Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782008187
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 188
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Book Description
Overshadowed by the dramatic British failure at Arnhem, the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were a vital component of Operation Market-Garden and succeeded in capturing their objectives at Eindhoven and Nijmegen. In the summer of 1944, plans began for a complex operation to seize a Rhine river bridge at Arnhem in the Netherlands. The American portion of the airborne mission was to employ two divisions of the US XVIII Airborne Corps to seize key terrain features that otherwise might delay the advance of British tanks towards the bridge. The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions succeeded in their tasks of capturing the vital bridges at Eindhoven at Nijmegen in the face of fierce German resistance. However, the delays caused to the British armored advance, combined with stronger than expected fighting at Arnhem led to the withdrawal of the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division in one of the Western Allies' most costly defeats of World War II. Contemporary photographs, maps and detailed color artwork complement extensive archival research that reveals the successes of those American airborne missions, largely overshadowed by the failure of the operation as a whole.
Author: William F. Buckingham
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445637162
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 891
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Book Description
Explore this gripping day-by-day combat narrative of the infamous battle for a bridgehead over the Rhine.
Author: Antony Beevor
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141941294
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 726
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Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER The great airborne battle for the bridges in 1944 by Britain's Number One bestselling historian and author of the classic Stalingrad 'Our greatest chronicler of the Second World War' - Robert Fox, Evening Standard ______________ On 17 September 1944, General Kurt Student, the founder of Nazi Germany's parachute forces, heard the growing roar of aeroplane engines. He went out on to his balcony above the flat landscape of southern Holland to watch the air armada of Dakotas and gliders carrying the British 1st Airborne and the American 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions. He gazed up in envy at this massive demonstration of paratroop power. Operation Market Garden, the plan to end the war by capturing the bridges leading to the Lower Rhine and beyond, was a bold concept: the Americans thought it unusually bold for Field Marshal Montgomery. But could it ever have worked? The cost of failure was horrendous, above all for the Dutch, who risked everything to help. German reprisals were pitiless and cruel, and lasted until the end of the war. The British fascination with heroic failure has clouded the story of Arnhem in myths. Antony Beevor, using often overlooked sources from Dutch, British, American, Polish and German archives, has reconstructed the terrible reality of the fighting, which General Student himself called 'The Last German Victory'. Yet this book, written in Beevor's inimitable and gripping narrative style, is about much more than a single, dramatic battle. It looks into the very heart of war. ______________ 'In Beevor's hands, Arnhem becomes a study of national character' - Ben Macintyre, The Times 'Superb book, tirelessly researched and beautifully written' - Saul David, Daily Telegraph 'Complete mastery of both the story and the sources' - Keith Lowe, Literary Review
Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783037083
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412
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Book Description
Having fought their way up fifty miles of Hell's Highway and through Nijmegen, XXX Corps was just ten miles from Arnhem and the 1st British Airborne Division. Here it found itself on an island of flat land between the Waal at Nijmegen and the Rhine at Arnhem. The situation was increasingly bad with the remainder of II SS Panzer Corps in the area and German counter attacks on Hell's Highway preventing the Allies applying their material superiority. The Guards Armoured and then 43rd Wessex Infantry Division took turns to lead before reaching the Rhine opposite the paratroopers in the Oosterbeek Perimeter. Attempts to cross the Rhine by the Polish Paras and the Dorset Regiment had little success, but meanwhile, the guns of XXX Corps ensured the survival of the Perimeter. After some desperate fighting on the island, 43rd Wessex Division evacuated just two thousand members of the elite Airborne Division who had landed eight days earlier.
Author: Simon Forty
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 9781612005867
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
The battle of Normandy ended as the Allied armies crossed the Seine at the end of August 1944, a month after Operation Cobra had broken the stalemate. The Allies harried the retreating Germans, who left their tanks and heavy weapons south of the Seine, and by mid-September the Allies were coming up against the defenses of Germany itself, the impressive Westwall. As far as the Allies were concerned, the Germans were beaten. The scent of immediate victory was in the air, the only question was where to apply the coup de grace. Logistics demanded that this should be a single thrust rather than Eisenhower's broad front approach. Montgomery--the architect of victory in Normandy--proposed a daring plan to circumvent the Westwall, thrust towards Berlin, and make use of the newly created 1st Allied Airborne Army. The plan was simple: use the Paratroopers to hold key bridges along a single route along which British XXX Corps would make an advance that would be "rapid and violent, and without regard to what is happening on the flanks." US 101st Airborne would land north of Eindhoven; 82nd Airborne at Nijmegen; British 1st Airborne at Arnhem--the so-called "bridge too far." Unfortunately, the plan was flawed, the execution imperfect, and the Germans far from beaten. In spite of the audacious actions of the Paratroopers who would cover themselves with glory, Operation Market Garden showed that the German ground forces would still provide the Allies with stiff opposition in the West. And then, in 1977, A Bridge Too Far came out. With levels of realism that wouldn't be approached for twenty years, the movie produced a view of the battle that subverted reality and permeated public perception. Just as George C. Scott produced the definitive Patton, so A Bridge Too Far provided an unnuanced view of the battles that historians have battled to correct ever since. As with its companion volumes on D-Day, the Bocage, and the Ardennes battlefields, this book provides a balanced, up-to-date view of the operation making full use of modern research. With over 500 illustrations including many maps, aerial and then-and-now photography, it will provide the reader with an easy-to-read, up-to-date examination of each part of the operation, benefitting from on-the-ground research by Tom Timmermans, who lives in Eindhoven.
Author: Lloyd Clark
Publisher: Sutton Pub Limited
ISBN: 9780750928359
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
Operation 'Market Garden' was the largest airborne operation in history and its aim was to end the war in Europe by Christmas 1944. On 17 September, twenty-thousand men were dropped behind enemy lines to seize a number of vital Rhine bridges in the Netherlands over which the British Second Army would advance. But they had underestimated what the enemy was still capable of achieving, and their advance was blocked by two resolute German SS Panzer divisions. Reinforcement soldiers coming by land, had been delayed by stiff German resistance and bad weather, and were eventually prevented from reaching Arnhem. This resulted in 6,000 British paratroopers being taken prisoner. The two US airborne divisions who also held their ground suffered 3,500 casualties. 'Market Garden' was an utter defeat for the Allies. Lloyd Clark gives a chronological overview of the operation, from its initial conception through to the end of the battle. It emphasizes both parts of the operation from the air and on the ground, as well as the participation from all parties involved - Britain, America and Poland fighting for the Allies, and also the actions of the German defenders. Lavishly illustrated with some 200 archive photographs and paintings, this book sheds new light on what actually happened in Arnhem.
Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811708268
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 546
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Book Description
* Exciting overview of the World War II battle made famous by the classic movie and book A Bridge Too Far * Boots-on-the-ground story of British paratroopers fighting off Germans in Holland during Operation Market Garden * Masterly analysis of why the operation failed * Draws from the personal experiences of more than 500 participants * Written by an accomplished military historianMartin Middlebrook has written numerous works of military history, including the classic The First Day on the Somme (978-1-84415-465-4). He lives in England
Author: Aaron Bates
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
ISBN: 9781399000765
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 216
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Book Description
Operation Market Garden - the Allied airborne invasion of German-occupied Holland in September 1944 - is one of the most famous and controversial Allied failures of the Second World War. Many books have been written on the subject seeking to explain the defeat. Historians have generally focused on the mistakes made by senior commanders as they organized the operation. The choice of landing zones has been criticized, as has the structure of the airlift plan. But little attention has been paid to the influence that combat doctrine and training had upon the relative performance of the forces involved. And it is this aspect that Aaron Bates emphasizes in this perceptive, closely argued, and absorbing reevaluation of the battle. As he describes each phase of the fighting he shows how German training, which gave their units a high degree of independence of action, better equipped them to cope with the confusion created by the surprise Allied attack. In contrast, the British forces were hampered by their rigid and centralized approach which made it more difficult for them to adapt to the chaotic situation. Aaron Bates's thought-provoking study sheds fresh light on the course of the fighting around Arnhem and should lead to a deeper understanding of one of the most remarkable episodes in the final stage of the Second World War in western Europe.
Author: Tim Saunders
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 178303663X
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 405
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Book Description
This WWII history and battleground guide offers a fascinating look at the vital and infamous stretch of road through the Netherlands. After the Allied victory at Normandy, Operation Market Garden was intended to cut a path to Germany through the Netherlands. Essential to the plan was a two-lane road that came to be known as Hell's Highway. This was the route that the British 3rd Guards Armored Division had to advance down rapidly to relieve the American Paratroopers of the 82d Airborne at Nijmegen and the British I st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Beginning with the famous capture of Joe’s Bridge by the Irish Guards—an essential preliminary action before the start of Operation Market Garden—historian Tim Saunders guides visitors through the seizure of bridges, the liberation of small towns, and other actions undertaken by the famous Screaming Eagles. With vivid personal accounts throughout, this guide features practical visitor information about monuments and other important sites.
Author: Karel Margry
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781870067393
Category : Arnhem, Battle of, Arnhem, Netherlands, 1944
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
Volume 1 covers the mounting of the operation and the crucial first two days of the battle. The story opens with the planning and preparation of the double undertaking - of Market by the newly created First Allied Airborne Army in the UK and Garden by the British Second Army on the Belgian-Dutch border. The scene then switches to describe the German military situation in the Netherlands on the eve of battle. The massive initial airborne landings of September 17, 1944, are then recounted with equal attention to each of the three airborne divisions involved. The break-out battle by the Guards Armoured Division, spearhead of the ground army, is likewise illustrated with a wealth of photographs. The second day of the operation, September 18, sees the Guards reaching the 101st Airborne at Eindhoven, making their first contact with the airborne army.
