Out of the Blue: The Unraveling of Operation Market-Garden

On By Akhil KadidalIn WWII

Footnotes

  1. 19th Century Prussian strategist, Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. ↩︎
  2. By that same measure, one can argue that some British operations, in other parts of the world, while conducted to restore stability, were also carried out to restore the empire and colonialism. ↩︎
  3. The 21st Army Group was composed of two armies with British, Canadian and Free Polish troops, and trace amounts of Czechs, Belgians, and Dutch. ↩︎
  4. British Second Army, Canadian First Army, US First and Third Armies. The US Ninth Army was engaged against the coastal city of Brest in western France, but later took up positions in northwest Europe between the US First and Third Armies. ↩︎
  5. Margry, Vol 1, Part 1, Ch 1,  loc. 505 ↩︎
  6. No 38 and 46 Groups were attached to the First Airborne Army only when required. ↩︎
  7. See above ↩︎
  8. About 17,202 US troops alone dropped by air onto Normandy from D-Day to D+2. This included, 10,149 troops for the 82nd Airborne. Some units of the 101st Airborne, such as the 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion and the 907th Artillery which arrived by ship at Utah beach. Most of the 101st Airborne’s 327th Glider Infantry Regiment also arrived by ship at Utah Beach on 7 June 1944. These seaborne units are included in the 17,202 total. (see WSEG Study No 3, pgs. 106-111). The British 6th Airborne Division landed in Normandy with about 8,500 troops. (https://www.army.mod.uk/news/by-air-to-battle-on-d-day/) ↩︎
  9. Browning was a trained glider pilot. Consequently, during Operation “Market”, he chose not to jump as a paratrooper as Gavin did – instead landing in a glider, but not as a pilot. This was also in total contrast to US 101st Airborne Division’s Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe (of later, Bastogne fame) a qualified paratrooper who traveled in a glider during “Market” to support the glider troops, and then vowed never to travel in another glider again because of the harrowing experience of landing. (See McManus, pgs. 221-222) ↩︎
  10. Also see: “The Netherlands: The Beggars Underground,” Time Magazine, 17 March 1941 (https://time.com/archive/6764642/the-netherlands-beggars-underground/) ↩︎
  11. See US 12th Army situation maps, Library of Congress, 16 and 17 September 1944; https://www.loc.gov/resource/g5701s.ict21103/ & https://www.loc.gov/resource/g5701s.ict21104/ ↩︎
  12. Pegasus Archive (https://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/order.htm) ↩︎
  13. Urquhart had led the 231st Infantry Brigade into battle in Sicily and Italy. ↩︎
  14. Horrocks later described the US Airborne commanders, Gavin and Taylor as “quiet, sensitive-looking men,” but he realized that this underscored their tough characters. Horrocks also thought the men of the 82nd and the 101st Airborne, who were recruited from across the US “ were composed of individual killers who were, in fact, the toughest troops I have ever come across in my life”. (Horrocks, pg. 146) ↩︎
  15. General Return of the Strength of the British Army for the quarter ending 30, September 1944, AG W073/162 & Middlebrook, pg. 39. ↩︎
  16. The Glider Pilot Regiment was not part of the 1st Airborne division, and instead belonged to the Army Air Corps. However, they were trained for combat and also wore the airborne maroon beret, but with the Army Air Corps “eagle” badge. ↩︎
  17. As Lt. Colonel John Frost later said, few of the 1st Airborne officers really challenged the RAF over its selection of distant drop/landing zones because the division was “anxious to get into action at any price, rather than add difficulties to the task of the people who had to fly us there by challenging their plane. (Frost, loc. 3375, 71%) Frost, as only a Lt. Colonel, was almost certainly not in the Sosabowski briefing. ↩︎
  18. https://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/order_2SS.htm & Kershaw, pgs. 102-103.  ↩︎
  19. Sosabowski had also advised Browning weeks before that at least two divisions would be required to secure the Groesbeek heights and the Nijmegen bridges. (Sosabowski, pgs. 201-202) ↩︎
  20. Within the landing forces on day one was the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion. In his 1947 treatise Airborne Warfare, Gavin wrote the battalion would go in with twelve 75 mm M1 pack howitzers. The unit parachuted with its guns onto the drop – an untested concept in combat. By arriving in a parachute drop, the unit required 48 C-47s and occupied only “four minutes of air space” whereas a comparable glider-borne unit would require 95 C-47s as tugs and occupy 15 minutes air space. (Gavin, Airborne Warfare, Ch 4, 59%) ↩︎
  21. It is possible that this unit was actually the the 1st/567th Transport Battalion.  ↩︎
  22. Margry and the official Grenadier Guards history says this was actually 2nd Squadron, but this is not corroborated by the Nordyke history of the 505th PIR. ↩︎
  23. Taylor certainly rose to the top. He became Chief-of-Staff of the Army in 1955, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff in 1962. ↩︎
  24. Wierzbowski is an unusual name. It is also the name of a minor character in James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). Two other characters in the movie also share the last names of prominent personalities in the histories of Operation Market-Garden: Ricco Ross’s Frost (as of Frost, 2nd Para) and Michael Biehn’s Hicks (as of Pip Hicks, British 1st Airlanding Brigade). I can’t help but suspect that Cameron had recently read Ryan’s A Bridge Too Far and drew the names from the book. ↩︎
  25. Kershaw, pg. 185 ↩︎
  26. The Jedburgh program was led by the US OSS Special Operations (SO) branch, the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), and the French Bureau Central de Renseignements et d’Action (BCRA). ↩︎
  27. The Germans eventually captured Todd on 27 September. ↩︎
  28. The 43rd Wessex task force included the 5th Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry (DCLI) and the Sherman tanks of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards. Some valiant armored car crews of the Household Cavalry Regiment (of the Guards Division) had previously linked up with the Poles late on 21 September. ↩︎
  29. The northern bank was also at a higher elevation than the south bank, enhancing German domination of the area. ↩︎
  30. 1st Airlanding Recce Squadron War Diary, National Archives catalogue reference WO 171/40; (https://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/war_recce.htm ) ↩︎
  31. David Bennett, A Bridge Too Far: The Canadian Role in the Evacuation of the British 1st Airborne Division from Arnhem-Oosterbeek, September 1944, (Canadian Military Journal, Winter 2005-2006), pg. 96. ↩︎
  32. This is based on a signal sent by II SS Panzer Corps to Wehrmacht General HQ on September 27 (Daily Sit rep, A Gp B, 0220, 27 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen). See MacDonald, Siegfried Line, pg. 198 and Stories of Battle of Arnhem Casualties, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, (5 August 2024) https://www.cwgc.org/our-work/blog/stories-of-battle-of-arnhem-casualties/ ↩︎
  33. MacDonald, pg. 198; 21 Army Group Report, pg. 77; 82nd AB Graphic History; Report of Airborne Phase: 101st Airborne Division, pgs. 2-3; WSEG Staff Study No. 3, Market Casualty Data, Table IV, pg. 28; Commonwealth War Graves ↩︎
  34. For example, temperatures went down to 4 C (39F) in Amsterdam. ↩︎
  35. David Bennett, A Bridge Too Far: The Canadian Role in the Evacuation of the British 1st Airborne Division from Arnhem-Oosterbeek, pg. 96. ↩︎
  36. Downs was posted to India to lead the 44th (Indian) Airborne Division ↩︎
  37. https://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/frederick_browning.htm ↩︎
  38. https://www.driel-polen.nl/en/stichting/geschiedenis; https://www.royalhonoursanddecorations.nl/knights/colours ↩︎
  39. Browning’s post-war life was less stellar. At one time in the 1950s, he was suicidal. Later, he became an avid UFOlogist. He was also in poor health in the early 1960s and died in 1965. ↩︎
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27 thoughts on “Out of the Blue: The Unraveling of Operation Market-Garden”

      1. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

        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)

      3. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

        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

      4. 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.

  2. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

    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.

    Reply
  4. clever460ff19066's avatar clever460ff19066

    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.

    Reply
  5. Unknown's avatar Anonymous

    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

    Reply
  6. Ekebaw's avatar swimmingdelightfullyb85be461ed

    The Horsa Glider could take the 6 pounder AT gun but NOT the 17 pounder AT these where flown in by the Hamilcar gliders.

    Reply
  7. Ekebaw's avatar swimmingdelightfullyb85be461ed

    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.

    Reply
    2. Ekebaw's avatar swimmingdelightfullyb85be461ed

      The book “the lost company” by Marcel Anker (2017) contains pictures from the bridge before and after the battle

      Reply
  8. Martin's avatar furryb81aa31590

    “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.

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Reply
      1. Martin's avatar furryb81aa31590

        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.

      2. 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.

  9. Martin's avatar furryb81aa31590

    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.

    Reply

    1. 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.

      Reply

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