101st Airborne: Market Garden 1944 (Past & Present) - Softcover

Forty, Simon; Smith, Stephen

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612004237 ISBN 13: 9781612004235

Publisher: Casemate, 2016

Synopsis

The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past. It shows how much infastructure has remained and points to the passing nature of things such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera.

After its operations in the Cotentin and around Carentan, the 101st was withdrawn from the lines in late June and sailed back to England on LSTs in July. After several false alerts, they invaded by air again into the Netherlands on September 17, 1944, part of the airborne element of Operation “Market Garden.” The mission was to hold open Hell’s Highway so that land forces could advance safely to Arnhem.

Operation “Market Garden” is a strongly debated subject among WW2 historians: was it a brave attempt to end the war early that foundered for being a bridge too far, or was it, rather, an ill-conceived waste of resources that should have been used on another Front? With hindsight, there’s no doubt that the operation was a daring—if not risky—attempt to attack deep into enemy territory proposed by a general often disparaged for being too conservative.

But at the beginning of September, it seemed to the Allied commanders that the enemy was disorganized; it had lost many men, huge numbers of vehicles, and had retreated helter-skelter through France and Belgium. In reality, the Germans had already started brilliant fire brigade reorganization and would soon have an effective defense throughout the Netherlands.

101st parachuted right into the middle of enemy territory and north of Eindhoven. They met little resistance to begin with and captured most of their initial objectives by the end of 17 September. But the Germans managed to demolish the division’s primary objective, a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son, forcing the 101st to attempted to capture a similar bridge a few kilometers away at Best. They found the approach blocked but continued to hold territory enabling engineers to rebuild the demolished bridge. Other divisional units continued moving to the south and eventually reached the northern end of Eindhoven. In the following days they successfully defended the town of Veghel but failed to take the City of Helmond. As Operation “Market Garden” progressed, the rest of the 101st Airborne Division joined the 82nd Airborne Division on the island to the north of Nijmegen. The Screaming Eagles saw seventy-two days of fierce round-the-clock fighting against crack German troops and showed their fighting ability and tenacity.

About this title

About the Author:

Simon Forty was educated in Dorset and the north of England before reading history at London University’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies. He has been involved in publishing since the mid-1970s, first as editor and latterly as author. Son of author and RAC Tank Museum curator George Forty, he has continued in the family tradition writing mainly on historical and military subjects including books on the Napoleonic Wars and the two world wars. Recently he has produced a range of highly illustrated books on the Normandy battlefields, the Atlantic Wall and the liberation of the Low Countries with co-author Leo Marriott.

Stephen Smith, a veteran of over a thousand armed operations during his twenty-two years with the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms command, was born in south London in 1960. He joined the Met at nineteen and after twelve years in uniform passed selection for PT17, the Mets firearms unit, where he was selected to work on the specialist firearms teams, experiencing firsthand the explosive and controversial world of police firearms operations. Between operational postings, Stephen has taught most aspects of armed policing. He left the Met in 2013 after 33 years service and now instructs firearms and tactics with a non-Home Office police force. Stephen Smith recently featured on Channel 5, in the four-part documentary series Armed and Dangerous and previously HBO's Secrets of New Scotland Yard. He has also advised on numerous films and TV police dramas.

Review:

"An interesting book with the historical story and numerous illustrations which will be an invaluable guide if you are thinking of visiting the battlefield today, and if you have been a fan of Band of Brothers of course." (Military Modelling)

"...lavishly illustrated...good value for money and are recommended." (Casemate: Journal of the Fortress Study Group)

"These books are great for all ages but the younger me would have loved them and each volume is an ideal present for the history mad youth in your family.” (War History Online)

About this edition

• Publisher: Casemate
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1612004237
• ISBN 13: 9781612004235
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 64