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September 18: the British advance stalls on the western side of Arnhem, 2 kilometers from the bridge

in Arnhem/September 18
British paratroopers advance to Arnhem via the Utrechtseweg. (Photo: Gelders Archives.)

Of the three British battalions that marched on Arnhem on Sunday, September 17, only the 2nd Battalion under John Frost had managed to reach the city. The 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion had been stopped by German resistance at Oosterbeek. On Monday, September 18, they tried to break through the German barrier line .…

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Airborne division without commander

in Arnhem/September 18
General Urquhart during operation Market Garden, outside of the Hartestein Hotel. (Photo: Imperial War Museum.)

While his troops were engaged in fierce battles with the Germans, General Roy Urquhart, the commander of the 1st British Airborne Division, was hiding in an attic at Zwarteweg 14 in the Arnnhem district of Lombok. In the book that General Urquhart wrote after the war about his experiences during the Battle of Arnhem, he…

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British at the bridge hold out, under heavy German pressure

in Arnhem/September 19
The Van Limburg-Stirumschool on the eastern driveway of the Rhine Bridge. After the Battle of Arnhem, little was left of the school.

The 700 soldiers of 2nd Battalion who occupied approximately thirty buildings on the north side of the Rhine Bridge had no illusions. The day before they had easily survived the attack of a German SS reconnaissance battalion and had also repelled several small attacks on their positions. But now, on Tuesday, September 19, the Germans…

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British attack on the western side of Arnhem leads to a massacre on September 19

in Arnhem/September 19
(Illustration: Boeree Collection, Gelders Archives.)

In the early morning of Tuesday, September 19, British paratroopers from positions west of the Elisabeth Gasthuis made a last, ultimate attempt to reach John Frost’s troops at the Rhine Bridge. The attack was launched with four battalions, together accounting for almost 2,000 soldiers. It became a massacre. The 1st Battalion and the 3rd Battalion…

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Five Arnhem residents shot dead in the Bakkerstraat

in Arnhem/September 19

A simple plaque in Bakkerstraat commemorates the murder of five innocent Arnhem residents during the Battle of Arnhem. Few people know the story behind the execution by German troops on the morning of Tuesday, September 19, 1944. Due to the chaos during the Battle of Arnhem, it was never completely clear what exactly happened. But…

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This is how the British perimeter in Oosterbeek was created

in Arnhem/Oosterbeek/September 20
The British perimeter in Oosterbeek on Wednesday, September 20 1944.

On Tuesday, September 19, the British had tried to reach the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem from Oosterbeek and from the Bovenover-Onderlangs intersection in Arnhem. The British suffered major losses in both attacks. In addition to many deaths and injuries, hundreds of British paratroopers had been forced to surrender to the Germans. After the failure of…

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September 20: Germans smoke out the British at the Rhine Bridge

in Arnhem/September 20
British paratroopers captured at the bridge on Wednesday, September 20, are taken away via Steenstraat. (Photo: Federal Archives.)

If Operation Market Garden had gone according to plan, the ground troops of XXX Corps would have reached the south side of the Rhine on Tuesday, September 19, in the afternoon. But on Wednesday morning, September 20, the tanks and troops of XXX Corps were still in Nijmegen, where the Waal Bridge had yet to…

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Wednesday, September 20: the Eusebius Church catches fire

in Arnhem/September 20
The Eusebius Church after the Allied bombing of the Rhine Bridge on October 7, 1944. The Eusebius Tower is still standing, but the spire has burned down.

The Eusebius Church was virtually destroyed during the bombing of the Rhine Bridge on October 7, 1944. But the church already suffered extensive damage during the Battle of Arnhem. As a result of German shelling on the church, the Eusebius caught fire on Wednesday, September 20. The spire and roof of the church burned down…

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Rhine Bridge: 130 British soldiers try to break out

in Arnhem/September 20
This aerial photo from 1939 shows the battle scene. At the bottom left of the photo is the Walburgis Church with the Walburgisplein. The H-shaped building directly on the west side of the Rhine Bridge is the brigade headquarters from which the 130 soldiers attempted their breakout. (Photo: Gelders Archives.)

On Wednesday evening, September 20, the British soldiers had to give up their position at the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem. About 130 British tried to break out via the Walburgis Church. Despite their relatively light armament, the British paratroopers defending the north side of the Rhine Bridge proved to be able to withstand the attacks…

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The Germans are not yet confident of a good outcome on September 23

in Arnhem/September 23
An English soldier fires his bren gun at a German position near Arnhem.

While the situation of the remnants of the British Airborne Division in Oosterbeek became increasingly precarious on Saturday, September 23, the German army leadership was not yet convinced of a positive outcome. The Germans knew that the British in Oosterbeek only had a quarter of the combat strength they had at the landing on September…

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