Credits & Bibliography
Despite my interest in the Second World War, I avoided the subject of Market-Garden for years because it was an operation full of events occurring in tandem and requiring effort to piece together. But in May 2024, I received a commission from the Groesbeek Airborne Friends Foundation in the Netherlands to make a map showing the battle in the Groesbeek area. The map was for the 80th anniversary commemoration of Market-Garden scheduled to take place in the Netherlands in September 2024. I eventually made two maps. Both can be seen in this monograph. The resulting research on the actions of the 82nd Airborne and German forces in the Nijmegen area encouraged me to go after the whole story.
My thanks to Marco Cillessen, Secretary and Treasurer of the Groesbeek Airborne Friends Foundation, for inspiring this larger project.
Major Sources
Original Reports
- 1st Airborne Division Report on Operation Market, Parts 1-III, British Army, 10 January 1945.
- 21st Army Group: Operation Market-Garden: 17-26 September 1944, SHAEF, 1945
- 38 Group Operation Order No 526 for Operation “Market”, SHAEF, 23 December 1944.
- A Graphic History of the 82nd Airborne Division, US Army/SHAEF, 1945.
- A Historical Study of Some World War II Airborne Operations, Weapon Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG) Staff Study No 3, US Department of Defense, 1951.
- Air Invasion of Holland, IX Troop Carrier Command Report on Market, SHAEF, 2 Jan 1945.
- Allied Airborne Operations in Holland, September-October 1944, SHAEF, 10 February 1945.
- By Air To Battle: The official Account of the British Airborne Divisions, HMSO, 1945.
- First Airborne Army Market-Garden, SHAEF/US Army, 22 December 1944.
- General Return of the Strength of the British Army for the quarter ending, 30 September 1944, AG W073/162
- Narrative of Operation Market, US Army, 14 July 1945.
- Report of Airborne Phase (17-27 September 1944), Operation “Market,” 101st Airborne Division, SHAEF, 15 October 1944.
- Tactical Air Operations in Europe, US IX Troop Carrier Command, US Army Air Force, 19 May 1945.
- US Army Small Unit Study No 1: Parachute Battalion in Holland, History Section, European Theater of Operations, 12 September 1945.
- US Army Small Unit Study No 6: Parachute Infantry at Best, History Section, European Theater of Operations, 6 February 1948.
- Warren, Dr John C., Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater, USAF Historical Studies No 97, USAF Historical Division, Air University, September 1956.
Magazines and Journals
- “Out of the Ranks to a Three-Star Job,” LIFE, 20 January 1958
- David Bennett, “Airborne Communications in Operation Market Garden,” Canadian Military History, Vol 16, Issue 1, 2017.
Books
- Bando, Mark, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in World War II, Zenith Press, 2007.
- Bennett, David, A Magnificent Disaster, Casemate, 2008.
- Buckingham, William, Arnhem: The Battle of the Bridges, Amberley, 2019.
- Buckley, John & Peter Preston-Hough (eds), Operation Market-Garden: The Campaign for the Low Countries, Autumn 1944: Seventy Years On, Helion, 2016.
- Eisenhower, Dwight D, Crusade in Europe, Vintage, 2021.
- Frost, John, One Drop Too Many, Pen & Sword, 2009.
- Gavin, James, Airborne Warfare, 1947.
- “————-,”On to Berlin, Leo Cooper, 1979.
- Hackett, John, I Was A Stranger, Random House, 1999.
- Harris, Warren, Audrey Hepburn, Simon & Schuster, 1994.
- Horrocks, Brian, A Full Life, Lume Books, 2023.
- “—————,” Corps Commander, Lume Books, 2023.
- Irwin, Will, Abundance of Valor, Ballantine Books, 2010.
- Kershaw, Robert, It Never Snows in September, Ian Allen, 2004.
- Koskimaki, George, Hells’ Highway, Casemate, 2003.
- Kuiper, Harry, Arnhem and the Aftermath, Pen & Sword, 2019.
- MacDonald, Charles B, The Siegfried Line Campaign, US Army Center of Military History, 1993.
- Margry, Karel, Market-Garden Then and Now, Volumes 1 and 2, Pen & Sword, 2021.
- Matzen, Robert, Dutch Girl, GoodKnight Books, 2019.
- McGilvray, Evan, Black Devils’ March – A Doomed Odyssey, Helion, 2010.
- McManus, John C., September Hope: The American Side of a Bridge Too Far, Penguin, 2013.
- Mead, Richard, General ‘Boy’: The Life of Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Browning, Pen & Sword, 2010.
- Middlebrook, Martin, Arnhem 1944: The Airborne Battle, Penguin 1995.
- Montgomery, Bernard, From Normandy to the Baltic, Hutchinson, 1958.
- Newton, Steven H, Hitler’s Favorite Commander, Da Capo, 2006.
- Nicolson, Nigel & Patrick Forbes, The Grenadier Guards in the war of 1939-1945, Volume 1, Gale & Polden, 1949.
- Nordyke, Phil, Four Stars of Valor: The Combat History of the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II, MBI Publishing, 2010.
- Norton, G G, The Red Devils, Leon Cooper, 1971.
- Paris, Barry, Audrey Hepburn, Berkley Book, 2001.
- Peters, Mike & Luuk Buist, Glider Pilots at Arnhem, Pen & Sword, 2009.
- Ryan, Cornelius, A Bridge Too Far, Hodder & Stoughton, 2015.
- Saunders, Hilary St. George, The Red Beret, Battery Press, 1985.
- Schneider, Wolfgang, Tigers in Combat I, Stackpole, 2004.
- Sorley, Lewis (ed), Gavin at War: The World War II Diary of Lieutenant General James M Gavin, Casemate, 2022.
- Sosabowski, Stanislaw, Freely I served, Pen & Sword, 2013.
- Tieke, Wilhelm, In the Firestorm of the Last Years of the War, J.J. Fedorowicz, 1999.
- Urquhart, Roy, Arnhem, Pen & Sword, 2011.
- Zetterling, Niklas, Normandy 1944, Casemate, 2019.
- Zwarts, Marcel, German Armored Units at Arnhem, Concord, 2003.
Websites
- Archive Report: Allied Forces, https://aircrewremembered.com/harrison-graeme.html
- Audrey Hepburn’s secret role in WWII, BBC Radio 4, (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/XjhvBDkrPPjfWzw0ZYjqSb/audrey-hepburn-s-secret-role-in-wwii)
- US 12th Army situation maps, Library of Congress, 16 and 17 September 1944
- Pegasus Archive https://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/order.ht
- Audrey Hepburn: A Tribute to Her Humanitarian Work, “Lesley Garner meets the legendary actress as she prepares for this week’s Unicef gala performance, 26 May 1991” http://ahepburn.com/article6.html (website now defunct; accessible using webarchive)
Achilles the Heel 
Hi thereYou write so brilliantly. Such clarity, such mastery of the language.Thanks for sharing.I had a friend, a Dutch – Indonesian woman, whose father took the family to Holland
Hi. I really appreciate your kind words. And thank you – for sharing about your friend!
Actually, my original message got truncated. So here is the remainder
My friend was about 10 when the War began and she spent the duration in Arnhem. She witnessed many horrible things, including people being shot in the street. And some of the fighting. The family suffered greatly from food shortages too.
The War left a lasting impression as you can well imagine, I am sure.
Best wishes
Steve (I’m the guy who sent you the books on WW2 in Burma)
Hi Steve, good to hear from you! I still have the books on my shelf.
I can only imagine the trauma she must have experienced. Did she record any of her experiences?
No, and she passef away years back. Her father was an engineer on the Dutch East Indies Railway in Java. Went to Europe with the family around the time of Chamberlain proclaiming “Peace in our time”
Bad mistake. At war’s close they returned to Java, but like a lot of Dutch and Indo-Dutch, fled to Irian when Indonesia won the war of Independence in 1949.
Lived in Irian until the “Act of Free Choice” in 1963, from memory. What a joke that was.
Then migrated to Australia to build a new life. Lovely woman who married a lovely Australian guy.
Cheers
Steve
That is so interesting. Thanks for sharing this information, Steve. Mighty grateful.
The civilian experience at Arnhem is understudied in English-language history. Documents indicate that 453 civilians died during the Arnhem battle. I can only imagine the plight of the civilian populace caught up in the battle.
She spent the War living in Arnhem. She was a young woman. She witnessed many horrors. It was an experience that coloured the rest of her life.
Wow Akhil!!! Need some time to digest this :). Great stuff I’m sure!!Marco Cillessen
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, Marco.
For anyone interested, there is an episode from Thames Television Tv series U.K called “This is your life” filmed in the seventies (i think).One episode featured Major General John Frost CB DSO &Bar MC DL.Towards the end of the show a group of men who were with him came on as a suprise.This episode on YouTube.Also on there, is a tour of the bridge and a first hand account of the fighting in around it by Steve Morgan of 2 Para at the time, a lovely man.
Dear Akhil ,
First my compliments on a verry good website.
But the foto`s of the railway bridge in Oosterbeek are both not from the battle.
The first one is from after the war and the second on is from may 1940 and shows the damage done by the Dutch Army on the 10th of may when all the bridges in the surrounding of Arnhem and Nijmegen where Blown.
The book: The lost Company, by Marcel Anker (2017) will show howe the bridge looked before and after the battle
Kind Regards
Hans Wabeke
Thanks for this valuable information. I will delete the images.
The Horsa Glider could take the 6 pounder AT gun but NOT the 17 pounder AT these where flown in by the Hamilcar gliders.
You are absolutely right. Thanks for pointing this out.
The pictures of the railway bridge are NOT from the batlle in 1944, the first on is from after the war and the second shows the bridge in may 1940. Alle the bridges around Arnhem and Nijmegen where destroyed by the Dutch Army in the early morning of the 10th of may 1940.
Yes, this has been pointed out to me. There was brief imagery of the broken bridge from “Theirs is the Glory”. I need to see if I can find that footage.
The book “the lost company” by Marcel Anker (2017) contains pictures from the bridge before and after the battle
The book seems to be out of print, sadly. Let me check if I can source it somehow.
Try ‘Meijer&Siegers”Bookstore in Oosterbeek
Thanks.
“bolt-action .303-inch (7.7 mm) Lee-Enfield rifles (sheesh!)” Why “sheesh”? The standard firearm of the German army was also a bolt-action rifle; both rifles in the hands of a trained soldier are deadly. This piece comes across as very condescending towards the British, from the Generals right down to the firearms.
Hi,
Thank you for your comment. It is appreciated. What is your name, by the way?
In my view, the issuance of the bolt-action Lee-Enfield No. 4 to the airborne forces gave the paras/glider troops a weapon that was not only heavy but also cumbersome in close-quartered fighting, not to mention that it could not give airborne forces an adequate volume of fire to match that of the Germans. Sure, the Germans also had the Kar98K, but their airborne forces also had the automatic FJ42, the semi-automatic Gewehr G43, the StG44, not to mention the venerable MP40 and the MG42 which could produce a heavy volume of fire. By the way, I make mention later on in the monograph that some Paras at Arnhem demonstrated their adroitness with the Lee-Enfield through sheer shooting accuracy.
Also, in Urquhart’s book, a few negative things are said about the Sten Mk V and how it was a “temperamental weapon at best” – a comment I found dismaying. I also have some data in my files somewhere about how the US M1 Carbine found some favored use in the 1st Airborne Div.
Anyway, I reject the charge of condescension. Have you read my other pieces on this website? They are replete with tellings of British heroics and achievements, whether they be on Malta, in Burma with the Chindits, in Normandy (even during the stalled Epsom offensive) or in North Africa.
My name is Martin, I’m not sure where the “furry” so and so came from, the Chindits is an excellent piece indeed, as is most of your stuff, especially the liberation of Paris, sorry I shouldn’t moan, you do an excellent job, and I see where you are coming from, it took the British army far too long to get a semi automatic rifle into service, saving ammo on the generals minds no doubt, now I’m doing it lol.
Thank you, Martin. I am grateful for your candor! At the end of the day, I am happy to discuss/debate any queries about my research – and WWII in general- time permitting.
Thank you Akhil
“armed with the new Sten Mk V variant (a version that incorporated a wooden stock and foregrip, representing a major enhancement of an ugly wartime weapon made out of stamped sheet metal).”
The Sten Ugly? Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Now, I give you that the MKV might be improved, but it was a hell of an ugly improvement, to my eye anyway. 😀 Still, for me, the MKII Sten is the most beautiful submachine gun of WW2. Still, I am partial to brutalism, and the Sten cost tuppence ha’penny at a time when Britain needed a sub machine gun quickly and the Lanchester, while a lovely weapon, was too time-consuming and expensive.
Just a few thoughts, currently reading your Stalingrad, it is excellent, if I could just add here that I think one of the reasons the Germans liked the PPSH so much was it’s 50 round drum magazine.
The Sten Mk II is the iconic variant of the weapon and gave Britain a high-value frontline weapon at a fraction of the cost, I agree. But the Mk II is also hard on the eyes! The Sten Mk V is a more elegant-looking weapon (IMHO), and with its wooden stock, pistol grip, and foregrip, had improved handling.
The Stalingrad piece is old now; written years ago. Sadly, I lack the time to do a refresh.
I feel that the PPSh-41 was a formidable weapon. However, as you may know, most of these SMGs were hobbled by limited range (as per Ian Hogg, the effective range of the Thompson SMG was 50 m, that of the Sten Mk II was 40 m; the PPSh-41 and the German MP40 had better effectives ranges of 100 m). Stopping power is a separate matter. In any case, these SMGs were effective only as close-quartered weapons. Going back to Arnhem, it is arguable whether the 1st Airborne would have befitted from having more automatic weapons such as the Sten Mk V, Thompson or M1 Carbine (effective range: 180 m), when considering factors such as volume of fire versus ammunition availability.
Also, if I may add to my previous comment about the Lee-Enfield No 4 rifle: According to Lt. Col. H F Joslen’s, Orders of Battle, Second World War, 1939 -1945, the standard basic allowance for a British Airborne Division in 1944 included: 7,171 Lee-Enfield No 4s, 6,504 Sten Mk Vs, and 966 Bren LMGs (to mention a few weapon types). The actual number of weapons issued to the 1st Airborne would have varied slightly, but it is likely that the Lee-Enfield was the predominant small arm in the division in September 1944. The employment of the M1 Carbine during the Arnhem battle appears to have been limited to troops within the 1st AB HQ and the Glider Regiment. During my research, I didn’t pay much attention to the number of M1 carbines or other small arms issued, so I don’t have a number on how many M1s were used in the Arnhem sector. Perhaps a visitor to this site has the answer.
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