01x06 - Operation Market Garden

[bunniefuu]

[somber music plays]

♪ The bright horses have broken free
From the fields ♪

♪ They are horses of love
Their manes full of fire ♪

♪ They are parting the cities
Those bright burning horses ♪

♪ And everyone is hiding
And no one makes a sound ♪

♪ And I'm by your side
And I'm holding your hand ♪

[airplane engines roaring]

[male reader 1] Letter from Ivor Rowberry,


"Dear Mum, usually when I write a letter
it is very much overdue

and I must make every effort
to get it away quickly.

This letter, however, is different.

It is a letter I hoped
you would never receive,

as it is just the verification
of that terse, black-edged card

which you received some time ago
and which caused you so much grief.

It is because of that grief
that I wrote this letter

and by the time you have finished
reading it,

I hope that it has done some good,

that I have not written it in vain.

It is very difficult to write now
of future things in the past tense.

So I am returning to the present.

Tomorrow we go into action.

As yet I do not know exactly
what our job will be,

but no doubt it will be a dangerous one
in which many lives will be lost.

Mine may be one of those lives.

Well, Mum, I am not afraid to die.

I like this life, yes,
for the past two years I have planned

and dreamed and mapped out
a perfect future for myself.

I would have liked that future
to materialize,

but it is not what God wills.

And if by sacrificing all this I leave
the world slightly better than I found it,

I am perfectly willing
to make that sacrifice.

Don't get me wrong though Mum,
I am no flag waving-patriot

nor have I ever professed to be.

England is a great little country,
the best there is.

But I cannot honestly and sincerely say
that it is worth fighting for.

Nor can I fancy myself in the role
of a gallant crusader,

fighting for the liberation of Europe.

It would be a nice thought,
but I would only be kidding myself.

No Mum,
my little world is centered around you

and includes dad, everyone at home,

my friends at Wolverhampton.

That is worth fighting for.

And if by doing so
it strengthens your security

and improves your lot in any way
then it is worth dying for too.

I want no flowers, no epitaph, no tears.

All I want is for you to remember me
and feel proud of me.

Then I shall rest in peace,
knowing that I have done a good job.

Besides, I have probably crammed
more enjoyment into my 21 years

than some managed to do in 80.

My only regret is that I have not done
as much for you as I would like to do.

I loved you, Mum.
You were the best mother in the world

and what I failed to do in life
I'm trying to make up in death.

So please don't let me down Mum.

Don't worry or fret, but smile,
be proud and satisfied.

I have never had much money
but what little I have is yours.

Please don't be silly
or sentimental about it

and don't try to spend it on me.

Spend it on yourself or the kiddies,
it will do some good that way.

Remember that where I am, I'm quite okay.

And providing that
I know you are not grieving over me,

I shall be perfectly happy.

Well, Mum, that is all.

And I hope I have not
written it all in vain.

Goodbye, and thanks for everything.

Your unworthy son, Ivor."

[somber music plays]

It's like Ivor felt what was coming,
isn't it?

He was part of the largest
airborne operation in history

and was one of the 35,000 soldiers
dropped 90 kilometers behind enemy lines.

It's called Operation Market Garden.

It's a wonder that Ivor
survived this flight

and especially the jerky landing
of the glider.

But the real problems began on the ground.

Some units were 20 km apart,

the radios were on the wrong frequency

and there was no communication at all.

The end came quickly for Ivor.

His fellow soldier, Donald Marklew said:

"We shared a g*n-pit

and when I returned from the toilet,
I saw he was k*lled.

He'd been hit by a mortar grenade
in the back."

The airborne operations involved the 101st

and the 82nd US Airborne Divisions,

the first British Airborne Division
and the Polish First Parachute Brigade.

My name is Géza Weisz
and I'm an actor from Holland.

I come from a Jewish family
and my dad was born in 1938.

During the w*r, he was hidden on a farm
in the south of Holland.

And my grandfather Géza,
after who I'm named, was also an actor.

He was hidden in Amsterdam,

but unfortunately, he got caught
and was sent to Auschwitz,

which he didn't survive.

The only thing that he left my dad
was this diary right here.

For the first time in my life,
I've been reading from it

and it's a lot of fun
to get to know my grandfather

and to recognize
that there's a lot that we have in common.

Ten minutes separate me
from your birthday, my dear boy.

I haven't seen you in three months,
and before that only shortly.

I miss you terribly, you and your mother.

And I have prayed to providence
that I still might get the chance

to be reunited with you, my child,
and with your mummy,

to once more be a happy
and healthy family.

A family for which I can live and fight

and from which I can always
draw strength for this struggle.

My thoughts will be with you tomorrow.

And I am grateful that we managed
to spare you many of the difficulties

that you could have experienced
in your young life .

For that I will always be grateful
to Aunt Rie,

who took you in with so much love,
as if you were her own child.

The clock strikes 12 now.

My dear boy, I congratulate you
on your fifth birthday.

[somber music plays]

The River Rhine has always been
a natural defense barrier

for armies invading Germany.

This was already the case
in the time of the Romans.

The intention of the Allies was to capture
the rural industrial area behind the Rhine

so they could push further into Germany
and finish the w*r.

To do this, the Allies needed two things:

a couple of bridgeheads over the Rhine

and a large port to create
the logistic support they needed.

When the Port of Antwerp was captured
by Montgomery's troops on September 4th,

it was still intact
thanks to the efforts of the Resistance.

But the Scheldt estuary,
which gives access to the harbor,

was still in German hands,
so the Allies couldn't use it.

Instead of focusing on liberating
the Antwerp Harbor,

Eisenhower and Montgomery
stuck to their original plan

to capture the French ports first.

That plan is seen as one of the biggest
tactical mistakes of World w*r II.

The mistake also included
that the 80,000 German soldiers

weren't cut off on the west side
of Antwerp,

so when they evacuated, they were able
to join the battles for the bridges

around Eindhoven en Nijmegen.

Montgomery had a meeting with Eisenhower

in which he proposed
Operation Market Garden.

It was a very ambitious plan
to drop three airborne divisions

about 100 kilometers behind enemy lines

to capture the bridges
held by the Germans.

The idea was that they'd hold
the bridges until they were released

by the ground forces
of the British XXX Corps.

Those troops would advance
along one single road to their objective,

the cities of Eindhoven,
Nijmegen and finally Arnhem.

So logistically it meant
that Operation Market Garden

consisted of two parts:

Market,
which was an enormous airborne troop,

and Garden, which involved
an even bigger ground force.

The goal was to cross the Rhine
and attack Germany from the north

instead of going through
the Siegfried line,

which seemed impossible at that time.

[male reader 2] Letter from Guy Whidden
to his mother, early September.

"Dearest Mom, I realized that I have
not been writing as often as I should,

but I haven't had anything to write about
and I sure hate to write a dull leer.

Mother, will you please stop worrying
about my being in France?

I'm not in France
and I'm enjoying perfect peace,

although I am fed up with the dullness
and the shitty old grind of the army.

It will be a grand old feeling
to get back in civilian clothes

and to feel free from people
dishing out orders all the time,

to get away from some
of the domineering officers

and such other ranking personnel

who love to infuriate the men under them

and who fail to realize
that there are men under them

who in some cases
are twice as good as they,

both intellectually
and in physical accomplishment.

Your loving son, Guy."

[Géza] To make his plan work,
Montgomery needed an enhancement

of the forces involved
and a go from Eisenhower.

He didn't only need more divisions,
but also extra supplies.

His operation meant that other generals
had to slow down their operations.

But on paper, Market Garden had everything
Eisenhower was looking for.

A swift capture of the bridges
across the River Rhine

from where the operations into Germany
could start,

and the attack on the Ruhr valley
could begin.

The plan also included
the use of airborne troops,

who were stuck in Great Britain
and were bored and unemployed.

But the most important element of the plan

was that it made it possible
to defeat the Germans

and end the w*r before Christmas.

[male reader 3] Eisenhower wrote
on September 14th to his superior,

General Marshall.

"I have sacrificed a lot to give
Montgomery the strength he needs to reach

the Rhine in the north
and threaten the Ruhr.

That is, after all,
our main effort for the moment,

the airborne attack which will go
in support of this operation

will be Sunday 17th,
unless weather prevents.

It should be successful in carrying
Montgomery up to and across the Rhine.

Thereafter, it is absolutely imperative
that he quickly captured

the approaches to Antwerp,
so we may use that port."

[Géza] As soon as Eisenhower gave
the operation a go,

the machine started to move.

General Dempsey's Second Army in Belgium
started planning the ground offensive,

while General Browning,
the Airborne Corps Commander,

did the same for his Airborne Corps.

The general idea was the shorter the prep,
the less the Germans could reorganize.

But their main problem
was there was no communication

between the ground forces
and the airborne forces.

Each expected the other
to play their part.

[somber music plays]

[Géza] The biggest mistake of it all

was that the Allies
thought it was going to be a walkover.

After all, the Germans seemed beaten
and the w*r would be over in no time.

Seven days after the go from Eisenhower,
Market Garden was launched.

And the airborne troops were getting ready
to be dropped behind enemy lines.

[male reader 4] Private Jack Robbins
to his parents.



"On Sunday morning, September 17th,
I was busily preparing my equipment

for the largest airborne operation ever
to be made anywhere in the world.

The day was clear and the sun
shone brightly over the hundreds

of C-47 transports
lined up along their dispersal areas.

A perfect day for jumping, which is always
a great help for a paratrooper's morale.

The Air Force personnel and glider men
who would follow us in some hours later,

were helping to adjust our chutes
and equipment."

[somber music plays]

Diary of Pastor Aldenhuijsen,
September 1944.

Sunday the situation was so tense
that we had asked for a special gathering

for the public prayers under the Praise.

When the Praise started, we almost
regretted having summoned the people,

because of the amount of American
and English aeroplanes that had taken off

and now circled above Nuenen.

It was unsafe because of the anti-aircraft
g*ns from which they were bombarded.

And in the last ten minutes
before the Praise,

many people saw how Allied planes
dropped bunches of paratroopers.

[expl*si*n]

Before the 35,000 airborne troops
were dropped,

Allied bombers and fighter planes

swept over the operations area to destroy
the German anti-aircraft g*ns.

Diary of Arie Koorneef.

The invasion, with the airborne troops,

has started in the early morning
of Sunday 17 September.

Transport aircraft, with gliders behind,
have been sighted throughout the morning.

At around one o'clock a group of hunters
arrives above Tiel.

The antiaircraft g*ns then started firing
on the quay and along the dike,

resulting in a nosedive attack
on those positions.

A deafening noise
of heavy and light weapons follows,

and above that the crackel
of the weapons on the planes.

An air raid siren sounds,
so I have to report to the main post.

Before I get there,
I have to hide in a house twice

because the attacks are unrelenting.

From the roof of the police station,

I see a group of eight planes
attack the new quay.

They arrive in the city from the north,
flying as low as possible,

and at the position of the anti-aircraft
g*ns they dive down and open fire.

They completely destroyed these weapons
and several Germans were k*lled.

Some civilians were also
injured and k*lled,

because they had to do excavation work
for the Wehrmacht.

[upbeat music plays]

Diary J.M. Fokkinga, Sunday 17 September.

Suddenly,
around three o'clock in the afternoon,

we saw Mrs. Hendriks, who lives
across the street, come out of her house,

beckoning and calling to us.

She shouted:
"Come and have a look on the balcony!

Thousands of Paratroopers!"

We ran with her to the balcony
at the back of the house.

How it could have happened so quickly
I don't know,

but in no time crowds of people
had gathered on the balcony.

I will never forget what I saw.

It was one of the most overwhelming
moments of my life thus far.

[upbeat music continues]

It was a beautiful Sunday morning,

when the airbornes
took off to the Netherlands.

But it was only the calm before the storm.

It's crazy to think
of all these thousands of soldiers.

They're all hanging there and being shot
and landing here on these fields.

[upbeat music plays]

This is a Horsa glider.

It's kind of a disposable plane
made out of wood.

[knocking]

There were almost 4000
of them made in the UK during the w*r

and they were also
used during Market Garden.

This one is a replica,
but it's built out of original parts.

Thirty-five thousand soldiers were dropped
with parachutes and landed with gliders.

Those gliders not only brought men,
but also motorcycles,

bikes, jeeps, a*tillery

and this little Welbike right here.

Only a few of the soldiers
were lucky enough

to drive a Welbike like this.

And I'm one of the lucky few

because this will be my vehicle
for the next couple of days.

[male reader 5] Lieutenant Peter Allenby
wrote to his wife while in flight.

"Precious Darling,

well, excuse what will inevitably
be bad writing, but this is it.

We took off 20 minutes ago

and now I'm sitting in the plane
directly opposite the door.

Poor Charles sitting next to the door,
became rather quiet after a few minutes,

then suddenly called for a "bag,
greaseproof paper,

vomit, paratroopers for the use of".

Six others have been sick already.

It's terribly bumpy and even my stomach,
which usually gives no trouble,

is beginning to turn over.

Poor chaps, they look very pale."

[motor bike engine roaring]

[Géza] Edward Murrow,
an American journalist,

recorded what he experienced that day.

[male reader 6] "We've been flying into
Holland now for something like 20 minutes.

So far, without any opposition,

at least none I've been able to see.

There goes the parapacks
of the formation ahead of us.

Yellow, brown, red, drifting down gently,

dropping the containers.

I can't see the bodies of the men.

Yes, I can.

The chutes are still going
and there is a first flak outburst.

I think it's coming down
from a railway embankment

just down to the left.

It was certainly considerably under us
and just ahead of us,

and it's the first flak we've seen.

There was one burst of light flak.

There's another."

[male reader 7] Private Jack Robbins,
letter to his parents.

September 17th, 1944.

"The warning bell sounded,

notifying us of the 20-minutes stand
we were to make before jumping,

we clambered to our feet

and hooked our static lines
to the cables overhead.

This moment is one of the hardest
for a paratrooper.

As we are now over enemy territory,
we all feel sort of funny

not knowing just when that dreaded ack-ack
will start coming up at us.

We knew of one bad spot, and sure enough,

just one and a half minutes
before we jumped,

all hell seemed to break loose
in our plane.

I could hear the b*ll*ts,

small arms and 20-millimeter ack-ack g*ns
coming too darn near the plane.

At last, the green light
and what a relief to know

that you were getting out of that plane.

Wham, the chute opened

and with a terrific snapping effect
on my body,

but I knew I was safe for the moment.

As I landed, we were approached
by a dozen children and grown people.

They were the happiest,
most thankful people I've ever seen.

We gave the children
several sticks of gum,

which is the w*r's friendship code."

[Géza] There were hardly planes shut down

and the ground troops
had almost no opposition.

After their landing, the soldiers started
to move towards their meeting points

and then towards their objectives.

The atmosphere was joyful

and local Dutch civilians
started to appear.

Soldiers were hugged and kissed
and they were given apples and milk,

while soldiers gave chocolate to children
and cigarettes to adults.

It really looked as if the Germans
had been beaten

and Operation Market Garden
would be a piece of cake.

Each airborne division
had bridges to capture

before the Germans could destroy them.

[piano music plays]

Today I talked with Frits about the future
of our society after the w*r

and about certain ideas we had about it.

Both of us had the heartfelt wish
that there may very soon come a time

when people would have
a dignified existence.

Where everyone
has the right to a minimum wage

that is sufficient
to be able to live contentedly.

We spoke of the obstacles that always
impeded the execution of such a wish,

obstacles that are unnecessary,

and we both came to the conclusion that
many of mankind's developmental problems,

many of our bad traits and flaws,
and this is the same for any country,

only exist if their living conditions
are bad, in a materialistic sense.

-[motor bike engine roaring]
-[somber music plays]

The American 101st Airborne Division
was dropped in Eindhoven.

Their target was to capture five bridges
and secure four towns,

including Eindhoven.

But they were dropped too far away
from their targets,

which gave the Germans time to organize
and wire the bridges.

The American Airbornes were only one step
away from the bridge here in Son

before the Germans blew it up.

That was a big setback
for the paratroopers

who needed to push forward to Eindhoven.

The other American division,
the 82nd Airborne,

was dropped near Nijmegen
and needed to capture the bridges over

two rivers and one canal.

Of the four bridges
on the Maas-Waal Canal at Nijmegen

only one fell to American hands
after a long fight.

Two others were blown up
before the Americans reached them.

And the fourth one,
the one on the main route

was only attacked the next day
and later blown up by the Germans.

On top of this,

the bridges over the river Waal
in Nijmegen were not captured at all.

It was near sunset
when the American paratroops,

guided by the Dutch resistance
moved into Nijmegen.

In the dark, they ran into German defenses
and became bogged down in heavy fighting.

Attempts to send troops
around the Germans failed.

At the end of the day, the Americans
only succeeded in capturing

two of the eight bridges.

One of the bridges that was captured
is the one behind me here in Grave.

It's called
the John S. Thompson Bridge now.

And John S. "Jocko" Thompson

was a professional pitcher
for the Philadelphia Phillies,

when he signed up to his country in 1941

and became a part of the 82nd
Airborne Division during Market Garden.

On September 17th, 1st Lieutenant Thompson
was dropped with his platoon.

Thanks to his decision,

they were the only ones that ended
nearby the bridge and the bunkers.

Instead of waiting for reinforcement,

he and his 16 men
decided to attack the bridge.

They took out a flak g*n with a bazooka,
stopped the reinforcement trucks

and secured the south side of the bridge.

After the heavy fights, he informed
his colonel later that day saying:

"Bridge number 11 is ours."

On September 19th,
the first tanks of the British corps

crossed the bridge
in the direction of their goal, Arnhem.

John S. Thompson got two purple hearts.

The Bronze Star with clusters,
the Silver Star,

and French, Belgian,
and Dutch awards for his actions.

After the w*r,
he returned to play baseball.

And in 2004, the bridge of Grave
was named after its w*r hero.

[male reader 8]
Letter from Charles Skidmore

glider pilot, to his parents.

"I forgot to tell you that I went
to Holland on September 17th.

Your birthday, mother.

I was the 19th glider to land on Holland.

I got out of my glider
and went into a ditch.

And believe it or not,
I found myself besides a paratrooper.

A boy I went to Coffeyville College with.

His name is Potter.

It seemed almost incredible.

I hadn't seen him since 1938.

Lots of n*zi prisoners told us
Hitler isn't even in Germany now.

SS troops are behind the lines sh**ting
any German who attempt to retreat.

The Allies are slaughtering the Germans.
Many of them are 16."

But the British airborne
ended up in an even worse position.

After landing, only part of the troops
set off towards Arnhem.

The rest of them remained or moved
even further away from Arnhem

to protect their drop and landing zones
for the soldiers arriving the next day.

The three battalions who went to Arnhem
used three different routes,

but two of them were blocked immediately

and had to fight the Germans only
a few kilometers from their drop zone.

A small part of the Polish Brigade
was dropped near Driel on September 19,

but the rest of them arrived only
on September 21st

at the distant town of Grave,

falling directly in hands of the Germans.

Only the Battalion under command
of Colonel John Frost made it to Arnhem.

It was evening when they dug in
at the feet of the bridge.

-[crowds cheering]
-[instrumental music plays]

[Géza] Meanwhile, by noon the Americans
reached the center of Eindhoven.

The bridges were still intact,

but the soldiers were literally
overwhelmed by the cheering crowds.

Eindhoven transformed
into a gigantic outdoor party.

It took the British troops all afternoon

before they linked up with the Americans
in Eindhoven.

The material to build a new bridge
at Son only arrived at 7 p.m.

[somber music plays]

A large number of civilians

visited the American drop
and landing zones near Son.

Pastor Aldenhuijzen was one of them.

He drove his bike
from the still occupied Nuenen

back to the liberated city of Son.

Diary Pastor Aldenhuijsen,
September 1944.

Son's pastor was very enthusiastic

and wonderfully delighted by
the "Gentlemans" of the American troops,

but above all by the wonderful feats
he had seen from them

of which he couldn't find words
to tell us about.

I had to promise to come back
the next day, which I did.

For I wanted to see the gliders
of the American airbornes.

My time here was too short.

I got American cigarettes
and a nice souvenir,

a mustard gas mask,
from an American soldier.

I was also given a choice:
what color parachute did I want?

Relieved by the joyous atmosphere in Son,

with the determination in mind
to go back the next day

to visit the landing area
of the paratroopers,

I returned in time
to the still occupied Nuenen.

-[airplane engines roaring]
-[cannons blasting]

Diary of Trees Schretlen,
September 18th, 1944.

The battle for Nijmegen has begun.


yesterday.

In the morning we see the last remaining
German surrender on the Kopschehof.

Everything is in disarray.

Bert comes home with a cigarette
he got from an American.

[male reader 9] Charles Skidmore,
he wrote to his parents.

"We landed near Nijmegen

and were surrounded on four sides
for 48 hours.

It was hell and I underwent it
from Sunday noon until Wednesday noon.

Every hour they bombed us, strafed us,

shelled us and machine-gunned us,
but we held the six big bridges

and allowed the British armored division
to reach the Siegfried line."

[Géza] The British airborne troops

tried to get to Arnhem bridge
and reinforce Frost's group,

while another protected the drop
and landing zones

for the second lift
at Renkum and Ginkelse Heide.

Both would see very heavy action that day.

[dramatic music plays]

[machine g*n blasting]

As a kid, I was never allowed to play
with toy g*ns.

This was the first time in my life

that I was allowed to sh**t
with a real g*n.

I shot with a Thompson, a Bren,
and a Schmeisser.

I have to say it was very exciting.

[motor bike engine turning]

The Germans started
attacking the landing zones in Renkum.

German pressure was high,

but the British
managed to keep the Germans away.

Ginkelse Heide was another matter.

Here, the German forces overran
a large part of the drop zone.

And when the Allied planes arrived,
the Germans were ready.

Some planes changed course,

but others landed right on top
of the Germans,

who shot them while
they were still in their harness.

[somber music plays]

At the same time, the Battle of Arnhem
came also at a crucial point.

Some units were steps away from the bridge

when they realized that they were cut off
from the main troops.

The Germans had come between them

and stopped their movement
towards the bridge.

General Urquhart
was part of the unit in town

and Urquhart and three other officers
were cut off from the rest.

One of these officers was wounded
and they had no choice

but to leave him in a civilian's house

while they went hiding in an attic.

And all this time the Germans
were constantly attacking the British

on the road bridge of Arnhem.

The British casualties were climbing

while they ran out of ammunition,
water and food,

their situation became hopeless.

[bombs exploding]

[somber music plays]

[dogs barking]

[bombs exploding]

Here at these fields,
on a rainy, stormy day like this,

a lot of airborne troops were dropped

and a lot of gliders
were stuck in the mud.

Almost 30% of these gliders were broken
and a lot of soldiers died.

It was a big mess.

September 19th, 1944.

Mr. Gruijthuizen wrote in his diary.

As I wrote in the first chapter,

my wife and the neighbor went to Son
on Tuesday September 19th

to watch the landing from the air.

Hundreds of gliders descended there,
heavily laden with g*ns, tanks and men.

They returned soon,
because it was not safe there.

The Germans pushed on from Best
and fired with their heavy g*ns

on the road from Eindhoven to Den Bosch.

When she was already back for a while,

I stood in the orchard, looking at the
road that I could see through the trees,

the road from Son to Nuenen,
and called out to her:

"Now you don't have to go to Son
to look at the tanks! Here they come!"

On closer inspection, it turned out
to be krauts, that came from Nuenen.

It was about seven o'clock in the evening.

Everybody was visibly shocked.

What would happen next
was no longer a mystery to us.

And so we had to get the cellar
ready again.

Hitler finally wants to come
to an agreement with Churchill

and asks Churchill for his terms.

Churchill says that Hitler must
fulfill a few obligations.

"And what are those?" asked Adolf.

"First, you must marry a Polish Jewess,"
said Churchill.

Adolf, of course, didn't like this demand,

but after hesitating a while
he agreed to it.

"And what else?" he then asks.

"Then you have to get
your mustache trimmed," says Churchill.

"Oh," says Adolf,
"that's a pretty harsh demand.

But then at least
people won't recognize me.

What else should I do?"

"Thirdly," said Churchill,

"in the next w*r you must yet again
choose Italy as an ally."

Adolf jumped up and bellowed:

"You can ask anything of me,
but not that!"

Diary of Trees Schretlen,
September 19th, 1944.

Everybody was happy yesterday,
but this morning the mood is dark.

At Van Halen, refugees pass by,
coming from the burning city.

The Batavierenweg, Barbasrossastraat

and half of the Reinaldstraat
are burned down.

The entire city center
is still burning furiously.

An American just walked into the garden,
exhausetd and drenched in sweat.

He had also been to "the Philipines
and France". He was from Texas.

A little later we handed ot tomatoes
to his entire company.

[somber music plays]

[Géza] On September 19th, around 6 a.m.,
the Bailey Bridge at Son was ready.

Fifteen minutes later, the first scout
cars raced across to head north.

The tanks of the Grenadier Guards followed

and then it was up to the 20,000 vehicles
of the XXX Corps.

It took several days for the entire column
to cross the river.

From now on, the advance
of the British ground forces went fast.

At this speed, they could be
at Arnhem bridge around afternoon

and decide Market Garden,
but unfortunately, new problems came up.

[somber music continues]

[Géza] The next day the Allies had a plan
which leaned on two main strategies:

to defy the German forces
in the city center of Nijmegen

and to cross the river with boats
to attack the bridges from the north side.

It's a very good scene in the movie,
A Bridge Too Far,

where they get the boats
at the waiting convoy.

On September 20,
the Americans started crossing the Waal

and they were supported by British tanks
firing smoke and shells.

Halfway across the river,

the British smokescreen evaporated
and the Americans were fully exposed.

The Germans started sh**ting
with heavy fire at them

and only 13 of the 26 boats made it across
in the first wave.

By the time the third wave came in,
only ten boats were left.

But by the end of the afternoon

the bridges were captured
and around six p.m.,

the first British tanks
crossed the road bridge.

However, it seemed impossible
to push onto Arnhem

as it was getting late and dark.

In the evening of September 21st,

the Germans carried out a counterattack
on the reopened Son bridge.

The Allies almost made it,
but were thrown back in the nick of time.

This was the first of repetitive attacks
on what the Americans started to call

"Hell's Highway".

To make Operation Market Garden a success,
this place was crucial.

The Allies knew that.

But the Germans also realized
the importance of this place.

At this momentum,

they could stop the Allies
and make their whole operation fail,

so they launched attack after attack.

[g*ns blasting]

-[somber music plays]
-[airplane engines roaring]

[explosions]

[Géza] Meanwhile in Arnhem,

the British troops who occupied
the north road bridge

were forced to give up
one position after another

and were being pushed out of the houses
due to German shelling.

In the early evening,
there was still some small resistance.

But at midnight,

the Germans had practically won
back control over the bridge.

[ominous music plays]

[airplane engine roaring]

[Géza] That meant
the British airborne soldiers

who had made it back to Oosterbeek
were the only ones left.

General Urquhart,
who was saved from his hideout,

decided to form a perimeter in Oosterbeek

and wait for the arrival
of the XXX Corps there.

[woman, in Dutch] "Diary of
Kate ter Horst. September 19th, 1944.

It's Tuesday. There's activity
everywhere, with more and more soldiers.

There is more and more g*nf*re,
all around us.

My husband drives off in a jeep,
with Captain MacMillan.

We don't see him again all morning.

The NSB members are guarded
in the gazebo of the neighboring house.

They sit there comfortably,
basking in the sun.

The children play in the dining room,
the baby lies cooing in the playpen.

An officer comes to ask for a room
to set up a command post,

but there is already a wounded person
in the study.

The guest room is packed with furniture
from a Jewish family

and from friends who have been evicted
from their houses.

We use the dining room
and conservatory ourselves,

and he doesn't want to use
the first floor."

Kate Ter Horst was a Dutch woman

who became famous for taking care
of the British wounded.

Here in our own house,

while her family
was taking shelter in the basement.

And this place was covered
with British soldiers

waiting for the Germans to attack.

Captain Randall Martin

asked Kate Ter Horst for permission
to set up a relief station in her house,

which was the former rectory
of Oosterbeek.

The house included 14 rooms.

During the battle,
the British got stuck in Oosterbeek

and the entire division was threatened
with destruction.

The number of deaths and injuries
rose rapidly.

In her house, Kate took care of almost


She read from the Bible to the wounded
and dying soldiers,

and countered the water shortage

by drawing water from the pump
and the boiler.

Among the military,
she was nicknamed "The angel of Arnhem".

[piano music plays]

[car engine roars]

Two years after the w*r, their oldest son,
Peik, stepped on a landmine.

Here, on the field
and he died on the spot.

[g*ns blasting]

This tree is 100 years old,

and the b*llet holes here, here,
and this big one right here

show us that he witnessed
the heavy battles in Oosterbeek.

On September 21st,

the troops of General Urquhart came under
heavy German attack from all sites.

Mortar bombs were being fired and here,
on the left side, on the corner

the German tanks were sh**ting at them.

[g*ns blasting]

The Polish General Sosabowski
and his 1st Parachute Brigade

did three attempts to cross the Rhine

and help the surrounded


Unfortunately, the ferry
they wanted to use had been sunk.

And when the Poles tried to cross
the river in small rubber boats,

they came under heavy fire.

Finally, around 200 men made it
across the river

and reinforced
the embaled British paratroopers.

[male reader 10] Report of Alan Morehead
of the Daily Express.

"Hitler said that he had annihilated

the 1st British Airborne Division
in Arnhem

and had captured 2500 prisoners,
including the divisional General.

In fact, the Arnhem troops,
far from being wiped out,

hang on there with one of the greatest
outbursts of courage

and endurance of the w*r.

Some of their officers
have been through to us today.

Fighting has been heavy,

but the paratroopers are hanging on
through a network of riverside streets

and they are making every house
a stronghold."

Letter from Otto Morof
to the family of Karl Offinger.

Dear Offingen family.

During an attack on our company

on September 20th, 1944,

to the north-west of Nederwedden, Holland,

your dear, unforgettable son

and our good and loyal comrade,
officer Karl Offinger, has been k*lled.

The company attacked on a Hudegelände

against the enemy,
who came at us with much force.

Despite being cautious,

your son, who was a group leader
and stood on an armored personnel carrier

and must have been noticed by the enemy.

He was hit in the back
by shrapnel from a tank shell,

k*lling him instantly.

Your son didn't have to suffer any pain.

[piano music plays]

Diary of MAA Bloem, a young nurse,

September 21st, 1944.

Nijmegen must look awful.

The shootings lasted for four days.

The Waal Bridge came into English hands
undamaged.

The neighborhoods around the Waalbrug
must have been largely destroyed,

including the Kelfkensbos,
where Lucie stayed.

There is currently no water,
no gas and no electricity in the city.

A relief campaign was launched
for the people of Nijmegen,

which was very successful.

Huge amounts of food have been brought.

[Géza]
In the afternoon of September 24th,

two hundred German men
and some anti-aircraft g*ns

attacked Eerde, a small village
in between Eindhoven en Nijmegen.

The attackers settled in the woods
and started to sh**t up traffic.

The next morning, American paratroops,
supported by British tanks

and some infantry counterattacked,
but failed to chase the Germans away.

-[piano music plays]
-[fire blazing]

In the night between the 25th
and 26th of September,

the Germans slipped back west
with all their equipment.

The Allies only found out the next morning
that the Germans escaped

after having mined
and boobytrapped the complete area.

It took most of the next day
to clear the road

and before the traffic
would be picked up again,

which was too late, because the night
before the 1st British Airborne troops

were forced to withdraw
back over the Rhine.

The strong German defense
on Hell's Highway

made it impossible to continue
general Montgomery's Market Garden plan.

This road, Hell's Highway,
was covered with burning vehicles.

There was no possible passage

and yet this was the only way towards
Nijmegen and Arnhem.

On September 24th,

General Horrocks and General Dempsey
decided to pull the plug.

[male reader 11]
Recordings Stanley Maxted made

upon arrival at Nijmegen.

"About five km to the west of Arnhem

and a space of 1500 yards
by 900 on that last day,

I saw the dead and the living.

Those who fought a good fight
and kept the faith with you at home

and those who still fought
magnificently on.

They were the last of a few.

I last saw them yesterday morning
as they dribbled into Nijmegen.

Perhaps I should remind you here

that these were men
of no ordinary caliber.

They'd been nine days
in that little space I mentioned,

being mortared and shelled, machine gunned
and sniped from all around.

When a tank of a self-propelled 88-g*n
broke through,

two or three of them detached themselves

and somehow or another
had put it out of business.

For the last three days they had no water,

very little but small arms ammunition
and rations cut to one-sixth."

Only 2400 men could withdraw
across the Rhine that night,

which was all that was left
of the 10,000 airborne soldiers

who had landed during the Market Garden.

The others were all k*lled or captured.

Operation Market Garden claimed
heavy casualties on both sides.

The Allies lost 15,000 to 17,000 men.

Most of them were k*lled.

The German casualties
are harder to estimate

but it's assumed they suffered
between 5000 and 8000 casualties.

How many civilians were k*lled, wounded,
lost their houses

or were forcefully evacuated
because of the battle is unknown.

[piano music plays]

[male reader 12] Private David K. Webster
to his parents.

"Holland, all Germans there
notwithstanding, is an excellent country.

Although the Dutch underground
hasn't got a tenth of the publicity

accorded the French FFI,

which incidentally,
I never once saw In Normandy.

We got more help
than ever from the French.

A resistance leader met us
on the jump field and is still with us.

Almost every line company
has at least two Dutch volunteers

who joined us to k*ll Germans
and who have shared every firefight.

As for the average people,
they gave us everything.

When we filed through a village,
the local citizens handed us hot coffee,

cold beer, very good fresh milk

all the apples,
pears, and peaches we could eat.

Old farmers unbidden
helped us dig our slit trenches.

A wonderful people.

The country itself impressed me
as very rich, very progressive,

very modern and very clean.

The good black soil
seemed able to grow anything.

There was plenty of fresh milk.

The cities were all new

and beautifully designed for low-cost,
healthful living.

And everything, including the people,

was so spick and span
and better than England.

It took my breath away.

Holland is years ahead of Great Britain."

[piano music plays]

[Géza] The goal Eisenhower and Montgomery
aimed for with this operation,

a strong bridgehead across the Rhine,
was not obtained at all.

The Dutch people
would have to wait until March 1945,

until the first Allied troops
would finally cross this river.

The central and northern part
of the Netherlands

would stay under n*zi occupation,

and the horrible hunger winter
of 1944 and 1945

was the direct consequence
of Operation Market Garden.

Poem by Sergeant Edward Richards.

"Baby Sharon,

I have seen the laughter shine
in your baby eyes.

I have held your tiny hands
and heard your first faint cries.

I have known the dear delight
of watching day by day

the progress of your stumbling steps
but now I'm far away.

I am not there to see you grow,
that happy time has passed.

A stranger I shall be to you
when I come home at last.

But it is worth the sacrifice
and all the agony

to know that you will live in peace
and be forever free.

Your dad. Ted Richards."

[commotion]

[song "Blood on the Risers"]

[choir] ♪ Gory, gory
What a hell of a way to die ♪

♪ Gory, gory
What a hell of a way to die ♪

♪ Gory, gory
What a hell of a way to die ♪

♪ He ain't gonna jump no more ♪