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Market Garden - page 2

The precursor to Market Garden: Operation Comet

in Preparations
Staff map of Arnhem and surroundings in 1944.

“Thank God Operation Comet was called off. It would have been a disaster.” British General Shan Hackett’s assessment of Operation Comet is clear. Hackett and Polish General Stanislav Sosabowski strongly opposed the plan underlying Operation Market Garden. ‘Operation Comet’ is the name of a plan that British General Bernard Montgomery came up with on September…

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This is the Allied offensive that the Germans expected in September 1944

in Preparations
This is the attack that the German army leadership expected in September 1944: break through to the east at Roermond and establish a bridgehead over the Rhine near Düsseldorf. (Photo: Gelders Archives, Boeree collection.)

While plans for Market Garden were being drawn up in England, the German army leadership had its own thoughts about how the Allies would like to advance in early September. Field Marshal Walter Model, the German commander-in-chief in the area, was firmly convinced that the Allies would attempt to break through the Siegfried Line east…

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Before the paratroopers arrived, the bombs fell first

in Arnhem/Nijmegen/September 17
The Willemskazerne in the city center of Arnhem was completely destroyed during the bombings of September 17. (Photo: Gelders Archives.)

The air raid siren in Arnhem had already gone off several times in the morning of Sunday, September 17, but each time it had been a false alarm. But from a quarter to eleven it was a hit. Dozens of military targets in Arnhem and the surrounding area were hit by Allied bombers until approximately…

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Half an airborne division, spread over 11 kilometers

in Arnhem/September 17
Landing zone LZ-S on Sunday September 17. The fires in the background are at Wolfheze, where German targets were bombed by the Allies earlier that day.

An underexposed aspect of the Battle of Arnhem is the impossible task that the 1st British Airborne Division faced on the first day of the landings. In the first version of the plans for Operation Market Garden, all British paratroopers would land in the operations area near Arnhem on the first day of the operation.…

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Hard blows for the 1st Battalion of the 1st Parachute Brigade

in Oosterbeek/September 17
Paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Brigade on the edge of their landing area near Wolfheze on Sunday, September 17, 1944.

On Sunday, September 17, the first day of Operation Market Garden, a total of 3 battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade advanced to Arnhem. Only the 2nd Battalion led by John Frost reached the bridge in Arnhem that evening. The 3rd battalion stopped at the Hartenstein hotel in Oosterbeek. The 1st Battalion fought the heaviest…

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No German soldiers at the Rhine bridge: forgotten in the confusion after the airborne landings

in Arnhem/September 17

Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, September 17, 1944, the first British soldiers reached the Rhine Bridge near Arnhem. To their surprise, the British discovered that the bridge was not defended by German soldiers. In the confusion after the airborne landings, the German army leadership had forgotten to send soldiers to the Rhine Bridge. After several…

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John Frost’s Battalion captures the Rhine bridge, but not the railway bridge and the ship bridge

in Arnhem/September 17
German prisoners are taken away by British paratroopers in the woods near Wolfheze.

After the airborne landings on September 17, three battalions with approximately 2,700 British paratroopers left for Arnhem via three different routes. 1st Battalion , which advanced to Arnhem via the north, came into contact north-east of Wolfheze with the first troops of the 9th SS Armored Division that the Germans had sent to Arnhem. During…

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Video: The British took control of these buildings near the Rhine Bridge

in Arnhem/Photos/September 17

None of the original buildings that the British held on the north side of the Rhine Bridge during the Battle of Arnhem survived the war. In addition to drawn maps of the situation around the bridge, several illustrative films have been made in recent years that clearly show what the area around the Rhine Bridge…

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Another company of soldiers managed to reach the Rhine Bridge after the landings

in Arnhem/September 17
British paratroopers pose together with Dutch civilians on a cart track near Wolfheze.

Many people are aware that the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion led by John Frost managed to reach the Rhine Bridge via a route along the Rhine on Sunday, September 17. Much less known is that approximately fifty British soldiers from the 3rd Battalion also arrived at the bridge on Sunday night. Because the British…

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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…

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