In September of 1944, the Allied leaders plotted an ambitious plan
to free Nazi-occupied nations and open a way into the German capital of Berlin.
It wasn’t so much a long shot as an all-or-nothing bet.
If Operation Market Garden worked, it would accelerate the end of World War II.
Otherwise, it would give the Germans the time they badly needed to recover from their recent defeats.
The 1st Airborne Division landed on Dutch territory on September 17
to secure the Arnhem bridge, but faced unexpected enemy resistance that led the
courageous soldiers of the 2nd Battalion to hold the bridge for four days on their own.
Their last radio broadcast was only heard by their enemies: (QUOTE)
“Out of ammunition. God save the King.”
Operation Market Garden
After the success of the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944, the Allies were eager to
end the war by Christmas. They had swept through France and Belgium, and with the Russians handling
the Eastern front, it was pivotal to find the shortest route to Berlin from the west.
Field Marshal Sir Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, the famous Senior British Army Officer,
had an ambitious plan in mind. But General Dwight Eisenhower authorized a smaller-scale
version of this operation when his forces came to a halt after a swift advance.
Montgomery’s strategy was laid out hastily with a clear objective in mind:
break through the German defenses in the occupied Netherlands, with a single, narrow thrust north.
The entire operation would also test the efficiency of the Allied Airborne Army,
which had been created recently. Advancing over the Lower Rhine River branches, the British Second
Army would be able to bypass the Siegfried Line stronghold along the broad Dutch-Belgian border.
The Field Marshal’s plan was simple and consisted of a two-fold scheme. First, Operation Market,
the airborne component which involved dropping over 35,000 paratroopers behind enemy lines in
several strategic points between the Dutch towns of Eindhoven and Arnhem, farthest to the north.
As the area mainly consisted of rivers, the canals of the Low Countries had to be secured,
and the bridges taken to facilitate ground advances. American Airborne divisions were to
capture Eindhoven in the south and Nijmegen in the middle. The ultimate objective was for the
“Red Devils” of the British 1st Airborne Division to secure the Arnhem bridge.
It was of the utmost importance that each division successfully held its disposed positions
long enough for the second phase to go ahead smoothly.
During Operation Garden, a heavy deployment of joint forces of about 50,000 troops,
the 30th Corps, would then proceed from the southwest
in a flanking maneuver and join the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem.
The armored column was expected to cover the 63-mile distance in two to three days.
After taking Arnhem, the industrial heart of the Reich would shortly follow.
The Battle
On September 17, 1944, 1,500 aircraft and over 400 gliders dropped the first wave of
paratroopers nearly 60 miles from friendly territory, well behind German lines. The
Allied leaders had overestimated the anti-aircraft forces in the towns,
and they picked landing zones 12 miles away from the objectives.
The troops had to cover the distance on foot and lost the surprise element entirely.
Led by Major General Roy Urquhart, the 1st Airborne Division faced the operation’s
most challenging assignment: seizing the Arnhem Bridge. The soldiers would then be required to
hold the bridge for three days, as there weren’t enough aircraft to carry all the necessary men
for the attack and the rest of the airdrops would take place over the following days.
Only half of the 1st Division landed on the first day.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Battalions were chosen to move towards the bridge,
and the rest of the division would secure the drop zones around the area.
The British troops were enthusiastically received by the Dutch citizens, which in turn slowed
them down. Soon, the 1st and 3rd Battalions would become engaged with enemy resistance,
and the 2nd Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel John Frost headed towards the bridge on their own.
Their plans to take Arnhem from the south crumbled as German engineers collapsed their
secondary objective, a railroad bridge to the south of the neighboring town of Oosterbeek.
The battalion then made it to the north of Arnhem, avoiding confrontation with the
Germans already positioned on the bridge to halt the expected Allied landings. The troops sneaked
between buildings and avoided snipers, securing the surrounding northern end of the bridge.
Meanwhile, the C Company from the 3rd Battalion led by Major Peter “Pongo” Lewis
also attempted to reach the bridge. By 10:30pm, the company marched through the town’s main
square, hiding in the darkness and hoping to be mistaken for Germans as they advanced as one body.
When they ran into enemy forces, the leading platoon was ordered not to attack and instead
move quickly towards the bridge. The company secured a school building at a vital crossroad
to the northwest of the bridge. Later that evening, members of the 1st Parachute Squadron
of the Royal Engineers reached the company’s position and helped fortify their stand.
A handful of the Engineers armed with flamethrowers set an ammunition depot on fire.
The explosion ignited the bridge, which burned through the night and illuminated the sector.
Frost stated: (QUOTE) “The heat made the bridge impassable for that night.”
Satisfied with the foothold they had gained, Frost ordered his men to dig in.
The strategy had not gone according to plan. Still, that night nearly 800 hundred men from the
2nd Battalion and other units were now positioned on the north end of the bridge. And 60 men from
the C Company and the Royal Engineers were barricaded inside the Van Limburg Stirum School.
All there was left to do was wait for the 30th Corps.
Holding the Front
Two SS Panzer divisions reacted quickly during the night, and by dawn they had surrounded the
British troops around the bridge. Poor weather conditions also made it impossible for the
second paratrooper wave to take off from England, and supply drops failed to arrive.
At about 8:30am, the 9th SS Reconnaissance Battalion attempted to cross the bridge from
the south, and several armored cars punched through the British defenses.
Sapper Ronald Emery immediately charged against the Germans from the school building
and hit the driver of a half truck. Emery stood in full view of the enemies, but he still threw
a grenade that finished the vehicle. He then helped destroy five other vehicles.
Two hours later, there were 12 destroyed vehicles and about 70 Germans casualties.
After a brief silence, the Germans unleashed a series of heavy mortar and artillery fire,
plus infantry attacks. The brave British troops resisted all day.
At one point, Emery managed to withhold a group of Germans trying to get inside the building.
He suffered many shrapnel injuries but still managed to shoot down 13 men.
Both sides were fighting chaotic and intermittent encounters. By 3am, a robust German force took
cover under the school windows, but the British showered them with grenades.
It had been two days since the operation launched, and the British troops were exhausted.
At about 7pm on September 19, a German tank blew off a corner of the schoolhouse’s first floor,
leaving two casualties and 24 wounded.
But despite the resilience of the British troops, by the third day they were almost
out of ammunition. The 2nd Battalion covering the bridge wasn’t doing any better,
but the troops kept holding on for reinforcements that were miles away.
The Luftwaffe had already started strafing buildings in the area, and by
the dawn of September 20, Arnhem was mostly in ruins. That morning,
a tank blew away the school’s top story and roof, leaving the British troops defenseless.
The Germans had taken over.
Defeat
With the school building lost, Frost could not hold the bridge anymore.
Moreover, he had been wounded in both legs and was relieved from command.
The injured soldiers surrendered while the others attempted to escape.
A German officer told the captives: (QUOTE) “You are very brave, but very foolish.”
A two-hour truce was arranged to take the wounded into German custody,
including Frost. He recalled: (QUOTE) “It was desperately disappointing that
having done everything we had been asked to do we were now prisoners.”
The firm stand that the 2nd Battalion, the C Company, and the Royal Engineers took during
the 4-day defense of the Arnhem Bridge concentrated the German forces around the
rest of the 1st Airborne Division, which fought for five more days until they were evacuated.
On September 21, Polish reinforcements were finally able to land. They switched
the dropping zone due to warnings from the 2nd Battalion and helped in the evacuation.
Despite the appalling defeat, the last stand at Arnhem is perhaps the greatest
example of relentless defense in urban terrain by the British Army. What’s more,
the overall campaign wasn’t a complete waste. The Allies were able to secure several strategic
points along the route, leading to the eventual liberation of the Netherlands in May of 1945.
Lieutenant Colonel Frost was freed after four months, and later portrayed in the
1977 star-studded film ‘A Bridge Too Far’ by Sir Anthony Hopkins.
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