Battle for the Bridges

This is Sir Anthony Beevor’s latest contribution to a series of monographs which detail some of the major military conflicts of The Second World War. ARNHEM is an absorbing realistic account of the fighting involved in Operation Market Garden.  This was the brainchild of Field Marshall Montgomery assisted by Generals Brereton and Williams of the USAAF.  The operation took place in the Netherlands over eight days in September 1944, resulting in 500 Dutch casualties and 16,000 airborne Corps  casualties.  Conservative estimates suggest around 12,000 German casualties. 

Beevor tells a tale of “the great myth of heroic failure.  It is a tale of vanity, incompetence and human fraility”.  The operation failed because it lacked detailed logistic planning combined with the stubborn resistance of the planners to acknowledge the nature of the terrain as well as the geographical obstacles presented to the British and American forces, all in close proximity to the German border.

The purpose of the operation was to seize the bridges over the Muse, Waal and Rhine rivers in the Netherlands, thus to produce a salient and invasion route for the Allies into the Ruhr Valley of Germany.  Involved were the First Allied Airborne Army including the 82nd and the 101st US parachute divisions as well as the British 2nd Army’s XXX Corps spearheaded by the Guards division.  A Polish brigade and some Canadian Forces were also involved.  The operation was all part of a strategic goal of Supreme Commander Gen. Eisenhower to encircle the heart of German industry in the Ruhr Valley.  The major battles took place around the cities of Arnhem, Nijmegan and Eindhoven. 

From the beginning, the much-maligned Polish Maj. Gen. Stanislaw Sosabowski thought the operation was doomed.  Sosabowski tried to convince the “planning geniuses” that the troops would be dropped in the wrong area and too far from their targets.  Waterlogged areas would be hazardous to gliders landing and troops, whilst there would be many canals and tributaries to be crossed.  The Allies would also be forced to use the precarious single lane road “Hell’s highway”, between Eindhoven, Njimegan and Arnhem.  Sosabowski was proved to be correct, but was gradually excluded from planning conferences during the operation.  Ultimately, the remains of the Allied Forces had to be withdrawn.

Dutch towns in the vicinity of the battles were set alight  or razed to the ground by the pitiless Germans. Accordingly many Dutch citizens were left homeless, destitute and starving during the Hunger Winter of November1944 to May 1945.

One of the key supportive areas that failed was communications and signals.  Soon after the “paras” landed British Maj. Gen. Urquhart was separated from his divisional headquarters for two days with no radio contact.  Ability to communicate with air cover and transport aircraft was virtually zero.  Large proportions of Allied supplies were mistakenly dropped into German emplacements leaving the Allied soldiers starving and without water.  This loss of supplies was all the more devastating since the Allies had total air superiority within a few miles of the German border.

Five Victoria Crosses and two Medals of Honour were won during the operation.  Four of the VCs were posthumous awards.  Major Robert Cain of the 2nd. Battalion, South Staffordshire regiment was the only living VC recipient. 

Another British hero was Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, MC, DSO commanding officer of the 2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment.  They spearheaded the 1st Airborne Division’s assault on the Arnhem bridge capturing the northern end.  During intense conflict the battalion awaited the arrival of Maj. Gen. Horrocks’ XXX Corps, which did not happen.  Ultimately the shattered battalion was captured by the German Panzer corps.  Frost was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the film A Bridge Too Far.

Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay had long suggested that Montgomery take the necessary measures to capture the Scheldt estuary and re-open the port of Antwerp.  Montgomery declined to do this.  Ramsay was well aware of Gen Eisenhower’s increasing frustration with Montgomery’s stubbornness.  On 5 October at a Versailles conference, with the tacit approval of Eisenhower and Field Marshall Brooke, CGS, Ramsay returned to the charge over Antwerp.  He castigated Montgomery in front of all the American generals.  Finally, Eisenhower wrote a very firm letter suggesting to Montgomery that if he disagreed with the Supreme Commander the matter would be referred to higher authority.  Montgomery fell into line!

This book is classic Beevor.  It not only describes and dissects many of the conflicts and personality clashes at the highest level but also describes the gruesome  bloodthirsty fighting which took place at platoon and company level, all portrayed on a day-to-day basis.  Beevor is also able to refer to the relevant German forces and tactics at the time.  The daily events are traced and dissected after a great amount of research into the actions of the various opposing forces.

In this book, Beevor displays his brilliance as a WW2 military historian.  Arnhem: The Battle of the Bridges 1944 is not only a study of national character, but will surely become a military historic classic.  It is a most impressive and readable book, and clearly another winner.

Reviewed by Kevin Rickard

 

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