Category archive

September 17 - page 2

The Germans blow up the railway bridge at Oosterbeek in front of the British

in Oosterbeek/September 17
Illustration of the railway bridge at Oosterbeek by MC Escher (Yeah, that MC Escher.)

It was a mighty metal construction from 1897: the railway bridge over the Rhine at Oosterbeek. Capturing this bridge was one of the objectives given to the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade under the leadership of Colonel John Frost during the airborne landings. They had almost succeeded and it had drastically changed the…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

September 17: British 3d battalion gets stuck at Hartenstein in Oosterbeek

in Oosterbeek/September 17
Mrs. De Meulenaar offers British paratroopers a cup of tea on the first day of the landings. (Photo: Imperial War Museum.)

On the first day of Market Garden, three British paratrooper battalions advanced from the landing areas at Wolfheze to Arnhem. The third battalion under Colonel John Fitch had been ordered to take the road to Arnhem via the Utrechtseweg. The majority of the battalion did not get further than the Hartenstein hotel in Oosterbeek on…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

“Alarm! Paratroopers!” The 9th and 10th SS Armored Divisions immediately spring into action

in Oosterbeek/September 17
An armored car of the SDKFZ 250/3 type is deployed against British paratroopers near Oosterbeek. (Photo: Federal Archives.)

Even before all British troops had landed west of Wolfheze on Sunday, September 17, the troops of the German 9th and 10 SS Armored Divisions had already been alerted. To immediately clear up a major misunderstanding: the two armored divisions stationed near Arnhem had almost no tanks and mechanical artillery. Combined, the two divisions only…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

After the landings: the Germans react very quickly

in September 17
Scherl Bilderdienst Westen, September 1944, Anglo-amerikanischer Umfassungsplan bei Arnheim gescheitert. Grenadiere des Heeres, Männer der Polizei, Fallschirmjäger und SS-Panzergrenadiere vernichten gemeinsam die 1. britische Luftlande-Division, die durch die Niederlande in das Reichsgebiet einzubrechen versuchte. SS-PK Pospesch

Even before the airborne landings at Wolfheze on the first day of Operation Market Garden had properly started, the Germans were already taking countermeasures. Surprise is an important weapon of airborne troops. But at Arnhem there was no surprise at all. Operation Market Garden started in Arnhem and the surrounding area in the morning. Dozens…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

After the airborne landings: no problems at the landing zones

in September 17
On September 17, troops of the 7th King Own Scottish Borders advance with German prisoners of war in their midst to a new landing area west of Wolfheze. The woman is Irene Reimann, a Luftnachrichtenhelferin. Irene Reimann was the only female prisoner of war during the Battle of Arnhem.

While the British airborne troops advanced to Arnhem after the landings on Sunday, September 17, peace returned to the landing zones west of Wolfheze: twelve kilometers from the Rhine Bridge. Because the Allies had too few aircraft to drop all British and Polish paratroopers near Arnhem in one day, it was forced to choose to…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

The airborne landings of the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions

in Nijmegen/September 17
American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division from a Dakota above Groesbeek on Sunday, September 17.

If everything went as planned, the tanks and ground troops of XXX Corps could advance without any problems from the south over “a carpet of airborne troops” from the Belgian border to the Rhine bridge in Arnhem. At least: that was how the British army leadership had presented the advance of the ground troops to…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

Things are not really going well with the ground troops on the first day of Market Garden

in September 17
While destroyed Sherman tanks stand along the side of the road, XXX Corps advances towards Valkenswaard on Sunday, September 17.

On Tuesday afternoon, September 19, around two o’clock in Arnhem, drive over the Rhine bridge to relieve the troops of the British 1st Airborne Division. That was the goal of the ground forces of the British XXX Corps under General Harrocks. At the start of Operation Market Garden, XXX Corps was stationed near the Belgian-Dutch…

Keep Reading

You might be interested in

1 2
Go to Top