Book Descriptions:

Even fifty-nine years after the actual fighting, the Battle of Arnhem still represents a most telling defeat for a great many people. The fierce and bloody fighting for the bridge across the river Rhine near the capital of the Dutch province of Gelderland is perhaps one of the best-known episodes in the history of the Second World War. Scores of books, newspaper articles, documentary and even some feature films have been dedicated to the planning and execution of Field Marshal Montgomery's plan of attack. As the liberation of the part of Holland above the great rivers only seemed a matter of time, its tragic outcome had traumatic consequences for all who participated in the fighting. Tragically, the crossing of the Rhine appeared to be "a bridge too far". The heroic and valiant actions by the British and Polish airborne troops at the Arnhem road bridge and in the Oosterbeek perimeter, which later acted as bridgehead round the headquarters of the 1st British Airborne Division at Hotel Hartenstein, are well known. Less well known is what happened during the first days of Operation Market Garden at Ginkel Heath, east of Ede, where nearly two thousand British parachutists landed on September 18, 1944. To keep the memory of these momentous events on the heath alive, it is commemorated each year by the landing of a few WWII veterans and of paratroopers of the present British army. However, many spectators are not familiar with the specific events that took place in that part of the Veluwe region during those September days. The landing of the 4th Parachute Brigade was only part of all military activities on and around Ginkel Heath and took only nine minutes. The fact that the arrival of the brigade was preceded by almost twenty-four hours of fierce fighting is practically unknown to visitors to these annual landings. In most written and oral reports on the Battle of Arnhem, hardly any attention is paid to this episode. In this book, the fighting on the heath near Ede plays a central role. Issues such as the allied strategy after the Normandy landings, Eisenhower's Decision, the course of events in Arnhem and Oosterbeek, and the reasons for defeat are mentioned in both the text and the notes, but only when necessary for the broader picture and understanding of the fighting that took place on Ginkel Heath.




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