At 3 o’clock in the afternoon on the 20th September 1944 in Nijmegen, Holland, men of the 504th regiment, US 82nd Airborne embarked in canvas rowing boats and began an amphibious assault that was one of the most heroic in military history. Facing the well defended objective on the north end of the Nijmegen bridge over the river Waal, 134 men were killed or wounded in the crossing, more than half the force, but the attack was a success and the bridge was captured. The road to Arnhem was the final jigsaw in Operation Market Garden. Or was it?

Joining me are two historians to discuss the operation as a whole, from the airborne forces tasked with capturing Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, to XXX corps and the German troops facing them. Gordon Corrigan takes the allied side, and Philip Blood the German.

Episode Links

It Never Snows in September, Kershaw

Sky Warriors, David

A Bridge Too Far, Ryan

Airborne Carpet, Farrar-Hockley

Arnhem 1944, Middlebrook

Arnhem, Beevor

Arnhem: Black Tuesday, Murray

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