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Oosterbeek

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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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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“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…

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The 4th Parachute Brigade breaks down near Oosterbeek

in Oosterbeek/September 19
British field graves on the Amsterdamseweg. (Photo: Sem Presser, Gelders Archives.)

While at the Elisabeth Gasthuis four British battalions with more than 1,500 soldiers tried to break through in the direction of the Rhine Bridge, General Shan Hackett’s 4th Parachute Brigade tried to reach Arnhem from the north side. During their advance to Arnhem on the evening of Monday, September 18, the 10th Battalion and the…

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The retreat of the 4th Parachute Brigade

in Oosterbeek/September 19
British paratroopers at the railway line between Oosterbeek and Wolfheze. The soldier in the left foreground is equipped with a PIAT anti-tank rifle.

Barely a day after the 4th Parachute Brigade led by General Shan Hackett landed on the Ginkelse Heide near Ede, the combat power of the brigade had been halved. On Tuesday morning, September 19, the 156th Battalion carried out an attack on the German Sperrline on the Dreijenseweg, between Oosterbeek station and Amsterdamseweg. The much…

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This is how the British perimeter in Oosterbeek was created

in Arnhem/Oosterbeek/September 20
The British perimeter in Oosterbeek on Wednesday, September 20 1944.

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…

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Lonsdale Force in Oosterbeek holds out against German tank attacks

in Oosterbeek/September 20
Two German Sturmgeschütze in the Weverstraat in Oosterbeek.

The remnants of the four battalions that had tried to break through to the Rhine Bridge via the Utrechtseweg and the Onderlangs on Tuesday, September 19, had withdrawn in a chaotic retreat to Oosterbeek. Under the leadership of Major Dickie Lonsdale, they formed a defensive position a few hundred meters east of the Oude Kerk…

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Relief for the British paratroopers in Oosterbeek: finally fire support from the ground troops

in Oosterbeek/September 21
A British battery of 5.5 inch artillery. (Photo: Imperial War Museum.)

During the first days of Operation Market Garden, the British at Arnhem were unable to make contact with the headquarters in Nijmegen. The British had the wrong radios with them, which made connections difficult. On Thursday morning, September 21, one of the British radio operators finally managed to make contact with the artillery of the…

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September 21: A new German attack along the Benedendorpseweg is repulsed by the British

in Oosterbeek/September 21
Disabled German Tiger II tank in the Weverstraat in Oosterbeek.

On Wednesday, September 20, the Germans, supported by tanks and mechanical artillery, had already attempted to attack the British via the Benedendorpseweg in Oosterbeek in order to block access to the Rhine. The attack was repulsed and the Germans lost many tanks and equipment. On Thursday, September 21, the Germans attacked the British perimeter in…

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German attack via the Utrechtseweg destroys the remainder of the 10th Battalion

in Oosterbeek/September 21
Houses on the corner of Annastraat and Utrechtseweg in Oosterbeek.

The 10th Battalion, led by Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth Smyth, had suffered very heavy losses in the fighting to reach the Rhine Bridge. Almost all soldiers of the 10th Battalion were killed, wounded or captured. By late afternoon on Tuesday, September 19, Colonel Smyth had only 60 soldiers left. In Oosterbeek he and the remainder of…

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