Market Garden 2005

2005 saw the surviving original members all present and correct as Lance returned, newly qualified and itching to get back on the trail of the turbulent history of the 20th century. As it was, we’d see a glimpse of just about as far back as mass battles go on this trip, but more of that later. We were primarily concerned with the sights and sites of the abortive attempt dreamt up by Field Marshal Montgomery to bring the war to an early conclusion. With Germany now almost back to its borders, and with pressure on the Eastern front being exerted by the Russian Operation Bagration, the Allies saw a chance for a swift airborne led attack to cross the Rhine and control Germany’s industrial heart.

The plan called for a series of paratroop drops along the rivers Maas, Waal and Lower Rhine and associated canals to capture and hold the crucial bridges to enable an armoured thrust from Leopoldsburg in Belgium to Arnhem in the Dutch province of Gelderland. Between them lay the cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, and the major towns of Son, Veghel and Grave. As simple as the plan was, it was fraught with danger and pitfalls.

The Allies believed the German presence to be light, mainly made up of old men, young conscripts and those men recuperating from the battle in Normandy. This proved to be disastrously off the mark, and the presence of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions would contribute greatly to the failure of the attack. To make matters worse, intelligence was received regarding the SS divisions presence but was ignored by senior planners eager to bring about a swift end to the war.

Our trip saw last years travel travails replaced by an overnight coach journey for me, and a flight to Cologne for the other three. I had planned to go to Paris for a few days prior to our trip, but finances scuppered the plan, and flights were prohibitively expensive by the time this became apparent.

I arrived in the morning, exhausted after no sleep, and had a day in Cologne before the boys arrived around ten in the evening. I checked into the hotel around two and planned a nice long kip till eight ish. Lance had other ideas and rang me around four to say how great the airport bar was. The treasure.

This trip was the one I’ve looked forward to the most, and is probably my favourite trip for the subject due to my obsessive devotion to A Bridge Too Far as a lad. Ricko and I would watch it over and over, and to this day I never tire of watching it. Added to that, the prospect of visiting my Nana’s first husband’s grave who had died during Operation Varsity.

We would be staying in the village of Berg en Dal in the hills overlooking Nijmegen sandwiched between two nights in Cologne. There would be some long drives given the size of the battlefield, and one day in particular saw us on a particularly long drive that took in the German towns of Munster and Kalkriese via Apeldoorn on a 275 mile round trip.


Our trip was at times hectic, and on other occasions laid back. I think staying in The Ponderosa helped. The laid back cowboy life suits me. Holland is the most densely populated country on the planet, so another major difference from last year was the number of big cities and towns we’d be travelling through.

These cities would be the lynchpins the operation depended on. The Market element of the task was the airborne attacks, while Garden was XXX Corps tank drive along the corridor the airborne troops would create. Eindhoven and surrounding areas was to be taken by the US 101st Airborne division commanded by Major General Maxwell Taylor, Nijmegen was to be taken by the US 82nd Airborne Division commanded by Brigadier General James Gavin and Arnhem by a combined British and Polish 1st Airborne Division commanded by Major General Roy Urquhart and Brigadier General Stanislaw Sosabowski.

Against the Allies the Germans were lead by Feldmarschall Walter Model in overall control on the ground, Generaloberst Kurt Student of the fallschirmjager, Obergruppenfuhrer Willhelm Bittrich commanding the the SS panzer divisions and General von Zangen of the army. The Germans, while expecting an offensive were forming lines along the Albert Canal and the panzer divisions were placed near Arnhem for rest and repairs. Their presence was therefore either unforseen or ignored depending on the source, and the choice of venue for their recuperation would be unfortunate for the men after months of hard fighting in Normandy and Falaise, but fortunate for the German high command as they were elite battle hardened troops.

The American elements took and held their targets and allowed the armoured divisions to progress towards Arnhem, but their initial timescale of taking control of the bridge at Arnhem two days after the start of the battle was proved to be hugely optimistic. The route today is roughly 85 miles along the Belgian/Dutch road system. In 1944, it was a single road thrusting into enemy held territory. Far from the poor opposition forecast (or hoped for), the Germans responded with vigour.

Eindhoven had been pencilled in to be liberated within two to three hours, but as the sun dipped on the first day, the Allies were only at Valkenswaard, south of the city. The tight schedule was already falling behind the reality of an exposed thrust into hostile territory. The Allies flanks were exposed and the Germans could simply loop back and attack at will from the surrounding cover.

Again the battle for Arnhem and the towns along the proposed route of XXX Corps is well told. After expecting to hold Arnhem for two days, the British and Polish paratroopers were eventually withdrawn ten days later, after suffering horrendous casualties, with limited equipment and little food. They had had to take all they needed with them, and being airborne troops had to rely on what they could carry. attempts were made to resupply them from the air, but these were largely ineffectual. For a full account of the operation, you can’t do much better than this site.

Again, to see and read much more of our trip, visit my photo gallery by clicking here.