September 2024 marks the 80th anniversary of Operation Market Garden - the codename for the daring offensive into the German occupied Netherlands.
Short Stirling Mark IV, LK115 '8S-Z', of No. 295 Squadron RAF, taking off from Harwell, Oxfordshire, towing an Airspeed Horsa glider aloft, 17 September 1944.
Troops dug in holding Brigade Headquarters.
Short Stirling Mark IV, LK115 '8S-Z', of No. 295 Squadron RAF, taking off from Harwell, Oxfordshire, towing an Airspeed Horsa glider aloft, 17 September 1944.
The airborne element of Operation Market Garden involved inserting three airborne divisions behind enemy lines to seize eight key bridges - at Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem, as well as two smaller ones in Veghel and Grave, between Eindhoven and Nijmegen.
The American 101st Airborne Division was deployed around Eindhoven, the 82nd US Airborne Division around Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division with the attached 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade around Arnhem.
Sunday 17th September was warm, dry, and bright – ideal conditions for an airborne assault. The soldiers landed by parachute or glider and were given orders to capture and secure the key bridges and roads so the Allied forces in Belgium could enter Germany and end the war in Europe by Christmas 1944.
Around 10,000 men from the 1st British Airborne Division, which included the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 10th, 11th and 156th battalions of The Parachute Regiment, parachuted west of Arnhem during the early afternoon of 17th September 1944.
Their landing zones were around nine miles from the bridge at Arnhem, which lost them the element of surprise and gave German troops time to react and build blockades.
Despite the constant attack by German armour and infantry, 2nd Parachute Battalion (2 PARA) and other supporting elements from its Brigade were successful in taking Arnhem road Bridge.
The initial order had been to hold the bridge for 48 hours until relived by ground forces. Meanwhile, the rest of the division, depleted by attempts to fight through to reinforce the bridge, were compressed into a small perimeter across the river at Oosterbeek.
A defensive battle was fought at the bridge by 2 PARA that saw nine days of prolonged and brutal street fighting until ordered to withdraw on the 25th of September. More than 1,600 British soldiers were killed, nearly 6,500 captured, and five Victoria Crosses were awarded.
Commemoration events will take place across the UK and Arnhem on Saturday and Sunday.
Today’s paratroopers, in 16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team (16AABCT), serve under the same Pegasus emblem as the 1st Airborne Division as a reminder of the bravery and commitment of their forbears.
They will join with paratroopers from eight NATO member countries (Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain Germany, and the USA) to complete a jump into Ginkle Heath, a landing zone used by the Allied Forces during the 1944 operation.
The Red Devils, the British Army’s freefall parachute team are also due to jump.
A memorial service at Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery will be held on the Sunday and will be attended by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal who will be representing His Majesty The King.
The commemorations honour all the Allied Forces that participated in the operation, especially those who remain at rest in the land they helped liberate. It is not only a way of respecting those who fought, and in many cases gave their lives, but also a way of educating younger generations about the debt of gratitude we owe our veterans.
And whilst Operation Market Garden failed to achieve its overall objectives it is a reminder that Allies fight together and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for each other.
