artillery and heavy weapons of its conventional counterpart uret had three brigadiers under him the oldest pip Hicks commanded

The first air Landing Brigade with three glider infantry battalions Hicks a reserved and unexciting Commander had nearly drowned in ad lier which had crash landed in the sea during the invasion of Sicily Gerald lrey the tall and elegant leader of the first parachute Brigade was rather different

According to Ard he spoke in a languid draw but had a very good brain lathbury had the first second and third battalions of the parachute regiment many of whose officers and men had endured trial by fire in Tunisia and Sicily the youngest and most intelligent Brigadier of all was Shan hacket a small

Yet supremely confident Cavalry man from the eighth King’s Royal Irish Oar hacket who did not suffer fools gladly commanded the fourth parachute Brigade his three battalions however could not quite match the experience and professionalism of Laury’s men Ur could had wanted part of the first lived to be dropped on the Pand

South of the nidar but the RAF refused Point Blank because of the German flag positions close to the Aram Bridge the aircraft bringing the first Airborne would constitute the northern and leftand stream coming out from England so after dropping their paratroopers or releasing their gliders they had to turn

Left to avoid clashing with those dropping the 82nd Airborne at Nan if they went as far as Aram south of the river then they would be turning over the flag positions and circling back right by the Luft raffer Airfield at dalan with all the restrictions imposed by nine Troop Carrier command demand UT

Had little choice but to go for dropping and Landing zones short of the arnam dalan area so sosi’s polish parachute Brigade was due to be dropped on the southern side of the arnam road bridge but only on the third day by which time nine Troop Carrier command assumed the

Bridge and all the flag positions would be secured anyone with any experience of Airborne operations could see that the British landing and dropping zones up to 13 kmet to the west of Aram were too far away to achieve surprise Major General Richard Gail who had commanded the sixth Airborne

Division on D-Day warned Browning that the lack of kudaman parties was likely to be disastrous and that he would have resigned rather than accept the plan Browning refused to agree and asked Gail not to mention it to anyone else as it might damage morale erard all too conscious of this fundamental handicap

Planned to use the reconnaissance Squadron mounted in Jeeps armed with machine guns to race on ahead it was perhaps not a good augury that Freddy Goff the cheerful red-faced silverhair major who commanded the reconnaissance Squadron turned up late for the orders group and was thoroughly reprimanded there was little UT could do

About the other basic floow in the forthcoming operation while lb’s first parachute Brigade was to March off towards the bridge Hick’s first air Landing Brigade would have to remain behind to guard the drop and Landing zones ready for hackett’s Fourth Brigade to land on the second day this meant

That uret would have just a single Brigade to secure his chief objective right from the start his division would be split in two with a wide Gap in between to make matters worse one of his signals officers became concerned that the standard 22 Set Radio might not work

Over that distance with the town of arnam and the woods in between chapter 6 final touches in the Netherlands tensions between occupiers and occupied had suddenly increased on Sunday the 10th of September in nigan all males between the ages of 17 and 55 were ordered to report for digging defenses a warning was

Proclaimed that those who failed to turn up would have their houses destroyed by fire their possessions seized and their wife and children arrested the German appointed bter a hated member of the NSP summoned School teachers to a meeting to order them to police their students the teachers stayed away next day a woman

Recorded in her diary the houses of teachers not attending are being plundered by the Germans as a reprisal and passes by are forced to help according to the Germans the furniture was being confiscated and given instead to families in the Reich who had been bombed out the teachers had

To disappear into hiding as divers on the 13th of September the able-bodied young men of NE Megan still refused to turn up with Spades ready to dig defenses the next day when radio Oran announced that MRI had been liberated heavily armed members of the SS appeared on the streets few male

Civilians dared venture out for fear of being seized a German Proclamation announced that any form of sabotage would also be dealt with by executions and the burning of houses Stan’s first fim Army reported nine terrorist shot and another five arrested for Espionage on the 15th of September SS

Obr fura router sent a message to the headquarters of Modell’s Army Group B in OST to express his fear of an imminent Uprising and to suggest that every Dutch policeman should be disarmed in case he were a camouflaged terrorist that day at molena on the edge of arum a group of

Boys tried to set fire to a munition stump three people one of them a Headmaster were executed as a reprisal many older boys at this time were cutting telephone lines and slashing the tires of fair marked Vehicles as one of them said later we did not know what danger was Dr Fond

Deck the neurologist at the clinic of wolfer to the west of arnam recorded a warning that another three people will be executed Ed if a member of the NSP who had been kidnapped 2 days before was not handed over an anonymous telephone call revealed that he was alive and he was found

Unheard the small village of wolf haer which contained both an Institute for the Blind and an asylum for the mentally handicapped lay in the Woods by a small railway station this made it an ideal place for the Germans to hide troops and Munitions on the 11th of September 40

105 mm howitzers had been delivered brand new from the factory and 600 artillery men a mixture of youngsters and older men arrived by rail to Camp under the trees their Commander hman ban claimed to have had a hard task restoring order because some of the buildings were used to house female LOF

Traer signals Personnel known as Blitz mle The Lunatic Asylum had long since been occupied by a great number of German bra man recounted they worked at the aerodrome of Dyan part L as Blitz mle which was a new name for because of the exceedingly short pleasure they gave the soldiers

Sometimes waiting in cues in that moment of intimate teamwork on Friday the 15th of September the ammunition for the guns arrived and a large dump was established nearby in the woods a dozen of the guns drawn by requisitioned horses were taken to duberg Northeast of Aram as part of the

Plan to defend the line of the river Asel pure by chance wolf haer was targeted in an air strike 2 days later at ot’s request because it was right next to the first airborn drop zone and assembly area apparently the US Army Air Force demanded an assurance that there

Were German troops in and around the Institute rather than just inmates Colonel McKenzie ‘s Chief of Staff gave it even though he could not be sure the consequences would be tragic but mainly because of a direct hit on the concealed ammunition dump the llin resistance Network lkp or KP in the

Area of arnam was extremely well organized under the leadership of p c c an engineer with rayon manufacturers Aku ran a tight ship with good security he set up different groups with each leader picking its own members secretly weapons and explosives had been parachuted to

Them by s soe in August in the v The High Ground north of Aram life’s main Associates included Albert hman a colleague from work Lieutenant Charles do vonr a naval officer who received the highest Dutch decoration for bravery the vills order Harry Monroy who looked after the explosives and Johannes penil

Who was in charge of communications the group had carried out various acts of sabotage such as blowing up a train in elst on the 15th of September C’s group blasted part of a key V although the damage was not as great as they had hoped the Germans issued a

Proclamation the next day saying that unless the perpetrators gave themselves up they would start shooting 12 hostages at midday on Sunday the 17th of September doctors teachers and other prominent citizens immediately went into hiding to avoid the inevitable Roundup several of G’s colleagues argued that they should give themselves up rather

Than let innocent people die grife was firm they were at War nobody was to surrender themselves fortunately intense Allied air attacks on the Sunday morning solved the Dilemma the Germans had more urgent matters to consider G’s Network in Iram and others especially in Nan had recognized the importance of telecommunications they either recruited

Telephone operators or infiltrated some of their own people Nicholas deura an engineer with the Dutch telephone organization PT helped set up a secret system whereby the underground using special numbers with 29 digits could link up the north and south of the country with automatic dialing the Germans Were None the wiser even though

They had installed their own Nationals in every exchange to keep an eye on suspicious activity and handle ver marked calls they also did not know that the PGM electricity company in the region had its own private telephone Network between arnam and Nan which the underground used unfortunately the

British army did not really trust any resistance group fure as a result of a few bad experiences elsewhere Major General Ard who had received unreliable information from Italian partisans tended to think that all such sources simply offered patriotic little fairy tales and field Marshall Montgomery made

It clear to Prince beart that he did not think the resistance people would be of much use some intelligence briefings before Market Garden even suggested that the Dutch population close to the Border particularly around Nan might well turn out to be Pro German on the 14th of September one of

Pete C’s colleagues V vatz noticed an unusual amount of German military traffic in IG 5 kilm west of arnam this quiet and peaceful Village consisted mainly of large villas and houses set back in well tented Gardens the mixture of architectural Styles included immaculately thatched roofs almost a Dutch equivalent of arts and

Crafts and birthday cake Stucker villas with pink tiled roofs forer bake spread out along the north Bank of the nidar on Rising ground with trees and beautiful views Over the River and the Poland of the B Beyond had for many years appealed to senior officials and prosperous

Merchants from the Dutch East Indies as an ideal place to retire without warning large signs were erected in o saying marked entry forbidden anti-aircraft guns and even an anti-tank gun guarded one Road in particular the Peters be V vrz saw that the activity focused on the hotel

Telb pretending that he lived nearby he persuaded the first Sentry to let him pass a second more officious guard further on leveled his rifle and ordered him to leave the area immediately B FATZ was happy to comply he had seen all that he needed the checkered metal pennant

Outside the hotel signified an army group headquarters and that could mean only one person the restlessly energetic model did not waste any time after a rapid glance over his new headquarters he immediately set off to see the most important formation commander in the area SS obri who had established his own Command

Post in the moted castle of slenor at duim 25 km east of Anam Modell reached Castel slamen Borg well before dusk on the 14th of September unaccompanied This Time by his chief of staff ger lutant KBS he strowed in wearing his gray leather great coat and with his monacle firmly screwed in place

Bitri towered over his short Army group Commander he came up only to my ear he said later bitri had summoned his two divisional commanders bard of sh hin harl of the 10th SS paner division fburg and standard valta harer of the 9th SS hen Modell never sat down he spent the

Whole time firing questions what do you have left how quickly can you get back on your feet bitri replied that his Frontline combat strength was little more than 1500 men in each division although the total Manpower was double that they went on to discuss rearming a decision had

Been made back in the Reich by fafan SS headquarters that one of the two divisions was to be returned for complete re-equipment the other should stay where it was in the Netherlands and regrouped there bitri favoring his old division the 9th SS hon doen had selected it to return to Germany Modell

Then ordered its officers to hand over their armored vehicles and heavy weapons to the sister division before they left as well as a number of men harl cannot have been pleased he felt that since his division was the weaker of the two it should be the one sent back to reform

And yet any other questions gentlemen Modell asked barely looking around at them anything else no goodbye then although Modell had protected betri in Normandy and during the retreat there were some things which the commander of two SS panacor did not want his Superior to know petrick’s campaign books may

Have been GTA’s fa and Plato’s Republic but his favorite diversion was less elevated he had a little dancer in Berlin dark fur who had been his chief of staff had always covered up for him when Modell demanded to know where he was bitri had now made harzer take over command of the

9th SS pan division while its Commander SS brigar Furler remained in hospital recovering from wounds received in Normandy arml who commanded the 10th SS fburg was slightly jealous of the preference pitri showed for harzer especially after all he harl had been doing to reanimate his own division during the chaotic retreat the fburg

Could come across an abandoned German train loaded with field guns arml had ordered his men to seize them and take them with them and as soon as they reached the Netherlands he had started an intense training program also with emphasis on physical fitness he had even established a fburg slogan Ka Uber

Aen which meant that every Soldier had to be as agile as a boy under 18 as soon as Modell had departed petrick observed that since reinforcements and replacement Vehicles were allocated by the vaff SS fur headquarters near Berlin everything would be achieved more rapidly if one of

Them went in person he decided to send harl who was more senior in rank as that would count for something harl should go in 2 days time on the 16th of September they would not mention anything to Modell after harl had left to return to his division hser told berrick that as a

Precaution he was planning to hold on to all followed the horn staff and reconnaissance battalion’s Vehicles until the very last moment by removing their tracks and dismounting the guns this would qualify them as unsurfaced I haven’t heard a thing petrick replied quietly G alfeld Marshall Modell held his first

Conference at the telberg the next evening with SS uberr F router and general Lan F fish the whole hotel had been searched in the greatest detail to make sure that no microphones or explosives had been hidden and yet Russian Hees former prisoners of War forcefully recruited as meia labor were

Peeling potatoes in the kitchen they were no doubt carefully watched by members of Modell’s defense Detachment of 250 Fel andary the happiest people of the TBE appeared to be Modell’s staff officers they felt that they could at last settle down for a bit in one place Lan Gustaf

Yelha Houser wrote in his diary that OST looked like a paradise everything was so clean and pretty there was also the chance after the last few weeks of constant movement of having their laundry done they were told it would be ready on the 19th of September in 4 days time officers on the

Staff also decided to organize a party that evening to celebrate the promotions from Normandy which had eventually been confirmed unlike some members of his staff Modell had not started to relax in the deceptive calm of OST each day we await the enemy’s major offensive orer lutant F reader wrote in

His diary on the 15th of September Modell’s immediate Superior G Al Fel Marshall Von runet whom Hitler had brought back as commander-in-chief West sent a warning that day to General Orest udel at fura headquarters the situation facing Army group be has further worsen in the last week it is fighting on a

Front around 400 km long with a battle strength of some 12 divisions and at the moment 84 serviceable tanks assault guns and light tank destroyers against a fully mobile enemy with at least 20 divisions and approximately 1,700 serviceable tanks he then went on to ask whether it would be possible to transfer

Individual P divisions or at least more assault gun brigades from the Eastern front to the West both Mell and rad had their eye on the Counterattack to be launched that day against the near Pelt Bridge head across the M Shelt canal the com group of valter with its command

Post at vinard just to the north came under Geral student’s first falum Army yet valter lacked staff officers signals personnel and even Supply Personnel the German command was as bad as Can Be Imagined obers lutant fond he of the six fala regiment remarked I just thought it ridiculous that the main road

Up which the enemy was clearly going to charge should be the boundary between his regiment and the two two battalions of paner grenadiers from the 10th SS rburg he warned valter’s senior operations officer that nobody was directly responsible for the defense of the road but it did little

Good once again the German attack which had no artillery support was rapidly broken up by the accuracy of British gunary in that flat Countryside heida believed in blasting church towers with anti-tank guns to deal with forward observation officers as soon as hea arrived at his command post the British

Batteries put down a rapid barrage on the house lighten and volz described the scene as the shells landed with an elegant leap heida disappeared through the ground floor window I with splinters flying around covered in plaster and dust got further under the table the insanely jangling telephone slowly got

On my nerves I could not reach the receiver which In This Storm of buzzing splinters would have meant suicide during a short fire pause mayor Shak on the staff of first parachute fiam Army explained he was not used to be made to wait on the telephone without at least some information on the

Immediate situation as military protocol demanded ier was Furious his regiment’s losses were considerable and an angry full reader wrote in his diary that evening some of the barely trained recruits once their officers are out of action lose their heads and run into the tank fire the only good thing is that

Their relatives in Germany have no idea of the pointless irresponsible way that their boys are being sacrificed here student’s headquarters ordered more attacks but orer valter did not want to lose more men to no purpose he simply launched token faints German soldiers in the west were often terrorized by Allied air power

Which dwarfed anything they had seen in the East the fireworks at the front remarked a soldier in a rear area security Battalion are not as dangerous as the the low-level strafing attacks in England the final touches were being put to the air plan which in 2 days time

Would unleash the first lift to, 1500 Transport Aircraft and 500 gliders to say nothing of the hundreds of bombers fighter bombers and Fighters whose mission was to destroy airfields barracks and Flack positions in advance in the early hours of the 17th of September 200 lancasters from pommer command and 23 mosquitoes would attack

The German airfields at larden stain hater hopston and salbon dropping 890 tons of bombs soon after Dawn another 85 lancasters and 15 mosquitoes escorted by 53 Spitfires would attack the coastal defense flag batteries of Ulin with 535 tons of bombs as a comparison the heaviest lofer raid on London during the

Battle of Britain dropped only 350 tons flying fortresses of the US 8 Air Force would bomb an Hoven Airfield while the main Force escorted by 161 P-51 Mustangs would attack 117 flag positions Along The Troop Carrier routes and around the dropping and Landing zones while Bron’s first Allied Airborne Army exuded

Confidence in its plans a number of officers in the Airborne divisions became increasingly uneasy as various details emerged the Americans had allocated Only One Pilot per glider which meant that if he were killed or wounded one of the soldiers would have to take over having never flown a glider

Before gliders bringing in senior officers were however allowed two pilots although horrified by the plan of the British first Airborne at arnam Brigadier General Jim Gavin of the 82nd Airborne never challenged General Browning’s argument that The grosbig High Ground was a far greater importance to the success of this and subsequent

Operations than the Nan Bridges Browning had emphasized to Gavin that German counterattacks would come from the rishal just over the border to the southeast of Nan if the Germans managed to secure The High Ground then they could shell some of the bridges and the road of which 30 core and its

Supplies would be advancing yet Gavin still felt it was strange not to go straight for the main objective the great Nan Road Bridge which was presumably prepared for demolition in any case Gavin had not forgotten how in Sicily his fight 105th parachute Infantry Regiment had found itself up

Against the Herman giring paner division this time he intended to bring in his own gler born artillery as soon as possible Major General Ard also had good reasons to be apprehensive his command Caravan was parked under a large Elm facing the Fairway of the golf course at

Moore Park so on Friday the 15th of September he took a little time off to play a few holes he looked up to see his chief of staff waiting to speak to him Colonel McKenzie looked grave they had just heard that the number of gliders had been reduced ER could thought hard

And then said that whatever they had to cut it must not be the anti-tank guns especially the 17 Pounders erit was in a difficult position officers at all levels were reluctant to criticize the plan passed down to them since it might suggest they were faint-hearted he clearly did not

Think that operation Market was going to be plain sailing otherwise he would not have laid emphasis on keeping their anti-tank guns at the same time he had to conceal his fears from all those under his command there is no hint in any of ot’s reports or in his book

Written after the war that he opposed the plan He was ordered to carry out but then he was not a man to seek controversy and he certainly would not have wanted to contradict the subsequent version of events that the Battle of arnam had been a heroic worthwhile gamble yet according to General

Browning’s Aid Captain Eddie Newbury on the 15th of September her could appeared in Browning’s office on the second floor at Moore Park and stroe over to his desk sir he said you’ve ordered me to plan this operation and I done it and now I

Wish to inform you that I think it is a suicide operation he apparently then turned and walked out of Browning’s office chapter 7 Eve of battle Saturday the 16th of September leopoldsburg was a rather dismal Garrison Town Southwest of the near Pelt Bridge head on the morning of Saturday

The 16th of September its streets became crowded with cheps bringing unit and formation commanders of 30 core to the cinema opposite the railway station where Lieutenant General Brian horo was going to brief them redca military police with white gauntlets tried to direct the traffic but many senior officers ignored their instructions and

Simply parked where they liked the lobby of the cinema buzzed as more than 100 Colonels praders and major Generals in a variety of colored berries and Cary forage caps chattered away catching up with friends after showing their identity cards to more military policemen they filed into the cinema and took their

Places at 11:15 hours horo made his entrance keeping to the E Army’s insucient attitude to uniform since the Desert War he wore a polar neck Jersey under a battle dress blouse and a camouflage pattern Airborne smok a popular commander of great charm horox was greeted with cheers on all sides as

He made his way down the central aisle to the stage where a huge map of the southwestern Netherlands awaited him the excited hubhub finally quietened as horo turned to face them this next operation he declared will give you enough to bore your grandchildren for the rest of your

Lives the release of tension produced a roar of laughter he then proceeded in the standard format to outline the current situation enemy strength and own troops before coming on to the object of operation Garden he described the Airborne carpet stretching ahead of 30 core from a Hoven to Aram the guards Armored Division

Supported by 14 regiments of artillery and squadrons of Rocket firing typhoons would break the German line to their North then they would follow the single Road what horo called the club route but which the Americans would soon dub hell’s Highway over 103 km to arnam there were seven major water

Obstacles to cross but the 43rd division right behind the guards would be equipped with boats and bridging equipment in case of German demolitions there would be 20,000 vehicles on the road and the strictest traffic controls would be enforced the Low poer Land on either side of the banktop road meant

That only infantry could deploy out to the flanks because it was too soggy for heavy armored vehicles after arnam their ultimate objective was the Asel also known as the zida to cut off the remnants of the German 15th Army to the west and then attack the RAR and its Industries to the

East as the ambitious scope of the operation became clear reactions differed between those who were inspired by its daring and those who feared the consequences of such rashness had bouncing on a one-tank front horo spoke for an hour hardly ever referring to his notes Colonel Renfro the 101st Airborne liazon officer with

30 core was impressed with his enthusiasm and his confidence in the operation but he remained deeply skeptical of the idea that the guards Armored Division would be in an Hoven in 2 to three hours and in arnam in 60 several Dutch officers present from The Princess Arena Brigade did not think

Much of horo is joke that the operation should be called gold rush because the Netherlands were such a rich country more to the point they felt that the British were taking far too much for granted first we’ll take this bridge then that one hop this River and so

On the terrain and its difficulties were well known to them as this very route constituted one of the key questions in their staff College exams any candidate who planned to advance from Ney straight up the main road to Anam was failed on the spot and this was exactly what the

British were planning to do unfortunately the British planners had failed to consult them their Brigade major who was also present reminded the Brigade Commander Colonel director F steing of the Napoleonic Maxim never fight unless you’re at least 75% certain of success the other 25% you can leave to chance oro’s plan they agreed

Appeared to reverse the proportions orox with his prematurely white hair and beguiling smile made some people think he looked more like a bishop than a general he never revealed how much pain he was in a lot of the time this did not come from the severe stomach wound he had received in the

First world war but from a German fighter strafing run in Italy the year before one bullet went through his leg while another punctured his lungs and hit his spine on exit he was extraordinarily lucky not to have died or been paralyzed surgery followed surgery and the General Medical opinion

Was that he would never return to active service but montory who had a very soft spot for joro as he called him had summoned him back in August to take over command of 30 core this was premature horo still suffered from severe bouts of sickness which with high temperature and

Intense pain could last for up to a week his most recent collapse had taken place just as his divisions were about to cross the same Montgomery who had guessed what was happening turned up unannounced at his command post and reassured him that he would not send him

Home he moved horo his Caravan to his own tactical headquarters where he would bring in the Army’s top Medical Specialists to care for him it is impossible to assess how much H’s judgment might have been affected by these attacks that Autumn all one can say is that in December during the Great

German offensive in the Arden he came up with such a mad idea he wanted to let the Germans cross the mys and then defeat them on the field of watero that even Montgomery insisted on sending him back to England on sick leave in any case horus’s plan for

Operation Garden was the obvious one given the orders he had received from Montgomery and Dempsey he has however been criticized for choosing the guards Armored Division to lead the charge North rather than Roberts’s 11th Armored Division horo said later that he chose them for the breakout because I was sure

They could do it no matter what the cost they had the better infantry with officers prepared to give their lives without quarm more question the guards armor division had been set up in England in June 1941 to make up for the shortage of tank formations in the event of a German

Invasion when Hitler attacked the Soviet Union later that month a German Cross chinal assault became an even more unlikely event but the transformation went ahead anyway because the foot guards had so many spare battalions the guards benefiting from their close relationship with the royal family had long wielded enormous influence and to a

Large degree were a law unto themselves even their recruiting system remained independent and as a result the so-called Brigade of guards was able to expand to a total of 26 battalions but it struck many people as strange that an organization which deliberately selected tall men for their parade ground presence should then force

Them into the restricted space of a tank perhaps a rather more pertinent Paradox however was their excessive respect for the chain of command which led to a suppression of initiative that vital element in fast moving armored Warfare Professor Sir Michael Howard a cold streamer himself always felt that

Setting up the guards armor division had been a big mistake guards regiments he argued were very good on defense but never very good at offensive operations they were taught to die but never taught to kill we lacked the Killer Instinct in his view only the Irish girls had it so horox or Major

General Alan Adair the divisional Commander at least picked the right regiment to lead the attack Lieutenant Colonel veler who commanded the third motorized Battalion of the Irish guards was a tall solid red-faced figure of good fighting stock his ancestors had fought in many battles including watero it his reaction on

Hearing from horx that the Irish guards were to lead the attack North was oh Christ that evening Brigadier Norman gkin briefed the officers of the Irish guards group at his fifth Brigade command post orders were issued for a breakout from the bridge head on the following day and an advaned North to

The side of Z vandalur canot have been surprised to hear a half moan go up when his officers heard that they were to be the spearhead once again they felt they had deserved a break after seizing Joe’s Bridge we have 48 hours to reach the first Airborne ad Aram gkin announced

Several shook their heads in disbelief they knew how much tougher German resistance had become in the last 10 days and the aelir was more than 145 km away back in England briefings that day prompted a variety of reactions ranging from overconfidence to to outright skepticism most paratroopers were told

That Market Garden would bring the war to a speedy end some officers even said that they should be home by Christmas if all went well Browning suggested at his final briefing at Mo Park that the strike North would cut off so many German troops that the Shar would bring

About a surrender within a matter of weeks almost everyone was relieved to hear that the operation was going to take place in daylight Normandy veterans could not forget the chaos of the night drop there with sticks of paratroopers scattered all over the Konan Peninsula a platoon commander in the 82nd Airborne

Described their briefing with officers from Troop Carrier command once Colonel Frank KBS of the Air Force had finished speaking Lieutenant Colonel luig G Mendes a battalion commander of the 8th parachute Infantry Regiment stood up and looked around slowly after a heavy silence he addressed the pilots gentleman my

Officers know this map by heart and we are ready to go when I brought my Battalion to the briefing prior to Normandy I had the finest combat ready force of its size that will ever be known Gentlemen by the time I gathered them together in Normandy half of them were

Gone apparently tears were rolling down his cheeks by this point I charge you all put us down in Holland or put us down in hell but put us all down in one place or I will Hound you to your Graves he then turned and walked out a few paratroopers were slightly

Dismayed by the code name operation Market Garden which made it sound like we were going to be picking apples or tiptoeing Through the Tulips we thought it should have been called something a little more rugged sounding Veterans of Normandy tended to dismiss the encouraging intelligence reports on enemy strengths the usual old

Men too weak to pull the trigger and Ula Battalion stories but they also preferred to believe that the planners would not send them into a disaster we were damn sure General Bon wasn’t going to let his brand new Allied Airborne Army get the hell kicked out of

It the captain in the 82nd Airborne recorded several American Airborne briefings revealed reservations about their British Ally Colonel Ruben H Tucker of the 504th announced to his officers I’m supposed to tell you and I’ll quote we will have the world’s greatest concentration of armor with us on this

Operation then to Great laughter he muttered one BR gun carrier might turn up the 504th parachute Infantry Regiment under Colonel Tucker had dropped in Sicily then was held back in Italy to fight in the appenines as infantry and even took part in The anzio Landings as a result of the hardships it had

Undergone the regiment was spared the D-Day operation with the 82nd Airborne for some reason this seems to have contributed to some bad blood between Tucker and Jim Gavin the 82nd airborne’s divisional Commander but it did not last for the polls the point of the war was to close with the Enemy and kill

Germans and now the moment had come everyone is serious aware that we are going wrote a Polish parat trupa to a cleen eye the men’s faces speak of longing for vengeance and even fear a wholly natural feeling for we are not going to exercise but to face the enemy

Eye to eye in of everything there is a spirit of Joy when he wrote in spite of everything he referred of course to the Warsaw Uprising where they all longed to be fighting alongside the home Army as they were shown maps and aerial pictures of their objective in the Netherlands

Stanley nitzki visualized with his eyes closed the batovi bridge the column of zigmont the King’s Castle and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier he wondered are they still fighting in warsa on those famous streets of Novis fat and TKA is the Holy Cross church still there where

I used to serve as an alter boy every other Sunday British briefings usually took place around sand models Sergeant Robert Jones of Frost’s second Battalion that worked for hours from Air reconnaissance photographs to create a 7 m Square reproduction of the road bridge at arnam and its approaches this was on the floor

Of the library at Stoke rashford Hall a Victorian country Country House near gram in the East Midlands some thought that the briefing sounded uncomfortably like the one less than 2 weeks earlier for operation Comet although this time there were the two American Airborne divisions to Beef It

Up they assumed that Market Garden would also be cancelled at the last moment and once again they would be stood down as soon as they were loaded and ready to take off the more experienced paratroopers in the first parachute Brigade who had seen service in North Africa and Sicily were unconvinced by

Assurances the German resistance would be light but they said nothing one officer in the first Battalion claimed that he and several others objected strongly to the dropping zone so far from the bridge and volunteered on mass to jump on or a bit to the south of the objective this request and the reason

For it was passed on to higher command and refused because the vicinity of dalan Airfield to the North and the wetness of the poers to the South might cause unacceptable casualties as it proved the safe D said cost us infinitely more casualties whatever the concerns officers still held about the plan they

Knew they had to get on with it and set a good example in the British army that usually meant falling back on the old jokes in the Airborne when drawing parachutes it also meant the storman saying bring it back if it doesn’t work and we’ll exchange

It in the Netherlands the Dutch tried to stick with their weekend routine but fear and expectation dominated everything Martin Lou Denham the director of the great dein concert hall in Nan wrote in his diary that the whole city felt very tense something was going to happen in

OST next to Anam the young hria fist smuggled some breakfast out to her brother who was in hiding their father owned the hotel sha which had been taken over by the Germans they left a terrible mess and picked all the flowers they could find to decorate their rooms

German soldiers still tried to believe that they would win the war one of them said to her you just wait until the new weapons arrive SS obr fur issued orders that morning forbidding the Civil population to Halt on on near bridges any sort of Bridge Approach and underpasses at any

German command post or establishment yet general f Marshall from win’s headquarters at that moment was far more preoccupied with the American American first Army Advance on the city of Aken he was ordering in the 12th Infantry Division and the 116th paner division as well as the 107th P Brig and the 280th

Assault gun Brigade from Denmark it was a momentous day in the wul Shaner in East Prussia Hitler who had recently risen from his sick bed after an attack of jaundice astonished the assembled generals after the morning situation conference he cut General Ober yodel short to announce his determin

Ation to launch a major Counterattack from the Arden with an as its objective he had dreamed this up in his drug fueled fantasy during the illness their surprise was even greater when he talked of an offensive with more than 30 divisions at a time when they did not

Have enough to defend akan yudel tried to bring in an air of reality when he pointed to Allied air superiority and the fact that they expected parachute Landings any day in Denmark Holland or even Northern Germany it attention was brought brought back to the imminent threat to akan but he had no intention

Of abandoning his new idea that evening a fural order was transmitted the battle in the west has spread in wide sectors to the German Homeland German towns and Villages are becoming battle zones these facts must make our war leadership fanatical and with every man able to

Carry a gun the fight must be escalated with the hardest of Hearts every bunker each housing Block in a German Town each German Village must become a Fortress so that the enemy is either bled to death or its Garrison is buried within it in mantoan combat a scorched Earth policy had

Already been declared for the Netherlands and the besieged channel ports the chief of staff of the 15th Army reported that in aend Harbor 18 ships have been sunk discussions continued about destroying the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam gal fangan meanwhile continued to bring back troops and field guns at

Night across Ross the Shel Esty SS Bri furl of the thunburg left that afternoon by car for Berlin to discuss the re-equipment of bitri panacor but because of the state of the roads with many crated by bombing he did not reach Berlin until the middle of the following morning for Harel the timing

Could not have been worse unlike harl in Berlin SS struman fura zcraft was going to be right on the spot when The Landings took place west of Aram the next day CL who was 37 years old had been an officer of the security police on the Eastern front and had transferred to the

Vafan SS only the year before a tall man with dark blue eyes he was very ambitious even though he commanded nothing more than the 16th SS puner Grenadier training and Reserve Battalion he may not have seen himself as a man of Destiny before the Airborne Landings but

There can be little doubt that he did soon afterwards he was also slightly paranoid claiming later that OB gr bitri regarded me as a police spy for himler after the battle of Anam was over craft seems to have believed that bitri should have recommended him for the

Night’s Cross of the Iron Cross and was angry not to have received it bitri with a certain Ur insisted I simply cannot remember the man at all draft’s Battalion of three companies was spread between arnam and the area of IG the Thousand recruits he had been promised for training had not yet

Arrived he had been there for only a few days when a major on the staff arrived to say that he must leave because Geral felt Marshall Mel’s headquarters was moving to ig as a result craft positioned part of his Force out in the woods just to the northeast of the Town one Detachment

Close to wazer was almost on the edge of the landing and Drop Zones chosen for the first Airborne Division on the evening of the 16th of September craft was on his way into arnam when he encountered General valta grabman a veteran of the Condor Legion the lraa force in the Spanish Civil War

Supporting General Franco grabman now commanded the lraa third fighter division at dalan he invited craft to dinner to see his new command bunker during dinner grabman remarked that he felt on edge the weather remained clear and yet Allied air activity had virtually ceased the English cannot

Afford to let one single day go by now more than ever before in his view this suggested that they might be preparing something big perhaps even an Airborne operation he had been to Modell’s headquarters and expressed his fears to the chief of staff Guin Al L and Hans

Krebs but Krebs had laughed at the suggestion and said that he would make himself look ridiculous if he repeated such things graft decided to post a lookout in the tower of the grandios Villa he occupied the Vault feda that Saturday night crafts men were celebrating their luck at being quarted

In such Pleasant surroundings life there was as if in the lap of Peace observed SS storman bangard each man had received a bottle of Dana gold Vasa lure someone played an accordion they sang favorite songs and many of them did not go to bed until 3:00 in the

Morning the same evening in England paratroopers in the 82nd Airborne listened to a band playing some troopers were dancing on their own and others clapped their hands in time to the music Dwayne T Burns recorded some were playing ball While others lay on their CS dead to the world and oblivious to

Worry or to noise it was going to be a day jump and we knew this had to be better than the night drop into Normandy the hard court of compulsive gamblers played on others sharpened their jump knives made jokes about the crowd suffering from lead poisoning or discussed their weapons a passionate and

Deeply personal subject some paratroopers even had a pet name for their rifle or Thompson submachine gun in many cases they adapted their tommy guns by removing the butd or made other illegal modifications quite a few however hated the weapon with a passion we were disenchanted with that gun said staff

Sergeant Neil Bole when mine jammed on me I wouldn’t carry one again Lieutenant Ed wowski a platoon commander and the 101st Airborne had a troubling conversation that night his Sergeant approached him between the pyramidal tents in the marshalling area where they had been locked down Lieutenant I’ve got

A feeling I’m not coming back from this one Staff Sergeant John J White said to him Weir barski tried to snap him out of it with a joke but to no avail the sergeant was calm while his eyes revealed that he remained totally convinced of his

Fate he then parted with a smile and said see you in the morning lieutenant wbski found it very hard to sleep the look in White’s eyes stayed with him chapter 8 airborne Invasion Sunday morning the 17th of September soon after first light on what

Was to be a very busy day a total of 84 mosquito fighter bombers as well as Boston and Mitchell medium bombers of the second Tactical Air Force took off to attack German Barracks at Nan C Aram and Eda this followed the raids on Lua airfields during the night by bomber

Command and the us8 Air Force at the same time another 872 B17 flying fortresses loaded with fragmentation bombs were heading out in groups to smash identified Flack and Troop positions in the Netherlands they were escorted by 147 P-51 Mustangs flying flank and top cover the escorts had little to do lvfa

Reaction was hesitant was the verdict that day only 15 F of wolf 190s were seen and seven were shot down for the loss of one US fighter while the Allied aircraft were on the way to their targets American and British paratroopers queued for breakfast the Americans had hot cakes

And syrup fried chicken with all the trimmings and apple pie British paratroopers John Frost second Battalion piled their mess tins with smoked hadock quite a lot of which ended up on the floor of the aircraft a sergeant remarked Frost himself had eggs and bacon he was in a good mood having been

Dismayed by operation Comet he thought that this time the arrangements at least seemed much better Frost who had led the highly successful brunal raid in February 1942 seizing a German radar set in northern France had also known disasters in Tunisia and Sicily he did not expect the coming battle to be easy

But he still ordered his Batman Wix to pack his dinner jacket go Globs and shotgun ready to come over with the staff car later he then checked his own equipment including a 48-hour Russian pack his Colt 45 automatic and the hunting horn with which he rallied the

Battalion frost a religious man of firm convictions was admired by his men there’s old Johnny Frost they would say a Bible in one hand and a 45 in the other by the time the three divisions deployed to their respective airfields eight for the British and 17 for the

Americans the sun was starting to burn through the Morning Mist to make a beautiful Early Autumn day alog together a total of 1,544 Transport Aircraft and 478 gliders stood ready for the first lift of more than 20,000 troops the runways provided an impressive sight with each each tug

Aircraft and glider lined up perfectly for takeoff The Troop Carrier command c47 dtas were also carefully aligned ready to become airborne at 22nd intervals General boy Browning was at Swindon Airfield in excellent Spirits he was finally taking an Airborne core to war his glider which was to be flown by

Colonel George ChatOn who commanded the glider pilot regiment would carry the General’s Entourage including his Batman cook and doctor as well as his tent Jeep and Luggage according to his biographer Browning had also packed three teddy bears the fact that he had appropriated no fewer than 38 liers for his core

Headquarters in the first lift especially when the first airborne’s allocation had been cut back struck a number of people as an act of pure vanity the three divisions would be operating independently of each other so there would be very little a core headquarters could usefully do above all on the vital first day

At the Airfield uret suddenly realized that he had not clarified which of the Brigade commanders should take over if he became homba so he drew his chief of staff aside and said look Charles if anything happens to me the succession is to be lury higs hackit in that order all right

Sir McKenzie replied not imagining that it would ever come to that they would both regret later that uret had not made it clear in advance to the brigadiers concerned as the first Airborne lined up for tea and sandwiches before boarding some paratroopers seemed to display an ostentatious optimism a sergeant had

Brought a deflated football ready for a game once they had captured the bridge another Soldier when asked why he had a dart board with him replied that a game of darts always helped to pass away dull evenings and a captain with the first parachute Brigade headquarters insisted

On taking a bottle of Sherry to celebrate the The Taking of the bridge those going by glider competed in the ried messages they chalked up on the fuselage of camouflage canvas General lurer noted an up with the frine skirts scrolled on a horer Gallows humor abounded the chaps are just the same ad

Lier pilot recorded in his diary one fellow is taking bets as to how many of us will get the chop I wonder if he will come back to collect his dirts or maybe pay out American optimism appeared to consist mostly of fantasies about yet another foreign country a young

Lieutenant remembered wondering what all those blonde girls really look like with wooden shoes on their feet and windmills in their eyes a number of paratroopers had heard that the Netherlands was the country of diamonds and they dreamed of returning home with enough loot to set themselves up in

Style on the other hand the possibility of imminent death revived religious thoughts Catholics especially took the opportunity of spiritual consolation the American Airborne divisions included a rich ethnic mix from Catholic cultures including men of Spanish German polish Irish and Italian descent as there was no time for individual conversion father Samson of

The 101st Airborne gave a general Absolution to the group of bareheaded men kneeling at the edge of the Airfield the gold and white vestments of the Catholic priest looked in congruous against the olive drab around wrote an onlooker far from feeling optimistic a few young paratroopers were in a state

Of mortal dread the day before two had gone absent without leave after the briefing then just before the 101st climbed onto trucks to be taken to the Airfield another had shot himself through the foot with his M1 rifle next to the runway yet another one had

Slipped behind the c47 where he did the same some men went awall and quite a few Parish Utes accidentally on purpose came out of their packets in the aircraft Brigadier General moli acknowledged later a parachut spilled in that way meant that the man could not jump but if

It was deliberate then he faced a court marshal for cardice many were afraid of losing their nerve in the aircraft at the last moment and refusing to jump paratroopers were so heavily loaded that they could hardly move and needed to be pushed or pulled up the steps into

The aircraft they had helmets covered with camouflage net and strapped under the chin webbing equipment mused bags with personal items such as shaving kit and cigarettes three days of K rations extra ammunition in biged cloth banders hand grenades and a gam grenade of plastic explosive for use against tanks

Their own M1 rifle or Thompson submachine gun as well as mortar rounds machine gun belts or an anti-tank mine for General use and of course every man carried his parachute behind bazooka men Mort men machine Gunners and signalers shouldered all or part of their own weapon or radio on average each man

Carried the equivalent of his own weight since few of them could reach their cigarettes a sergeant moved down the aisle of the aircraft handing them out and lighting them before boarding his plane Brigadier General Jim Gavin was talking to his attached Dutch officer Captain Ari best Brer who revealed that he had never

Jumped from the door of a c47 he had only dropped threw a hold in the floor from British aircraft so Gavin gave him a lesson on the spot just step out like stepping out of a bus he said best berer who at 6’3 was taller than Gavin wore a

Commando Green Berry and British battle dress with a shoulder patch showing an orange lion and nands written underneath he was a member of a jedar team one of which was attached to each Airborne Division and another to core headquarters these teams formed by the British Special Operation executive in

Cooperation with the American office of strategic Services trained small multinational groups to parachute in to join up with the local resistance and create Mayhem behind German lines their main task in the Netherlands was to liaz with the underground and organize their activities in support of the Allied

Forces the first aircraft to take off Carriage each division’s Pathfinders they would land on their drop and Landing zones fight off any Germans set up Eureka homing beacons to guide in the waves of troop carriers and set off colored smoke grenades on their approach 12 RAF Sterlings from fairford

In lerer took the 21st independent parachute company to Mark the first Airborne drop and Landing zones at least 20 of its members were German and Austrian Jews who were transferred from the Pioneer Corp in case of capture their dog tags and identity papers carried Scottish or English names

Usually with church of England marked under religion so that they could not be identified as Jews they would fight ferociously taunting the enemy in his own language next to leave with the tug planes and their 320 gliders carrying the first air Landing Brigade divisional headquarters and the field

Ambulances as well as troops supplies and ammunition the horseed lighters carried Jeeps trailers motorcycles and six- pounder anti-tank guns while the larger haml cars took Bren carriers and the 17 Pounders the tug plane Advanced slowly until the tow rope tightened and then finally the glider began to move down

The runway the glider pilot would shout back over his shoulder hook your safety belts the toll line is fastened they’re taking up the slack hold on then with a Lurch a second Lieutenant recounted the tail comes up the nose goes down the plywood creeks and we are barreling down the runway long before

The top plane leaves the ground the speed sends the flimsy glider skywards finally it was the turn of the c47 troop carriers with a deafening roar their engin suddenly speeded up the propeller blast flattening the grass beside the runway then the heavily Laden aircraft accelerated away inside the

Strutted metal Cave of the fuselage the paratroopers sat wedged in their aluminium bucket seats facing each other across the narrow aisle mostly avoiding ey contact until they reached cruising height in Belgium General horox asked Colonel Renfro the leaz an officer of the 101st Airborne to brief him again on

The Airborne plan how many days rations will they jump with he asked how long can they hold out these questions slightly surprised Renfro after horx had declared at the briefing that the guards Armored Division would be in a Hoven in a few hours horo and his chief of staff

Brigadier Harold Pon then asked Renfro what he thought of their plan it’s all right he replied without any warmth horo aware of his hesitation laughed Renfro could not tell whether this was a nervous laugh or Bluff while they were speaking the core and divisional artillery near the canal

Carried on with their preparations to support the guards armored Attack One heavy three medium and 10 field artillery regiments were ready in their gun lines to provide a rolling barrage which would Advance at 200 yd a minute they had been ordered to avoid cratering the road ahead at all costs fortunately

The road was quite straight the massive Convoy Vehicles which would follow the guards armor division was being sorted out in the rear by movement officers and military police the bombers and fighter bombers attacked flag positions in aan and Aram just before 10:30 electricity for the whole area was cut off almost

Immediately because the pgem generating plant on the banks of the V had been hit the wise began filling baths and pales immediately in case the pumps would not come back on those who had binoculars or old telescopes climbed onto roofs and tried to watch the action they had to be

Quick mosquito phyto bombers screamed in at low level over arnam to attack the main Barracks the vills Cena but they also hit the restaurant Royale opposite an antiquarian book seller nearby I saw Germans tumbling from the Blasted Rubble of the villms barracks with blood pouring from their noses and ears from the

Concussion by mistake Alli bombers hit an old people’s home the St Catarina gastos next to a German Warehouse which the verar had in fact abandoned a number of residents were buried under the rubble strafing Fighters came in low Sister Christine veg saw German soldiers ducking around tree trunks to avoid

Their machine gun fire the Dutch used to joke that the safest place to go in an air raid was the railway station as the RAF never managed to hit it but in parts of arnam there was little cause for laughter a large number of houses around the barracks

Caught fire and nothing could be done to help fire engines are unable to work as Germans are shooting at them an anonymous diarist recorded in this first example of revenge against the Dutch for supporting the Allied attack even though some 200 civilian were killed in the raid the raf’s key targets were the

Anti-aircraft batteries around the arnam road bridge yet Mel’s headquarters instinctively assumed that the Air Raids on flag positions near arnam were believed to be made in an effort to destroy the bridge ton heing a young Keeper at the Aram zoo was on his way home on that Sunday morning when the

Allied bombing raid started German soldiers were lying dead and wounded in front of a cafe in the bloom strad then to his surprise a badly burnt rabbit dashed across the road in front of me and disappeared further on he found a Gravely wounded man being helped onto a

Stretcher heing who was strong grabbed one end and they hurried the injured man to the sent Elizabeth Hospital only to find that he had died on the way King like many others stayed at the hospital to help as a Red Cross volunteer west of Aram the town of Eda

Which contained just 180 German soldiers was smashed by Air Attack woler was also heavily hit at 1140 having been targeted at General UT’s request unfortunately one of the bombs scor a direct hit on the artillery ammunition dump under the trees and the massive explosion caused Great damage

And killed a number of people after the voler institute for the blind had been hit the matron organized a well disciplined evacuation to a shelter prepared in the woods but many of the the 1100 mentally infirmed patients at the Nextdoor Institute were traumatized by the bombing the nurses began laying

Out white sheets on the ground in the shape of a huge cross in case more aircraft came to attack Dr Marius fck and other doctors began operating on some 80 wounded and the 81 dead were buried on the following Friday on this Sunday morning both Catholic and Dutch reformed churches

Were not as full as usual as the con gations were made up almost exclusively of women and children the men had dived to avoid being taken hostage or shot in reprisal for the attack on the viaduct explosions made Windows Rattle and the sudden cut in the electricity Supply brought church organs to a

Groaning halt as the Lights Went Out in some Churches the priest blessed the congregation and everyone filed out quickly the Dutch reformed congregation in IG guessed that the attacks signified imminent Liberation spontaneously they burst into the national anthem HFI helmus which dated back to the 16th century revolt against the Spanish

Occupation of the Netherlands in the bva the low-lying land between arnam and Nan people hurried to climb the dkes for a better view of The Columns of smoke rising from both towns in the city of Nan itself people were understandably anxious after the disastrous American bombing of the 22nd

Of February mentioned earlier but soon relaxed when they saw that the main targets for the typhoons and mosquitoes were the Flack batteries by the bridges on the North side and German positions on the hen Comer to the Southwest as soon as the hissing whoosh of the Rockets had died away and the

Aircraft disappeared into the distance people poured out into the streets there was an air of expectancy after all the premature rumors of the Allied advance General Ober student and his first falam Army Headquarters were south of w not far from the notorious concentration camp student was struggling under a mountain of paperwork

In a villa taken over by his staff annoying red tape followed us even here on the battlefield he complained I had opened wide the windows of my room in the late afternoon enemy air activity suddenly became very Lively Columns of fighter planes and formations of small bombers flew over constantly

In the distance one could hear bombs dropping aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft fire he did not regard it as particularly significant at the time in arnam Railway Station paner grenadiers from the 9th P division H Sten continued loading weapons and equipment onto trains to return to Germany where the formation was to be

Rebuilt a certain amount had already been handed over to the 10th SS panor division flurg and although part of the horn stalen had departed over the last 2 days there was still quite a force left in the area it included tank Crews from the 9th SS paner regiment which had no tanks

Two battalions of paner grenadiers an artillery Battalion and the 9th SS paner reconnaissance Battalion next to dalan Airfield an engineer company the divisional escort company and a couple of half tracks with quadruple 20 mm flag guns at 10:30 just as the Bing attack started dard fur harer accompanied by

Two of his officers from the hor d drove to the reconnaissance Battalion space at hundu on the Northern edge of dalan Aerodrome the Battalion of around 500 men commanded by SS St banira Victor Grier was drawn up in an open Square on Parade flanked by several 8-wheeler armored cars and half tracks ARA

Addressed them and then presented Grier with the knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross for his bravery and Leadership ship in Normandy when the ceremony was over harer accompanied Grier and his officers to lunch harer was well aware that Grier reluctant to transfer his vehicles to the 10th SS paner division frur had had

His men remove many of their guns tracks and wheels so that he could declare them not ready for use with the nearest enemy forces at least 90 km to the South there appeared to be no reason why their armored fighting Vehicles needed to be ready to move at short notice

The Irish guards group moved across Joe’s bridge and took up position in the bridge head 1,000 M south of the frontier they could just see the borderpost through their binoculars many had that strange feeling of imminent danger in the pit of the stomach Joe vandela who had been a keen Horseman

Before he severely damaged a leg thought that it felt like the start of a race we were lining up at the start line and the Finish was the Zid 90 Mi away he had been partially reassured by the promise of the Rolling barrage and Rocket firing typhoons swooping down to attack enemy

Gun positions ahead he had a Forward Air controller from the Raf in the next vehicle and a direct radio link to the artillery vandelier wore his usual parachute smok the mix emerald green creat around his throat and a pair of corduroys horo who was hardly in a

Position to criticize liked to tease him on his ards like turnout mounted in a scout car velur took up position behind the second Squadron of Tanks his infantry were riding on the Sherman tanks of the second armored Battalion of the Irish guards commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Giles velir the two cousins were

Closer than Brothers as the c47 troop carriers circled waiting for their formations to assemble a number of men began to suffer from Air sickness a lieutenant in the 82nd was entranced when he looked down from the open door and saw a Convent below with a group of nuns in the

Courtyard staring up at them in amazement others gazed at the tiny Checker box fields of the English Countryside the glider because it was so light always tended to fly higher than the top plane which gave their occupants a chance to see the sky full of other aircraft but their flimsy construction

Made them dangerous to the horror of the crew in One Sterling the wings broke off the fored lighter they were Towing and the fuselage crashed to the ground killing everyone inside in a very different case a soldier in one of the 101st airborne’s WOD gliders over East Anglia was suddenly overtaken by Panic

He jumped up and released the control that connected the glider to the tow ship the glider went down in England he faced a general court Marshal and a long prison sentence a British glider pilot on glancing over his shoulder saw to his disbelief that a group of the king’s own

Scottish borders were Brewing up a mess tin full of tea on the plywood floor he shouted back furious at such recklessness but they just asked if he wanted a cup too another example of obtuseness was demonstrated by a newly arrived second lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne he wore

A white silk scarf which he evidently considered rather dashing he was advised to take it off since anything White made an easy aiming Mark but he did not and received a serious head wound soon after landing the coastline slipped by a th ft below they were now over the North Sea

What American Pilots called Blitz Creek after all the earlier aborted operations someone joked they’re leaving the cancellation a bit late this time looking down at the Shadows of the aircraft on the sea Pilots spotted a couple of horseed liers and a c47 which had crash landed on the water men were

Standing on the wings waiting for the RAF airc rescue tender which was racing towards them one glider stayed AF float for 2 and 1/2 hours and had to be sunk by Naval fire the record established a few days later was that lier remaining afloat for 17 hours from time to time

They spotted the odd warship but the most impressive spectacle was the vast air Armada escorted by squadrons of thunderbolts Mustangs Spitfires and typhoons why how said a paratrooper from Ohio what Cleveland wouldn’t give for this air show during the crossing a parachute regimen private observed of his companions some were Cocky and Confident

Some quiet and thoughtful and some scared and on edge strangely enough the latter were mostly the veterans of the Savage North African fighting they knew what lay ahead another paratrooper remarked we tried to fake a smile at each other occasionally but not much was said on some planes paratroopers usually The

Replacements try to get an Airborne song Going The Universal favorite sum to the tune of John Brown’s Body was gory gory what a hell of a way to die they picked him off the tach like a pot of strawberry jam American paratroopers also sang to a similar tune I ain’t

Going to jump no more no more some slept or at least pretended to by shutting their eyes Lieutenant Colonel Patrick cassid who was in the same aircraft as Major General Maxwell Taylor of the 101st recorded that their divisional Commander slept most of the distance he awakened once to eat a Kay ration then

Dozed off again not surprisingly there was no singing in his aircraft most of the men also slept and there was little conversation Pilots were nervous the Netherlands was known as Flack alley because of the massive enemy aircraft defenses guarding the shortest route for Allied bombers heading to Germany glider

Pilots with so little control over their flimsy craft felt especially vulnerable when Tracer bullets curved lazily up at them the idea of shrapnel coming up from below made many sit on their flat jackets to give added protection to their private parts a few Pilots even brought a

Sandbag to sit on not that it would have done much good they were not allowed parachutes simply because their passengers did not have them the imminence of danger tended to prompt premonitions of death and Superstition a number read different passages in the Bible to find an indication of their likely fate PFC

Beler a bazooka man in the 82nd seemed convinced that he was going to die he asked his teammate Patrick o’hagen to make sure his girlfriend got his ring and Bible he was shot in the air as he descended Oaken recorded on the other hand most of those

Who had predicted their own death and survived rived tended to forget about it afterwards yet there was a certain logic among the veterans of North Africa Sicily and Italy who had started to believe that their ration of luck was running low one staff sergeant described himself as a fugitive from the law of

Averages as they reached the Dutch Coast they also reached the line of anchored barges with Flack batteries mounted on them we could see the tracers wrote chaplain kou with 504th Parish sh Infantry Regiment and knew that between each visible bullet there were many more rounds we saw Troopers jumping out of

One of our wing planes and were shocked to look down and see only water below then we noticed the plane was on fire one paratrooper described the Apparently curving machine gun fire as looking like golf balls of red Tracer much of the land in from the coast had been deliberately flooded by

The Germans breaching the dkes those who had dropped in June on the base of the coton toown peninsula in Normandy were painfully reminded of comrades drowned there in similar circumstances the site of inundated villages with just the roofs of houses a church Spire or the odd tree appearing

Out of this desolation was most depressing only after they were over dry land did paratroopers discard their May wests Captain best Brer the Dutch officer attached to 82 Airborne headquarters was deeply moved as he looked at the familiar flat terrain of the enemy occupied country which he had not seen for 4

Years it was a feeling of warmth for the land he explained later I saw the fields and farmhouses and I could even see a windmill turning I remember distinctly thinking to myself here is my poor old Netherlands and we have come to liberate you taking a more southernly route the

101st Airborne passed over Belgium as an aircraft carrying a stick of the 52nd parachute Infantry Regiment flew low over gent exalting civilians in the street started giving the V for victory salute a cynic remarked to an excited private look they’re giving you two to one we don’t come

Back a BBC correspondent in a scar plane over Belgium cited the air Armada the sky was black with Transport Aircraft flying in perfect formation he recorded they were completely surrounded by typhoons Spitfires Mustangs Thunderbolts and lightning Fighters it was an aerial layer cake as my pilot shouted to me no

Room up here for Jerry some in that Armada had never seen flag before the c47 with Major General Maxwell Taylor on board also carried a US aaf Colonel who would come along as an observer watch that stuff he asked pointing at the black puffs of smoke Colonel the co-pilot replied you can

Rest assured it ain’t fluff paratroopers hated Flack because they felt helpless there is no way to fight back paratroopers wounded by Flack in a plane and unable to jump were pushed to the rear and taken back to England for treatment some officers had their sticks stand up and hook up as

Soon as the flag started so that they were ready to jump if the plane caught fire those in gliders felt even more vulnerable as a group from the 326 Airborne Engineer Battalion crossed the coast Flack shrapnel came through the floor wounding the glider pilot in one

Leg his chest and an arm there was no co-pilot so an Airborne engineer called Melton e Stevens climbed into the empty seat and the pilot was just able to give him some instructions for flying and Landing the glider before he passed out They carried on all the way to their

Lzed and somehow survived the landing even though dirt was piled against the nose of the glider up above the windshield Stevens and his companions were then able to load the wounded pilot onto their handdrawn ammunition cart and carry him off to find a medic British Airborne sappers strapped

In a glider spent most of the flight nervously eyeing the Jeep right in front of them which was loaded with explosive even a near Miss from a flag shell could set off the whole lot the only consolation was that death would be instantaneous there was no alternative

To sweating out the Flack their Only Hope were their escorts as soon as a German flag position open fire Spitfires rocket firing typhoons and Thunderbolt p-47s would roll and dive steeply with all guns blazing the men in one glider suddenly saw a P-51 Mustang come alongside them the pilot waggled his

Wings in greeting then dived on the offending flag position knocked it out then came up again to waggle his wings once more before charging off again the redoutable Colonel Robert sink who commanded the 506th parachute Infantry Regiment was standing by the door of his c47 watching the flag strike

Other aircraft in their formation suddenly his own plane lurched and he saw that part of the wing had been blown off well there goes the wing he said to the rest of the stick evidently the pilot performed Miracles because he got them to the Drop Zone just Northwest of

The bridge at Sun their first objective in several cases the transport carrier pilots displayed self- saac official courage when their plane was on fire by holding her steady to give all the parrot trop was on board a chance to jump Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy watched Flames start to consume a neighboring

Plane the pilot courageously kept it on the level to allow the parat tropers to jump while knowing that he and his crew would crash to their deaths distracted by this drama he failed to see that the green light had come Cassidy General Maxwell Taylor said calmly the green light is on

Yes sir he said and with his eyes still on the Burning Plane he jumped followed by his divisional Commander bizarrely General Taylor later chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kennedy Was Then followed by his bodyguard stiff UND dedia a Princeton graduate of Yugoslav origin who claims

To have shouted Long Live Stalin as he threw himself out inevitably there were one or two paratroopers who panicked according to lieutenant colonel Hank Hannah the operations officer of the 101st a paratroopa on his plane suddenly chickened out and pulling the rip cord of his reserve shoot said see I can’t

Jump now Anna bowled him out and told him he’d have to jump anyway then the plane was hit and the nervous paratrooper was glad to bail out using his emergency parachute another paratrooper purely by accident caught his rip CAU on some projection and his shoot opened in Furious embarrassment he

Had to return with the aircraft to England land as they approached their designated Drop Zones officers searched around trying to find landmarks to orientate themselves Captain best Brer with a Pang of excitement cited the wooded Ridge from Nan to kpek where Gavin and his headquarters were to jump after Colonel

Mendes’s famous Outburst about being dropped in Holland or in hell some officers teased their pilot about how far they had been dropped from their DDS in Normandy lieutenant colonel warar Williams of the 504th had to eat his words their pilot put them down within 200 M of the school which had been

Selected back in England as the regimental command post the broadcaster Edward R marrow on one of the T carrier planes recorded for radio what he saw as it happened by now we’re getting towards the dropping area and I sit looking down the length of the fuselage the crew chief is on his knees

Back in the very rear speaking into his ercom talking with the pilots we see the first flag I think it’s coming from that little village just beside the canal more Trac are coming up now just cutting across in front of our nose they’re just queued up on the door now waiting to

Jump you can probably hear the snap as they check the lashing on the static line do you hear them shout 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 there they go every man out fortunately for maro’s listeners all went according to plan but two

Paratroopas from the 506th died in a terrible way their own aircraft had disgorged the whole stick of paratroopas correctly but then a falling plane whose occupants had already bailed out struck against the them and the prop cut them to Pieces a jump master in the 51st stood

In the door of his plane and waved back to the Dutch jumping up and down in excitement a few hundred feet below some paratroopers were almost surprised to find that the countryside beneath them was exactly what they had expected dkes windmills and lush green grass the senior officer present usually jumped

First with the next most senior acting as pushmaster bringing up the rear and shoving out anyone who hesitated Captain Ferguson in the 82nd stood ready in the open doorway waiting for the green light with the plane throttling down the wind screeching and tingling against my face as I looked

Down and out the plane lurched with the blast from each shell burst so it was a relief when the green light finally came on in their eagerness to get out the Stick of paratroop was wled forward in a line as rapidly as they could without slipping on the vomit and urine slopping

Around on the floor the pilot also had to remember to pull the lever to release the parpa with heavy loads fastened under the plane’s belly one load of anti-tank mines dropped like a stone when its parachute failed to open and caused a huge explosion get ready we’re Cutting Loose

A wakeo glider pilot shouted back as he dropped the Nyland tow rope the glider then banked round and round to reduce speed but it would still hit the ground at 60 MPH with dirt flying up all around as it plowed Across The Landing field let’s go came the cry when they finally

Came to a halt and everyone piled out of the side Landing in a plowed field was fine for the paratroopers as the freshly turned Earth was soft but it could be disastrous for gliders which did not land along the line of the farrows they often ended up on their

Nose the Medics wrote a doctor from the 101st had a busy time trying to extricate the broken and bloody bodies from from the cheab wreckage the worst accident happened when two gliders of the 506th parachute Infantry Regiment collided in midair killing several of those on board and

Leaving the landing Zone a mad crash site of smashed plywood as it was happening a Jeep came flying out making everyone scatter a trooper remembered among the hundreds of gliders in the awkwardest positions wrote an officer in the 82nd one was jammed into a windmill

With his tail jotting into the air at an an angle of about 65° the British first Airborne which had followed the northern route came in over the Orchards and Poland of the B between the river Val and the nidar rain tension mounted as they came close to the Drop

Zone the transparent insincerity of their smiles wrote Colonel Frost and the Furious last minute pulling at their cigarettes reminded me that the flight and the prospect of jumping far behind the enemy’s lines was no small small test for anyone’s nervous system starting from the back the stick

Lined up along the aisle with each man placing his left hand on the shoulder of the man in front the c47 bringing Captain Eric McKai and Men of the first Paris Squadron Royal Engineers was hit on the approach when a shell almost certainly a 20 mm took out the red and

Green lights over the door as a result Mai had to watch from the open door for when the paratroopers in the other aircraft jumped and simply follow SU at lia’s chance of survival was slim if hit by anything larger than a machine gun not far from The Landing Zone the

Crew of a sterling tug plane felt a sudden jolt Flack had taken off the tail of the horsa they were Towing then a wing sheared off and the tow rope broke they heard later from the pilot of a neighboring aircraft that he had seen bodies falling out as the glider

Disintegrated One ligher Pilot recorded their approach over the nidar rain we were were almost at the release point now and the scene below looked exactly as it had appeared on the photographs at briefing the previous day to starboard I could see the main reason for our trip the bridge across the

Rine there was chaos ahead as scores of gliders tried to land at the same time on the heathland northwest of wer there was no air traffic control so the co-pilot if they had one kept looking in all directions watching for other gliders while the pilot focused on Landing

The other problem was cows sergeant Roy Hatch became desperate when a cow kept running ahead madly rather than escaping to the side even once the glider came to AR rest the men were still not safe there was always the chance of another glider out of control crashing into it

Since it was safer in the open and doors often jammed soldiers slashed or smashed their way out of the side of the fuselage General horo climbed an iron ladder and and took up position on the factory Roof near Joe’s Bridge once the formations of troop carriers and gliders

With the 101st Airborne had passed over their heads he passed the order to his signaler that HR would be 1435 hours the 350 guns of the royal artillery behind opened fire at exactly 1,400 hours and under cover of the bombardment the Irish guards battle group moved into their

Final positions on the start line the clock ticked away until HR while the Gunners continued to pound the forward German positions then with the order driver Advance the lead tank commanded by Lieutenant Keith hithot set off for the first few minutes everything seemed to go well but as they passed the

Border post into the Netherlands one tank after another was hit soon nine were blazing bundel called in the RAF it was the first time I had ever seen typhoons in action he recorded later and Jesus I was amazed at the guts of those Pilots they came in one at a time head

To tail and flew right through our own barrage I saw one disintegrate right above me the noise was unimaginable guns firing the screams of planes overhead and the shouts and curses of the men I had to scream into the microphone to be heard in the middle of all this Mayhem

Divisional headquarters radioed to ask how the battle was going my second in command Dennis Fitzgerald just held up the microphone and said listen in the cacophony of explosions and shouting all around one officer found the noise of Wireless mush in his earphones rather comforting just behind vandelier Scout

Car came two RAF vehicles with the Forward Air controllers Squadron leader Max southernland and flight Lieutenant Donald love love saw cows maddened with fear Galloping in circles in the fields on either side as the battle raged at the border poost one of those little striped boxes he also spotted a severed

Head with a headless German body lying several yards away love found to his dismay that some of the typhoon Pilots did not have the right gritted map so when Squadron leader southernland gave them their targets they could do little instead they had to use the tanks burning up

Front as a landmark to show the positions of forward troops the typhoons were coming in so close that southernland wanted to use yellow smoke grenades to mark their own troops but that was dangerous as German Gunners would immediately use them as an Aiming Mark vandelier thought the typhoons were

Attacking his Irish guards by mistake with cannon fire then he admitted his mistake what tank Crews had thought to be rounds striking their turrets turned out to be the cannon shell cases ejected from typhoons flying low overhead lieutenant John quinnon who had abandoned and his blazing Sherman was

Standing by a man who was shot through the heart by a sniper as he fell he very clearly said oh God quinnon reminisced later I’ve often thought in a nice theological speculation whether he spoke before or after death as soon as the Shermans of the second company had been set Ablaze major

Edward Tyler took his tanks down off the road onto the poer which was fortunately dry and swung round to the right non Sergeant Cowan famous for his Eagle Eye spotted a camouflaged self-propelled assault gun and knocked it out with his Firefly 17 pounder the crew Commander

Surrendered to him so Cowen told him to jump up on the back of his tank he then continued his Advance only to find that his prisoner tapped him on the shoulder and pointed out another assault gun which he had not spotted this too was destroyed and this extraordinary combination of EX enemies self

Selfpropelled gun commander and Irish guard Sergeant went on to deal with the third the German spoke reasonable English and was delighted with the Firefly straight shooting his explanation for this bizarre behavior was that he was a professional Soldier and he could not bear to see anyone adopting the wrong tactics as he thought

Cowen had accompanying infantry from the Third Battalion brought back Prisoners the Guardsmen were very rough with snipers whom they forced to trot down the road at the Double while pting them with bayonets one prisoner perhaps out of panic tried to break away and run frankly he was dead the second the

Thought entered his mind everyone seemed to take a shot at him he only got about 15 to 20 yards before he was shot to Pieces as the German prisoners came back with their hands on their heads past the line of vehicles I caught a movement out

Of the corner of my eye velir recorded one of the bastards had taken a grenade he had concealed and lobbed it into one of our gun carriers I saw one of our sergeants lying in the road with his leg blown off the German who was gunned down in an

Instant belonged to the falima regiment Fon Hoffman in k group of alter because of the dirty fighting methods of Hoffman’s men the Irish guards took it for granted that they were to kill as many as possible the wild reconnaissance ride of Lieutenant banan Jardine a few days

Before had revealed that the Germans had forced locals to dig an anti-tank ditch outside vcan vard as a result veler had ordered a bulldozer tank to take position close to the head of the column this was fortunate since it was badly needed to clear the road of the nine

Shot up tanks before those coming up behind could continue after the nasty shock of the Ambush destroying so many of their tanks vandel was concerned at what else lay ahead chapter 9 the German reaction Sunday the 17th of September on that Sunday morning of Early Autumn Sunshine members of Craft’s

16th SS training and replacement Battalion who were not on duty Rose late after their drinking the night before in the distance SS Sturman bangard noted we heard the street car rumbling from osta bake to arnam craft himself was engaged in paperwork in his command post by the

Railway halt o big hook when the mosquitoes flew in to attack arnam and the b7s bombed wolf Hiser he was perplexed there were hardly major military targets a little later when fighter bombers attacked the anti-aircraft batteries in the area he ordered his own 20 mm Flack cruise into

Action what a wonderful sound like the beat of a drum craft infused as soon as he heard them in action it warms our hearts n v general obest student had carried on with his own paperwork I was suddenly startled at my desk he wrote by a rushing sound which became louder and

Louder I stepped out onto the balcony everywhere I looked I saw aircraft troop Transporters and gliders which flew past in loose formation and very low student the old paratrooper warhorse found himself thinking back nostalgically to his own Airborne assaults both the Netherlands in 1940 and cre in 1941

I was deeply impressed by this Mighty spectacle so suddenly presented to me at that moment I didn’t think of the danger to our position but I thought instead filled with reflection and longing of our own earlier operations when his new Chief of Staff obish IG Reinhardt rushed out to join

Him on the balcony student said if only I had had such Mighty means at my disposal the two men then climbed up to the flat roof of the house down below drivers and Clarks from the headquarters had appeared with their rifles and were shooting at the aircraft flying so low

Overhead Geral felt Marshall Modell had stood for a short time outside the hotel tber watching the B7 flying fortresses overhead he assumed that they were heading for Germany later during lunch Ober IG Hans geog Fon templehof was summoned to the telephone and told to look out of the window templehof saw

Paratroopers liers he alerted mudel and Cribs who joined him both men wore monocles which apparently fell out as their eyebrows shot up in astonishment kreb said this will be the decisive battle of the war don’t be so dramatic Mell reproved him it’s obvious enough templehof get to work as operations

Officer templehof dashed back to the telephone to ring all four missions in the area the two SS pacor first of all after after contacting as many as possible Iran General felt Marshall F wet’s headquarters templehof was rather taken a bag by their unperturbed reaction which he described as almost callously

Normal A’s very of the departure from the hotel tle some say it was Panic stricken according to obr fur bitri who was not there Mell ran to his bedroom he cramed his belongings in his suitcase he hastened downstairs St crossed the street and the suitcase burst open all

His toilet articles lay scattered all over the street helped by his men he gathered them up a second time and off he went another said that cribs forgot his cap and Pistol belt and the entire set of operations Maps which show German dispositions along the whole front from the Netherlands to

Switzerland other more convincing versions imply that although hurried they set off in an orderly manner there were of course inconveniences a staff officer who remembered that he had left his cigars in his room at the tber was Furious that some enemy officer would enjoy them instead Mo like liutenant yidel Houser

Regretted the loss of their laundry having departed with no more than the uniform they were wearing all agree on one thing however Modell and his staff were convinced that the Airborne Landings were part of a plan to capture the head of army Group B they assumed

That their presence in OST B must have been betrayed by the Dutch Modell’s Convoy of vehicles drove fast towards Aram they stopped briefly at the headquarters of General mayor kusin the town commandant Modell told him to find out exactly what was happening the Convoy with its Fel sh escort in motorcycle combinations

Carried on first to Modell’s rear headquarters at terborg and then to bit’s headquarters in the castle of slangen BG at duam only a few kilometers away in OST following the rapid departure of army group b headquarters wild scenes took place at the shaut hotel just up the road German officers ran around

Madly throwing their luggage into cars and trucks while German women auxiliaries known as gray mice because of their uniforms were hurrying back to their Billet on the utri of to retrieve their things and escape a Panic Flight of the rear Services located at arnam started a Dr geart recorded passenger cars with

Officers pay masters and female military helpers packed high with suitcases and other baggage trucks with men cyclists soldiers marching in groups or alone all were striving to leave the endangered city as quickly as possible Dutch civilians standing outside their doors and by their Garden Gates were eager to

Find out what was happening since the electricity had failed the wireless was no help Panic appears to have overcome the headquarters of the lufer third fighter division at dalan expecting to be captured by paratroopers their chief operations officer ordered the destruction of their War diary for the

Last 6 months they sent a signal command post attacked by fighter bombers it was impossible to leave their bunkers they claimed with Landings to the west southwest South and Northwest of the divisional command post they received orders from one fighter Corp to blow up their bunker and Retreat to dbor in the

Northern Ru in contrast a hastily assembled force of their ground crew was marched South to block any British paratroopers advancing down the Amsterdam s for crafts Battalion things had seemed to have calmed down again by midday it was Sunday and we therefore got a good meal Vanguard recorded we received a

Wonderful chop per person and had a large plate full of pudding for dessert at 1340 hours according to bangard we heard the cry paratroopers at first they thought it must be a mistake craft himself heard the spine chilling Cry of gliders over the tops of the

Trees to the West he could make our tug aircraft releasing gliders I felt sick to my stomach graft subsequently recounted with Germanic frankness in such matters I unbuckled my belt and went behind the bushes clearly feeling better as a result he pulled up his pants went back

Into his command post and issued the order Battalion prepare to March crafts men while they listened to his instructions loaded extra ammunition and grenades into pouches and pockets in a feverish hurry the last things were packed Vanguard said steel helmet on weapon in hand and Rous graft had now worked out that the

Enemy operation must have the Aram Road Bridge as its principal objective it was too big for a raid on Modell’s headquarters and the bridge was the only strateg iic Target in the area it was up to me to stop them he wrote in his report he decided to establish a

Defensive line extending across the two main roads into Anam from the west and the railway line but I didn’t have enough men to extend to the rine crout’s Battalion comprised 13 officers 73 ncos and 349 men a total of only 435 as far as he knew there were a few

Other military organizations nearby except Army Group B whose assistance we can probably not depend upon it would indeed have been unusual to see officers with the broad burgundy Stripes of the general staff on their Bridges wearing helmets and carrying machine pistols into battle my soldiers were young and raw

But I had good ncos and officers craft recorded although one lant deserted and was later Court Marshal less convincingly since there were no reports of armed Dutch civilians at this stage he also boasted we did have trouble with Dutch terrorists they were suitably dealt with graft claims that he sent a

Motorcycle and sidecar with a runner to the heavy machine gun group and number two company near the hotel wolfer with the order attack immediately send accurate intelligence of enemy positions but British reports do not reflect the impression of an immediate Counterattack craft also claims to have ordered his mortar battery into action

It was equipped with the kitten Vera multiple rocket launcher which made a terrifying noise and therefore would give the impression of far greater Firepower than the Battalion really possessed in fact the fighting did not really start until at least an hour or more later when the first British forces

Moving towards Aram ran into the initial blocking line which he set up west of the Bilderberg Woods Graft in his bombastic way later claimed to have reasoned that although it was often argued that a small Force should not attack a far greater one in this present fight for existence by the

German people there are occasions every day when only a virile offensive Spirit can lead to success his men certainly fought effectively but in defense not in attack as he pretended just after 1500 hours General mayor kusin the town commant for arnam appeared at the hotel veser to say that

He had called General defer christansen the verar commander-in-chief Netherlands reinfor Ms should arrive by dusk craft warned kusin not to return by the otri but kusin who was accompanied by two officers and a driver was convinced that they would be all right within minute they were all dead having driven

Straight into a point platoon of British paratroopers at 1340 hours towards the end of lunch with the horn stal and reconnaissance Battalion stard farta received an urgent call from his command post the LV Communications Network had just informed obri of the first parachute drops and glider Landings his message to harzer

Read paratroopers have landed near arnam immediate alarm orders will follow harer could only yell to gner and tell him to get his men to work he needed to know how long it would take them to put their half tracks back together again and remount their guns there was no point

Cursing about bad luck without Greer’s little trick of making them temporarily serviceable they would not have managed to hold on to the vehicles at all after confering with his head mechanic brebner promised that they would be ready to move in 3 hours arsa tried rapidly to work out

What troops he had available some had already left for Zan in Germany and would have to be called back the hor stafen pansa regiment did not have a single tank in an operational state so the crews would act as infantry his greatest regret was to have been forced to send two P Grenadier

Battalions to to the com group of alter south of an Hoven and hand the excellent oiling Battalion over to their sister division the fburg mar would therefore depend on the other divisional elements Pioneers artillery and flag detachments in bruman northeast of Anam on the road to Zin SS H fur Hans Miller

Of the horn staffen Pioneer Battalion was outside enjoying the beautiful day with his agitant Unum fura group a collection of tiny wide spots far away in the sky suddenly caught his attention sudo cumulus he suggested to His companion then contradicted himself no Flack bursts no there are too many

For that he noticed the Dutch civilians nearby had stopped to look too good grief grp those are parachutes they ran to sound the alarm unlike the British army German officers did not wait for orders from above so it was not just the craft Battalion which mobilized on its own initiative both Miller’s understrength

Pioneer Battalion and the hen stafen artillery regiment which was several kilometers closer at Duran moved as fast as they could towards the enemy Miller sent off his reconnaissance platoon under obasa shura venol immediately the rest followed over the next 2 hours the old Prussian Army dicum of March towards

The sound of gunfire was followed by other units too by dusk the commander of the artillery regiment Oban fur Spindler would be leading a combined force of odd hen units designated the K groupa Spindler soon any rear unit capable of firing a weapon was being mobilized in

The Netherlands and in vry 6 the neighboring military District in the Reich they included police battalions and even R arbites teenagers on Labor Service in their Brown uniforms which made the Dutch think they were simply Hitler Youth a Corporal noted in his diary when they received the call we

Learn that paratroop forces have landed in the area of arnam and Nan we have been ordered out weapons ammunition and iron rations are being issued exact details are not known Herbert ston Miller a Creeks Marina caded was out on a Sunday stroll in the ancient city of CA just over the

German border when Sirens sounded members of the pheland drove through the streets ordering all service Personnel back to barracks the cadets were issued with Dutch or Belgian rifles captured in 1940 and driven to nigan stelson Müller and his companions saw a r arbit officer with two Dutch teenagers who had been captured wearing

Orange armbands the rad Commander took out his pistol and shot the two unarmed Dutch Boys in Cold Blood both fell dead in the roadway SS brigad fur harl of the fburg had not reached Berlin until the middle of that Sunday morning only then did he discover that the vafan SS furun H dump

Had just moved out to bad Saro east of the capital to avoid the bombing he reached badaro at midday he had to wait before his meeting started with SS obura hutner who with his white hair smooth pale skin and rimless glasses looked more like a prosperous dentist than the

Head of the vafin SS it was clear that the move and the desperate circumstances of the retreat from France had left the headquarters in a state of some confusion during the meeting an aid brought in a teleprinter message and laid it in front of Yuta he read it out

To harl it was from bitri harl returned immediately Airborne Landings in arnam area with the briefest of goodbyes arml raced for his car and told his driver to go like the devil it would be a 9-hour journey at least largely because of the bombing of the ru and the need to

Proceed with screened headlights once night fell arml was desperate to be back with his men he knew that they could rely only on rapid action ssir Hans router was in the ha when he received news of the Airborne Landing his first telephone call was to

St fura hel of the Dutch SS V Battalion nwest at amas Fort concentration camp hel however was incon with his Javanese mistress he had given his agitant obus to furan the strictest orders that he was not to be disturb following his instructions nman had done nothing when the town major

Rang to say that large numbers of paratroopers had dropped to the east but when the telephone rang once more and he found obber gup router himself on the line nman leaped to his feet the Battalion was to be ready to March immediately router told him stanilla was to report at once to Geral

Vetto this time nman did disturb his commanding officer Geral Lon and Hans font’s headquarters were at gber near vagan to the west of Aram Christenson had Ved most of the dejected and weaponless troops who had escaped from Normandy along the north Bank of the Nido rain he had not wanted them to

Lower the morale of his own troops in the Netherlands so he kept them apart T’s command had been responsible for rounding up these stragglers crossing the Nar rain bringing them back to discipline and incorporating them into scratch units but tetto with his tired gaunt face was hardly an inspiring

Leader and like a number of senior officers he assumed at first that the British had landed at Dylan Airfield our commanders are simply pitiful OB full reader ranted in his diary Teta and his staff gave the impression of an old Gentleman’s Club router then called gin Lon for V

Vish the deputy to Geral Christensen he told him about the orders he had given to hel’s Battalion at amers for router claimed that Vish afraid that the day of the hatchet had finally arrived then said yes but can you weaken your position in such a way right now our front line is arnam

Router retorted I want every available Soldier fit to fight there if there is a Revolt behind the front then we’ll fight it with orderly Clarks and telephone operators my reserves are on the March already considering that Hur was probably not yet dressed by then the idea of his reserves being on the March

Was optimistic good luck then Vish replied coldly and hung up according to his own account router also telephoned rice fura SS heinr Kimler in Berlin to warn him of the invasion what are you going to do himla asked I’m going to iron them at once I’ve already thrown in my entire Reserve

I hope that the resistance will leave me alone at this critical moment I wish you strength router himler replied router left immediately afterwards and was not ambushed by terrorists I had solders luck he claimed chapter 10 the British Landings Sunday the 17th of September the first members of the

British first Airborne to land were the Pathfinders of the 21st First Independent parachute company they jumped right on time from the 12 Sterling bombers at 1240 hours and unfortunate Corporal dropped his 10 gun a notoriously unsafe weapon as he landed and it went off killing him a platoon

Each secured Landing zones s and Zed and drop zone X they then set up the Eureka homing devices a German motorcyclist rode up to ask if they had seen any tomies it was a rather fatal mistake as one of the Pathfinders observed at 1300 hours the first of 300

Gliders began to land having had their toe cast off about a kilometer and a half before the air Landing Brigade came in just north of the Railway line on Landing Zone s Medical Teams were soon treating the casualties from crashed gliders 16 of the brigade’s gliders had

Failed to appear half of them with men from the seventh Battalion Kings own Scottish borders a piper began playing Blue Bonnets over the order to signal that they should form up in their companies a rapid roll call indicated that even with the missing gliders the kosb still mustered 40 officers and 700

Men their task was to defend the drop and Landing zones together with part of the second Battalion the South staffer regiment and the first Battalion the Border regiment over the next 40 minutes divisional troops in horses and some of the large Hil cars came in on Landing

Zone Zed They Carried the 75 men mm pack howitzers of the light regiment as well as anti-tank guns Jeeps brand gun carriers the Airborne Squadron of the royal Engineers the field ambulances and the reconnaissance Squadron one Hamil car made a bad landing the senior medical officer reported it appeared to

Have come down very fast in a potato field collected a lot of Earth under its boughs which acted as a stop and turned it ass over tip One Pilot was killed and the other injured and pinned down by the load inside among the gliders which failed to arrive

One bringing a Bren gun carrier had apparently been shot down by a Detachment belonging to a battalion of Moors from the SS regiment Goods be F renfeld footnote the presence in the Netherlands of Muslims from the 13th SS division hsha which was then still fighting partisans in Yugoslavia is

Surprising but not impossible as they may have been attached to the 12 SS arm Cor end of footnote ordered to defend an intersection on the braa tilberg road they had managed to bring the glider down with small arms fire their Commander a lant Martin recorded in his

Diary that on the glider was written in chalk is this journey absolutely necessary this fragment of British humor sending up the government slogan to reduce domestic travel seems to have left the young officer totally mystified a postman called Yan Dingle wearing his uniform and carrying a first aid kit

Turned up on Landing Zone s to help he was astonished to see soldiers pulling the tail off at glider and a Jeep being driven out he found a soldier lying on the ground whose feet had been crushed in the glider Landing are you a postman the soldier asked yes replied

Dinkle well then have you a letter for me no he said but do you have a cigarette for me the injured Soldier laughed and handed them a packet of players dinkle carried the soldier to the volher Asylum close by where the 131st parachute field ambulance had already established a

Casualty clearing station patients from the Asylum wandering in the woods were still in shock from the explosion when the ammunition dump had been hit it was very hard to persuade them to return an idea arose that major Freddy gofs connaissance Squadron had lost a large number of its 32 armed jeeps in

The crossing when in fact only four failed to arrive but another six Jeeps were trapped in Crash landed gliders because they could be driven out only when the tail section had been removed our glider had a rough Landing a young reconnaissance officer recounted and finished with her tail in the air it

Took us 4 and a half hours to unload the reconnaissance Squadron was supposed to be the force that would carry out the lightning Dash to the bridge the delay was made worse by goff’s insistence on parachuting because he hated gliders most of his men felt the

Same and chose to parachute too as a result they did not arrive with their Jeeps which had twin Vicor K machine guns mounted Goff was angry that they had not been given the same task as in the planning for operation Comet where his Squadron was to have been dropped

Near elst south of the Nar rain between arnam and Nan in the end the first troop of the reconnaissance Squadron did not set off until just after 1540 hours 2 hours after all gliders had landed at 1350 hours formations of 145 c47 dtas appeared and began to drop some

2,700 men mostly from the first parachute Brigade commanded by Brigadier Gerald lathbury Lieutenant Patrick Barnett who commanded the defense platoon for Brigade headquarters jumped first from his aircraft and he could not understand on Landing what had happened to the rest of the stick only later did

He find that his Batman had lost his nerve at the last moment and just sat down preventing everyone else from jumping the pilot had been forced to come round again local farmers and their wives had by then appeared and they helped cut rigging lines if only to carry off the

Valuable silk canopies to be refashioned as dresses and underwear within little more than 10 minutes all paratroopers had landed with remarkably few broken bones Corporal Terry bris a medic was combing his hair just after landing his sergeant major on seeing this shouted at him brace there

Is no point in worrying about your hair if you’re going to lose your bloody head once on the ground members of the second parachute Battalion was summoned to The Familiar brain of Lieutenant Colonel John Frost’s hunting horn Frost did not waste time his Battalion group set off

At 1500 hours south towards hilsum they then swung East through the D verza Woods along his route Cod named lion which was the closest to the river their main objective was the great steel road bridge over the rine 600 M long with its ramps on both sides proving that speed counted for

Everything that day the fastest group to move off had been the military police Detachment of 11 men they marched straight into arnam encountering no opposition and headed for their objective which was Police Headquarters they remained there in Splendid isolation until the building was stormed by SS troops nearly 48 hours later the

Third Battalion meanwhile which was also ordered to head for arnam took the central route along the utri ofik code named tiger deciding that all was going well lathbury ordered the first Battalion his reserve to take the northern route into Aram the amster dam ofic code named leopard he then heard

The misleading report of about the reconnaissance Squadron so he sent a message to frost to push on as fast as he could at this stage radio communications seemed to work quite well but soon the woods and buildings made messages break up the 22 set was simply not powerful enough as signals officers

Had warned the Germans were also operating a powerful jamming station on the divisional net regrettably clear instructions on Switching frequencies had not been distributed in advance finally at 1730 hours A dispatch rider was sent off by motorcycle to First parachute Brigade with a message bearing the new frequency he returned a few

Hours later having failed to find them Communications were a little better for a large American Air Support party led by Lieutenant Paul B Johnson from the 101st Airborne they had flown in by glider with the British they made a smooth landing and within 5 minutes they had unloaded their jeeps and driven to

The assembly point one of their other gliders however had dug its nose into the soft field and the men in it were a bit shaken up as soon as Johnson’s team reached the temporary divisional command post on the edge of the landing zone They tuned their wirers said but found

It would not transid the other team had the same problem during the afternoon we made contact with the station several times who would not answer our authenticator but instead asked for his signal strength and asked to send him a series of V’s this led them to believe that it was a

German wi service set intent on Mischief the signalers kept trying all night but without any luck at 1530 just as the first Battalion moved out so did the Jeeps of the first parachute Squadron Royal Engineers to raise morale somebody had wired in a radio which was playing tiger rag as

They set off when the Jeeps toing the howitzers of the light regiment moved out Lance bombarder Jones in distinctively drove on the left side of the road his battery sergeant major cursed him for giving away the fact that they were British it seemed all too easy paratroopers were amazed at how well

This day time drop had gone in comparison to the chaotic night Landings in Sicily and the six airborn drop on Normandy casualties had been lighter than anticipated as there was virtually no enemy opposition during the flight or on Landing Colonel Graham War the deputy director of Medical Services

Noted their first impression was of individual German soldiers surrendering a few were even encountered in the woods including one with a Dutch girlfriend who appeared far more embarrassed than her laner lover who surrendered willingly everything then changed rather quickly the first real clashes with Craftsmen happened when Lieutenant bucknell’s troop of the reconnaissance

Squadron crossed the railway line at Wulf Hiser and set off towards arnam along a track beside the high Railway embankment in a defile less than a kilometer down this track the Jeeps came under heavy fire from Craft’s number two company in well-sited positions Bucknell and six others were dead with four more

Wounded and taken prisoner gof who was following had heard the firing ahead he knew his Jeeps were involved because he could distinguish the sound of their Vicor K machine guns he turned back to warn the first parachute Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel David Doby that the way was blocked Doby decided to go

Further north to follow the Amsterdam sik into Aram it was about this time that General Ard impatient of the lack of information on the advance went to the command post of hicks’s first air Landing Brigade at the Wulf Hiser level crossing to find out what he knew hicks’s main concern at

That time was the absence of the commanding officer of the Border regiment whose glider had not turned up he was however amused when a very young German Luft waffer female auxiliary was brought to him as their first prisoner the poor girl was absolutely terrified and refused both a cup of tea and some

Chocolate no doubt afraid that they contained some fearful substance this is when Ard heard the inaccurate report about the reconnaissance Squadron Jeeps failing to arrive he sent a message to gof who was in fact very close by telling him to report in as soon as possible he wanted

To change the a constant squadron’s role from being a Cuda man force of the bridge to one of reconing the three main routes in front of the battalions G set off for the divisional command post back at the edge of the landing Zone but in the meantime Ur

Could had gone off to find lathbury and the headquarters of the first parachute Brigade so G began a wild goose chase while urer made the great mistake compounded of course by the collapse in Wireless Communications of losing touch with his own headquarters almost everything was now starting to go wrong the first Battalion

Advancing North through the woods to the Amsterdam sik ran straight into the scratch Lu halfer unit from Dylan and suffered a number of casualties this lvfa Aline height was soon reinforced by some of the first armored cars from Griers hn stafen reconnaissance Battalion effectively blocking the northern leopard route around dusk Doby

Heard a message over the radio one of the very few times it worked that day saying that Frost’s second Battalion was getting through to the bridge so Doby decided to abandon his task of sealing off North arnam he turned his Battalion around and headed south again to help

Frost the Third Battalion whose lead platoon had gone down General mayor kusin followed the utvic the Center Route short of ubik they were attacked by a German self-propelled assault gun charging at them down the road it managed to destroy a Jeep and A six- pounder anti-tank gun eventually it

Pulled back on under heavy Small Arms fire Lieutenant Colonel John Fitch concerned that the road ahead might be blocked sent off SEA company under major Peter Lewis to try another route Lewis took his men up to the railway line and they followed the track all the way into Aram fighting successful little

Skirmishes they would manage to reach the road bridge before midnight an impressive achievement it was probably one of their little skirmishes with part of Craft’s Battalion which convinced the SS stond fura that he was in danger of being cut off he decided to abandon any further attempt to maintain his positions and

Pulled his men back to the Northeast as Darkness fell they encountered part of the com group of Spindler which was starting to set up its own shini or blocking line Spindler who had no idea of Craft’s existence until then was told by bitri to include the Battalion as part of his own

Force Major General Ard by now deeply concerned at the slowness of of the advance was still in search of Brigadier lathbury he found Laury’s Brigade major Tony Hibbert the general drove up Hibbert recorded and I could see that he was angry he said that we were moving

Too bloody slowly Ard drove off again to find lathbury hbert warned Frost of ur’s concerns the rest of fit’s Third Battalion on reaching oabi with its red brick roads began to experience embarrassing scenes of joy and generosity the people were shouting and pointing in the streets Roe Yan Vos

Laughing and clapping small boys jumped up and down because the paratroop helmet was round and unlike the usual British soup plate shape Yan AEL Hof asked if they were American not bloody likely came the offended reply we are British pretty Dutch girls kissed the soldiers sweaty from the Heat and the

March everywhere The Churchill V sign was used as a currency of friendship and greeting cheering civilians women and old men offered fruit and drinks including Jin officers shouted orders that nobody was to drink alcohol or stop younger men emerged from hiding and begged to be allowed to accompany them and fight too

Some D nevertheless felt that the British Advance was over cautious even hesitant the British soldiers arrive a woman wrote We wavered Them with white handkerchiefs and orange ribbons to encourage them to come on and that it is safe but then they heard the sound of German motorbikes approaching like a

Film in slow motion the British take their guns which had been slung over their shoulders the Dutch slipped back into their houses and the more nervous went down into their sellers Freddy gar meanwhile had driven back to the divisional command post to find urut Charles McKenzie the chief of

Staff had told him that the general was with lathbury so he finally found the first parachute Brigade headquarters in IG but Tony Hibbert had no idea where Ur and lathbury were Hibbert Shrugged they’re together some place but they’ve both gone off in fact matters were far

Worse just as Ur recognized that he was dangerously out of touch he found that a German mortar shell had exploded by his Jeep in his absence and his signaler was badly wounded private Sims a mort man himself with the second Battalion had a healthy respect for the accuracy of his

German counter Parts hold a mess tin out half a mile away and the Bastards will put the third bomb in it on the southern route Frost’s second Battalion was led by a company commanded by The Eccentric and fearless major Digby taam water they were all fit because Frost had trained his

Paratroopers to a basic of 30 m a day with 60 PBS of equipment on their backs once they had passed the rectory and Church in IG watched by kit to H and her five young children SE company onto major Victor DOA struck off to the right to capture the Railway Bridge they

Advanced rapidly across the poer where a number of cows lay dead DOA told Lieutenant Peter Barry to take his platoon onto the bridge with some sappers to deal with any charges they were quite close to the bridge when they saw a German soldier run onto it from

The southern side he got to the middle and I saw him kneel down and start doing something I put one section down and told them to open fire the range I gave the BR Gunner was 500 y with another section I ordered a rush on the bridge

To get across they were already on the bridge with water beneath them when the central span blew up in their faces the rest of frost Battalion carried on towards arnam followed by part of Laury’s Brigade headquarters Captain McKai and his sappers 16th parachute field ambulance and part of

The jedra team Cloe in the form of the Dutch Captain yakobus konoval and the American Lieutenant Harvey Todd their task was to advance with the leading elements of the first parachute Brigade into Anam there they were to contact the ex bter and ex-chief of police and get them to administer arnam

Until the military government officers arrived with 30 core as soon as they had landed krovat had gone straight into ostek to get help and transport to clear supplies off the landing Zone he had returned with three wagons and a German Opel Blitz truck he had shot down the

Two German soldiers standing by the truck they might have surrendered he told Todd but no time for PS here one of taam wat’s platoon commanders thought that their Advance had been almost like a triumphal procession until they were surprised by a German Arc an 8-wheeler armored car firing its machine gun and

20 mm Cannon the closer Frost Force came to Iram the greater the resistance became dayam water LED his men over one garden fence or wall after another to outflank German machine gun position it was not Frost’s hunting horn which could be heard now but taam wat’s bugler

Sounding the charge taam water who did not trust radios in battle to communicate orders had trained his men with the old light infantry bugle calls the toughest opposition came soon after they had gone under the railway line from Nan up to their left stood a wooded Bluff called din Brink this commanding

Feature had been occupied by an advanced group of K ker Spindler Frost ordered B company under major Douglas Crawley to clear them out while a company pushed on but it all took time and cost several casualties including a sergeant badly shot through both legs Corporal Terry brace the medic placed a lighted

Cigarette between his lips to calm him down the sergeant had lost a great deal of blood he grasped both of brace’s wrists am I going to be all right he asked sure you are said brace please try to do something for me he baded I’ve got two children at home

Please don’t worry Grace reassured him you’ll be fine but he knew that the sergeant would be dead very soon a terrible moment occurred when a little Doge girl thrilled to see British soldiers ran out into the street crying Shada two paratroopers yelled at her to

Go back but she was cut down in the crossfire somebody dashed out and collected her body and carried it across the road the DCH in spite of the heavy firing pulled the wounded into their houses to care for them when they reached the Y Junction just short of the St Elizabeth Hospital

The main column forked right down towards the bridge the doctors and orderlies of 16 para field ambulance went straight to the hospital entrance where casualties were almost waiting on the doorstep inside they found that the Dutch doctors had rightly placed the British wounded on one side of the

Hospital and the Germans on the other the officers and Men of the field ambulance carrying most of their equipment on their backs received the warmest possible welcome when the first news of the Airborne Landing had arrived dozens of nurses and doctors poured out into the street and they formed a circle

Joined hands and worlded around Delirious with joy the 40 German Catholic nuns who were also working there became very nervous at the unexpected turn of events all the Dutch medical personnel gathered around a piano to sing the velus many with tears running down their cheeks then they sang God Save the

King while they were singing a British soldier appeared with his rifle in the back of a German officer it turned out that the German was a surgeon and he stood to attention until the anthem Drew to a close the German doctor was pressed into service in the hospital the staff

Now included Dutch British and German doctors German nuns Dutch nurses British orderlies Dutch volunteers from the underground and Red Cross assistance sister van said proudly to the captured German doctor now we are free he shook his head don’t say that it is just the beginning one of the Wounded German

Prisoners asked her if she knew where he would be going probably to England she replied confidently thank God he said the St Elizabeth Hospital neurologist asked one of the British officers what he thought would happen well we’ll have two days of ter fighting and then Monty will arrive that night some 30 Austrian

Luffer Personnel who had been forced to act as infantry came to the hospital making a great deal of noise about their wounds which were superficial they were all armed so the hospital staff had to take their weapons and lock them in a secure room these austrians were happy

To give up their weapons since as they made very clear they did not want to fight for the Germans General felt Marshall Mell and his his staff reached betrik command post by 1500 hours I’m looking for a new headquarters he announced they almost got me berrick probably had to conceal a

Smile at his superior’s vanity in believing himself to have been the prime target berrick had at first assumed that the Allied plan was to cut off Geral vang’s 15th Army now the point of the operation was quite clear general obest student became very excited that evening when a patrol returned with detail

Allied orders found on a crashed WOD lighter near VT but as soon as the German command linked The Assault on the bridges to the attack of 30 core Allied intentions became self-evident the real importance of these papers however was to reveal details of subsequent lifts which enabled the Germans to concentrate their

Anti-aircraft guns against the landing zones bitri had already issued his orders to the two SS pakor the division will reconter in the direction of arnam and Nan he instructed shandan furart of the ninth hor quick action is imperative the taking and securing of arnam bridge is of decisive

Importance since petrick was planning to give the 10th fburg the responsibility for securing Nan it was a mistake to mention the city to harzer because he allowed his reconnaissance Battalion under Victor Grier to go charging off too far from the key objective Modell was much clearer in his

Ideas he wanted harus H Sten to stop the British from taking arnam while Harel fburg was to cross the Narine and ensure that the British second Army could not get through to the paratroopers the poer land of the beta with the single Main Road via St would be the perfect place

To stop them Mell ruled out any suggestion of blowing up the road Bridges at Aram and nigan they had to be held to allow a full Counterattack bitri agreed that the arnam bridge should be kept but he was dismayed that the V bridge at nigan could not be

Touched although Mel’s Army Group B had lost contact with Rad’s headquarters it could still transmit via Luft ruffer West a stream of orders and instructions poured forth including the code word Neno which prompted the immediate mobilization of all designated K grupen cor felt with a 46th Lutsen division was

Ordered to attack the 82nd Airborne southeast of Nan from C and go the two fum Corp commanded by General the fum Trooper oen mindel in Cologne was ordered to C taking every man who could just carry a gun their mission was to drive back the 82nd Airborne and join up

With the troops defending Nan even though neither Mandel nor model at that stage had any idea who they were the general felt Marshall demanded from Run’s headquarters the fastest possible provision of reinforcement ments with heavy mobile anti-tank weapons lack of close- range anti-tank weapons ponera and fuel is delaying all counter

Measures Mell also demanded the diversion of the 107th paner brigada and the assault gun Brigade heading to Aran from Denmark in addition he wanted a heavy paner Battalion of Mark 6 Royal tiger tanks 88 mm Flack batteries and just about every unit available to be sent to prevent an Allied

Breakthrough Modell was ferocious in his criticism of the L raer the almost complete lack of Counterattack from air and ground was of decisive significance it is absolutely essential that we have fighters in the sky day and night apparently he yelled his complaints down the telephone at gal lant movius of the

Second fighter core movus tried to claim that his Pilots had shot down 90 Mustangs a futile and Preposterous lie things did not Bard well for General def Fleer Vera kriper the ler chief of staff at fura headquarters in East Prussia during the afternoon the first reports came in of Landings and parachute jumps

Over Holland he recorded in his diary the W Shaner was engulfed by a frenzy of telephone calls and instructions for counter measures in the Panic the obber Commando de verat okw even informed Run’s headquarters that an American Airborne Division had landed in warsa kriper noted quite an excitement

As he was summoned to a meeting with the fura and yodel Hitler was Furious that the ler had not attacked the heir Armada he said the ler was inefficient cowardly and has failed to support him kriper had become used to such outbursts he asked the furer to give examples I decline any

Further conversations with you itler rorted I want to see the rice Marshall ging tomorrow I hope that you will at least be able to arrange that Hitler was powerfully affected when informed of Modell’s narrow escape from British airborne troops he decided that the defenses of the vul Shaner should be

Massively increased to prevent the Red Army from launching a similar coup against him his greatest Terror was to be captured by the Soviets and taken to Moscow as a trophy prisoner here I sit with my whole Supreme command here sits the r Marshall the okw the r fur SS the Reich foreign

Minister well then this is the most valuable catch that is obvious I would not hesitate to risk two parachute divisions here if with one blow I could get my hands on the whole German command chapter 11 the American Landings Sunday the 17th of September Geral Reinhardt the commander

Of 88 Corp was returning at lunchtime to his headquarter Quarters at moist just east of tilborg when he cited the air Armada he had already been forced to abandon his staff car on five occasions to throw himself in the ditch as strafing Fighters came in low in order

Not to offer too large a Target to the enemy yabor fighter bombers I continued the journey in the side car of one of the motorcycles in my escort when he finally reached his headquarters in the Villa Zinda his staff told him of the parachute Landing at son but they had also received a

False report of another landing at udenhout just north of tilborg Reinhardt assembled about a thousand men in scratch units and sent one force to Sun the other to udenhout and two companies from the 245th Infantry Division to best his only Reserve was a police Battalion at tilbor whose entire Personnel consisted of old

Men in einhoven the kok blin the military wing of of the underground seized the telephone exchange they found that the Germans had not damaged the system on their departure and they could even ring Amsterdam and the hag Peter zout the nor the girl of johanes spouts

Called his wife in OST he broke down in tears on hearing her voice having not spoken to her during all his time in hiding in N Megan the heavy Roar of aircraft engines and a mass of black Silhouettes approaching from the southwest caused Great excitement people shouted the tomies are coming and some

Started to climb onto the roofs of houses to get a better view they were to be disappointed when no paratroops appeared within their view one of them suddenly spotted on the roof of a neighboring house a helmeted German machine gunner he had an mg42 which the Allies called Asanda and

Belts of ammunition wrapped diagonally around his torso like a Mexican Bandit many of the German troops started to leave Nyan most to Counterattack the parat tupas a few to flee over the border to Germany the troops remaining were nervous as they set up machine gun posts and began to barricade streets

With barbed wire shiver to freeze barriers if they saw civilians out on the street they shouted go away or you’ll be shot reinforcements also began to appear a group of arrogant young falim yiger arrived by truck to defend Huna Park and the great traffic circle of keser levik plane leading to the main

Bridge one of them claimed to civilians that the fimer pushed back the Americans immediately shopkeepers rapidly bought it up their Windows not that that would do much good once the fighting started at the same time leaders of the local underground began to issue orders from the Bon o restaurant in Mullen strad

They divided the town into four for the OD or order service to maintain Security even though they possessed only seven rifles between them the kopl and combat groups were much better AR armed further down the Mullen strad trunks were being hurriedly loaded into a gray military truck outside gestapo

Headquarters those people watching from behind curtains were convinced that they were filled with loot one gapo man stopped by the OD was found to have his pockets filled with watches and jewelry collaborating officials and any remaining NSB members slipped away that afternoon usually saying that they needed to fetch something from home yet

Several German police made no attempt to leave and neither did the hated inspector ver stopen an arch collaborationist who surrendered a little later at the konrat police station out in the countryside people hurried to the drop and Landing zones offering to help everyone wanted to shake hands with a liberator and after

Enduring the near sawdust of Cony cigarettes during the occupation the prospect of being offered a Lucky Strike seemed an unimaginable treat to Dedicated Dutch smokers the the taste of their first American cigarette provided the most intense experience for many people and they boasted about it to friends who had not yet undergone this

Right of passage for the majority of American paratroopers the operation was most unlike the wild scattering they had experienced in Normandy in fact they descended in such a tight pattern that they were almost coming down on top of each other one or two even became snagged in each other’s rigging or were

Hit by weapon containers father Samson and Catholic Padre with 101st Airborne nearly made the shoot of a man descending below him collapse he called his post-war Memoir Look Out Below when there was firing from the ground almost every paratrooper in the sky felt that the Germans were targeting

Them and nobody else Lieutenant James Coy descended shooting at distant Germans with a 45 automatic pistol he never expected to hit any of them but it alleviated the sense of helplessness after hitting the ground they struggled out of their parachute harnesses one man immersed in his lines

Looked up in Terror to see a civilian standing over him with a large knife but he had come over to help one Dutchman who had proudly put on his army tunic and helmet from 1940 to bical AR to greet the paratroopers came very close to being shot because of the strange

Uniform he was wearing he proved to be extremely useful however as he spoke both English and German Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy last landed on a barbed wire fence and took some 5 minutes to free himself in a couple of cases gam grenades the individual paratrooper anti-tank weapon

Exploded when leg bags came a drift and plummeted to the ground the first task was to locate and open up the bundles which had been dropped from under the plane a sergeant in the 101st was moved to find that a Dutch woman whose husband had been killed only two days before by Allied

Planes attacking flag positions still helped them retrieve parachute shoot bundles from the fields near son paratroopers were touched by the help offered by locals the Dutch a Corporal reported in contrast to the scenes near vazer even gathered our shoots and placed them by the road for Salvage

Rather than scurrying off with them as the French so often did American officers on the other hand were once again dismayed by the wasteful habits of many of their soldiers when a man landed with one piece of heavy equipment a member of the 506th parachute Infantry Regiment observed and did not find

Anyone immediately who had the corresponding pieces he tended to throw his away the second Battalion found that night that it had only two mortars which were complete with greater haste than the British to the north the American paratroopers set off towards their first objective a column on each side of the

Road touch onlookers watched in amazement as they chewed gum on the March they were also intrigued by the practical informality of their uniforms Supply officers tried to find civilian vehicles to transport ammunition and rations from the Drop Zone but many Dutch Farmers having guessed immediately what was needed

Turned up to help with large carts drawn by a couple of horses they refused the mograph forms which would have enabled them to claim payment later several paratroopers even used Cows as ammunition carriers much to the amusement of their comrades a few gliders crash landed in enemy territory the Dutch used hollowed

Out Hast tacks to hide those on board and then provided bicycles and guides to get them back to their own forces one lighter came under heavy fire from German soldiers just before it landed 2 km southe east of bdale Dutch civilians ran up to help and started to carry away

A gunner called James seabolt who had broken his leg in the crash they and the Americans came under Fire again a few moments later a beautiful ddge girl arrived with a wheelbarrow seabolt was placed in it and they trundled him off he was in such pain that his comrades had to leave him

In a barn in the care of the girl they gave him a morphine shot and handed him a pistol which seemed an unsafe combination but they and seabolt were all returned to American lines over the next week thanks to their helpers the 1001st Airborne Division dropped north of an Hoven in four

Different places round vle and son American paratroopers of its 51st parachute Infantry Regiment heading for vehicle asked for directions to what they called the double a bridge Dr Leo shers was rather perplexed until he realized they meant the bridge over the river R the 522nd dropping further south had

To split its forces with one battalion going for St wooden Roa on the river DL and best to the Southwest while the first objective of Colonel sink’s 56th parachute Infantry Regiment was the bridge at son over the Vina Canal gal obest stent claimed to have taken personal charge of the battle against the

101st better than anyone else I knew that airborne troops are at their weakest during the first few hours and thus rapid and decisive action on our part was called for he had no reserves to hand but there were several thousand replacements for fima units that have

Bush also known as Den Bush one hastily assembled March Battalion was sent against St Oden rer and another against vehicle he ordered General lant VTA poers 59th Infantry Division the first of the 15th Army formations to head for Boxdale at once its Advanced units however were to make for sun where the

Bridge was held by part of the training Battalion of the Herman ging division which had rapidly learned its BattleCraft in the fighting of BAU a few days before before as the 506th was dropping Northwest of sun the paratroopers were alarmed to see five some say eight enemy

Tanks these tanks were from orber luten and full readers training and replacement Battalion of the Herman ging division which major ‘s photo reconnaissance s he had picked up fortunately for the paratroopers the fighter bombers attacked destroying two and driving the rest away the 506th landed on a soft plow

Field and sink’s first impression was that his regiment was in good shape as the first groups reached the wood where they were to assemble sink sent off part of the first Battalion towards the bridge at son it would have been too much to hope to achieve total surprise within sight of the first

Objective a lieutenant reported three German officers were encountered in a Volkswagen they were immediately neutralized with Tommy Guns we killed two of the officers and severely wounded the other as the 101st Commander Major General Taylor Advanced towards the firing his bodyguard claimed that his only comment was you supposed to go ahead of

Me an unsuspecting German Soldier on a bicycle rode right into the point platoon as it reached the edge of son shouting camarad as he tried to raise his arms in surrender he fell off a moment later an 88 mm positioned on the town’s Main Street opened fire luckily

For the first Battalion the struck a house causing no casualties the lead company immediately deployed to deal with the gun lacking infantry support the 88 mm had no flank protection so a bazooka team managed to creep round and PFC Thomas G Lindsay knocked it out the surviving Gunners

Turned to run but Sergeant rice brought them down with his Thompson submachine gun everything so far had gone well for the Americans but although the German troops in son had been taken by surprise they reacted quickly especially those from the Herman Gering training Battalion which had been split

Up to defend key Bridges they dismantled the firing mechanism for the explosive charges and reinstalled it in the cellar of King’s garage on the south side of the canal as D company Advanced towards the bridge German soldiers in a house across the canal opened up with machine

Guns and rifles other 88 mm Guns by the canal began firing at the rest of the Battalion attacking from the woods the tree burst caused fearful wounds altogether a dozen paratroopers were killed or crippled by the flying splinters the Germans ceased firing allowing other paratroopers to approach the silence was oppressive then there

Was a huge explosion as the bridge went up in their faces debris rained down everywhere on the soldiers stunned by the surprise of the blast major dick winters of Easy Company 506th parachute Infantry Regiment threw himself to the side of the road as the chunk of concrete rained down he thought

Godamn what an awful way to die in the war being hit by a rock Colonel sink was dejected by the failure to seize the bridge undamaged his regiment was supposed to be an an Hoven ready to welcome 30 cor but he noted that at least the central pillar

Was intact so it could be repaired major James laa and two others jumped into the canal and swam across Winters claimed that they ripped off some wooden garage to doors and threw them in the canal in an attempt to cross without getting their feet wet others found boats and soon part of

The Battalion was across in less than 2 hours Airborne Engineers had improvised a foot Bridge the men from the 326th airborn Engineer Battalion who had cuted off their glider pilot to be treated by the medics arrived to build a float of barrels and Timbers large enough to

Handle light traffic across the canal by a handdrawn cable the engineers and paratroopers enjoyed every possible assistance from the town’s population as Lieutenant Colonel Hannah recorded we received Ovations cheers offers of foods smiles and an acceptance so wholehearted and unrestrained so unlike our reception in Normandy that it nearly brought tears to

My eyes the whole village turned out and the young Dutch officer who jumped with me was overwhelmed with welcomes it was undoubtedly the greatest day in his life Dr shers of the C jph Hospital helped deal with jaw and ankle fractures from the jump he was fascinated to encounter

Penicillin for the first time liberally supplied to the American Medical Services the 502nd parachute Infantry Regiment which dropped just north of sink’s regiment faced the dreaded task of splitting its strength the first Battalion set off north towards St wooden roer the March was terribly hot and the men were suffering greatly from

Too much clothing they came came to an Old Bridge unmarked on their Maps just beyond lay a church and Germans concealed in the graveyard began firing mortars at them the first battalions mortar platoon fired back with their 60 mm mortars but the Germans were too well protected Among the Tombstones eventually the

Firefight was one when some paratroopers sprinted across the bridge and forced the Germans to pull out there was Little Resistance along the rest of the way a number of Germans Rose very cautiously from the ditches with their hands held high and surrender as the lead platoon approached by dusk s wooden rodo was

Secured and the Battalion sent a patrol Northeast up the road to link up with the 501st regiment in veel a far more dangerous task awaited company H sent in the opposite direction to secure best and the bridge Beyond General Taylor had recognized the risk of losing the bridge at zone so he had

Decided to secure the crossing southeast of best as a backup according to the intelligence available the mission did not appear to require more than a company and a platoon of Engineers this small Force Under Captain Robert Jones set out from the top Zone following the edge of the forest between

Sun and best his overloaded men also suffered in the heat several of The Replacements quietly dumped some of the machine gun ammunition along the way the scouts ahead lost their bearings in the woods so the company emerged out of the trees too close to the Village of

Best rather than 500 MERS further south from where they could charge the bridge the company immediately came under Small Arms fire Lieutenant wb’s platoon deployed to outflank the German positions but then came under accurate rifle fire from some other buildings webski recounted how staff sergeant white his platoon Sergeant who had

Predicted his own death the night before stepped out from the cover of a corner of one of the buildings as he was sighting his rifle toward a second story window the sniper hiding there beat him to it and caught him right between the eyes as he was falling my thoughts went

Back to his predictions of the night before white was their very first casualty soon afterwards H company’s position became even more precarious coming down the road was a motorized German column of 12 trucks with German infantry and three half tracks with 20 mm light flag guns the German equivalent of what the American

Called their meat Choppers the Convoy was led by a lone German motorcycle escort Captain Jones seeing the opportunity for a good Ambush yelled the command to hold all fire he hoped to riddle the column as it passed in front of them but some of the headquarters men not hearing the command

Opened fire at the motorcyclist his body seemed to Hal in midair as the motorcycle continued on the trucks breaked hard and the troops inside jumped down to deploy into a skirmish line the failed Ambush had drawn into the battle for best the reinforcements that General Reinhardt was sending to son

Jones’s company now faced nearly a th000 men with 6 88 mm guns and the three half tracks with 20 mm flag hiding behind a hedge R we Bowski and his platoon attempted to outflank the new Force but Captain Jones called him back the Americans were losing too many men

Mainly from tree burst fired by the 88s and Jones had just received an order from Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole their Battalion Commander to reach the bridge whatever the cost the company withdrew into the woods from where they could make their way to the canal we sp’s own command which was

Given the task of taking the bridge had been reduced to 18 men in his platoon and 26 Engineers they made their way cautiously through the forest and plantations of young pine trees crossing the fire Brakes in small groups had a run rain began to fall and dusk came early with

The black clouds proceeding mainly at a crawl with two Scots ahead they reached the Dyke of the Canal bank unseen dreading a flare that might reveal them at any moment they halted short of the bridge which they could just see in silhouette against the night sky wearski and one of the Scots

Slithered forward on their bellies for a closer look but while they hid almost under the feet of the centries the paratroopers left behind became restless and started muttering the German guards heard them and began throwing grenades then a machine gun opened up several of the paratroopers panicked in their

Exposed position on the canal side of the Dyke and ran away weit Bowski had to race back to lead the remainder back behind the Dyke where he ordered them to dig in on the reverse slope by then he was down to a combined total of 18 men

He tried to call Captain Jones on the radio to warn him of their position but found a piece of shrapnel had wrecked the CT the search patrols which Captain Jones sent out failed to find them even though firing continued intermittently into the night we at spari did not know

Whether to long for Dawn or dread it the small town of veel was taken by Colonel Howard Johnson’s 5 501st parachute Infantry Regiment the first Battalion commanded by a young Texan Lieutenant Colonel Harry Canard came from the Northwest the rest of the regiment arrived from their Drop Zone to

The South securing the bridge over the river r on the way ginard on hearing that the NSP mayor had fled some sources insist that he was lynched picked a prominent Citizen cornelus deisa and said you’re mayor the local Catholic priest a leading figure in the local underground arrived to offer men as

Scouts or guards for prisoners yet Gard was worried that if the Dutch demonstrated their patriotism too openly and the Germans then retook the town there would be terrible reprisals soon after his arrival Colonel Johnson was standing on the bridge looking extremely Marshal with leafy Twigs in the camouflage net on his

Helmet according to cornelus deisa a car containing two German soldiers approached and came to a sudden halt when the driver saw they were Americans Johnson shouted Hender H Rouse hands up get out the two men tried to escape down the slope of the raised road but Polish American paratrooper shot

Them both with his service pistol Johnson set up his Command Post in the house of Dr kiram marus in the center of vle and gave it the code name of Klondike the town was rapidly beded with orange Bunting and the Dutch flag in horizontal stripes of red white and blue

And all the locals celebrated badre Samson who had nearly collapsed the shoot of a paratrooper below him as he jumped with canard’s Battalion landed in the wide moat of castil hwi with the Battalion doctor Samson decided to set up their aid station in this 11th century Fortress the Padre then discovered that

It had been made into a museum with torture racks implements for mutilation scourges iron masks he wrote not the ideal place to inspire patients with confidence in an army doctor once the casualties from the trop had been moved there Samson went off after Kinard to see about moving the

Into vehicle but by the time he returned German troops had seized the castle and the aid poost all there injured were now Prisoners the c47 dtas bringing the 82nd Airborne encountered quite a bit of flag on approaching the DropZone near rosik five of the aircraft were hit one was

Burning from the tip of One Wing to the tip of the other men were bailing out of the burning ship an Air Force officer recounted their experience all of the 18 paratroop was jumped our radio operator bailed out at 500 ft and he got to the ground with a strained back our crew

Chief also bailed out but he was killed by Small Arms fire or Flack on the way down the first pilot first lieutenant Robert S stard stayed in the plane and he was burned to death as it hit the ground I bailed out at 200 ft I fractured my ankle the Dutch dragged me

And some of the Wounded into their houses later they helped us get to a field Hospital I best you the Dutch leers an officer with the 82nd Airborne may have been thrilled to recognize the Contour ahead round rosic but the pilot failed to gain height to compensate for the

Rising ground as a result Brigadier General Jim Gavin had a hell of a landing from only about 400 ft it seemed I hardly got out of the plane before I landed I really bumped my ass like it had never been hit before in fact he cracked his spine in two places I’m so

Excited the Germans were in the woods nearby shooting at us so I got my pistol out and laid it on the ground to grab it quick if I needed it while I was trying to get out of my harness and I had my rifle Gavin was famous among his men for

Always carrying his M1 rifle like an ordinary Trooper born in Brooklyn he had joined the US Army as an orphan his intelligence and Military qualities were so evident that he was selected for West Point and Rose rapidly to become the youngest general of his generation his film star good looks intelligence and

Charm attracted Marina Dietrick and Martha ghorn and he had affairs with both of them although in great pain Gavin set off with an engineer officer and best of Brer off a sunken track which led to a plantation of pine trees a machine gun suddenly opened fire on them but either

The engineer officer or best Brer depending on different sources managed to hit the gunner in the forehead with a single shot this small group of officers was soon joined by Gavin’s divisional artillery Commander he had broken an ankle in the drop so one of his men had

To Ferry him around in a wheelbarrow this enabled him to report in person to Gavin all guns ready to fire on call Gavin had insisted on having this Battalion of parachute artillery in the first wave because he had never forgotten facing the tiger tanks of the paner division Herman ging with just a

Bazooka whatever the rules of Warfare American par Troopers did not take kindly to Germans who had just been trying to kill them we got out of our shoots and headed for where we had seen the 20 mm gun battery one of them recounted four Germans stood by their

Guns Hands Held High shouting camarad camarad hell they were cut to Ribbons by tommy guns and rifle slugs this took place near the hotel bendal close to bake and right on the border with Germany paratroopers from the 8th parachute Infantry Regiment discovered a a couple of German officers in bedrooms

Who had changed into civilian clothes later that afternoon best Brer found one of the local resistance leaders near the hotel bendal which was just 3 kilm from the center of nean then set up his headquarters in the hotel sof on the rusb road from there he began telephoning into the city to discover

German strength and positions Gavin refused to set up his Command Post in the hotel bendal he preferred a tented camp in the woods a few hundred meters away General Browning had also selected the sector for his command post and set up camp in the woods close to Gavin

After his glider had landed Browning proudly produced a pegasus pennant in silk to fly from the aerial on his Jeep the winged horse symbol had been another suggestion from his wife Daphne dorier soldiers in his headquarters then had to prepare the General’s sleeping Arrangements this meant digging a deep

Grave likee hole in the ground to take his Camp bed with a tent erected over the top one company and the 58 had two plain loads of paratroopers who instead of bailing out over the cros big heights were dropped 8 kilm Too Far East and landed in

Germany we joke and laugh as we move out recorded Dwayne T Burns it’s hard to believe that we are in German territory miles from our own front lines I keep waiting for something to happen lieutenant kums who had been wounded by Flack before jumping managed with the

Aid of a Ukrainian deserter from the German Army to bring his 22 men back to rejoin their Battalion according to the official report they killed some 20 Germans on the way and brought in 49 prisoners TOS to the southern end of The rosek Landing Zone was a company of convalescence from aat Battalion

39 they had been sent from CA to round up stragglers retreating from France and Belgium they were led by a young Lieutenant who had never seen combat so hob felt feble yakob m a veteran of the French campaign and the Eastern Front assured the youth that he would take

Over command if they had to fight the company was on patrol in the woods when the 82nd Airborne began to land reaching the edge of the trees they peered out and were Amazed by the sight the field was covered with gliders and paratroopers were dashing about getting equipment together and unloading cargo gliders

The Germans were AED by the organization and the quantity of material and they saw Dutch civilians arriving to help the young Lieutenant wanted to attack immediately but Maul persuaded him that it would be suicide using ill- armed men the company had some old machine guns but no tripods to fire them they would

Have to rest the barrel on somebody’s shoulder which was a deafening experience for the man concerned at B A Hamlet just south of crosp the local priest recorded that German officers jumped into cars and drove off while one young Soldier was so frightened out of his wits by the Airborne Landings that

He shot himself in roseg captured Germans their Hands Held High were marched to the school others were made to face the wall of the local shoe factory the town’s inhabitants cheered the Americans who were running along the road they hardly noticed us a young woman recorded in her

Diary our Liber ators look strange and lugubrious with their blackened faces from camouflage cream where the white of the eyes stood out their clothing looked more like an overall than a uniform with pockets in the most unusual places as soon as they started to dig foxholes smiling kids turned up begging to be

Allowed to take over the small piics and shovel members of the Dutch underground had immediately appeared on the streets to help they were solidly built men in their blue overalls which looked like Like A Primitive uniform and they all carry guns the same diarist noted they rounded up members of the NSP exciting

The admiration of their fellow citizens the people who have been terrorizing the village for the last couple of years are now lying on the verge of the road in a sad little troop with many passes by making nasty remarks and insults in which they can express their bottled up

Hate and fear these prisoners would be held in the camp with a munition dump in the volb forest just to the west of kusik a local recounted that one German Soldier was not locked up with the others one of the Americans had hurt his ankle on landing and had taken a German

Prisoner in full uniform who pulled him around the country lanes on a child’s cart he reclined like Madame ramier smoking a cigarette with a smoke on his face further to the south in moo the villagers raised the Dutch flag over the school and danced around singing Cowboy Joe the only American song they

Knew while the 508th and the 505th parachute infantry regiments secured the rosek heights facing the rashal the 504s had the tricky task of capturing the large bridge over the river Mar at ra and five bridges over the Marval Canal only the southernmost Bridge of the five at Herman was taken completely intact

Three were blown by the Germans and a fourth badly damaged the c47s approached the drop zone for the Raa bridge at 600 ft as a 20 mm anti-aircraft gun began firing Sergeant Johnson shook his fist and shouted you dirty Kuts you wait a minute and we’ll

Be down there to get you Colonel Ruben Tucker the redoutable commander of the 504th considered their drop a parade ground jump out of 1,936 men in his regiment one of his soldiers was killed when his parachute failed to open and 44 men suffered injuries one of them Tucker’s regimental

Agitant smashed through a tiled roof while two companies of the second Battalion of the 504th jumped on the north side of the mass near ra easy company dropped to the South part of the company had jumped too soon but the platoon which was closest did not wait

It assembled on the road in very brief order as the men approached the huge bridge waiting along drainage ditches they came under Small Arms fire then a machine gun opened up from a camouflaged Flack Tower two German trucks arrived and they engaged them too fortunately the soldiers they contained did not have

Much stomach for the fight and they soon slipped away this allowed the platoon to storm a building some 50 m from the bridge and then to knock out the crew of a light flag gun mounted on a pillbox the 20 mm gun itself was undamaged and they turned

It to take on the corresponding pillbox at the Northern end the bridge was theirs the rest of the Battalion which had dropped on the north side of the mass made contact they began to prepare a night attack on the town of KRA just about this time up the road

From the south there came a tank it pulled up within about 25 yards of our landmines and stopped we had three bazooka teams covering the tank but before they could open fire somebody hollered don’t fire don’t fire its British armor we had been told to expect the British within 6 to 24

Hours by the time this unknown person was through shouting British armor the German tank had opened up with a 75 mm gun after farting about six rounds into and around our positions the tank pulled out one officer was killed and about 15 men wounded their only consolation was

That a German Scout car and two motorcycles with side cars blew themselves up on the mines they had laid as dusk began to fall the tension in NE Megan was unbearable people were nervous and so were the Germans wrote Martin Lou danam the director of the great concert hall

In his diary firing could be heard in the distance the Allies had landed somewhere outside but nobody in the city really knew what was going on the Germans afraid of losing control sent troops Goose stepping through the streets guns at the ready another diarist wrote that the

Sound of hob nailed Jack Boots marching rapidly in Step was the most unpleasant sound imaginable at the moment the mixture of fear anticipation and excitement meant that few would sleep that night a crowd stormed the warehouse of the TAC plant because that was where the verar had stored all its looted

Alcohol doors were smashed in and people emerged triumphant with crates or armfuls of bottles some people were appalled at the risks other civilians took plundering a good train in the station while the Germans still had heavily armed troops nearby men women and children are lugging Parcels crates and barrels and

It would seem that they do not even bother to inspect exactly what they have laid their hands on I see a small girl carrying a pile of wooden shoes a young woman with an armful of broom handles and all of them are wildly excited swearing at each other for good

Measure Mr berer was frustrated by Gavin’s insistence on securing the rosak heights before making a serious attempt to seize the bridge we not interested in the bridge at this moment the divisional Commander told him because he still expected a hell of a German reaction from the Ral Gavin reluctantly allowed bester to

Go into the city to Recon him he had however ordered Colonel Roy El linquist of the 58th to send a battalion into Nan on the off chance of taking the bridge once the area north of crosp had been secured Gavin later admitted that he did not rate linquist nearly as highly as

His other two regimental commanders because he lacked a Killer Instinct and did not go for the jugular Gavin told linquist not to send his Battalion through the town they should skirt it to the East and approached the bridge from the flat land of the riverbank yet linquist and the

Commander of his first Battalion Lieutenant Colonel Shields Warren ignored this instruction following the advice of a local member of the underground the first Battalion Advanced straight into nean up the main road from FRP word of their presence spread instantly crowds assembled to cheer them to shake hands to admire their brown

Parat trupa boots which were so quiet with their rubber Souls these soldiers were so relaxed so unlike the Germans with their shouting and stamping assuming that the moment of Liberation had come with German troops withdrawn to the north of the town to defend the bridge two youths climbed the facade of

The Infantry barracks to chip away at the great Stone Nazi Eagle until it came crashing down and the crowd surged forward to smash up the larger fragments firing broke out at around 2200 hours the director of the concert hall noted we heard the first death Cry of a human being ghastly there were

Cries of medic as paratroopers were hit but the Dutch were quick to pull the wounded into their houses and care for them there chaotic fighting in the darkness followed sometimes close combat with trench knives although one company pushed forward far enough to have a view of the bridge the Battalion as a whole

Never managed to advance further than the large traffic circle the kesa caral plane which German reinforcements had started to defend B bler and his fellow member of the jedar Clarence team George Vaga were shot at in their Jeep verh haa was badly wounded in the thigh and best

Brer less seriously in the hand and arm a great opportunity had been missed the name Megan road bridge at the start of that evening had been defended by just 19 SS troopers from the fburg a dozen from the Herman ging training Battalion and a handful of reluctant Lun torm

Militia explosives were in place 950 Kg on the southern side and the same on the Northern end but not wired up for demolition Warren’s Battalion had clashed with German reinforcements which had literally just arrived for paratroopers dropped just a few hours before in a foreign country Far Behind Enemy Lines that first night

Was disorientating just east of gr beak a lieutenant with the 505th recorded we were around 100 yard from a railroad track as some of us sat talking a railroad train manned by the enemy approached from our rear and passed through our position we were taken so completely by surprise we just watched

The train go by Brigadier General Gavin trying to sleep under a tree was instantly awake when he heard it and demanded to know why it had not been stopped that night on tree Row the front line on the crus big Heights facing the rishal a nervous Sentry in the dark shot

An inquisitive cow on the landing grounds some Battalion Personnel quite shamelessly stole supplies from the gliders belonging to other units out to the east of Nan and also west of utr RAF bomber command dropped parachute puppets to confuse the enemy General Eisenhower made a broadcast to the people of the

Netherlands urging them not to rise arm Mass but to use any covert action to dismantle the enemy’s transport in Northern Belgium at 30 core headquarters near hesel Lieutenant Colonel Renfro the 101st Airborne liazon officer was uneasy the battering which the Sherman tanks of the Irish guards had received that afternoon meant that

The quick Ride Into the Blue which had been expected did not materialize his confidence was not helped by the pretense of horus’s Chief of Staff Brigadier pman that everything was going well Colonel Joe vandelier had halted the Irish guards in Falcon vard on the orders of Brigadier Norman gkin the

Commander of the fifth guards Brigade who joined him there while they enjoyed a glass of champagne together from their captured supplies Guin told him to take his time getting to einhoven that there was no hurry because the sun Bridge had been blown and they would have to wait

For the bridging to be brought up this decision was clearly approved by horx who wrote later in my opinion it was the act of an experienced Commander to Halt rest his troops Etc while the bridge was being repaired but this makes no sense son was north of an Hoven and work could not

Start until the engineers accompanying the guards armor division arrived to construct a Bailey bridge if horo seriously imagined that the 101st Airborne Engineers were capable of constructing a bridge to take tanks than he should have checked with Colonel Renfro that Guin presumably with horo his approval could have told vandela to

Take his time Beggar’s belief chapter 12 night and day arnum the 17th to the 18th of September a Dutch diarist whose house overlooked the approaches to the Great arnam Road Bridge guessed that the British must be close when a flare went up a German Sentry could be heard calling out in panic

Gine I am all alone the leading platoon of Frost’s second Battalion reached the arnam road bridge at about 2000 hours soon after night had fallen major Digby taam water kept his men of a company hidden under it allowing German traffic to continue he sent two platoon out to the sides to

Prepare some of the nearby houses for defense sergeants and corporals knocked respectfully on doors explained what they had to do and recommended that the family sought shelter elsewhere to avoid the coming battle not surprisingly most were very upset their spotless houses were rapidly transformed for fighting paaths and basins were filled to ensure

A supply of water because the electricity was bound to go off again curtains blinds and anything flammable were ripped down Furniture moved to make firing positions and windows smashed out to reduce casualties from flying glass the Battalion Padre father Bernard Eagan who was helping these paratroopers confessed to dering somewhat of an

Unholy Glee from pitching a chair through a window knowing full well there were no police around to reprimand me as Darkness fell Lieutenant Colonel Frost remembered the German Army saying that Knight is the friend of no man yet it certainly seemed to be helping his paratroopers he caught up with the rest

Of a company lying quietly on the embankment of the bridge while Germans still passed back and forth Frost probably arrived about an hour after most of Grier’s reconnaissance Battalion of the 9th SS horen stormed south over it towards Nan on bit’s order yet sandart and fura harzer the horn Sten

Divisional Commander had overlooked the second part of bitri instructions to secure the bridge itself only a handful of men from the original guard Detachment remained on the bridge Frost had been disappointed to find that the Pontoon Bridge they had passed a kilometer back had been dismantled after

The loss of the Railway Bridge and the explosion it was now impossible to send men across to seize the South End of the Road Bridge except in boats but groups sent off in search of them had no luck taam water had been waiting until they could Rush both ends at the same time

But they could delay no longer lieutenant John graburn’s platoon was chosen for the the task greyburn who won the Victoria Cross for this action seems to have been determined to display conspicuous gallantry he led his men up the steps onto the roadway sticking close to the massive steel GDs on each

Side his platoon charged against the fire of an armored car and 20 mm twin flag guns greyburn was hit in the shoulder and other men were wounded so they had to withdraw during this first attempt to secure the bridge more and more houses overlooking the ramp and the approaches were

Occupied the Jeeps and the six- pounder anti-tank guns were at first parked in a space concealed by houses west of the bridge the headquarters and defense Splatoon of the first parachute Brigade minus Brigadier lathbury who was still with General urer and the Third Battalion on the far side of IG took

Over buildings on the west side of the ramp next to frost headquarters major Freddy gof of the reconnaissance Squadron arrived with his headquarters in three jeeps and and reported to frost just as a second attempt was made to seize the bridge to deal with a pill box on the side of the

Bridge another platoon and an Airborne engineer with a flamethrower got into position but the operators’s number two tapped him on the shoulder just as he was about to Fire and he jerked back in Surprise as a result the Spurt of flame went over the top of the pillbox and hit

A pair of wooden Shacks just behind they must have contained ammunition Fuel and dynamite because An Almighty explosion and Fireball followed it looked as if they had set the whole bridge on fire which produced some sarcastic comments about capturing the bridge and not destroying it there was one advantage

Three trucks full of German troops approached over the bridge and as their drivers tried to maneuver past the fires Frost paratroopers began shooting soon all three vehicles were blazing as well as several of the unfortunate soldiers who were cut down remembering how the Germans had blown up the Railway Bridge in front of

Their noses Frost was still concerned that the Great Road Bridge could also be brought down but a royal engineer officer assured him that the heat from the fires would have destroyed the wires leading to any explosive charges even so Frost spent a restless night the big attack would come in the

Morning and despite the Urgent efforts of the signalers they were not yet in touch with divisional headquarters or the other battalions the reasons for the first Airborne Division disastrous Communications have still not yet been fully explained and perhaps never will be they include a problem of terrain with woods and buildings insufficiently

Powerful sets rundown batteries and in the case of some sets the wrong crystals being issued assessing the perimeter they needed to hold around the Northern end of the road bridge Rost wished he still had SE company under major Dover but his signaler could not make radio contact to

Recall call them after the Railway Bridge had blown up SEA company had set off for its secondary objective the German headquarters in newer plan as it passed the St Elizabeth Hospital doa’s company surprised 30 German soldiers climbing down from two buses they killed most of them in a one-sided firefight

And captured five but as they proceeded they started to come up against soldiers and vehicles of what soon became the k group of Brinkman based on the reconnaissance Battalion of the SS funb even though C company managed to knock out an armed car with a pat anti-tank launcher they were forced to

Pull back they were eventually surrounded he had managed to hold out for another 16 hours until their ammunition was exhausted as if to balance the loss of frost SEA company an unexpected reinforcement arrived in the form of major Lewis’s SE company of the Third Battalion the one which had made its way

Into Aram along the railway track as they crept down towards the road bridge through the center of the city they had a chaotic and murderous encounter in the dark streets a unit of rice arbit teenagers from a heavy flag Detachment had been waiting in arnam station to return to

Germany late that afternoon on learning of the Airborne Landings their Commander outman Rudolph Meer had gone to the town commandant’s office to find out what they should do he returned to announce that they would be armed and that they would be coming under SS command the boys were marched to a nearby Barracks

Where they were issued with old carbines the bolts did not work properly and the only way to open the chamber was to knock them against something hard their morale was not high but it really hit the bottom when they saw these old guns one of their officers recorded that evening they had still

Received no orders and no food in fact they had not eaten for nearly 48 hours because of the delay at the station now as DK fell SS obish fur harda appeared and announced that they were now part of K groupa Brinkman from the 10th SS pan division fburg they would attack from

The Town Center towards the Ry in the pitch dark they became aware of other soldiers who they assumed were also part of the same com groer suddenly a British paratrooper yelled Germans everyone began firing in panic the wild scene was illuminated for odd Moments by flashes or explosions

At Close Quarters British Sten guns killed more efficiently than the Antiquated bolt action rifles issued to the rad teenagers almost half of Maya’s boys were killed and the rest must have been traumatized yet Lewis’s company also lost a platoon commander and a sergeant and a third of his men were captured by

SS puner grenadiers the remnants of this Third Battalion company joined the engineer troop led by Captain McKai in two buildings of the van limberg Ste steom school on the east side of the bridge ramp not long afterwards P grenadiers either from the com group of Brinkman or

The SS Battalion oiling crept up and tossed grenades Through the Windows of the house furthest from the bridge we fed hand to hand in the rooms maai wrote one of them brought a spal mg42 and poked it right through the window spraying the room I was standing

There with my 45 and just pushed it in his mouth and pulled the trigger it blew his head off all that was not held on by his chin strap I grabbed this band and turned it on the Germans outside in other parts of the building there was fighting with fists boots

Rifle butts and beets before the Germans were dislodged maai recognized that the smaller of the two buildings on the North side was far too vulnerable with bushes in which German attackers could hide so he decided to abandon the house they pulled out their wounded whom they

Had to haul over a 2 m wall with maai straddling it as each man was handed up to him altogether Frost force was probably more than 700 strong with all of the attached arms and services ranging from the Royal Engineers to the Royal Army Ordinance Corp in Brigade headquarters

The signalers installed themselves in the roof having removed a few tiles for their antenna they spent the night trying to make contact with divisional headquarters and the other two battalions sending messages that the second Battalion was at the bridge and urgently needed reinforcements major Dennis mford of the

Light regiment Royal artillery knew that without a working radio set he could not direct fire support from their pack howitzers taking position around OA big church he and another officer therefore decided to drive back that night through German lines in Jeeps to wer they retuned their number 22 sets there

Collected more batteries reported on the situation of the bridge and drove back back once more through German lines only manford’s Jeep got through the other officer received a serious stomach wound and was captured at dawn Manford would range in the 75 mm howitzers on the enemy’s likely Avenues of approach both

From the south end and around the northern perimeter one of the inhabitants in a house very close to the church and the gun line recounted how a British Gunner knocked politely at their door urging them not to be frightened when the guns began firing when you hear

A boom and a whistle it is ours he explained when you hear a whistle and bang it is one of theirs Lieutenant Colonel Doby with his first Battalion having abandoned the attempt to follow the northern route into arnam was determined to get to the bridge to support Frost after his radio

Operator had picked up one of the messages they made their way south during that first night until Derby decided to take the utri ofik in the middle as a shorter rout but when his lead company reached the railway embankment east of IG they came up against Mel’s 9th SS Pioneer

Battalion merer himself wrote melodramatically with the coming of the Dawn the dance began it was a battle man against man the Red Devils against the Men in Black Elite against Elite the first patalan could not get through still missing one company after the clash with the lufa alight and now

Weakened by further casualties the Battalion zigzagged down to follow the Southern Road close to the river Doby’s men were tired having had very little rest Lieutenant Colonel fit’s Third Battalion which had halted for much of the night near the hotel hartenstein on the western side of IG set off again at

0430 hours fit also chose the southern route both Brigadier lury and Major General urer carried on forward with the lead company an unwise surf of senior officers so close to the front the Battalion had to pass through a wooded area where German Riflemen had climbed trees these harassing attacks delayed

The rear half of the 2 km long column an inhabitant of OST was thrilled to see a British soldier kill a sniper just like shooting a crow further delays occurred as they Advanced cautiously at dawn through OST locals would throw open their windows and call good morning

Across the street good morning to you came the unenthusiastic reply to their presence being revealed soon families were pouring out into the street some wearing a coat thrown over their pajamas or night dress to offer Tomatoes pears and apples from their Gardens and cups of coffee or tea these distractions after the

Shooting delayed the rear of the Battalion and they lost touch with the Vanguard which by then had passed under the Railway Bridge a kilometer East east of IG Church to confuse matters even more Doby’s first Battalion also joined the Southern Road mixing in with the rear part of the Third Battalion which

Did not follow the route taken by the leading company with lathbury and Ard this Vanguard had wasted precious time waiting for the other companies to catch up on continuing the advance they came up against the southern end of spindler’s second spini around the St Elizabeth Hospital some 2 km short of

The road bridge by now spindler’s blocking force was being strengthened with self-propelled assault guns often misleadingly described as tanks in British accounts the first Battalion meanwhile soon found itself under Fire from The High Ground of tin Brink the planners back in England had failed to

See the danger on the map the two roads from the West reached Western arnam on the side of a hill between the railway line and the river this provided an ideal choke point to slow or halt the British advance the Germans of course suffered from confusion too presumably as the result

Of a radio message from Grier’s reconnaissance Force charging South the previous evening Modell’s Army Group B had reported at 2000 hours Aram nean Road free of enemy araman bridges in German hands but not long afterwards two German women tanist in the arum exchange warned bitri that British paratroopers

Had secured the Northern end of the road bridge and they proceeded to pass information throughout the night pitri awarded them both the Iron Cross after the battle he went to heart’s Command Post in the early morning in an angry mood because Grier had ignored his order that the bridge be taken and firmly

Held footnote the headquarters of the verar commander-in-chief Netherlands were still so obsessed by an uprising of the Dutch underground that it stated in a signal on the morning of the 18th of September arnam Road Bridge occup Ed by terrorists end of footnote Modell also appeared at hearts’s command post set up in gal

Mayor kusin headquarters in North arnam there was low Cloud that day he observed which should at least frustrate the Allied Air Forces he told harzer that the heavy paner Battalion 503 with Mark 6 Royal Tigers was being brought across Germany by Blitz transport from Kik Brook near Dresden this meant that the r

Had to clear every line and every train short of the fur’s personal zuk out of the way another 14 tiger Mark six tanks from heavy paner Battalion 506 at pbor were already on their way their Crews had been wakened at o30 hours in their Barracks at calaga and by 0800 hours

Every tank had been loaded onto Railway flat cars Mell also announced that he would have the Water Supplies cut off to OST as that was was where the bulk of the British would be forced to withdraw although Modell still refused Pit’s request to blow the bridge at

Nagan he sent a curred order by teleprinter later in the morning destruction of Rotterdam and Amsterdam Harbors to proceed this was one of the first stages of German retaliation for the rail strike to help the Allies all through the night Modell staff had been ordering in reinforcements towards arnam using the

Town of Bol as rail head the 280th assault gun Brigade on route from Denmark to Aran was diverted to Aram other units included three battalions of around 600 men each nine alarm heighten of scratch units totaling 1,400 men two Pano companies of tank destroyers from Air Fort six motorized

Lift raffer companies totaling 1500 men and a flat com grouper made up of 10 batteries with a total of 36 88 mm guns and 39 20 m guns they were temporarily motorized which meant that civilian tractors and trucks were used to tow them the 20 mm like flag guns were sent

Forward to the landing zones to take on any more Airborne lifts or drops as these units reached the arnam area pck distributed them between the two divisions to harzer he allocated a police Battalion from uper dor a veteran Reserve Battalion from hovain and a flack Brigade due to arrival little

Later these additions would bring harus horn staffen up to nearly 5,000 men haral fburg would receive the company of tiger Mark six tanks from poorn although because of breakdowns only three would arrive an SS verer up tyong a heavy mortar Battalion an Engineer Battalion with flamethrowers brought in from

Glogal and a paner Grenadier training and replacement Battalion arriving from emmeric this last unit did not sound very promising many of its men had suffered amputations while its Commander mayor Hans Peter LED his Battalion on crutches but Gast who had lost a leg in the battle for Moscow when with the

Sixth P division was a formidable leader without bothering to consult the local authorities he ordered his men to seize the fuel Reserves at the town of Bohol to fill their tanks going ahead of his men in the only half track his Camp grouper had been allowed he reported to

Bit’s headquarters at o200 that morning petrick’s SSA announced n rather disparagingly as someone from the Army pitri who in any case enjoyed good relations with the regular army was certainly pleased to see him he needed every unit possible and Gaz with his four paner Grenadier companies would

Also receive a platoon of assault guns and a company of seven Mark 3i and eight Mark for tanks from a driver training school in beeld Modell’s plan was not not just to block the rest of the first Airborne Division from reaching the arnam road bridge it was to crush it between two

Forces he had sent instructions during the night by teleprinter to Geral Christensen the verar commander-in-chief Netherlands his forces under General von were to attack the air landed enemy from the West and Northwest and link up with two SS panacor on the Northern side Teta had done little on the 17th of September

Apart from telling stor F Hela to take his SS V Battalion from Ams for concentration camp to AA Hela no doubt regretting the abrupt farewell to his mistress somehow imagined that the British were advancing West towards him when they were pushing East to arnam his guard Battalion which had been promised

It would never have to fight was starting to dwindle even before a shot was fired a third of them deserted on the way or soon after their first taste of combat a far more reliable unit was the SS unula commanded by obur Hans lier while

Lier waited at greber for his own men to arrive he was given a naval contingent Shi stum up tyong 10 whose Commander warned him that his men had no infantry training and a so-called fleo horse Battalion of lraa ground crew whose military experience had been limited to Rolling fuel drums lippard’s growing but

Very mixed force was designated the vist grouper supposedly the counterpart to the far more powerful OST grouper based on the horn stalen division bitri rashly predicted that with a Counterattack from both East and West the enemy forces would be destroyed on the 19th of September aware that only a small

Proportion of the Airborne Division had reached the bridge pitri ordered harus Hornen to concentrate all available forces on building two blocking lines to ensure that no more British troops got through Miller’s Pioneer Battalion of the horn stafen had already taken up position on the Eastern edge of IG along

The railway line which ran South to nean his was the force which had repulsed Doby’s first Battalion in the night around us frightened people in houses looked at us with hostile Expressions he wrote We dug in amid this Jungle of Gardens and Villas like imitation Chateau of Hedges and fences

And ouses they were soon reinforced with a divisional flag Detachment Beyond them Miller had positioned another company commanded by obum furos in and around a large house on the corner of the utri partly concealed by thick roaded endin bushes so while hars as Hornen faced West to block the rest of the first

Airborne the bulk of harls fburg division was ordered to destroy resistance at the bridge as soon as possible so that reinforcements could be sent south to ensure the defense of Nan the only alternative route was round to the East and then to Ferry troops and

Vehicles across the N rain at Paden 2 km north of the river Val the first Battalion of the 21st SS P Grenadier Regent was ordered to secure key buildings just to the north of the bridge one company had a single half track which pan grenadiers usually called a rolling coffin a British six

Pounder armor piercing round went through one side and out the other leaving little damage except for two round holes amazed at their luck they pulled back rapidly we all acted like Heroes for each other’s benefit a p Grenadier called horse Viber admitted when actually inside we were quivering with

Fear their company was ordered to occupy the imposing Courthouse the pales fusti convinced that British paratroopers had occupied it they wheeled up their anti-tank gun and simply blasted a side wall at Point Blank range until they had a breach large enough to enter a soldier from the

Paner regiment in the company who was simply known as pansam man because he still wore his black uniform was the first through the hole it was a large building with marble columns in the hall and many cellers but no British they set up their machine guns to cover the

Valborg Strat and the marketplace another member of his Battalion saw some Dutch civilians during the fighting they came out on the street to bandage the w wounded we used to try and avoid shooting them although this was not always possible at the Northern end of the road

Bridge Frost Force stood too Before Dawn on that Monday morning with spare magazines to hand and grenades ready primed they waited to see what daylight would bring a cold Mist Rising off the rine almost obscured the bridge wrote a member of the morto platoon his Lieutenant decided to set up his

Observation post on the top of the warehouse facing the bridge where the battalion’s vica’s machine guns were installed their ugly snots were a little back from the windows in the shadows but they still had a very fine Field of Fire while awaiting the inevitable German Counterattack the machine gun

Crews busied themselves on needless little tasks in the tense atmosphere but when the mortar platoon Commander checked the line they had just laid down to the field telephone in one of the motor pits he found that the handset they had brought with them did not work he flung it against the wall with

Fearful swearing they had to try another method with a paratrooper taking down the range he estimated from the map and then shouting it down to the back of the building to the mortar pits dug in on the grass Islands either side of the main road several German trucks whose drivers

Seemed unaware of recent developments around the bridge were shot to pieces with rapid fire from Bren guns rifles and STS the soldiers on board who were not killed were taken prisoner several of them came from a V2 rocket group but naturally did not admit that to their

Captors the pat teams and the crews of six pounder anti-tank guns held back they knew better than to waste ammunition on softskin vehicles the American OSS officer Lieutenant Harvey Todd with the jedar team was installed in the Attic of Brigade headquarters as he recounted in his after battle report

I had a good observation post and sniper position in the raft of a building near a small window in the roof overlooking the road and the bridge I killed three Germans here as they tried to cross the road one badly wounded German noted a mortan pulled himself with his hands to

Within a couple of yards of safety and then was dispatched by one of our own snipers who had been following his progress with detached interest at 0900 just out of sight of the southern part of the bridge a column of some 20 Vehicles was forming up from Storm furus Grier’s reconnaissance

Battalion of the horn Dophin Grier had briefly halted on the bridge just out of view round his neck he wore the RS which he had received the day before gner was known to despise half measures evidently convinced that a sudden attack at full speed would do the trick he raised his

Arm all the drivers began revving their engines gner gave the signal and all the vehicles accelerated forward Puma Armored Cars the latest version of the wheer led the way followed by open half tracks and finally Opel Blitz trucks with only sandbags as protection for the soldiers on board a signaler up in an

Attic shouted armor cars coming across the bridge Frost experienced an irrational surge of hope that this might be the Vanguard of 30 core arriving ahead of time but he was swiftly disabused he and his men watched in Fascination as the column had to slow down to weave its way through the burned

Out trucks on the Northern ramp the paratroopers expected the leading vehicles to blow up on the necklace of anti-tank mines they had laid across the bridge but the first four pumers firing their 50 mm guns and machine guns accelerated away past them into the town determined to make up for their

Slow start Frost paratroopers finally reacted with every rifle Bren and Sten gun available the mortar Braton and the vica’s Machine Guns also opened up with devastating effect the anti-tank gunners from the light regiment found their range and the next seven Vehicles were hit and set Ablaze gb’s men having never

Experienced to battle in such a confined space tried to escape but Vehicles crashed into each other a half track backed into the one behind and they became locked the open half tracks proved to be death traps their ambushes were able to fire down and lob grenades into both the driver and paner Grenadier

Compartments one tried to escape down the side Bank of the ramp and smash smashed into the school building another crashed through a barrier and fell to the Riverside road which ran under the bridge some of those trapped on the bridge jumped from the parapet into the

Nid rine GNA himself is said to have been killed when he climbed out of his captured Humber armored car to try to sort out the chaos the smell of roasted flesh permeated the air for hours afterwards mixed with the stench of the oily black smoke from the Blazing Vehicles Grier’s body was never

Identified among all the other carbonized corpses Lieutenant Todd up in the roof shouted down targets to the six- pounder anti-tank crew below several German infantry men tried to cross the bridge but from my op I couldn’t miss he reported killed six as they tried to cross the roadblock along

The banister of the bridge then someone spotted me a sniper’s bullet came through the window and glanced off my helmet but glass and splinters from the window were in my eyes and face Todd was taken down to the aid station in the cellar the paratrooper who took over his

Position in the roof was wearing his maroon Berry instead of a helmet a German sniper saw it and killed him maai sapers in the school building had no anti-tank weapons so they could do no more than fire their personal weapons and throw grenades down into the

Backs of half tracks at one point mortar shells began to fall on the school but Makai quickly realized that they were being fired out by one of their own teams seize fire you stupid bastards he yelled we’re over here here major Lewis in the same building recorded that they

Could hear a badly wounded German Soldier who must have crawled from one of the burning half tracks calling for his mother they could not see him but the calls went on for most of the day and half the night until he felt silent it was a ghostly feeling Lewis

Recalled once the Furious firing had died down the defiant wo Mohammed rang out this was the the first parachute brigade’s war cry from North Africa suned was reverberating all around that bridge maai recorded it would follow almost every engagement from then on because it was also a good

Way of establishing which buildings the defender still held when the cheering ended all that could be heard was a siren howling away will we be getting overtime for this sir called a platoon Joker The Whistle just gone after only a short pause the Germans launched another attack from the

Opposite direction with infantry several half tracks and intense mortifier the pat teams and anti-tank gun Crews accounted for another four armored vehicles but the desperate calls for stretcher bearers indicated a heavy toll of British casualties too when there were not enough stretchers the wounded were carried on

Doors ripped from their hinges to The Cellar under Brigade headquarters it began to fill rapidly the two doctors captains Logan and Wright and their orderlies were overwhelmed with work but there was no hope of evacuating any wounded to 16 par field ambulance in the St Elizabeth Hospital the dead were

Stacked in a yard behind Brigade headquarters Colonel Frost wondered how on Earth they were going to feed their increasing bag of prisoners one of them held in the cellers of the government building was identified as a hob furer in the ninth paner division hen stalen Frost went down to ask him what

The SS panor divisions were doing in Aram I thought you were supposed to be finished after the fet Gap Frost said the SS officer replied that they might have received a good beating there but they had been refitting around appledorn we are the first installment he told Frost confidently and you can expect

More although firing died away from time to time any movement between houses could be dangerous with German Riflemen constantly waiting for targets British paratroopers noted that German Marksmanship was very bad in the initial engagements perhaps because they were so tense the malta Braton Commander at the top of the building with the vicus

Machine guns was able to work out the ranges easily from a map he soon had his 3-in mortars Below in the weapon pits dropping their bombs on the German vehicles gathered at the South End of the bridge through his binoculars he could watch several direct hits with Fierce satisfaction that such a successful

Stonk but by the afternoon canos K grouper including the paner company from beld had assembled just to the east of the bridge ramp in a Dairy on the vest of wake using that street and the one parallel running along the line they attacked houses held by Digby tther mors

A company although They seized two buildings and penetrated on to the bridge Nast was clearly shaken on losing three out of his four company commanders in the Savage battle while with the fighting at the bridge several British groups besieged close to the center and a major battle developing west of the St

Elizabeth Hospital the city of arnam had become even more of a Battleground than many of its inhabitants realized those in the northern part of arnam had no idea of what was happening in the center and towards the bridge they assumed that the fighting that they could hear was

South of the nidar rain those who went off to try to by Bread returned rapidly looking as white as death because of the shooting in the streets many buildings including the two Barracks the vams Cerna and the sax and verar Cerna as well as the big verar

Depot were still on fire much of the Town Center was also blazing what sounded like heavy rain turned out to be the crackle of flames one man wrote the Germans convinced that enemy spotters or snipers were in the huge Tower of St cus known as thek kept shooting at it the

Company of the 21st puner grenadiers even began firing at the tower with their 75 mm anti-tank gun the noise it made in these narrow streets was deafening the reverberations seemed to go on endlessly several people saw the hands of the large clock on the church spin round crazily as if time were racing

By from Den Brink round to the Grim facade of the C Elizabeth Hospital and Beyond the Germans had the advantage of The High Ground the first and third parachute battalions struggled in vain to depose them to make matters worse as they tried to attack North around the Y

Junction they were exposed to the fire of German flag batteries positioned on the South Bank of the nidar rain and ahead of them a German Mark for paner an assault gun or an armored car would emerge to Shell them then pull back quickly as soon as they saw a six-

Pounder anti-tank gun deployed a platoon commander in the first Battalion was at first encouraged by their progress advancing on High Ground he joted in his diary ordered to capture the hill in front with houses and a wool factory with high chimneys got the houses had a good shoot from a house still occupied

By screaming Dutch what a row little girl about 10 years of age from another house hit shot in thigh my Medics attended her but we had to hold the mother off as she went berserk Huns running but then the attack flagged and the reinforced Germans came back hit by

A sniper and then by a machine gun platoon commanders were suffering a terrible attrition rate Under Fire from across the river wrote another cut off German grenade in the arm and in the eye it was just like being stabbed with a red hot needle I was very frightened because I thought I was

Blind there were many grizzly sights smoke and fire darkened the streets broken glass and broken vehicles and debris littered the road a paratrooper with the first Battalion described the smoldering body of a lieutenant ahead of them a tracer bullet had ignited the phosphorus bomb in one of his pouches

And he had burned to death a distra father was seen pushing a hand card with the body of a child a dead civilian in blue overalls lay in the gutter the water from a burst man lapping gently around his body there were also bizarre moments in the middle of this battle a Dutchman

Stepped out of his house and asked two British soldiers in English if they would like a cup of tea a little further back along the Route they had come the bodies of British paratroopers lay everywhere many of them behind trees or poles Albert Horseman of the arnam

Underground recorded he then saw a man about middle-aged who wore a hat this man went to every dead soul Soldier lifted his heart and stood in silence for a few seconds there was something terribly chaplinesque about the scene Horseman concluded the confused fighting meant that there were many stragglers from

Both the first and third parab battalions regimental Sergeant Major John C Lord an imposing Mustachio Grenadier recruited by Boy Browning and known as Lord Jesus Christ by the paratroopers was trying to get a grip on the situation around the St Elizabeth Hospital when stuck by a German bullet

It felt exactly like i’ been hit in the arm by a hammer he recorded the impact spun him round and he landed flat on his back my arm was paralyzed and bleeding badly but strangely enough it did not hurt Lord was carried into the hospital where he soon acquired a deep admiration

For the professionalism and Good Humor of the nurses none of them had opted to leave even while the battle raged around the hospital and the building was hit by heavy flag shells from across the river one of the German nuns was spoon feeding a 90-year-old man when his head was

Literally severed by a shell which must have passed within millimeters of the nun Frozen in horrified disbelief she sat there staring with the plate still in her hand because of the heavy firing Dutch doctors began transferring their civilian patients to the Dean House a clinic outside the Battleground to

Identify themselves they wore sheets and helmets painted white with a red cross sister f thought they looked like Crusaders soon after midday a still optimistic pitri estimated the frost force of the bridge was only around 120 strong the British may have suffered a lot of casualties that morning but the

Fburg was not going to destroy them as quickly as he had hoped at the road bridge Tony Hibbert the Brigade major suggested that in Laury’s absence lieutenant colonel Frost should become acting Brigade Commander while his second in command should take over the Battalion they hoped that this

Would be a very temporary measure one of frost radio operators picked up the net of 30 core the signal sounded so strong that they assumed they could not be very far off Frost and his officers imagined that the arrival of the guards Armored Division was only a matter of hours

Away chapter 13 arnum the second lift Monday the 18th of September divisional headquarters had spent the night by The Landing ground Beyond volher with little idea of what was happening at dawn there was still no sign of General urut nor any report about where he might be so his chief of

Staff Colonel McKenzie and his fellow officers decided to move towards arnam they assumed that urer had spent the night with the first parachute Brigade headquarters Mckenzie was not too concerned but the lack of radio contact and information troubled him McKenzie and the chief artillery officer Lieutenant Colonel Robert ler

Simmons went in search of Brigadier Hicks whom they found just after 0600 hours in a house on the Trix ofik they persuaded him to take over command of the division until eret or lathbury reappeared hi also agreed to their recommendation that he should push another Battalion through to reinforce

Frost’s second Battalion at the bridge they suggested sending the second Battalion the South safer regiment forward even though it lacked two companies the rest could follow on as soon as they landed by glider a further reinforcement in the push to break through to the bridge could be the 11th parachute Battalion from hackett’s

Fourth parachute Brigade which was due to drop at100 hours the 11th Battalion was chosen because its dropping zone was the closest to Anam well aware of Brigadier hackett’s volatile temperament McKenzie knew that he would not take this well nor the news that hicks to whom hacket was senior had taken command of the

Division Hicks himself did not welcome his temporary promotion it was a bad moment because the officer in line to replace him with the head of first airlanding brigade had fallen to pieces simply lost his nerve another Colonel had to be found from divisional headquarters hix found the situation at divisional headquarters somewhat

Confusing with missing command ERS bad Communications and a lack of clarity about the situation the only certainty was that the German reaction had been quick and fierce it was one of the worst few hours I have ever spent in my life hi admitted later the staffords did not set off

Until 0930 hours there seemed to have been no great sense of urgency because they followed the standard routine of 50 minutes marching to 10 minutes rest they lost several men from strafing mesman on their way through IG and later when they reached the railway embankment defended by Miller’s Pioneer Battalion they

Suffered rather more casualties then just like their predecessors they had to switch to the Lower Road close to the narain and they also came under heavy German fire from Den Brink they were not to make contact with the first and third parachute battalions near the St Elizabeth Hospital until nearly 1900 hours that

Evening moving that morning with divisional headquarters towards OST big was the usaaf officer Lieutenant Bruce E Davis of the 306th fighter control Squadron his role was to task Allied aircraft in support of ground troops about 10:30 we spoted some 60 planes flying quite high he reported later thinking they were typhoons we

Tried to contact them by VHF to have them make a wky for us we were a bit humiliated or rather frustrated when instead they suddenly dove and came in strafing turning out to be me 109’s the other two battalions still defending the landing and Drop Zones for

The arrival of the second lift the Kings own Scottish borderers and the Border regiment were already under attack by Dawn since they were spread over a large area and surrounded by woods they found it almost impossible to defend the zones effectively a company of the Border regiment had renum had to withdraw into

A brick works when surrounded by the shift stum up tyong 10 the commander fatan captin Ferdinand Kaiser complained that his men were armed with old Mouser rifles and a French Hotchkiss machine gun from the first world war their K grouper leader Oban fura lier came to

See him during this engagement when a m shell exploded close to them I flew into a bush hit in the thigh by a piece of shrapnel an SS man who received a whole Splinter salad in the face screamed loudly that he couldn’t see anything everyone else was unscathed

Kaiser was evacuated to the German military Hospital in appledorn where surgeons were operating for 24 hours at a stretch it was atrocious he recounted the Border company heavily outnumbered had to escape later having lost six jeeps and both its anti-tank guns to their North R GLE Heath a

Company of the Scottish borders was attacked at dawn by a company of helis ss Von nvest an isolated platoon out of radio contact was cut off and forced to surrender as a result these Dutch SS were in position to fire directly at hagget’s Fourth parachute Brigade when it dropped later in the day

Another company of the borders feared better knocking out a half track with the first round from one of their six- pounder anti-tank guns by midm morning even Battalion headquarters staff were taking part in bayonet charges to push back German Marauders Adrian be May a Dutch Commando officer attached to their intelligence

Section found himself in heavy fighting one of B mayor’s tasks was to interrogate enemy captives he was ashamed to discover that there were many Dutchmen he identified them as H SS vak batalion from armord one of the prisoners was a h toau who had been a servant of the former Kaiser at Dorne

Around 1100 hours both battalions survived strafing attacks from yag 2 Fighters but Tracer round started dangerous fires on the heathland where the parat tupas and gliders were to land the Loafer’s belated entry into battle that morning had been accelerated by Hitler’s Fury at its unimpressive performance the day before footnote the

L trafa Chief of Staff described another hitlerian rant that morning the furer becomes violent with rage about the failure of the luffer wants to know immediately how many and what fighter forces are committed for the defense of Holland my telephone call to larich revealed that only minor forces were

Committed the fura used my report as an excuse for the severest reprimands the entire Luft raffer which is incompetent and cowardly had deserted him end of footnote some 300 meser SMI me 109s and F of wolf 190s were allocated most of them however were held back with Pilots sitting being strapped

In their cockpits waiting for a radio signal from The besieged Garrison in dkirk to warn them of another Airborne Armada approaching the weather was clear but because there was no radio contact with Browning’s headquarters Brigadier Hicks had no idea that bad visibility in England had delayed their departure

General Bon had warned Eisenhower that whether in the United Kingdom is often different from weather on the continent which was another reason why the Airborne bases should have been moved to France the ARs literally dragged by Hicks recorded the weight was made even more intolerable by the lack of clear

Information on the situation of the bridge and the fighting around the St Elizabeth Hospital but a clear account would have been hard to come by in the confusion of the fighting the hospital was taken by the Germans who marched off most of the 16th parachute field ambulance as prisoners leaving only the

Surgical teams in place the British reoccupied it in the evening but failed to hold it for long while the Vanguard of the third parachute Battalion waited close to the St Elizabeth Hospital for its other companies to catch up the flag guns across the river as well as mortar and

Small Arms fire from The High Ground above forced them to take shelter when pinned down in houses on the north side of the utri of IG the only response to the self-propelled assault guns trundling down the road was to hurl a gam grenade from a window both Brigadier

Lathbury and general urer were also unable to move they were in the house in the Alexander Strat which ran parallel to the utri right up to the side of the C Elizabeth Hospital only at 1500 hours did the rest of the Battalion catch up bringing a Bren gun carrier full of much needed

Ammunition major Peter Wy was killed as he insisted on helping to unload it the officer casualty rate was alarming and contributed greatly to the confusion later Colonel Fitch still determined to reach the bridge decided that the only chance was to attack to the north and move along the railway line but the intensity

Of German Firepower forced back any attempt with Reckless bravery rury and Ur appeared in the open hoping to find a way forward a burst of machine gun fire caught lathbury in the thigh oard and two other officers dragged him to a small house where a courageous local

Couple took them in a German appeared in the door away a moment later OT managed to draw his service pistol rapidly and fired two rounds into him They Carried lathbury down into the cellar of the house then UT and the two other officers slipped out of the back entrance their

Escape did not take them away from the Germans in fact it had trapped them the commander of the first Airborne Division burning with impatience and frustration would have to spend the second night of the battle hiding in an attic even though 16 par field ambulance was still operating in the St Elizabeth

Hospital the fighting all around made it almost impossible to evacuate any more wounded there a solution had to be found further back in OST hria fist whose father owned the hotel schort described how a British doctor arrived in a jeep he asked straight out can you turn this

Hotel into a hospital within an hour she explained that it was in a terrible mess from the Germans using it as a Billet he told her to recr recruit people off the street if necessary when they heard neighbors hurried to help clean the place an hour later patients began to be

Brought in on stretchers straw and mattresses were put down in the small salon and rows of beds erected in the large Salon the hotel sha nor was a long low building of two stories facing the arnam road on either side of the main entrance were large glass fronted rooms normally

In use as dining room and Bar Lounge the 181st air Landing field ambulance from hix’s Brigade took over both The Shard and the hotel tber which Modell had abandoned the day before the tle be became the surgical Annex with portable operating tables set up in offices the shut was only 300 M from

Divisional headquarters in the hotel hartenstein but its prominent position beside the utav would render it very vulnerable later other young Dutch women helped in any way they could even though some of the patients were so disfigured by their wounds that it was hard to look at them they lit cigarettes for them

Which was usually their first request while the second was to take down a letter for their families as best they could in English the letter writers could not help crying when it became clear that the most Gravely hit were dictating their farewell among the first casualties brought in were those from an improvised

Aid Center in a warehouse down by the river which had been hit by a strike from a NE ver for of multibarreled mortars on the Southern Bank while Ard remained absent from his division SS brigard fur haml had returned that morning from Berlin to the frur forward command post at Velp on the

Eastern edge of Aram thank God your back was how he claims his acting Chief of Staff greeted him bitri had been giving orders to the frsbg in H’s absence HL rang bitri then went to see Shand fura harer at the horn staff and Command Post in North Aram pulling rank

Over the more Junior harer who was briefing him on the situation HL suddenly said I’m ordered to go down to neagan with my division do you have the Bridge open yet get rid of those tomies hatza me hatza claims to have replied I’m seeing to it that the paratroopers

Don’t get into Iram I don’t have time to take care of the bridge at the same time ARA was clearly taken a to find that haml is still did not have a clear idea of their respective responsibilities and had to explain the situation clearly again HL was particularly angry at

Grier’s wild goose chase with the horen staff and reconnaissance Battalion towards nean because after it had been totally shot to pieces on the bridge mitrick then told his division to hand over its reconnaissance Battalion to the ninth H staffen he found Grier’s conduct utterly inexplicable and now the burning

Half tracks are distributed the whole length of the bridge and are blocking the width of the carriageway he went off in an armored vehicle to have a look at the fighting for the North End of the bridge I could see a Dead Soldier lying there whom we

Had not been able to remove because he was in the English line of fire there were a lot of snipers I decided that the only way to take care of them was by using heavy guns on the houses there was artillery there and I ordered them to

Fire starting right under the gables and shooting meter by meter until the house collapsed German artillery at that moment in central arnam consisted of a single 150 mm gun its crew started against the buildings on the west side of the wide aabus bin single which led to the bridge

It was the best and the most effective artillery fire I have ever seen the young P Grenadier horse vber recorded they shot meter by meter starting from the top buildings would finally collapse like dolls houses Frost started thinking of ways to mount a sudden raid to knock the gun out

When a lucky shot from either a Howitzer or a mortar killed the crew and rendered the gun unserviceable another thread was the arrival of German 40 mm flag guns south of the river they proceeded to destroy the roofs of the building from where the vicker’s machine guns controlled the

Bridge it was not long before the building itself caught fire and the Machine Gun platoon had to escape to find new positions yet the 7 5 mm hoers of the light regiment were still being directed onto their targets by Major mford acting as a forward observation officer he had

Been careful when ranging in to keep their fire on the approaches and away from the bridge itself which they needed intact for 30 core after a long wait out by the landing and Drop Zones AO engines could finally be heard just before, 1400 hours A Cry of relief went up they’re here the

127 c47 dtas carrying hackett’s fourth parachute Brigade were heading for hinkel Heath which the king’s own Scottish borderers were struggling to defend another 261 gliders having dropped their toe ropes headed for the landing zones they were bringing the rest of the divisional headquarters and its Personnel together with vehicles the

Rest of the light regiment Royal artillery part of the Polish anti-tank Squadron and the remainder of the air Landing Brigade including the last companies of the South staffords they were followed by another 31 RAF Sterlings to drop supplies the greatly increased Luft raffer present kept the raf’s 259 Spitfires Tempest Mustangs and

Mosquitoes busy even though there were fewer Flack batteries to knock out on the second day The Eighth Air Force clashed with 90 Mees SMI 109s losing 18 aircraft while the RAF lost six Airborne casualties in the crossing had been comparatively light but the drop when the landing operation received

A much warmer reception than we did on the preceding day Lieutenant Davis noted his American team was still trying to contact Allied aircraft on VHF but without any success having worked out where the follow-up Drop Zones would be the Germans had redeployed all available flag guns the paratroopers preparing to

Jump felt a sickening Lurch every time a flag shell exploded nearby Captain Frank King in the 11th parachute Battalion recounted how as they approached in their c47 he noticed that the American Crew Chief had fallen asleep slumped back with his chin on his chest he moved

Over to shake him and found the man was dead there was a hole in the fuselage behind him King stood in the doorway and noticed that the other aircraft in their formation were gaining altitude while theirs was not then he saw that one of the engines was on fire he turned and

Shouted to company sergeant major Gatland at the other end of the the stick we’re on fire check with the pilot as Gatland opened the door to the cockpit a blast of flame came through and he slammed it shut King ordered the stick to jump immediately and led the

Way they were in a shallow dive only some 200 ft up which meant that their shoots hardly had time to open most of them suffered severe jarring as they hit the ground at speed one man’s shoot did not open at all major Blackwood also with the 11th Battalion kept a detail

Diary at 1355 the pilot gave me the red light and I ordered action stations I had a good but not comforting view from my position at the door black was now gingerly close we passed over a wood at some 1500 ft and the whole edge of that wood erupted into flame holes appeared

In the port Wing but with no material effect two of our Battalion planes were hit about now and went down in flames even though they flew into a barrage fire the pilots were flying magnificently in formation I got my green light at 1410 hours I gave my stick a final hidey high

And heard their Yelp as I jumped but the jerk of the shoot opening tore luc’s weapon bundle and he lost his St gun magazines two 24-hour ration packs and toilet kit I watched it crash to Earth footnote each 24-hour ration pack contained meat cubes concentrated oatmeal boiled sweets plain chocolate

Cigarettes badine tablets and a powder of tea leaves sugar and dried milk Ready Mixed for the addition of hot water end footnote he then noticed that his parachute contained a modum of bullet holes they were under Fire from a German machine gun at the edge of the wood and

Mortar shells were falling men were coming down dead in the harness and others were hit before they could extricate themselves Blackwood sent his men into action as soon as they were on their feet to attack the Dutch SS young Morris gleefully brought in a sniper about twice his size he

Noted German fire also caused casualties on Landing Zone x 2 km west of volher several gliders were set a blaze confirming their nickname of matchboxes the glider pilot Padre the Reverend GA peir seized a Red Cross flag and ran out into the open accompanied by stretcher bearers five of the gliders

Were just ashes bodies could be seen on the grass the first man was dead another groaned in thankfulness I moved to the next body I waved my hand and the Jeep came out of the wood with the other bearers the casualties had all been shot

In the bag as they tried to get to shelter none of the lighters had been unloaded the last man I came to was beside a dead body I found to my astonishment that he was not wounded but prostrate with grief at the death of his pal

And was unwilling to leave him I spoke rather sharply to him and a bearer assisted him off on the Heath with its Sandy tracks staff sergeant Les Freer saw a burned out Jeep and next to it what looked like a charred sack of flow he proted it with

His foot and then recoiled in horror when he saw it was a human torso one ligher had tipped onto its nose and the vehicle inside crushed the pilot and co-pilot who were still alive but completely trapped they could be given shots of morphine but later it was said that since nothing

Could be done to release them there was no alternative someone shot one or both of them to put them out of their misery apparently a major in the South staffords was also found lying with his leg shredded in agher Crash and he too begged to be shot there were similar gruesome

Episodes on the Drop Zone a platoon commander in the 156th Battalion had been hit by 20 m me to Tracer bullets and by the time his soldiers reached him smoke was coming from his chest wounds he was in such terrible pain that he begged him to shoot him so we handed him

His cocked pistol one of them recounted and he shot himself thanks to that morning’s fires on the heathland and German mortifier ammunition canisters were exploding just after they landed at the Battalion rendevu Point Major John Wy was told by his company sergeant major that one of his platoon commanders lieutenant John

Davidson had not arrived it appeared that Davidson who broke his leg very badly when landing on a patch of the Heather which was Ablaze had shot himself before the fire ignited the phosphorous grenades he was carrying a number of paratroopers whose shoots had caught in the tops of trees on the far

Side of the heath became helpless targets for Hiller’s Dutch SS the five polish anti-tank gun Crews who landed by glider were determined to get into action as soon as possible they had not even been distracted of the Airfield field near Salsbury when young wafs had smiled at them when handing out

Rations they are young and pretty a Polish paratrooper wrote in his diary We Are Young too but our only thoughts are focused on the fact that we have had no report on the first contingent Landing Pathfinders from the 21st independent parachute company remained at the Landing grounds to help the new

Arrivals and to kill Germans a British member of the company was sted by the hatred of one of our German Jews as he emptied a whole Sten magazine into a German there were reasons for harshness round Kinkle Heath Sergeant Stanley solivan found three young boys between

The ages of 12 and 14 all dead lying spread eagled on the ground wearing orange armbands probably victims of the SS guard Battalion from armers for in their own Civil War a Dutch officer attached to hackett’s headquarters was angry to see British soldiers giving cigarettes to some Dutch SS traitors all whom they

Were guarding a Polish liazon officer was equally irritated when one of the prisoners complained loudly about something he stroe over and threatened him into instant silence the Pathfinder Commander the middle-aged but extremely tough major Bob Wilson described how his men heard Germans shouting from the adjoining wood calling on them to surrender they

Shouted back that they were too frightened and would they come and get them 60 Germans came out and they were mowed down by two BRS firing from a distance of about 150 yards they died screaming a German large speaker van moved up and started playing music a

Voice announced that a pcer division was advancing towards them that their Commanding General had been captured and that they would be treated well if they surrendered somebody managed to silence it with a pead bomb there were lighter moments Major John Wy recounted how they captured a soldier in German uniform just after

After landing we were interrogating them in painful school boy German and after 5 minutes he asked in perfect English do you speak English he was a pole Colonel McKenzie ord’s Chief of Staff found hacket on the landing Zone and told him straight out that hicks had taken over look here Charles hacket

Replied I am Senior to Hicks and should therefore assume command of the division I quite understand sir McKenzie replied died but the general did give me the order of succession and furthermore Brigadier Hicks has been here 24 hours and is much more familiar with the situation ‘s failure before leaving

England to inform the brigadiers of his designated successor now proved an unnecessary distraction he had given priority to Hicks because he had more experience handling infantry battalions on the ground Than hacket The Dashing Young cavalryman Aid was also unhappy that he had not been consulted in a Advance

About the transfer of the 11th Battalion but seemed to accept the arrangement McKenzie then went to the hotel honstein and went upstairs to get some rest half an hour later he was told that he had better come downstairs because the two brigaders Hicks and hacket were having a flaming R McKenzie prepared to

Support Hicks entirely found that the storm was over hackit had vented his irritation and accepted the new status quo the 11th parachute Battalion did not set off quite as smartly as it might have done towards arnam along the amster THS of Stuart morson the Battalion doctor was called to tend to Major

Richard Lonsdale the second in command and a formidable Warrior but Londale who had been badly wounded in the hand while still in the aircraft was more interested in looking at the map morson warned him that he might lose the use of his hand if it were not treated properly

But Lonsdale told him to stop flapping around like a wet hen and showed no interest to try to persuade him to regard his wound from a medical point of view morson wrote was as useless as passing a bottle of milk around the Sergeant’s mes according to Major Blackwood the 11th Battalion did not

Move off towards arnam until dusk picking up on Route our transport and anti-tank guns which had landed very successfully by glider we had little opposition in this phase bar snipers and could appreciate the Esquire nude by Vargas which some fearful idiot had pinned to a tree with a couple of

Bayonets other sources indicate an earlier departure at around 1700 hours but that was still nearly 3 hours after landing the rest of hackett’s Brigade The 156th and the 10th battalions were no quicker departing partly due to the chaos of the landing ground on renom Heath where it was proving very

Difficult to extricate Jeeps from smashed gliders casualties is needed to be treated and the field ambulance es called Ed eastwards morson noted that his patients seemed more surprised about their wounds than her hacket pointed out that he had lost 200 men either in the air or on Landing

Which represented a tenth of his Brigade strength before the battle had even started yet UT’s absence and the r between the two brigadiers was presumably also a factor in the delay the 10th Battalion soon followed the 156th along the railway tracks towards arnam the plan was to force their way

Forward between the railway line and the Amsterdam sik to the north seizing The High Ground at koal things were no better ahead the first and third parachute battalions had suffered significant losses and were tied down just west of the Cent Elizabeth Hospital those who had not been there

Including the two brigadiers back at the hotel Harin in IG had no idea what a choke point the area offered for the Germans to trap troops try trying to fight their way into arnam on the far side of the arnam road bridge German troops began searching houses in this Southern extension of the

Town they were clearly on edge and this made them dangerous most of the German infantry were no older than 17 or 18 smoking heavily with great bravado one of the inhabitants stated some looked nervously around an older Soldier came walking up with about five of these children pale

And upset they followed him like dogs you could really see that these boys were totally dependent on this older man five German soldiers and a felt vable came into the garden of a neighbor and ordered me and four other men up against a wall they told us we would be

Shot as they had been fired on from the direction of our houses a neighbor of mine who was rather German orientated started talking to the Fel table he raised two fingers and claimed under oath that nobody had been shooting from our block the soldiers left and we were deeply

Relieved around the British Perimeter at the North End of the bridge the moral of the young paner grenadiers was high even if they were still frightened underneath we were raring to fight HSE vber recorded the paner grenadiers were helmeted heavily armed with their MP 40 submachine guns and grenades and wearing

Their buffin SS camouflage smoks similar to the British Airborne ones but more leopardy looking as an English Sergeant put it they had been encouraged by the dejected expressions of the locals as they marched in a short while before the Dutch had greeted the British like Victors Viber said proudly now they

Scurried away as we approached but in retrospect he had to confess we were only little boys playing at being soldiers we were idiots but we were absolutely convinced that we would win in the late afternoon the 10th SS reconnaissance Battalion a far weaker Force than Griers arrived red to join

The battle of the bridge the fighting in this part of the city increased in severity every hour SS brigard furo haml wrote the enemy appeared to be excellently trained in Street and houset to- house fighting and defended his rapidly established pockets of resistance with great determination Nightfall brought only a

Temporary relief to the British Defenders Colonel Frost went round visiting the different houses he told the men that they could expect 30 core to arrive the next day some considered it our most enjoyable battle as they recounted to each other how many Germans they had killed that

Day but there was little opportunity for rest the Germans managed to set fire to the school on the east side of the ramp that night maai sappers and Lewis’s men fought it with fire extinguishers and even had to beat the Flames with their parachute smars it took them until the

Early hours to bring the blaze under control for the rest of the night the flickering light from other fires made centuries jumpy chapter 14 the American divisions and 30 core Monday the 18th of September Frost Assurance to his men that 30 core would be with them by

Tuesday was sadly far off the mark the Irish guards group convinced by Brigadier guin’s mistaken notion that they need not hurry until the Bridget son was rebuilt moved out of vcon vard at what Joe veler himself described as a leisurely Pace the Germans on the other hand were still rushing in reinforcements General

Obest coach to Dent claimed credit for concentrating against the 101st Airborne on the en Hoven sector the first major formation to be brought in ger liutenant falter Popper’s 59th Infantry Division arrived by real at boxel this was just 10 km Northwest of best where Lieutenant webis platoon was

So dangerously isolated on the bank of the velina canal the 59th was very far from a full strength division the advanced guard had five battalions of fewer than 200 men each their horsedrawn artillery was following on behind by Night marches to avoid Allied aircraft the division’s rear guard was still being brought

Across the Shel and most of their ammunition had been left behind in the breast skins pocket south of the Shel estery the whole division had no more than 100 rounds of 100 5 mm ammunition Montgomery’s failure to secure the north side of the estery had allowed the

Germans to extricate almost all of the 15th Army for use against the Left Flank of operation Market Garden during the night Captain Jones the commander of company H had sent out several patrols to contact Viet Bowski but each one came up against heavy resistance Lieutenant Colonel K the commanding officer of the Third

Battalion was convinced that we Bowski T and the engineers had all been wiped out they’ve been annihilated without a doubt he told his executive officer the coming of dawn allowed wearski a glimpse of their surroundings they were very close to the concrete road bridge and they could just see the

Railroad bridge some 300 M Beyond close to the road bridge was a German Barracks surrounded by trenches and gun pits the moment any of Wow’s men raised his head a fusel a followed immediately they spotted some Germans trying to steal up on them from some trees where

Bski told his men to hold their fire until the last moment and then they caused Carnage at about 1000 hours a German officer arrived in a car he issued some orders then left soon afterwards there was a massive explosion the Germans had now blown the bridge at best the

American paratroopers had to duck down in their foxholes as chunks of concrete rained down with the radio out of action we Bowski could not warn either Captain Jones or Battalion headquarters by then many of his men were wounded and though they could be patched up by their medic there was no

Prospect of evacuating them to make matters worse they were then strafed by their own P-47 Thunderbolts whose Pilots ignored the orange smoke grenade they set off to identify themselves yet in the course of the day webski and his men managed to inflict far more casualties on the Germans than

They had suffered themselves his bazooka team even managed to knock out one of the 88 mm guns along the canal in the afternoon they heard vehicle engines and assumed they were German reinforcements instead they were thrilled to see on the other side of the canal a British armored car and a scout

Car from the household Cavalry Regiment this half troop scared off the nearest Germans with machine gun fire shouting across the canal webski asked them to come contact the 101st Airborne By Radio to warn them that the bridge had been destroyed but the armad car radio operator could not raise them instead

The Corporal of horse in charge reported back to his own Squadron asking the message to be relayed to the Americans unable to evacuate webas wounded the household Cavalry troop gave them all their medical supplies and spare ammunition and these were fed across in a dilapidated Robo later another platoon from Captain

Jones’s company appeared and its Commander Lieutenant Nick matala agreed to dig in on the Left Flank of we bossk’s position the British reconnaissance troop assuming that the embattled platoon was now safe moved on but web’s experience of encircled combat was far from over fortunately three of

His men made a prowl during which they captured a German officer and two Medics they were put to work looking after the wounded but there was still no plasma for those those who had lost a lot of blood the commander of the 502nd parachute Infantry Regiment Colonel John

Michelis faced a major problem that day on his Western flank round best which went well beyond the suspected destruction of webski platoon web’s Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole had won the Medal of Honor in the fighting for caror in Normandy against the 17th SS pan Grenadier Division and obis lutant font heas

Falima regt famous for his temper as well as his kindness and bravery Cole was known as the curing Colonel of kanton Cole’s Battalion was tied down in the Sona Forest between Sun and best so micheles sent the second Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel Steve shapi to help extricate it the Germans at this point

Had caught us in some open ground one of Sha’s company commanders wrote and pulled a brilliant strategic move practically Penning the two battalions down the second Battalion was in regimental reserve and we pulled out to attempt to outflank the Germans but chip soon found that advancing across such open and flat

Countryside was Hardo without tank or artillery support the Dutch had been hay making and the fields ahead were covered by these small piles of uncollected hay that was the only cover his report stated they attacked by dashing from Heap to Heap which offered minimal protection Tracer bullets set the hay on

Fire and many men were hit the platoon leaders urged them on those who kept going usually managed to survive those who held back were killed chap eventually had to call it off at least for the time being because they were losing too many men in a day and a half 50% of our

Battalion were casualties the Battalion doctor recorded with a certain exaggeration the true figure was close to half that I had to put wounded men in zigzag trenches and give them PL plasma the fighting was very nasty he claimed that the Germans shot down a medic trying to carry a wounded man and when

They tried to evacuate patients by Jeep with four litters they fired that too even though the Red Cross was plainly marked on that jeep Cole’s force in the woods meanwhile was under heavy artillery fire and Germans were starting to infiltrate their positions despite the risk of

Being hit by their own guns Cole needed air support but a shell had just hit his radio operator in the head and blown his brains out Cole went to the radio and wiped the blood and brains from it it was still working a strike of p47 thunderbolts was

Called in Cole decided to check the recognition panels put out at the edge of the wood to identify their own position he stepped out from the trees put a hand up to Shield his eyes as he searched the sky and a single shot rang out from a house some 200 M away the

Bullet hitting him in the temple went right through his head a German was seen soon afterwards running from a corner of the house he was gunned down and Cole’s men convinced themselves that they had at least got his killer his man placed his body in a foxhole and covered it with an equipment

Shoot chapu men had been forced to dig in where they were we were in a slit trench in an open field and I was on the machine gun when the Germans started attacking across the field one fellow lost all his nerve and started to bang

His head on the side of the trench and cry like a baby the casualties mounted again the Battalion doctor established his aid station in a depression in the ground when we had a patient needing plasma we put him in the lowest part of the depression because he could stand up

There holding the plasma bag without being in the line of machine gun bullets that whipped Through the Trees from north and west after such a battering all the battalions could hope to do was hold on until the next morning and pray for relief the detached first Battalion of the 52nd

At St ooden rer suspected that German forces were gathering to their West around shandel ready to attack so Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy was Furious that morning when seven Jeeps charged through St uden Roda moving like bats out of hell they were heading for shandel and had not bothered to stop to inquire about the

Situation the Germans were even closer than Cassidy imagined the column of jeeps ran straight into Ambush just a couple of kilometers along the road only the last Jeep of this party of War tourists managed to turn around in time and Escape it contained Colonel cartright of the first Allied Airborne

Army who ran back to tell Cassidy to send men immediately they had to save the occupants of the other Jeeps who had thrown themselves into ditches beside the road and were tied down by Machine Gun fire CID was outraged that their pure bullheadedness meant that he would

Have to sacrifice some of his men to to get them out why in hell did you go up that road he demanded cartright replied that a guide had thought it was safe fortunately one of cassid Splatoon commanded by Lieutenant muor had sighted the Jeeps two of which were blazing they

Eventually managed to fight off the Germans in the Ambush and even drove two of the Jeeps back General Taylor on a tour of inspection from son with his communist Bodyguard from Princeton had meanwhile reached Soden Roda when he heard what had happened he told Cassidy don’t send another man out on such a

Mission your assignment is to hold the town completely unaware of the desperate battle the 52nd was fighting round best Colonel sink had left only a platoon and an engineer detail inone as the 506th marched fast due south to enoven most of his regiment had crossed by the improvised foot bridge and

Several Jeeps had been brought across by the raft made with oil oil drums the Third Battalion in the lead came up against artillery mortar and rifle fire at wsel on the Northern edge of enoven Captain John W Kylie was killed by a sniper in a church Tower a

Bazooka rocket then hit the tower and silenced the sniper a Dutch policeman who insisted on accompanying the Third Battalion saw that people were cing in the houses along the wsil S Strat to the dismay of the paratroopers he began shouting these men are not Germans but Americans liberators the last thing the advancing

Paratroopers wanted was people hurrying out of their houses to welcome them and shake their hands and kiss them especially when they were involved in sporadic clashes with the retreating Germans the streets cleared only when a German 88 mm gun in the cluster draf began firing at 1215 hours a troop of the

Household Cavalry Regiment which had circumvented arst and an Hoven met up with Colonel sink in Vel to pass back the news that they had met up with the Screaming Eagles the patrol Commander reported by radio using his own regiment’s nickname in the guards Armored Division stable boys have contacted Feathered

Friends footnote British officers believed that their veiled speech mostly using nicknames cricketing metaphors and school boy slang was impenetrable to German listening stations all too often this was not the case and footnote part of this troop then carried on along the Southern Bank of the Villa helmina Canal towards best and they were

The ones who helped we sp’s platoon soon afterwards thanks to the Dutch telephone service through German lines an American major atson provided all the bridges dimensions for the Royal Engineers Colonel sink then ordered his second Battalion round to the east towards the city center to seize the

Bridges but diverted one company to deal with the 88 mm gun which was causing trouble there turned out to be two the company of paratroopers were Guided by a local man who knew exactly where the guns were positioned just as the Americans were about to attack the first

Gun from two sides Sant Taylor saw a woman gesturing to him urgently from a first floor window she signaled that three Germans were coming Taylor deeply relieved that they had not charged out at that moment pulled back until they had gone past and then took them prisoner from behind a

Squad with rifle grenades led by Lieutenant Hall stalked the battery they had no clear line of sight but one of the rifle grenades struck home then a 60 mm mortar brought up without its base plate and just held steady between a paratrooper legs knocked out the second

Gun even before the wounded gun Crews had been captured in a house just behind the battery people were dancing in the bua marketplace one inhabitant described how how the crowd goes crazy and the boys who are tired and sweaty can hardly get through they have to shake everyone’s

Hand one of sink’s officers wrote Dodge civilians crowded around the troops offering them apples bottles of jam and an occasional nib of Jin the reception was terrific the air seemed to wreak with hatred for the Germans there were more running firefights as American paratroopers continued to clear the town

Which made celebrating civilians start for cover members of the pan partisan and AI Netherland rapidly emerged ready to help people were Amazed by their sudden appearance everywhere you look you see men in blue overalls with armbands saying ban they carry a gun over their shoulders and charge around on

Motorcycles and in cars with flags any remaining German soldiers and NSB men were flushed out of houses and made to lie face down in the street solders soers from the Dutch Army forced to surrender in 1940 reappeared in their old uniforms ready to guard prisoners

After 4 years 4 months and 6 days we are liberated an inhabitant wrote thankfully the fact that they had been woken that morning to find there was no gas or electricity seemed Petty in comparison Colonel sink had been deeply concerned that they might not have the city cleared in time for the guards

Armored Division then at 1300 hours just before General Taylor arrived he heard from Lieutenant Colonel Robert eler of the second Battalion that they had secured all four bridges over the DL and checked them for demolition charges Taylor climbed at church steeple to get a better view of the city he spoke to

Colonel strer By Radio where did you say you are the divisional Commander asked back came the triumphant reply I’m sitting on all the bridges General str’s men had also captured the police station the flags are out everywhere a diarist recorded a jubilant crowd with orange scarves paper hats Etc a dancing in the

Road young men tore down the ve marked signposts and lever off street names which had been changed by the occupiers it was not long before a huge portrait of Princess uliana hung outside the hotel Royal and photographs of the Dutch royal family appeared in Windows there were still odd nervous moments two

Paratroopers who were enjoying the attention of several girls while they kept a sharp Lookout on the Austina drift jerked into action on sighting a black uniformed figure approaching on a bicycle Dr JP boans who was present saw them raise their submachine guns and cried don’t shoot don’t shoot that’s a Dutch

Policeman the paratroopers looked surprised for a moment okay one of them said I thought it was an SS bant asked him what would have happened if he had not warned him oh nothing much just a little hole between the eyes he grinned I’m a very good shot after the long occupation Revenge

Was in the air Majed dick Winters suddenly heard booing he turned and saw a prostitute approaching them in a very suggestive way and the people grabbed her he recounted and the last we saw of her she was I guess setting for a haircut inhabitants of the city were

Amused to hear that earlier in the day the NSP BHA maester had become terrified that he might be lynched he and his wife went and asked for shelter at the marish kazela Gary Barracks but on the way his bicycle was seized by a fleeing German soldier at 3:00 another diarist recorded

With screaming and shouting from the crowds a whole group of NSP are collected and locked up in the school near the Jewish cemetery more and more young men begged officers of the first to give them the weapons and uniforms of the dead and wounded so that they could continue the

Fight the Americans were much less bureaucratic than the British in this way and even though it was strictly against regulations a number of civilians joined their ranks the few even served with them right up to the end of the war at 15:30 on that eventful afternoon

The second lift came in on the landing Zone Northeast of son the poet Louis Simpson serving in the 327 glider Infantry Regiment described their arrival when we are over the landing area the glider pilot pulls the lever that releases the cable for the first time the kite has a character of its own

It sares like a bird then it travels on the air currents in silence all that we hear is the creaking of struts then it slams down tilting on One Wing your life is in the hands of the pilots they there was a palpable sense of relief as the glider bumped along the

Field then ground to a stop the land is flat and everywhere gliders a stwn pointing in every direction he wrote compan has marched off hurriedly in open form mission on the horizon a windmill like a Dutch painting somewhere guns are rumbling the sun is warm under your Woolen shirt you begin to

Sweat at dusk we entered a v at the entrance a German tank had been blown apart on it and under it were the blackened forms of the crew they appeared vulcanized melted through the crust of black gleamed streaks of ruby red flesh Simpson was intrigued by the mentality of the German

Soldier I skirted a pit shaped like a grave at the end of the pit stood a cross from which hung an American helmet with a B bullet hole through it on the cross was written in Gothic lettering welcome 101st Airborne Division CRS are strange imagine in the

Press of battle thinking of a trick like that and putting it into execution out of the 450 gliders which had taken off towed by c47 dtas 428 reached the 101st Landing Zone they did not just deliver the 300 and 27th glider infantry but also two parachute field artillery battalions an Engineer

Battalion and even a surgical team bringing in an x-ray machine the 327th reported that in some places German soldiers could be seen lined up in columns firing at the gliders generally their aim was poor as they did not give enough lead but a number of light streaks began to filter through the rear

Of Colonel Harper’s craft Colonel Joseph H har ER the regimental Commander did not intend to take enemy fire sitting down so he and his Jeep driver fired back with their personal weapons from the glider Brigadier General Anthony mcff Taylor’s Deputy commander and the chief artilleryman of the 101st Airborne came

In with the 377th parachute field artillery Battalion he also had a young Walter kronite of United press in his lighter our helmets came flying off un impact kronite wrote later with the touch of journalistic license and were worse than the incoming shells I grabbed a helmet the trusty mzed bag with the

Typewriter inside and began crawling toward the canal which was the rendevu point when I looked back I had half a dozen guys Crawling After me seems I was wearing the Lieutenant’s helmet with that neat stripe down the back soon after all the gliders were on the ground B24 liberators Flew Over The

Landing Zone dropping supplies the 327th glider infantry regretted letting their guard down that night 75% of all supplies lashed in gliders were removed by other troops and Dutch civilians they reported from then on they had armed sentries in Jeeps patrolling to prevent further thefts the 101st Airborne realized that

They had been very fortunate the German Garrison defending an Hoven had consisted of little more than a 100 men Brigadier General Jim Gavin on the other hand knew that the Germans would reinforce nigan as rapidly as they could they had also been concentrating their troops in the center and north of the

City following The Landings on Sunday and the initial probes of Lieutenant Colonel Warren’s Battalion into the city from the south the Germans had blown up their ammunition dumps in a series of massive explosions in the early hours waking the City’s population according to harl of the 10th

SS fburg who was now responsible for the defense of nigan the Garrison at the time of the Airborne Landings consisted of Germany’s worst soldiers and had been less than 750 strong apart from the Arrogant first falima training regiment under obest Friedrich hener which arrived soon afterwards the city had

Been defended with Railway security guards a few local militia members of a police band a few scattered SS men and other units many of them were armed with rifles from the first World War and even HL claimed from the Franco Prussian war of 1870 there had been issued five round

Clips which they simply stuffed in their pockets as they had no ammunition pouches their only anti-tank weapons were the surviving flag guns from the road bridge to prevent the British 30 Corp from joining up with the first Airborne at Aram obber group in fura bitri wanted

To blow both the Railway Bridge and the Great Road Bridge at Nan but for that task to be accomplished they had to be prop properly defended first he had therefore issued his orders to HL just after midnight during the first hour of the 18th of September 10th SS pel division will go

Southeastwards from arnam to cross the lower rine by ferry and hold a bridge head on the South Bank of the Val the bridges are to be prepared for demolition the obvious way to prevent the Allied link up was to blow the bridge at Nan but General Fel Marshall

Mell again overruled bitri later that morning we still need the bridges he insisted we need them to Counterattack bitri was unconvinced certain that they lacked sufficient forces for an effective Counterattack frustrated and annoyed he doubted that Modell had a special plan but at least he bitri was in the clear now that he

Had formally made the request a company of Hill’s 10th SS Pioneer Battalion had left on requisition bicycles in the early hours for Paden on the Narine just north of where it split from the V one advantage of bicycle transport was the ability to Dismount rapidly and throw yourself in a

Ditch in the event of enemy Fighters these troops were followed by Advanced elements of what was to be the com group of Reinhold Reinhold the commander of the fburg paner regiment brought his dismounted tank Crews the oiling paner Grenadier Battalion only 200 strong and a battery of guns SS HED to furo Carl

Hein earling who commanded the second Battalion of the 21st s say pag gradient was according to HL a fantastic fellow and a good soldier despite the delays of fing P of grenadiers across the N rain in robber dingies tied together llings Battalion reached The no n He Make M Road Bridge by midday Reinhold wasted no time in taking command of the defense of the city and preparing his forces to repel any Allied attack with great Vigor varing field guns and half tracks however was to prove intensely frustrating because of Allied air power the could only cross at night and they

Could not use lights so the commanders walking backwards had to signal to their drivers waving a white handkerchief in the dark to pull left or right as they maneuvered them onto the ferry as soon as Reinhold arrived he ordered that all forces should be concentrated in the north of the city

Around the approaches to the two Bridges the ancient Fortress of the valkov which dated back to Charlamagne would become the core of their defense he also brought brought into the defended perimeter the youths of the r arbit Reinhold had a special task for them as he intended to defend the nigan bridge by

Fire General Browning had emphasized to Gavin that the main threat would come from tanks in the reld although this turned out not to be true almost every unit imaginable in Northwest Germany was being mobilized to Counterattack the 82nd Airborne on its eastern flank an optimistic named Corel under Geral the

Cavalry celt based north of celt had already been Gathering it included the 406th division under which felt described as entirely a MAG shift formation it included a non-commissioned officer training school and replacement units as well as ear and stomach battalions convalescence who could hardly hear and gastric cases who needed special diets

This was just a temporary solution Modell and student intended to bring in the rather more professional to fala under General dealam Trin oen mindel as soon as it could be assembled General felt admitted I had no confidence in this attack since it was almost an impossible task for the 406th

Division to attack picked troops with its mly collection apart from army group B’s insistence on an immediate Advance felt thought the only justification for it was to forall an American advance to the East and try to give an impression of strength units of the 406th division panicked southeast of moo it was with

The greatest difficulty that General shining and I succeeded in halting our troops in the jump off positions on this occasion I just managed to avoid being taken prisoner myself in the area of papen Hill at midday felt heard that the advanced detachments of the third and fifth falima divisions had reached

Hemmerich he immediately went there but was taken aback to find that they consisted of a weak Battalion of each division mostly organized from service troops who had survived the Battle of Normandy they had practically no heavy weapons felt on returning to his command post found Mell and general mindel

Already there felt expressed his astonishment at the condition of the two falima divisions he said they must amalgamate the two into a comfort ER under mayor Carl Hein bicker having slept under the tree where he heard the train Brigadier General Gavin was barely able to move at first

With his cracked spine ignoring the pain he still picked up his M1 rifle and trudged off to check on positions one of the key tasks that day was to clear the landing zones as 454 gliders for the 8C Airborne were due to land that afternoon but first he met up with Captain best

Breer at the hotel cof Best Brea had assembled nearly 600 members of the resistance wearing orange armbands Gavin warned them that the Germans would kill them if they captured them we don’t care they replied give us the weapons from your dead and wounded and we’ll fight with you Gavin agreed

And told them that their main mission was to make sure that the Germans did not blow the bridge according to Martin Louie Denham the director of the de Concert Hall a small group of American paratroopers from the fielded attempt to reach the bridge had stayed on all night to fight

The Germans on their own three grim-looking and filthy young parachutists came in with their machine guns and started shooting from the windows we went to The Cellar no electricity danam wondered whether they were drunk one of them said to him the Germans are such rotten shots what danam did not grasp was that

Lieutenant Colonel Warren’s battalion which had failed to get to the bridge was still fighting in nean against the Comfort group of henka in other parts of the Town American paratroopers were invited into houses to wash and brush their teeth and shave some brush their teeth three times a day M Wiman was

Surprised to find they don’t like being compared to the tomies British she added they think of them as a little bit slow and they the Americans are the ones who have to go in first after his meeting at the cof Gavin went to the command post of the 58th

Parachute Infantry Regiment to discover exactly what had happened to wen’s Battalion early reports of his success in taking the bridge turned out to be false Gavin was Furious that Warren had not followed the riverbank as ordered and instead had gone straight into the city thinking that this would be all

Right Warren’s Battalion was still tied down in the center of nean just when the 508th outside inside the city was coming under pressure from the East around the middle of the morning Gavin received reports that the Germans were moving close to the glider Landing Zone this was part of corel’s attempt at

A counter offensive there was an attack on kusp spotted by American observers in the church Spire father hook the parish priest insisted on going from house to house checking on his flock despite the firing and occasional shelling parat tupas became used to this and he recounted that when things became

Dangerous a head would appear out of a foxhole and Shout father cover and he would throw himself flat during the first night when Manning the tree line overlooking the rishal the 58th parachute Infantry Regiment was very conscious of being right on the frontier of Germany men were ordered not

To challenge anyone to their front but just shoot them as everyone would be enemy inevitably there was the odd tragic mistake including a platoon Commander shot by his own men a lieutenant in the regiment also admitted that their men were not very careful about the way they cleaned out a town as

An example they would locate a German in a house they would go up to the door and say commy here as soon as someone stirred inside the house they would spray the interior with their tommy guns the Dutch however seemed able to forgive their liberators almost anything the people came out of the

Homes Dwayne burns with the 58 at bake recorded to find deep holes dug into their front yards and the heads of Troopers sticking up from them they were very friendly and glad to see us offering us both food and drinks but mostly they wanted to talk and give us

What information they could one of Burns’s Squad had been killed during the night we buried him on the corner of the vacant lot across from the roadblock a trooper whose father was a minister read some verses from his Bible and said a prayer then we his buddies covered him

And smoothed over the dirt placing his helmet and one dog tag on the grave as a marker the Dutch people in the area came later and put flowers from their Gardens on the grave in moo some 10 kmet to the South a paratrooper moving on fire from

House to house was startled when a door suddenly opened I pulled my 45 and was about to fire he wrote standing in the doorway was an elderly Dutch woman holding in her hand a cup containing coffee with a piece of cake between two slices of bread the paratrooper a little shaken

Thanked her for her Hospitality but begged her to stay inside for her own safety the German attacks that morning against roadblocks and Villages were as ill coordinated as general Al felt described but some still presented a real threat to the landing zones Captain Anthony stepan’s Se company of the 505th

Southeast of crosp had been fired out by some Germans concealed in Hast Stacks stefanic a devout Catholic and a legend in the regiment was woried by his men he gave the order and the company advanced in extended line to chase the Germans off the field just as the gliders were

Coming into land the sea company troopers were firing wrote one of his officers and the Germans were running away from us it looked like a line of hunters in a rabbit drive all of a sudden one lone German soldier running down a small Gully about 75 to 100 yards

In front of us stopped turned around and fired one shot in the direction of Captain Stanish and me the bullet struck Steph near the heart and he fell at my feet another account says that stanic was trying to rescue a lier pilot Under Fire when he was hit but the outcome was

The same two of his lieutenants remained with him as he was dying and stefanic urged them repeatedly to see that se company does a good job his soldiers cried unashamedly for the leader they had lost and they covered his body with a parachute for a shroud altogether 385

Gliders landed safely out of the 454 which had taken off 19 of them overflew into German territory to the anguish of those watching from the ground some gliders plied across a beat field hurling the Beats High into the air many crashed but their passengers or contents survived Gavin was greatly relieved to

Hear that the newly arrived Battalion of artillery had lost only six out of 36 packs hoers the glider Pilots had managed to do the best expected of them but unlike the British glider pilot regiment which had trained its men to fight alongside the Airborne soldiers once they landed their American

Counterparts belonged to the usaaf and had no infantry skills in fact they expected to be protected as soon as they had landed their men and cargos according to one USAF officer as soon as 30 core reached the 101st Airborne their glider Pilots began to hitchhike back fire

Brussels a few of the most enterprising had worn their class a uniform under their flying overalls and hitched rides to Paris instead of returning to England one apparently even made it to the Riviera Gavin found the situation intolerable he preferred the British system of glider Pilots fighting on his infantry but interservice demarcation

Disputes were just as bad on both sides of the Atlantic Gavin had little option but to exceed to the orders of his immediate super area Lieutenant General Browning but he was Keen to put the exact circumstances on record in the operations log at 15:30 18th September General Gavin had a conference with General

Browning at which general Browning asked for the plans for the ensuing 24 hours General Gavin stated that his plan for the night of the 18th 19th September was to seize the bridge north of Nan using one battalion of 504 and in conjunction with 508 envelop the bridge head from

The East and West General Browning approved the plan in general but on giving it more thought in view of the situation in the 30 core he felt that the retention of The High Ground south of Nan was of Greater importance and directed that the primary Mission should

Be to hold the high ground and retain its position west of the MW Canal therefore General Gavin assembled the regimental commanders and issued an order for the defense of the position with their command posts so close together Browning could not resist looking over Gavin’s shoulder yet it is

Rather strange as Gavin’s record shows that Browning should still have put so much emphasis on defending the flank and so little on securing the nean bridge which was absolutely essential if his own first Airborne Division was to be saved from destruction Browning had clearly become frustrated he spent much of the time

Driving fast all over the place in his Jeep the Pegasus pennant flut in proudly from a wireless aerial he still expected any passenger to be able to map read while being thrown around as the vehicle lurched and bounced over the rutted tracks he drove at a furious rate of

Speed and was completely unmindful of danger his Aid recounted he did it as a matter of course he was the commander and it was the right thing to do this self dramatizing Behavior revealed his exasperation that the battle was being fought individually by the Airborne divisions until horo arrived to take

Over over Rowling still could not admit that both he and his heavily manned core headquarters were utterly redundant or’s 30 core led by the Irish guards group was more than 24 hours behind schedule largely due to the halt at valkin vard for a quiet night and a

Late start on the advice of Brigadier gkin they did not set off until 1000 hours although the two Battalion War Diaries gave different reasons for the delay the Third Battalion claimed they were waiting to be replaced by an infantry battalion from the 50th division while the second armored

Battalion said that they were delayed until 1000 hours by a report of one yaged pter and two self-propelled guns at Al an armored car troop from the household Cavalry Regiment led the way up the club route towards Al just 6 km south of an Hoven Colonel Joe veler gave

The accompanying RAF air controller flight Lieutenant love the target ahead for the typhoon squadrons to attack after the heavy losses of the day before nine Sherman tanks 23 dead and 37 wounded the Irish guards were reluctant to charge straight up an open road again while they waited for the typhoons

Vandelier halted the column for lunch he and his cousin Giles found a villa by the road with its own swimming pool they had a swim and revived themselves with more champagne afterwards when a young woman War correspondent joined them finally 2 hours after the initial request love heard that the strike had

Been canceled due to poor flying conditions vandela was livid what’s the matter he demanded sarcastically is the RAF afraid of the sunshine the only assistance they received that day was a tactical reconnaissance mission which confirmed that the Bridget son really had been destroyed a senior member of the great

Phillips Electrical Company at anov crossed through the lines with a map showing the position of all the German guns this was a great help but a series of delays still dogged the advance there was another hold up later when four 88 mm guns supported by infantry were found

To be defending a line north of Al while number two Squadron engaged the German gun Crews to keep them occupied number one Squadron and a company of infantry tried to outflank their positions but wide ditches defeated CrossCountry movement artillery was brought up and opened fire at 1700 hours Major General Adair and

Brigadier Guin arrived to see what was causing the delay and soon afterwards the household Cavalry troop reported that the Germans had Departed the column was on the move again up the arav by 1730 and half an hour later the armored cars were racing through aun their Crews drove with hatches closed down thinking

The town was still held by the Germans as a result they missed out on the ri’s welcome at about 1930 people in an Hoven heard shouting in the streets the English are coming on the aler road abandoning dinners on the table they bustled out of their houses and

Soon there were just the cries of joy laughter and the jumping up and down from young and old gods men in tanks and other vehicles made V for victory signs back to the crowds as the column was brought almost to a halt by cheering civilians miraculously nobody was crushed under

The tank tracks as people of all ages chalked slogans and messages of thanks on the hulls of Shermans as they passed according to one woman in an Hoven British soldiers observed that whatever the Dutch and belgians were in want of they were certainly not in want of chalk

One Irish guards officer astonished by the Patriotic displays of the national color in every direction observed that all those orange flags made it very like ster you also suspected that the American paratroopers had already managed to kiss all the girls who wanted to be kissed while the Irish guards pushed

Their tanks through the crowds Joe and GES vandela Slipped Away In A scout car through the city and onto the canal at son they found a rowing boat and crossed to the other bank where they encountered some paratroopers from the 101st Airborne they were drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes you would never have

Thought there was a war on they they were so completely relaxed Joe vandel noted perhaps forgetting his own swim earlier in the day we said hello and they shuffled to their feet and gave us a few half-hearted salutes neither the citizens of and Hoven cheering themselves horse nor the first Airborne

Had any idea that the 107th paner brigad was close by commanded by Maya burnt Yim frer for msan its mark five pter tanks had reached Veno on Railway flat cars early that morning by the time the vandalur reached the canal Bon the Brigade had halted at the

Suig bridge over the river DL on the northeast edge of an Hoven as the Germans had no reconnaissance aircraft malsan had little idea of where the Allied Forces were according to local Legend malsan was told by a quick-thinking gardener called William hickor that the bridge ahead was not

Strong enough to take his tanks malsan apparently decided not to take the risk and turned his column round Gavin had been exasperated the previous evening when that German train had escaped Nan puffing its way right through the lines of his division it was however a trick which could not be

Pulled twice a train approached heading for Germany a paratrooper recounted several bazooka runs in the engine halted the train it had a number of Passenger cars containing all sorts of artworks according to Lieutenant Jack P Caroll of the 505 there were quite a few people on the train all loaded down with

Loot which they intended to take back to Germany the loot consisted of cigars oery and clothing which had been taken from the Dutch one of the cars was loaded with Woolen socks another was filled with new handkerchiefs we killed five soldiers on the train and captured 40 one parat trupa was greatly impressed

By a group of people in fine looking uniforms black trimmed with red highly polished boots and belts he asked one of the the Americans guarding them if they belong to the German general staff the guard laughed and replied no this is the train crew a dozen kilometers to the North in

Nan there was nothing to laugh about the arrival of the k group of Reinhold marked the start of a pitiless battle wedged largely against the citizens of Nan to strike fear into the people SS patrols cleared civilians from the streets on SMI Strat one Det Detachment

Halted in front of a house where they heard children crying one of them shouted a command for them to be quiet but the noise continued he pulled out a grenade but fortunately His companion persuaded him not to throw it into the cellar while the com group a Reinhold

Prepared to defend the vov the badier the ker lvic plane and hona park on the southern approach to the Great Road Bridge German artillery deployed ready in the cas of caral plane the huge traffic circle in the center of the city as DK fell reinholt sent parties of

Marauding troops and the rad youth as fire risers into the town they banged on doors and shouted anybody still here you must leave the house at once it’s going to be set on fire they burst into the carlite monastery on dandal claiming that they had been fired upon from it while the

Prior was trying to convince them that their allegations were all wrong Father felus Peter recorded soldiers were were already busy throwing wood kindling drenched in gasoline into the rooms According to some accounts the Germans were attempting to bolster their courage with looted Jin there was a good deal of General plundering two German

Soldiers in the Mullen Strat smashed in the plate glass window of a shop with their rifle butts then climbed in to snatch what they could the KP underground group also took advantage of the confusion in the sent anrad an abandoned German truck is raided by the resistance a diarist recorded they take

A large number of rifles ammunition and grenades load them on a hand card and trundled them back rapidly to their headquarters members of an aired precaution group had been round warning householders in the north of the city to open their Windows to save them being shattered if the Great Bridge over the

Val was blown up but once the fire started consuming whole houses the chief sound was of glass panes exploding in the heat the fires are taking on fantastic Dimensions noted Alberto oen whole blocks were Ablaze as the battle went on with German and American machine guns firing Flames leap up to Great Heights

Walls cave in Rafters crash down and in between are the cries of fleeing people and the sharp crack of rifles and machine gun fire it is a stampede nobody remains in the danger zone a few have salvaged the beest necessities such as clothing and blankets and in fear haul

These along to a safer place mothers hold their crying tots close to them desperate fathers carry the bigger children as well as hastily packed suitcases the anxieties they have been through can clearly be read on their faces only the very impressive civil defense organizations and the Red Cross

Just managed to prevent total panic the evacuation of the Protestant Hospital went smoothly and just in time using cars and Hand cards to transfer the patients elsewhere as soon as the fire brigade put out one Blaze the Germans would start it again they apparently shot a fireman who went to their headquarters

To plead with them and in an effort to block the name and fire brigade completely they ordered them to drive over the border to tber the firemen drove off in the right direction but once out of sight they turned around and concealed their vehicles in a factory it looks as if the

Whole of nean will be reduced to ashes a shocked albertus aan concluded in his diary that night chapter 15 arnam Tuesday the 19th of September after the confused fighting on the Monday with the third and first battalions trying to break through to the bridge their Last Hope was another

Push that evening in the end it did not not take place until the early hours of Tuesday at a candle lit Council of war in a ruined house Lieutenant Colonel Doby of the first parachute Battalion took the lead in the absence of any formation Commander they were close to the Rin

Pavilion a Waterside building below the St Elizabeth Hospital a mistaken report that the Germans had recaptured the North End of the bridge prompted divisional headquarters to tell them to cancel the attack but then it was on again Doby was joined by Lieutenant Colonel Derek mccardy of the South staffords and Lieutenant Colonel George

Lee of the 11th parachute Battalion there was no contact with Fitch of the third parachute Battalion even though he could not have been far away Doby was still utterly determined to support Frost at the bridge despite the fact they would again suffer from machine gun fire from the left assault

Guns ahead and flat guns firing across the river into their right flank the idea was to attack in the dark and fight through to the bridge before first light the Germans had pulled back their blocking Line This allowed the British to reoccupy the Cent Elizabeth Hospital and Major General urer to escape from

His attic Hideout but starden fura hara’s decision to withdraw to a new line on the far side of some open ground some 500 m east of the r Pavilion and 200 M Beyond aram’s Municipal Museum was to create a better killing field soon after 03 00 Doby’s Battalion

Advanced rapidly along the River Front only to encounter fit’s Third Battalion withdrawing after their own bruising battle to get through fit had little more than 50 men standing out of the whole Battalion Doby refused to believe they could not break through and marched on fit turned his exhausted men around

And agreed to support Do’s attack on utri ofik up the hill the South staffords followed by the 11th parachute battalion skirted the museum and then ran into the assault guns of hara’s blocking line they too suffered fusel AES and machine gun burst from the embankment beyond the railway line to

Their left and heavier caliber Flack firing from across the river where the Germans had occupied a brick works the 88 mm shells exploded with devastating effect while the runs from the Dual 20 mm flight guns blasted off limbs with such force that the shock alone could kill a parachute regiment Lieutenant

Identifiable only as David wrote down some Impressions while in hiding after the battle I was obsessed by recurring scenes of The Nightmare past of mvin with his arm hanging off of Pete lying in his grotesque attitude quite unrecognizable of Angus lying in the dark clinging to the grass in his Agony

Of the private shouting vainly for a medical orderly there were none left of the man running gay across an opening the quick crack and his surprised look as he clutched the back of his neck of his jumps so convulsive as more bullets hit him how stupid all this war game is

I only hope the sacrifice that was ours in those days will have achieved something yet even at this moment I feel that it hasn’t it will remain a gesture Miller’s 9th SS Pioneers well concealed back on the Eastern edge of EK ambushed British troops coming on behind the Pioneers fired he recounted

Pona F literally blew groups of paratroopers apart and flamethrowers sprayed fire at the enemy utri of IG was a Channel of death the rest of k group of Spindler to the north between the railway line and the Amsterdam of was fighting the 10th and the 156th parachute battalions they

Were also harassing the kingone Scottish borders preparing to defend Landing Zone l north of the Builder Woods where the third lift was due later in the day and with ger Al vona’s forces pushing in from the West the first Airborne Division was nearly surrounded further to the east on the

Utri ofic near the hospital Major Robert Cain with the second South staffords saw a man beckon him over he then handed Cain a rifle and pack he was caring for a wounded British soldier inside and did not want to suffer the consequences of having a weapon in the house Germans he

Said apologetically and to emphasize the point he put two fingers to his Temple to represent a pistol soon afterwards Cain and his company took up another position to fight back against a German Sally from the center of arnam Cain grabbed the BR gun and fired off a whole magazine

Realizing that he was standing on a pile of flat Stones he looked down and saw that they were gravestones with Hebrew inscriptions they were standing in a Jewish graveyard which had presumably been smashed by the Germans or Dutch Nazis with German reinforcements arriving with heavy weapons the British

Did not stand a chance against intense fire from three sides after the near destruction of fit’s Third Battalion Doby’s first Battalion was broken in semi suicidal attacks against German positions hardly a man was left unwounded the only Escape was to seek shelter in nearby houses but the paner

Grenadiers reported by assault guns had them trapped and took most of them prisoner little more than an hour later a couple of hundred meters to the north the South staffords were running low on anti-tank Pat rounds the museum which the British called the monastery had been their aid poost it now had to

Be evacuated but the doctor there Basher Brum remained with those who could not be moved he was murdered several days later in hospital by a Danish member of the SS who was later tried and hanged for the crime a defensive position in the Dell behind the museum was also

Abandoned due to concentrated mortar fire major Blackwood arriving with the 11th Battalion saw signs of the previous day’s fighting wires and cables down an occasional barricade of burned out Vehicles some dead Germans cluttering the streets we moved Under Fire to a position on the hill near the big

Hospital and dug in there while a battalion put in an attack on the lower level the noise was terrific somewhere behind the hospital was a large caliber gun popping off but an attempt to find out more about it only brought a shower of spand bullets about my ears so for

The most part we lay on the kyiv looking at the horribly stiff bodies of an officer and Men of the first brigade which blocked the Gateway on our flank at around 0900 German mark four tanks appeared as well as assault guns they were held off at first by the last

Few PS as a member of the South staffords recorded but at about 1100 all Pat ammunition was exhausted and tanks overran the position inflicting heavy casualties and splitting the Battalion into pockets they had no anti-tank guns forward because the convex curve of the Hill shielded enemy armored vehicles

Until they were almost on top of them as the staffords pulled back near the St Elizabet Hospital the same private saw a British soldier jump from a first floor window of a house onto the back of a tank in an attempt to drop a grenade into the turret but he was shot down

Before he had a chance behind the South staffords the 11th parachute Battalion tried to advance on the railway line and embankment up to the left but the attack never got off the ground between the utri ofik and the river survivors from the first and third parachute battalions

Pulled back to the Rin Pavilion Colonel Fitch was not among them he had been killed by a motor bomb with hardly any Med or stretcher bearers left the wounded were told to try to make their way as best they could to the St Elizabeth Hospital even though it was

Now back under German control at 10:30 Colonel wari the deputy head of Medical Services managed to contact the 16th parachute field ambulance in the St Elizabeth Hospital he was using the telephone of a civilian in IG whose son was in the Dutch SS War heard that although the Germans

Had taken away the head of 16 field ambulance and many of the orderlies two surgical teams were still operating they had nearly 100 casualties many of them serious cases War could hear the sound of battle in the background with machine guns and an assault gun firing constantly as he conversed with the

Field ambulances Dental officer later in the morning Brigadier lury was brought into the St Elizabeth Hospital from his hiding place with the bad wound in his thigh he had removed all badges of rank and pretended to be corporal lathbury bizarrely in the circumstances of such a British disaster a German SS P Grenadier

With only a flesh wound was crying in the hospital one of the remaining British doctors told him to shut up because he was not dying a Dutch nurse explained that the man was crying not from pain but because the furer had decreed that the Allies must never cross

The rine and they had done so even the 11th parachute Battalion behind the South staffords found itself forced to retreat as major Blackwood recounted 1,300 hours messaged to say that our attack on the arnam bridge had been beaten back and the German tanks had outflanked and surrounded us B

Company took up positions in houses overlooking a main Crossroads our orders were brief wait for the tanks give them everything we had in the way of grenades shoot up as many infantry as we could before we died with Scott I entered one of the corner houses said good morning to the

Worried looking tenant and went upstairs to the room with the most commanding view it was a remarkably fine room to die in a plaster cast of a Madonna in the corner two crucifixes three ornately framed texts and a picture of the Pope we removed all lass and China to a

Remote Corner laid out her grenades ammunition and weapons on the bed and had a drink of water Scott who is an RC made furtive use of some of the religious adornments and I put in a we word or two of my own just outside the hospital major C was

Taking shelter in a long air raid trench on the east side of the C Elizabeth Hospital he told his men to stay down as they could hear a German assault gun approaching it was little more than 50 m away peering over the rim of the trench Kane could see the commander standing

With Head and Shoulders exposed he wore black gloves and held some binoculars Kan who had nothing more than his service revolver was horrified to hear a burst of fire from along the trench one of his men had tried and failed to kill the commander who dropped inside and

Closed the hatch with a clang and then the assault gun turned towards them three of Cain’s men panicked they scrambled from the trench and were cut down by Machine Gun fire Cain pulled himself out of the trench as the assault gun maneuvered and then rolled down the

Reverse slope behind which led to a steep drop into the courtyard of the hospital just beyond the hospital he came came across men from the 11th Battalion he wanted to get his revenge on the assault gun but they had no Pat ammunition left instead Cain was told to

Round up as many men as he could and Seize The High Ground at Den Brink the plan was for Cain’s force on tenbrink to act as a pivot for the 11th parachute Battalion to attack another Hill to the north of the Railway line called hord deenal Cain and his men passed the round

Panoptic in prison with its shallow Dome and then rushed Dan Brink from the side to kan’s relief there was Little Resistance when they put in their attack and took the feature but a tangle of tree roots made digging trenches difficult he urged his men to hurry he

Knew how fast the Germans would range in with their mortars and they did with tree bursts in a short time 2/3 of his Force had suffered shrapnel wounds soon after 1400 Cain felt there was no alternative but to pull back Not only was the attempt to get through to frost

Cross Force at the bridge defeated but four battalions had been Savaged in the attempt with most officers killed or wounded a chaotic retreat was underway men appeared out of the smoke of battle running back in ones and twos like animals escaping from a forest fire once released from hiding early in

The morning General uret and his two companions found a Jeep and drove to the hartenstein as I came down the steps wrote the Padre of that lied a pilot regiment who should be descending but the general several saw him but nobody said a word we were completely taken

Aack his return was the signal for a great Resurgence of confidence confidence was needed badly as ur’s Chief of Staff Charles McKenzie had just found on a check of the divisional area he was Disturbed to find a Machine Gun Nest and a Brin gun carrier abandoned he then came across a

Group of about 20 soldiers in a panic iic with some of them shouting the Germans are coming the Germans are coming he and ler Simmons calmed them down and McKenzie drove the carrier back to the hartenstein he found uret standing on the steps about to explode no doubt

Because on his return he had found that nothing was going to plan we assumed sir that you were gone for good Charles McKenzie said to him around the Haren Stone armed members of the lkp underground group were forcing the NSP collaborators they had round up to dig trenches other Dutch

Volunteers were collecting corpses to move them to burial places the glider pilot Padre meanwhile set off in a jeep with two young SS Trooper prisoners still in their tiger camouflage smoks sitting on the front they were going to bury General kusin and his companions early that morning staff officers at the henin suddenly

Discovered that a BBC set brought in to send news releases back to London had communicated with its base set so we received permission to send our messages over it Arrangements were made by BBC in London to get Personnel from scha to receive the messages and relay them to British Airborne headquarters at Moore

Park for the next 2 days this was the only reliable radio contact we had in the division to the outside world just north of EG while the other four battalions tried and failed to get through to the bridge hacket fourth parachute Brigade had been fighting its own battle during the night the 156th

Parachute Battalion commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Sir Richard Devo had continued its Advance between the railway line and the Amsterdam sik towards arnam hackett’s plan was to seize The High Ground at Kel Beyond a Norths South Road through the woods called the dran which ran down to OST

But this was the blocking line of the K grupa Spindler it was a strongly held position with steeply Rising wooded ground on the Eastern side of the road where spindler’s force of paner grenadiers and Gunners was dug in supported by8 wheer Armored Cars half tracks and assault guns at around

Midnight the 156th Battalion had run into Outpost west of the road Colonel Devo decided to back off and wait until first light to get a better idea of what they were up against expecting a dawn attack the Germans pulled in their outposts first one company of the 156th attacked and as

Soon as it had crossed the road suffered devastating losses from the concentration of German fir power it was virtually wiped out another company was sent in supposedly to turn the German flag but it was a continuous line they too could not spot the well- camouflaged trenches and gun pits in the woods Major

John Wy cited a German half track with 20 mm double flat guns and began to stalk it high in one of the trees however was a sniper who shot him in the groin before he could fire the pat one of W’s sergeants a huge rodisian picked

Him up in his arms like a child saying to him come on Sir this is no place for us and carried him back to the Battalion Aid poost W’s travails were not over as a patient in the hotel tber he was wounded twice more first by German

Mortifier and towards the end of the battle by shell fragments from British artillery firing from south of the river in the course of the morning the 156th Battalion lost almost half its strength Brigadier hacket had to pull it back to the north the 10th parachute Battalion commanded by Lieutenant

Colonel Ken Smith Advanced past the discouraging sight of casualties brought back on a procession of jeeps Smith’s lead company encountered a similar volume of fire to the 156th and went to ground reluctant to destroy another company Smith asked Hackus permission to try to outflank the end of The Blocking

Line by sending a company round north of the Amsterdam s soon the 10th Battalion was pinned down by the much stronger and better munition com group of Schindler hagget’s Brigade needed to hold that line even if no further Advance was possible because less than a

Kilometer to the west of the dra s lay Landing Zone L where part of the third lift was due to arrive that afternoon already the king own Scottish borderers were having a hard time trying to defend its perimeter meanwhile Geral vona’s forces were advancing on volzer to their

Rear while the very high Railway embankment along their southern flank risked trapping them in a desperately vulnerable position both uret and hackit now suddenly recognized the danger the fourth parachute Brigade was in when the order to fall back reached the 156th Battalion major Jeffrey poell was Furious

They were given just 15 minutes warning and to withdraw quite openly in daylight invited disaster it was ludicrous insane we were ordered to just break off and fall back the move was chaotic under constant attack by the Germans the Battalion was split and then fragmented Captain Lionel queripel had

Taken over command of the 10th Battalion Company north of the Amsterdam sik with his slightly Whimsical expression queripel did not seem to be a and likely to win the Victoria Cross for a whole series of actions his men referred to him as Captain q and thought he looked

More like a country Parson than a soldier yet bravery could never be judged by appearances although himself wounded in the face he first carried a crippled Sergeant out of danger he then stormed a German position which had two machine guns and a captured British six pounder anti-tank gun killing the crews

He was hit again then as Germans threw stick grenades he picked them up and threw them back finally as the German Counterattack increased greatly in strength he ordered his men to pull back while he held off the Germans with hand grenades and a St gun queripel self-sacrifice could end

Only in death Sergeant Fitzpatrick the man he had carried out of danger was tended to by their medical officer Captain GF tracon kneeling beside him a mortar bomb came down it exploded and almost decapitated the Doctor Who Fell across Fitzpatrick’s body pinning the weakened man to the ground Sergeant

Fitzpatrick began to sob appalled that Dron should have died trying to help him the broken Battalion reached the landing Zone as the gliders carrying the Polish anti-tank Squadron began to approach back at the hotel hartenstein the American fighter control team led by Lieutenant Davis were trying to contact

Allied fighters to protect the incoming lift Davis managed no more than one brief exchange with a Spitfire pilot who then could not hear anything because of the flak explosions all around him all through the operation the Lo waffer was active but it was a very peculiar activity Davis reported after the battle

The fw1 90s and the me 109s were over every day except two and their tactics were always the same they would sweep back and forth about 4,000 ft drop to 2,000 and then peel off as if to straight us but I doubt whether they fired over 500 rounds in all the passes

They made at us it looked as if they were afraid to use their ammunition and then be unarmed in case our Fighters would come and were merely trying to bolster German Morale on the ground the withdrawal of the 10th and 156th battalions enabled the Germans to start attacking the

Landing Zone from the woods the king’s own Scottish borders found themselves under heavy fire see my first live jet and put a bullet through him one of them recorded he went down on his knees so I rolled out of Tony Morgan’s way and he put a bust into him more Jerry’s coming

Out of the woods under cover of mg34 and schmeiser fire which we return I got another CT at about 4 The Cry went up third lift here the chaplain of the glider pilot regiment recorded all we could do was gaze in staction at our friends going to inevitable death we watched in agony

Near the terrible drama it was heroic in the extreme we saw more than one machine blazing yet continuing on its course it now became borne in on us that we faced terrible opposition while the departure of the Polish parachute Brigade had been canceled from airfields in the Midlands

Because of bad visibility the second ligher group bringing the rest of the anti-tank Squadron managed to lift off in 35 gliders from the airfields of Salsbury plane well to the South but only 26 arrived together with British gliders on Landing Zone L The Landing took place in the midst of the fiercest

Battle and sustained enormous losses a Polish account stated gliders were literally shot to pieces in the air during landing and on the ground many were injured on Landing the British could not help as they had their own problems the Germans were even firing with nabal verer multibarrel Morts onto the landing ground

The confusion was such that polish soldiers opened fire on 10th Battalion paratroopers retreating Across The Landing Zone thinking they were Germans they killed several of them including Lieutenant Paddy Radcliffe the commander of the machine gun platoon absolute hell wrote major Francis Lindley of the 10th Battalion Germans had the open ground surrounded

With flag guns and machine guns gliders Landing all around us c47 flew over with flames shooting out of it Sterling crashed near the road poles just started firing at everything finally the poles realized from the yellow triangles being waved at them that they were firing at the British Lieutenant Colonel Smith of the

10th Battalion apparently had tears in his eyes when looking at the sad remnants of his command later in the afternoon the resupply ships Sterlings and dtas came over and ran into terrific akak barrages one report stated too many of them get hit and go down flaming and too much of the supply drop

Goes to the Germans it had been expected that we would control the area where the supplies were dropped evidently no message had got through changing the DZ we tried while the planes were overhead to contact them with VHF on the three frequencies but got no reply yellow

Ground panels and smoke pots were set out but only a few of the planes were able to see them because of the tall trees and the low altitude of the ples another postumus Victoria Cross was awarded for bravery that afternoon light Lieutenant David Lord had brought in his

C47 Dakota down below cloud cover just north of Nan a German flag battery opened fire and set his starboard engine of Blaze Lord asked how much longer to the drob Zone 3 minutes flying time came the reply the plane began to list as the fire spread over the intercom Lord told

His crew they need the staff we’ll go in and bail out afterwards get your shoots on he told his navigator to go back and help the four royal Army service core soldiers who would be pushing out the baskets the mechanism was broken so they had to manhandle each container of

Ammunition out of the door they managed only six out of eight so Lord insisted on going round again to drop the last two as soon as they were gone Lord shouted bail out bail out Lord kept the aircraft steady long enough for them to jump but it was not long enough

For him and he was killed flying officer Henry King his Navigator had no idea after parachuting whether Lord had died or had managed to crash land the plane Lord was a strange fellow he observed later he had studied for the ministry but left a seminary to join the Raf in

1936 he was rather a grimly determined chap King encountered some members of the 10th Italian they offered him a cup of tea and some chocolate that’s all we’ve got one of them said what do you mean that’s all you’ve got King replied we just dropped supplies to you sure you

Dropped our tens of sardines but the HS got them we got nothing many if not most of the containers drifted towards German positions to the frustration of the paratroopers now we too smoked English cigarettes and ate English Chocolate SS h fur Miller exalted Miller’s divisional commander fura harer of the horn Sten

Described how Mel visited his command post daily he arrived with a small escort and demanded a short sharp situation report as soon as he stepped in the door Whenever there was a problem the commander on the spot had to offer three different solutions once that was over harzer was allowed to request more

Men Vehicles weapons ammunition and supplies Modell would then make his de ision and telephone his chief of staff ginard Al GBS and a few hours later transport columns and troops were redirected towards arnam since the horn Sten lacked transport the ve marked trucks would deliver the shells straight to the gun

Lines when flamethrowers were requested for street fighting Modell had them flown to the division from an Ordinance Department in central Germany the German Army was based on a ruthless prioritization which the British army manifestly failed to match once Mell had finished with harer he then went forward to visit the command

Post of each com grouper where he would question officers and soldiers alike on the progress of the attack and on morale as Miller indicated morale was high not just because of their certainty of winning this battle after the defeat in Normandy but because of the Cornucopia of Allied parachute containers raining

Down on them having captured the orders which revealed the signals and identification panels for guiding the Allied supply drops further generous supplies could be expected the panels were quickly manufactured and distributed the next day in addition the British in their Retreat were losing control of their Drop Zones and lacked radio contact to

Warn the RAF Allied aircraft would soon be at even greater risk haa strength was about to be increased by the arrival of a flack Brigade commanded by obish lutant Hubert fona of the lufa an Austrian this consisted of five flag battalions from the r with a mixture of

20 mm 47 mm 88 mm and even 105 mm anti-aircraft guns most of the guns had to be towed by farm tractors or even wood burning trucks but the two SS panacor was still able to assemble nearly 200 anti-aircraft Guns West of arnam positioned to support the ground troops

As well as engage Allied aircraft and yet according to majorn pitri was still anxious about the outcome of the battle when he visited gnast at his command post just east of the ramp that day he said gnast can we hold out here another 24 hours we’ve got

To gain time to allow the divisions from Germany to arrive both Nar and Heinrich brinkman’s K grouin had suffered heavy casualties in the house- toh house fighting north of the bridge Nast well-worn tanks either broke down or were knocked out rapidly by the British six pounder anti-tank guns it was would

Seem a miracle how they manhandled heavy guns up onto the upper floors ARA commented later the heavy infantry weapons fire from basements or withdrawn from Windows so they cannot be spotted in arnam during the previous night the Germans had forcibly evacuated any remaining Dutch civilians from

Houses near the Northern end of the road bridge one of the last sounds that krad Hulan remembered before leaving his home was the unearthly racket of an upright piano upstairs being riddled with bullets as expected the German attack came at dawn The Defenders of the bridge

Had already heard all the firing to the west where the other battalions around the St Elizabeth Hospital were trying to fight through to them armold fburg seemed to be concentrating its efforts on finishing off the school on the east side of the ramp using Na’s Camp grouper and his few remaining

Pancers on Tuesday Morning Lieutenant Donald kindly recalled the tanks came back and they started shelling this house very heavily three of the Airborne sappers managed to stalk one of the tanks and knock it out the crew got out and crept along the wall of the house till they came to rest beneath the

Window where I was sitting I dropped a Grenade on them and that was that I held it for two seconds Before I Let It Drop saber John Breon was shot through the forehead Breon for a split second looked surprised then dropped to the ground without a cry another sapper suddenly gripped

Sergeant Norman Swift’s arm and asked him if he was all right Swift could not understand since he felt fine he followed the Soldier’s gaze and saw a large pool of what looked like blood by his feet and then realized it was rusty water which had seeped from one of the bullet ridden

Radiators another sapper who was badly Shell Shocked walked out of the building he was calling out we’re all going to die everyone yelled at him to come back but he was too far gone to understand and walked straight into the line of German fire in a house opposite the school the

P Grenadier rot fura Alfredo ringsdorf was exasperated by the way its Defenders were shooting through the windows in the stairwell so that we could not use the stairs the only way of dealing with its Defenders he argued was to fire a Panera to explode just below the window sill

That would kill any Rifleman waiting to pop up for another shot along with the rest of obum fural focal’s company he had no cigarettes and they were desperate to capture some prisoners in order to take theirs Captain maai had issued the stimulant benzidine to his men which caused double vision in some and

Occasionally provoked hallucinations of which the most common was that 30 core had arrived on the other side of the bridge some men became obsessed with this Vision others without the influence of Ben were eagerly awaiting the drop of the Polish parachute Brigade on the boulder land near the southern end of the bridge

Frost knowing that the poles would face A desperate battle there had assembled a Suicide Squad led by Freddy gof to fight across the bridge to join them he was not to know that sosabowski himself was fuming because he had been told at the last moment that only his anti-tank

Squadron was going in on that day with German snipers focusing on the Windows of the school the sap and parat ters from the Third Battalion had to be silent as well as invisible we bound up our feet with strips of rags maai wrad to make our movements through the house

Silent the stone floors were covered with glass plaster and were slippery with blood especially the stairs German Marksmanship had improved we were now getting a considerable number of sniper bullets entering our houses another paratrooper wrote in a diary and needless to say suffering considerable casualties although it seemed to us that we had

Inflicted at least double the amount on the enemy we were still unable to contact the divisional Commander although the wireless team had received the second Army quite clearly but unfortunately they were not receiving us the American OSS Lieutenant Harvey Todd recorded with satisfaction three more kills during the Germans Dawn

Attack he left his perch in the roof of Brigade headquarters a little later around midday the enemy launched a another Counterattack a much more serious one Todd recorded five more kills from his position in the roof but then had to get out rapidly when a German machine gunner zeroed in on him a

Br gunner in the building was killed so Todd took over his weapon he spotted a 20 mm flat gun being used against another house and managed to shoot the crew great joy all round broke out when a fuer wolf 190 roared in from the south over the bridge to drop a bomb which

Proved a dud as it bounced up the main Concourse of the aabus bin single towards the Town Center sappers in the school fired Bren guns at the plane the pilot banked to escape their bursts but his Port Wing caught the church steeple to the west and the plane crashed with a massive

Explosion this produced another Roar of w Mohamed from all the buildings around the bridge the Defiance belii the fact that Frost force was suffering badly we now had over 50 car Specialties in our building alone Lieutenant Todd reported the Battalion doctor Captain Jimmy Logan and his orderly one universal praise for accomplishing what

They did without running water and when they were almost out of clean bandages morphine and the other medical necessities of War patients had to use empty wine bottles and fruit jars to urinate in the Reverend father Bernard Egan had worked well with Logan ever since the battalion’s battles in North Africa

Logan Knew by then which of his patients were catholic and he would warn father Eagan as soon as one of them needed the last rights one man just before dying of his wound said and to think I was worried that my shoot wouldn’t open Captain yakoba konal the Dutch

Leader of the jedra team tried to ring the St Elizabeth Hospital but the line was dead konoval and Todd decided to run to a doctor’s House nearby to ring the hospital from there when about halfway and just as they were stealing themselves through the next Dash across

The street Captain krovat was killed by a sniper the bullet went in his forehead and out the back of his head Todd wrote Todd ducked into a doorway and found a man who spoke a little English they managed to sneak to the next door house where there was a telephone which worked

He called the hospital but the doctor he spoke to explained it would be impossible to send an ambulance they had tried already but the Germans warned that any ambulance sent out would be fired on the doctor also explained that as the Germans controlled the hospital approaches where a considerable battle

Was going on they wanted the British wounded moved so there was more space for their own casualties when Todd managed to return to Brigade headquarters the news was equally bad there in one of the few radio Transmissions to work they had learned that 30 core had still not

Captured the Bridget Naman but were about to make an attempt that evening later that morning the Germans bombarded the school with P of house thinking that they had silenced The Defenders they surrounded the school Maki told his men to prepare two grenades each and on his command they

Dropped them from the upper Windows they grabbed their weapons and finished off any who had not been blasted by the grenades it was all over in a matter of minutes leaving a carpet of field gray around the house Mai was recognized by his men as being one of those rare

Beings who were virtually Fearless another was Major Digby taam water he inspired everyone almost playing the Fool by walking up and down in the open swirling an umbrella he had found in one of the houses and putting on a bow of hat like Charlie Chaplain when Freddy gof pointed this out to

Colonel Frost he simply said oh yes digby’s quite a leader Lieutenant Patrick Barnett who commanded the Brigade defense platoon saw taam water walking along the street in a heavy mortar barrage with his umbrella up marnett stared at him in astonishment and asked him where he was going I

Thought I’d go and see some of the chaps over there Barnett laughed and pointed at the umbrella as German mortars kept firing that won’t do you much good t water looked at him eyes wide open in mock surprise oh my goodness but what if it rains some soldiers became fired up with

Blood lost private Watson was sent to replace a Scot predictably known as jock he told me to get the bloody hell out he said he had 10 notes on his rifle butt already and he planned to get 10 more of the bastards before they got him he

Looked like the kind of crazy bastard who do it Watson went back a couple of hours later jooc was strolled on the floor he’ taken a bullet right through the mouth Freddy G remembered that one of their best snipers was Corporal Bolton one of the few black soldiers in the

Division Bolton a tall languid man took great satisfaction in his work crawling all over the place sniping and would grin widely after each Victory brigard F HL ordered his men to cease fire while he sent a captured British soldier to Colonel Frost to suggest they meet to discuss surrender

The paner grenadiers seized the opportunity to eat or sleep after a pause wrote hor Viber the English paratroopers suddenly let out a terrific yell wo Muhammad we all sprang up wondering what was happening we were frightened at first by this terrible yell then the shooting began again Frost was determined to fight on

Yet because they were so short of ammunition he felt compelled to issue an order to shoot only when repelling German attacks during the next Onslaught a voice was heard to shouted the enemy stand still you sods these bullets cost money now pushed back well to the west

Of the bridge the remnants of the four battalions which had tried to break through were in full Retreat harried by their German pursuers at every house we passed was a man or a woman with a pale of water and several cups we needed those drinks wrote major Blackwood in the 11th

Parachute Battalion the people flocked around us smiling laughing offering us fruit and drink but when we told them the Bosch was coming their laughter turned to tears as we dug our slit trenches in the gardens The Melancholy procession of blanket carrying refugees began to move past blackwoods men cannot have occupied

Those trenches for long because the retreat gathered pace and became even more chaotic most platoon and companies had lost their officers in the fighting a sergeant whose boots were squelching blood from his wounds recorded a soldier from the south staffords gave us the order to try to get out of it and make

Our way back to the first or ized unit we came to everyone still alive seemed to be wounded somewhere or deeply shocked the other Retreat westwards that of the fourth parachute Brigade was to escape being caught against the Steep Railway embankment there were only two ways to get through the level crossing

At wer and a cul under the railway through which a Jeep could just be driven providing the windscreen was folded flat and the driver lay almost sideways the six and 17 pounder anti-tank guns would were too large using all their remaining strength some anti-tank Crews tried to manhandle their

Guns up the vertiginous slope of the embankment the Germans seizing the opportunity sent machine gun groups up onto the embankment to fire along the railway tracks when self-propelled assault guns appeared even the bravest paratroopers were shaken knowing how ill armed they were a chief Clerk of the fourth

Parachute Brigade recounted how a major shouted you white liver bastards come and get them he did not last long brought down by German fire as he charged forwards a Pathfinder Sergeant near voler saw hundreds of Airborne running in panic they were pouring back some of them without arms we went along the

Railway line and I remember seeing a pole up on top of the embankment trying to fire a six- pounder anti-tank gun he was shouting in Polish we saw that the breach block of the gun had been removed we tried to make him understand that the

Gun wouldn’t fire but it was no use we left him he was out of his mind and I felt terribly sorry for him the king’s own Scottish borderers also took part in the disastrous withdrawal from The Landing Zone and the adjoining Farm of Johanna Hoover Colonel pton Reed his commanding

Officer described how his Battalion which at 4:00 in the afternoon was a full strength unit with its weapons transport an organization complete whose High morale had been further boosted by a successful action against attacking enemy and which was prepared to meet anything coming at it was reduced within

The hour to a third of its strength with much of its transport and many of its heavy weapons lost one company completely missing and two more reduced to half strength Peyton Reed led the remainder all the way around and back to North OST to a small hotel called the

Dreanor which the regiment would always know as the White House pton Reed knocked on its door at 2100 to be greeted as a liberation later but he felt a hypocrite he knew he was bringing them only danger and destruction by the next night the building was reduced to a

Shell caring for the wounded in such a retreat became doubly difficult with the advance of Geral Von’s forces from the West Colonel War had to organize the rapid evacuation of patients from the dressing station at woler most were moved to the hotel sha warak visited it at 1100 and found that

Casualties were coming in fast in fact the total had passed 300 and they had taken over nearby buildings to house the Overflow hria fist the daughter of the owner had put on her Girl Guide uniform because it was made of tough material along with other young women volunteers

They started by washing the faces of the wounded and their hands to reduce the dangers of infection they also had to act as interpreters both British and German wounded were brought in and at first it was too complicated to keep them apart even though the Germans were prisoners

Their attitude had not changed one of them summoned her nurse cold towel I have a headache she observed that the heren folk has become so used to commanding that they do not know how to behave differently on the other hand a German who had never wanted to be in the Army

Soon made friends with the British soldiers either side of him they started teaching each other words and phrases in their own language she then found a Dutch boy in German uniform who had been shot through the jaw he was a traitor but she could not help feeling pity later in the week

She discovered that he was mentally defective she was surprised to find how quickly she adapted to dealing with horrible wounds a week ago I would have been frightened at the sight of such a horribly injured face now I am used to it it is nothing but wounds that I see

Here and the head heavy sickly smell of blood hanging all over the place Ard went to the shut to visit the wounded that afternoon soon afterwards the rest of the 131st parachute field ambulance arrived from feser having just got out in time as H as SS vak batalon

Approached to help feed such a crowd Farmers brought in livestock killed in the fighting and locals arrived with produce from their Gardens and Orchards especially Tomatoes apples and pears the wounded were not very hungry but they badly needed water the hospital’s greatest problem the bathtubs in the

Hotel had fortunately all been filled on Sunday as a precaution just after the Airborne Landings volunteers now started to drain the central heating system and radiators to replace what was being used from the baths other civilians turned up at the show not particularly divers who had emerged from hiding including former

Political prisoners and several Jews they had come because they thought they must be safe there the general impression that the Allies had as good as won the war was already proving very dangerous for many in occupied Europe with German losses mounting at the bridge that day brard fur haml

Welcomed the arrival of the 280th assault gun Brigade from Denmark which had been diverted to Aram instead of Aran one of their men later recounted that they lost 80% of their vehicles in the fighting in and around arnam which he described as far more Savage than anything he had witnessed in Russia

British parat Troopers would hold their fire and let the assault guns pass then shoot them from behind because the armor was so much thinner there the close quarter fighting wrecked the nerves of the crews he added they were terrified of being burned alive by phosphorus grenades above all harl eagerly awaited

The arrival of company huml from the 5506 six heavy pcer Battalion with its tiger tanks they had been unloaded early that morning in bold close to the Dutch border after their Blitz transport across Germany but only two of the tiger tanks survived the 80 km Road March the

Rest were rendered useless along the way mostly from broken tracks and sprockets the two serviceable tanks went into action that evening guarded by paner grenadiers from the SS fburg their armor piercing rounds went right through a house leaving a hole each side they looked incredibly menacing and

Sinister in the Half Light Colonel Frost recounted like some prehistoric monster as their Great Guns swung from side to side breathing flame when the ammunition was switched to high explosive their 88 mm guns began to smash the houses around the heads of the Defenders at times it was hard to

Breathe so thick was the dust of pulverized masonry the building which housed Battalion headquarters was hit and Digby taam water and father Eagan were both wounded in the school major Lewis ordered his men into the cellers since the Tigers could not depress their guns far enough to shoot so low once they

Withdrew The Defenders reoccupied the first floor a brave anti-tank Gunner took on one of the Tigers single-handed he ran out loaded his gun and fired then ran back behind the house fortunately he was under cover when the tank destroyed the gun yet one of the two tigers was

Knocked out that very evening a round from a different six- pounder hit the turret badly wounding the commander and another member of the crew while a second round jammed the main Armament the second tiger then developed mechanical problems and also had to be withdrawn from major repairs at

Duum thus ended the first day’s engagement in a fiasco wrote a member of the company huml harl ordered heavy howitzers and more assault guns to be brought in to take over the the task of blasting British strong points at close range to the British Defenders this

Suggested that the Germans were not in a hurry which meant that 30 core had still not crossed the bridge at nean in fact haml was under great pressure ginal felt Marshall Modell wanted the first Airborne destroyed and the arnam Bridge opened quickly so that they could speed reinforcements to nean

Having heard that 30 cor had reached the edge of the city that evening Mel put the so-called division vonet which had just occupied vazer under the command of 2 SS panso for the complete destruction of the enemy west of Anam the Germans could not help exaggerating their already considerable

Successes that day bik claimed 1700 prisoners taken four British tanks and three Armored Cars knocked out it seems that Bren gun carriers now counted as tanks the bombardment of the houses around the bridge was far worse than what the second Battalion had endured in Sicily it seemed impossible for the

Mortaring to get any heavier but it did wrote private James Sims bomb after bomb rained down the separate explosions now merging into one continuous rolling detonation the ground Shook and quivet as the detonations overlapped he was curled up at the bottom of a trench out on the osabus Binion

Single alone there in that trench it was like laying in a freshly dug grave waiting to be buried alive it was not just the shrapnel which killed in Brigade headquarters Lieutenant Buchanan the intelligence officer dropped dead from Bomb Blast without a scratch on him at one stage in

The fighting that day Lieutenant baret of the defense platoon saw two German Medics dash out to tend to British wounded in the street until they were shot by a German mg34 and fell across the bodies of those they were trying to help they had been shot down by their

Own people the artillery forward observation officer was badly wounded so Lieutenant Todd took over having served in the cannon company of his American Division to speed things up HL sent in the newly arrived Pioneers with flamethrowers to set fire to the houses as night came rows and rows of

Houses stood in Flames harmer recorded but still the British did not give up as a house was set on fire they mous hold through from one to another there was no water to extinguish The Blaze some of the fires had been started to make sure that the streets were

Constantly lit as one p of Grenadier explained then if they tried to run across they made good targets but now hml’s own paner grenadiers were also suffering from the fires the houses were burning and it was terribly hot Alfred ringsdorf recorded I got Cinders in my eyes more than once

And the smoke made them smart it also made you cough ashes and soot from the rubble made th even worse it was hell he had still not entirely recovered from a close shave earlier in the day I took a prisoner quite a heavy strong man I had

Him stand up and raise his hands so that I could search him I bent down in my search and at that very moment he Ed an O and crumpled up dead it was an English bullet meant for me which had killed him for a second I was paralyzed then I

Broke out in a cold sweat and driven by habit dived for cover ringsdorf hated close combat because it was one man against another face to face and also you never knew when the enemy would pop up he avoided the danger of moving around at night and stumbling

Into the enemy the one thing he longed to do was to take off his helmet because it was so heavy and his neck was so stiff the English were very good Sharpshooters most of the German soldiers dead and wounded were hit in the head he thought that the only reason he

Survived the battle was because he was leading the enemy rarely shoots at the first man but wait to see if there are more soldiers coming they let the first couple of men go by then attack those coming up next as well as the fires deliberately started much of the city center was

Ablaze including the towers of the two churches the St aabus and the St vulgus their bells made strange noises when struck by bullets because of the configration the prison director in Aram opened the cells of all but the most dangerous Prisoners the liberated inmates emerged with white faces and

Head shaved in their prison clothes The Blaze continued to spread you can read the newspaper By the Light of the fires an anonymous diarist wrote laconically civilians started to flee the burning City Whenever there was a lull in the shelling the old and the ill had to be transported on hand cards or

Even in wheelbarrows the British at the bridge had no Illusions about the danger the crackle of burning buildings and the occasional Crump as floors and facades collapsed gave an apocalyptic impression Frost and G climbed to the attic to watch if the wind changed Direction then they will be trapped in a confguration

Which might turn into a firestorm chapter 16