Inevitably, reports of hundreds of Allied aircraft flying northeast began to arrive at the various German headquarters, but surprisingly few of the duty officers on this warm, sunny afternoon appreciated their significance. The 82nd Airborne was to capture the Maas crossing at Grave, at least one of the four bridges over the Maas-Waal Canal, and then, after securing the high ground between Nijmegen and Groesbeek, to capture the vast Waal road bridge in Nijmegen. With the 82nd responsible for holding the centre of the salient, he and Browning decided the ridge must take priority. Optimistic planning Among the controversial aspects of the plan was the necessity of all the main bridges being taken in order for success. Pressure on 101st Airborne led Dempsey to assign another armoured battalion to Taylor from the 4th Armoured Brigade. Crucially Montgomery, failed to understand the terrain that he expected his men to fight in. The operation failed because of a failure in planning, intelligence, and a lack of understanding of the nature of the terrain.
At this time the Parachute Regiment did not have its own insignia or uniform, and so members wore the uniforms of their previous Regiment, in Frost's case, the Cameronians. They could advance no further and the attack had collapsed by mid-morning with heavy casualties. The three German engineers had done their job well. There was no question that Operation Market Garden was a gallant failure. They bumped into troops of the 107th Panzer Brigade and were overwhelmed.
While 81 British soldiers died defending Arnhem bridge, German losses cannot be stated with any accuracy, though they were high; 11 units known to have participated in the fighting reported 50% casualties after the battle. The Germans however still found their way blocked by the British who continued to hold out. As my company rode through Veghel, Uden, and Eindhoven, the Dutch recognized the 101st Screaming Eagle shoulder patches on our uniforms. Some 50,000 troops were involved and they would also be supplied with some light artillery. Unfortunately, elements of the 59th Division of the Fifteenth Army proved too strong and at midday on the 18th the bridge was blown. Dutch civilians and veterans of 1st Airborne Division watch as children place flowers on graves at the Arnhem-Oosterbeek Cemetery, 25 September 1945. After crossing the border the Irish Guards were ambushed by infantry and anti-tank guns dug in on both sides of the main road.
It had cost the Allies over 16,000 soldiers and 248 airmen. These actions were completed by 1930 hours. As Davis was receiving treatment for his wound, a deafening explosion occurred at the canal bridge. This road came to be known as the Highway to Hell. The 'Market Garden' plan employed all three divisions of First Allied Airborne Army. At the highway bridge they did not get anywhere near as close.
A betrayal too far: Only brutal honesty will do at Arnhem’s 70th anniversary — RT Op
They were misdropped at Kameren, on the grounds of Heeswijk Castle and the surrounding meadows. Less than 2,000 members of the British 1st Airborne Division escaped capture or death during Operation Market-Garden. Thus, high on casualties and low on everything required to sustain themselves, some four thousand British and Polish troops were evacuated across the Lower Rhine the night of September 25—26. If the tanks could locate our positions, it was tough on us, but they did not like to work without their infantry, so they would normally withdraw. They fought on until around 2225 hours in various locations near the bridge and then managed to slip away, quite literally under the noses of the British, to find rowing boats and join their Frundsberg comrades on the north side of the river. Kurt Student, which had its headquarters just off the main Eindhoven—Nijmegen highway.
September 26, 1944: Market Garden, Montgomery’s Biggest Failure
Sword Beach - 28,845 British troops were landed. Time it seemed was not on Frost's side, as the battalion only had rations for forty-eight hours and limited supplies of ammunition. It rained during the night, but the second day of the operation dawned clear. The air was shattered by one hell of an explosion and the shock scattered those of us who were close to it like rag dolls. That was the way a war should be fought! The 'Market' part of the operation involved the airborne aspect of the operation.
The Forgotten American Airborne of Operation Market
They had jumped in with 120 men; only 20 were left. Perhaps the biggest failing of the Montgomery plan was that it assumed that the Germans had been decisively beaten and that any counter-attack that they could launch in the area would be limited. The Grenadier Guards Battlegroup took over the lead, with the Welsh Guards Battlegroup opening up the second route 'Heart' towards Helmond, although its advance bogged down in the face of resistance from Kampfgruppe 'Walther' and it subsequently rejoined the main effort. During the previous night, two mixed armoured formations on either side of Highway 69 attacked between Veghel and Grave; one group managed to cut the highway and prevent any further advance to Arnhem. In the evening of the 19th, the sky above Eindhoven was lit by flares.
The men of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment advanced from the direction of Veghel, while a reinforced battalion of the 502nd together with British infantry moved up from St. Their tops lack the know-how, never do they get down into the dirt and learn the hard way. To the south, the U. Major Brian Urquhart was an intelligence officer in the planning of Market Garden. When it reached Eindhoven, the battalion came under direct fire from two 88s and mortars positioned in the main street, effectively stopping all movement.
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