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Arnhem

Before the paratroopers arrived, the bombs fell first

in Arnhem/Nijmegen/September 17
The Willemskazerne in the city center of Arnhem was completely destroyed during the bombings of September 17. (Photo: Gelders Archives.)

The air raid siren in Arnhem had already gone off several times in the morning of Sunday, September 17, but each time it had been a false alarm. But from a quarter to eleven it was a hit. Dozens of military targets in Arnhem and the surrounding area were hit by Allied bombers until approximately…

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Half an airborne division, spread over 11 kilometers

in Arnhem/September 17
Landing zone LZ-S on Sunday September 17. The fires in the background are at Wolfheze, where German targets were bombed by the Allies earlier that day.

An underexposed aspect of the Battle of Arnhem is the impossible task that the 1st British Airborne Division faced on the first day of the landings. In the first version of the plans for Operation Market Garden, all British paratroopers would land in the operations area near Arnhem on the first day of the operation.…

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This was the attack plan of the 1st Parachute Brigade

in Arnhem/September 17

More than 12,000 British and Polish airborne troops whose aim was to capture the Rhine Bridge near Arnhem in one day. That is pretty much the image that many people have about the purpose of the British airborne landings near Arnhem on September 17, 1944. That is incorrect. Because there were insufficient aircraft available, only…

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The failed race to the Rhine Bridge by the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron

in Arnhem/September 17
A jeep of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. (Photo: Imperial War Museum.)

In addition to John Frost’s battalion, there was another British unit that managed to reach the Rhine Bridge on Sunday, September 17, albeit badly damaged. Those were the men in the jeeps of the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron. The 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron was known within the British airborne forces as the ‘Freddie Gough Squadron’,…

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No German soldiers at the Rhine bridge: forgotten in the confusion after the airborne landings

in Arnhem/September 17

Around 8 p.m. on Sunday, September 17, 1944, the first British soldiers reached the Rhine Bridge near Arnhem. To their surprise, the British discovered that the bridge was not defended by German soldiers. In the confusion after the airborne landings, the German army leadership had forgotten to send soldiers to the Rhine Bridge. After several…

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John Frost’s Battalion captures the Rhine bridge, but not the railway bridge and the ship bridge

in Arnhem/September 17
German prisoners are taken away by British paratroopers in the woods near Wolfheze.

After the airborne landings on September 17, three battalions with approximately 2,700 British paratroopers left for Arnhem via three different routes. 1st Battalion , which advanced to Arnhem via the north, came into contact north-east of Wolfheze with the first troops of the 9th SS Armored Division that the Germans had sent to Arnhem. During…

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Video: The British took control of these buildings near the Rhine Bridge

in Arnhem/Photos/September 17

None of the original buildings that the British held on the north side of the Rhine Bridge during the Battle of Arnhem survived the war. In addition to drawn maps of the situation around the bridge, several illustrative films have been made in recent years that clearly show what the area around the Rhine Bridge…

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Another company of soldiers managed to reach the Rhine Bridge after the landings

in Arnhem/September 17
British paratroopers pose together with Dutch civilians on a cart track near Wolfheze.

Many people are aware that the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion led by John Frost managed to reach the Rhine Bridge via a route along the Rhine on Sunday, September 17. Much less known is that approximately fifty British soldiers from the 3rd Battalion also arrived at the bridge on Sunday night. Because the British…

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Colonel Frost is on his own at the bridge

in Arnhem/September 18
A British RAF reconnaissance plane took this photo of the Rhine Bridge on Monday afternoon, September 18, 1944. The remains of the destroyed column of armored vehicles are clearly visible on the bridge.

The early morning of Monday, September 18. That was the last moment when it was quiet for the British at the Rhine Bridge. But from half past nine in the morning there was almost continuous fighting at the bridge. Because the British army units could not maintain contact with each other via radios , the…

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British at the bridge destroy Viktor Gräbner’s SS Armored Column

in Arnhem/September 18
An RAF reconnaissance plane took a photo of the destruction of the SS Armored Column by the British. (Photo: Imperial War Museum.)

A Dutch garbage collector who unsuspectingly made his rounds near the Rhine bridge on the early morning of Monday, September 18, 1944, was probably the first victim of the fighting that would take place that day. His garbage truck was fired upon by British paratroopers as soon as he entered their sector. The British were…

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