"Then and Now" photos of war torn Arnhem
- Thread starter mandrill
- Start date
Very interesting photographs. I was about to ask if had been liberated by the Canadian Army when I saw the reference to the Essex Regiment.
The Frostbrug (The John Frost Bridge - The Arnhem Rhine Bridge)
Self explanatory
This is a post war bridge deliberately built to look like the prewar bridge. By the way there are plans to build another bridge across the Rhine just down stream of Arnhem which is supposedly to be named for Stanisław Sosabowski, the Polish Airborne commander.
Thanks again oagre, for bringing some great history to life here.
In my readings, I have read a bit about Operation Market Garden. While ambitious and unprecedented in scale, the planning was poorly thought out, intelligence reports not taken seriously enough and the leadership was sub par.
In short. The airborne landings were too spread out and in some cases troops landed too far away. Without enough planes, the whole operation was spread out over a number of days, with troop drops happening over the course of about 3 days. The whole concept of airborne landings were to land the bulk of your troops in one landing and take your objectives by surprise. In this, the troops needed to be landed near their objectives. In the case of the British they were landed too far from their objective at approximately 10 miles distance.
Intelligence reports were cast aside as well. In this case enemy troop disposition and exactly which units were in the contested area. This was a major failing and can be coupled with a failure in command.
While the whole concept of the plan was Montgomery's, with Browning in command of airborne operations who many have said was not suited for the task. It was thought that Ridgeway or Taylor, I don't recall at this time which, should have been in command of the airborne planning for this operation and in overall command of airborne forces in battle. In effect, the blame for failure lies on the shoulders of Montgomery for all facets of this operation.
In my readings, I have read a bit about Operation Market Garden. While ambitious and unprecedented in scale, the planning was poorly thought out, intelligence reports not taken seriously enough and the leadership was sub par.
In short. The airborne landings were too spread out and in some cases troops landed too far away. Without enough planes, the whole operation was spread out over a number of days, with troop drops happening over the course of about 3 days. The whole concept of airborne landings were to land the bulk of your troops in one landing and take your objectives by surprise. In this, the troops needed to be landed near their objectives. In the case of the British they were landed too far from their objective at approximately 10 miles distance.
Intelligence reports were cast aside as well. In this case enemy troop disposition and exactly which units were in the contested area. This was a major failing and can be coupled with a failure in command.
While the whole concept of the plan was Montgomery's, with Browning in command of airborne operations who many have said was not suited for the task. It was thought that Ridgeway or Taylor, I don't recall at this time which, should have been in command of the airborne planning for this operation and in overall command of airborne forces in battle. In effect, the blame for failure lies on the shoulders of Montgomery for all facets of this operation.
It was believed - over optimistically - that the German army was about to collapse entirely after Falaise and there would be nothing left to do but sweep up the fragments.
Unfortunately, the Germans still had about 6 months of hard fighting left in them before the collapse actually happened.
The British actually got to the south bank of the Rhine in many places, but the big bridge was entirely in German hands by then and the British could not get over to the north side and relieve the airborne guys.
If you really want to go into detail, there is about half a rack of materials on Market Garden in Robarts Library. You need an alumni card to get in there and take materials out. But there was a large amount of fighting all up and down the corridor the entire time. The US troops were fighting like hell just to keep the corridor open a lot of the time.
Unfortunately, the Germans still had about 6 months of hard fighting left in them before the collapse actually happened.
The British actually got to the south bank of the Rhine in many places, but the big bridge was entirely in German hands by then and the British could not get over to the north side and relieve the airborne guys.
If you really want to go into detail, there is about half a rack of materials on Market Garden in Robarts Library. You need an alumni card to get in there and take materials out. But there was a large amount of fighting all up and down the corridor the entire time. The US troops were fighting like hell just to keep the corridor open a lot of the time.
You are correct about the assumptions on the German army at that point in the war.
I have read about Market Garden from the British and American perspectives in their respective areas of operation. There has been much debate about this operation since it's inception to today. During the planning stages many of the failures were pointed out. It is a testament to the airborne forces who fought in this operation, to their will and determination, not to mention the leadership from general down to the NCO's, in being able to secure what they did in the face of superior German forces.
I have read about Market Garden from the British and American perspectives in their respective areas of operation. There has been much debate about this operation since it's inception to today. During the planning stages many of the failures were pointed out. It is a testament to the airborne forces who fought in this operation, to their will and determination, not to mention the leadership from general down to the NCO's, in being able to secure what they did in the face of superior German forces.
For less than a week, there was actual collapse and panic, but the allies were not able to exploit it quickly enough and the Germans were able to shore up their positions.
As Dirk wrote Arnhem was a bad location for an Airborne Assault and there was a tremendous shortage of aircraft.
Cornelius Ryan's A Bridge Too Far remains an excellent account. And unlike the movie does not do the horrible disservice of moving the famous "I'm afraid Sir, that we may be attempting a bridge too far" quotation from before the battle, to after the battle where it sounded like sour grapes rather than an unheeded prudent warning.
Thanks again for posting this.
