The
battle of Arnhem began on Sunday 17 September 1944 as part
of an operation code-named MARKET GARDEN.
Market
Garden was an audacious attempt by Field Marshal Montgomery
to end the war in 1944 and it involved using airborne forces
to capture bridges across major rivers in Holland so that
armoured columns on the ground could race over those bridges
as if climbing the steps of a ladder, and drive into Germany.
The
airborne forces involved were British and American, with
the British 1st Airborne Division tasked to take the top
step of the ladder, the northern-most bridge over the River
Rhine at Arnhem, close by the Dutch/German border. Two American
divisions, the 82nd and 101st Airborne, were given the bridges
at Grave and at Nijmegen for the former, and at Son and
Veghel for the latter.
The
ground forces, whose job it was to race forward, effectively
along a single road, and over the captured bridges were
the British XXX Corps led by the Guards Armoured Division.
The
operation failed and in our book we discuss the many reasons
put forward for that failure as well as following the story
in pictures and words from bridge to bridge, giving tour
directions and informed comment on actions and people.
Our
Market Garden guide book is the most comprehensive guide
to the whole area that has ever been written and comes with
6 in-text sketch maps and a wrapped fold-out map showing
the single road 'Corridor' that the ground forces planned
to take, as well as the drop zones used by the airborne
forces and their routes forward to their targets.
If
you are going to Holland do not go without this book. You
can learn a little more about it by clicking HERE.
