A Dutch garbage collector who unsuspectingly made his rounds near the Rhine bridge on the early morning of Monday, September 18, 1944, was probably the first victim of the fighting that would take place that day. His garbage truck was fired upon by British paratroopers as soon as he entered their sector. The British were…
Of the three British battalions that marched on Arnhem on Sunday, September 17, only the 2nd Battalion under John Frost had managed to reach the city. The 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion had been stopped by German resistance at Oosterbeek. On Monday, September 18, they tried to break through the German barrier line .…
While his troops were engaged in fierce battles with the Germans, General Roy Urquhart, the commander of the 1st British Airborne Division, was hiding in an attic at Zwarteweg 14 in the Arnnhem district of Lombok. In the book that General Urquhart wrote after the war about his experiences during the Battle of Arnhem, he…
The 700 soldiers of 2nd Battalion who occupied approximately thirty buildings on the north side of the Rhine Bridge had no illusions. The day before they had easily survived the attack of a German SS reconnaissance battalion and had also repelled several small attacks on their positions. But now, on Tuesday, September 19, the Germans…
In the early morning of Tuesday, September 19, British paratroopers from positions west of the Elisabeth Gasthuis made a last, ultimate attempt to reach John Frost’s troops at the Rhine Bridge. The attack was launched with four battalions, together accounting for almost 2,000 soldiers. It became a massacre. The 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion…
A simple plaque in Bakkerstraat commemorates the murder of five innocent Arnhem residents during the Battle of Arnhem. Few people know the story behind the execution by German troops on the morning of Tuesday, September 19, 1944. Due to the chaos during the Battle of Arnhem, it was never completely clear what exactly happened. But…
On Tuesday, September 19, the British had tried to reach the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem from Oosterbeek and from the Bovenover-Onderlangs intersection in Arnhem. The British suffered major losses in both attacks. In addition to many deaths and injuries, hundreds of British paratroopers had been forced to surrender to the Germans. After the failure of…
If Operation Market Garden had gone according to plan, the ground troops of XXX Corps would have reached the south side of the Rhine on Tuesday, September 19, in the afternoon. But on Wednesday morning, September 20, the tanks and troops of XXX Corps were still in Nijmegen, where the Waal Bridge had yet to…
The Eusebius Church was virtually destroyed during the bombing of the Rhine Bridge on October 7, 1944. But the church already suffered extensive damage during the Battle of Arnhem. As a result of German shelling on the church, the Eusebius caught fire on Wednesday, September 20. The spire and roof of the church burned down…
On Wednesday evening, September 20, the British soldiers had to give up their position at the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem. About 130 British tried to break out via the Walburgis Church. Despite their relatively light armament, the British paratroopers defending the north side of the Rhine Bridge proved to be able to withstand the attacks…
