Sunday, September 17, 1944

History - Operation Market Garden

Sunday, September 17, 1944

0700 Hours

Holland
The Allies estimate that six battalions of infantry and 20 armored vehicles compose the first line of defense across the road to Eindhoven. Artillery support is estimated to be weak. There are really 10 weak battalions, indeed with little artillery support.

The unit directly in front of XXX Corps' advance is Maj. Helmut Kerutt's 1st Battalion (Regiment von Hoffman), manning defensive positions in the woods bordering the road. A sprinkling of new 75-millimeter antitank guns are sighted just off the road. There are no motorized carriages or trucks to move the guns, so once they spring their ambush they'll be quickly overwhelmed.

Nearly 3 kilometers behind this front line, Kerutt's headquarters platoon mans a tank ambush. Men armed with panzerfausts dig in along the road; machine gun teams set up positions so they can cut down tank crews abandoning their disabled machines. Some 30 men prepare to stop any tanks that break through the first line of defense.

0800 Hours

Bombers from the U.S. 8th Air Force hit antiaircraft batteries and other targets along the intended air routes. Over the past three days, heavy and medium bombers, as well as fighter-bombers and fighters have hit targets in and around the Operation Market-Garden sectors. Even this increase in local bombing does not alert the German commanders to the impending airborne assaults. Most of the commanders are focusing their attention of the buildup in British forces south of the Meuse-Escaut Canal.

0945 Hours

The first of more than 2,000 transports, tow planes, and gliders begin thundering into the clear blue sky over England. C-47s carrying paratroopers take off and form up into 45-plane serials (formations); Halifax, Sterling, and Albermarle bombers pull nearly 500 gliders laden with paratroopers, equipment, and supplies up into the air.

1025 Hours

The pathfinders - paratroopers assigned the task of marking the drop and landing zones - take off in 12 Stirling bombers and 6 C-47s.

1100 Hours

All over England, people stare at the seemingly endless string of planes headed east. The noise alone disrupts church services. Although none of the civilians know where the planes are headed, they send the armada toward its targets with prayers and good wishes.

As the massive air fleet sails toward its destination, there are casualties. Several gliders break up in midair. As the fleet crosses the European coast, antiaircraft fire begins; this fire intensifies as the planes close in on their targets. While the softening up has damaged or destroyed many German antiaircraft batteries, many have survived.

1230 Hours

The pathfinders begin floating down onto the drop and landing zones. By 1254 hours, these units have staked out the drop and landing zones.

From the edge of a field only a mile from Wolfheze, Jan Pennings watches low-flying planes sweep in from the west. Ready to take cover when the bombs begin spilling toward the ground, Pennings pedals excitedly to his farm. To his astonished wife he shouts, “We’re free!” Within minutes there are British paratroopers walking into his farmyard.

As the armada turns north on final approach, it passes over XXX Corps’ tanks, self-propelled guns, armored cars, and vehicles. Thousands of British soldiers wave at their airborne comrades; thousands of cheers rise up to meet the thunder of the bombers and transports.

1253 Hours

The transports carrying the 101st Airborne run into intense flak. But the IX Troop Carrier Command pilots hold their planes on course; it's an oft-repeated scene over the next few days. Some pilots hold damaged or burning planes steady so the paratroopers can get out over the drop zones. Of the 424 C-47s carrying the 101st, more than 100 are damaged by antiaircraft fire; 16 are shot down and the crews killed.

1300 Hours (H-Hour)

A member of Regiment von Hoffman, Lt. Heinz Volz looks to the sky: "At about midday we suddenly discerned an unearthly droning noise. ... A huge stream of transport aircraft and gliders approached. ... This enormous swarm was escorted by countless fighters, in particular Lightnings (the American P-38 Lightning)."

In transports over the drop zones, the jump lights switch from red to green, and stick after stick of paratroopers spill into the Dutch sky. Gliders release from their tow planes and begin to descend clumsily toward the landing zones.

Nearly 7,000 Screaming Eagles float down toward zones in the Eindhoven sector; virtually all of them land safely. However, only 53 of the 70 gliders carrying the 101st’s heavy equipment (jeeps, antitank weapons, and supplies) land safely.

More than 4,500 paratroopers of the All American 82nd begin jumping our of their transports, or start their glider descent, over the landing zones just east of Groesbeek Heights. Fifteen minutes later, over 2,000 more men are floating down onto the landing zone near Overasselt (east of Grave). One lone company, Company E (2nd Battalion, 504th Regiment), floats down near the west end of the Grave Bridge. Before 1400 hours, the 376th Parachute Field Artillery has landed near the heights; before 1500 hours, this unit has ten 75-millimeter howitzers delivering fire.

The first of more than 300 gliders sail toward their landing zones west of Arnhem; nearly 40 gliders are lost, including two large Hamilcar models carrying artillery, trucks, and ammunition trailers. Less than 30 minutes later, paratroopers begin floating down on the 1st Airborne’s zones. By 1400 hours, nearly 5,200 men, and most of their machines, have landed.

Given the size and complexity of Operation Market, it has started off spectacularly. The vast majority of men have landed safely and, while not all the equipment is safely landed, most believe it won’t matter. Montgomery will be in Arnhem in two days.

1315 Hours

Vught
Colonel General Kurt Student stares up at the grand formations roaring overhead. From the roof of his headquarters, he can see stick after stick of paratroopers filling the sky to the east. As German soldiers all around him open fire at the low-flying planes with the weapons at hand, Student’s thoughts are not of personal danger: “This mighty spectacle deeply impressed me. I thought with reflection and longing of our own airborne operations ... if ever I’d had such means at my disposal. Just one, to have this many planes!” The shout of his chief of staff snapped Student into the present.

Student immediately deduces the Allied intent; capture the bridges at Eindhoven, Grave, and Nijmegen; it fit together with the buildup in Allied traffic south of the Maas-Scheldt Canal with an ominous perfection.

1330 Hours

Doetinchem
The commander to the II SS Panzer Corps, Gen. Wilhelm Bittrich, receives a report that airborne forces are landing at Arnhem, followed minutes later by a report of airborne forces at Arnhem and Nijmegen. Bittrich believes the airborne forces are trying to isolate the Fifteenth Army so British armor can drive into Germany. He immediately orders the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions into action; the 9th is to attack the landing zones west of Arnhem and secure the town (including the bridge), while the 10th is to advance south to Nijmegen. The panzer divisions dismissed by British commanders from Montgomery to Urquhart are about to attack the 1st Airborne.

Wolfheze
The immediate defense of Arnhem falls to SS Maj. Sepp Kraft. His 16th SS Panzer Grenadier Training and Reserve Battalion is bivouacked in the woods near Wolfheze; they are forced to move there when Field Marshal Model moves his headquarters to the Tafelberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, displacing Kraft. Now, Kraft can see British paratroopers landing just a few hundred yards from his headquarters.

Although he is terrified, Kraft quickly surmises that the only objective of any military importance is the Arnhem bridge. The SS major's battalion is the largest unit in close proximity to the drop and landing zones. Kraft acts quickly on the sketchy reports he receives. Two patrols move out to gather information. One company moves to attack the drop and landing zones; another digs in to cover the two main routes to Arnhemthe Ede-Arnhem railroad and the Wageningen-Arnhem road.

The company sent forward arrives at the zones and covers the area with machine gun fire. After damaging four gliders this company pulls back to avoid being surrounded, joining the defensive line across the route to Arnhem. The troops in this line soon greet the elements of the British 1st Airborne Division moving toward Arnhem with a hail of mortar, machine gun, and rifle fire.

Major Kraft's line holds until 1800 hours, when he is convinced his position is being enveloped. His men fall back into the line being formed by SS Lt. Col. Ludwig Spindler. Commander of Kampfgruppe Spindler, this unit is built around the remnants of Spindler's armored artillery regiment (part of the 9th SS Panzer Division). During the fighting around Oosterbeek and Arnhem, 16 units fall under the command of Kampfgruppe Spindler.

By the early morning hours of September 18, Spindler establishes a continuous line between the Ede-Arnhem road (northwest) to the rail junction at Utrechtseweg (southeast). This line blocks the further advance of any British units; it also cuts the force at the Arnhem bridge from their comrades.

1345 Hours

Grave Bridge
Lieutenant John S. Thompson’s stick lands slightly in advance of the rest of Company E; Thompson’s unit is less than one-half mile from the west end of the Grave bridge. Rather than wait for the rest of the company, Thompson leads his men toward the bridge. They wade neck-deep in drainage ditches to avoid detection and then overwhelm the Germans defending the west end of the bridge; three well-placed bazooka rockets silence the flak tower at the west end of the bridge. Some of Thompson’s platoon climb the flak tower and turn the still-operable guns on the flak tower at the other end of the bridge. Although the first troops would not cross the bridge until 1535 hours because of harassing fire, it takes Thompson less than an hour to secure one of the 82nd Airborne’s primary objectives.

1400 Hours

Major Anthony Deane-Drummond listens as the radio signals being sent by the advancing brigades are fading out. Deane-Drummond is confounded; the brigades are less than 2 miles away and already some units have faded out completely. There is something wrong with the 1st Airborne’s radio sets. They cannot communicate with each other, the relief columns, or the support planes at their disposal. Communication failures play a major role in what is to come.

1415 Hours

Dutch-Belgian Border
The 30-minute artillery barrage that precedes Operation Garden begins. The noise of the 350-gun barrage is felt as much as heard; soldiers on foot and crews in vehicles and tanks can feel the ground shudder. At 1435 hours, the first tanks begin to advance as the artillery barrage begins "walking" ahead of the lead tank. The commander of the lead squad radios that the advance is going well.

The bombing attacks and artillery barrage that precede XXX Corps' advance decimates the first line of German defenses. Major Helmut Kerutt's front line unit is nearly blasted out of existence; all of the antitank guns are hit, the crews dead or wounded. The lead tanks of the Guards Armored Group advance past these blasted positions, and directly in Kerutt's tank ambush. A lieutenant observes,

A large number [of tanks] were knocked out by panzerschrecks, firing from five to ten meters away. For the first time we were able to impose a decisive block because the terrain left and right of the road was not suitable for tanks, being sandy and boggy ... a large number of German soldiers were killed. ... The fighting was extremely bitter. ...

On the British side, voices yell over the radios; oily black smoke smears the blue Dutch sky. In minutes, what's left of Kerutt's force disables or destroys nine tanks; these tanks now block the road to Eindhoven.

Lieutenant Colonel J.O.E. “Joe” Vandeleur, commander of the Irish Guards Armored Group, calls in air support from rocket-firing Typhoon fighter-bombers and orders an armored bulldozer to clear the way. Infantry deploy and move ahead to root out the Germans as the Typhoons unleash their rockets - soon the advance begins to move again.

But the advance is not moving as expected. British intelligence officers are stunned to find that units from the Fifteenth Army, infantry from the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, and elite parachute units are among the forces between XXX Corps and Arnhem. One officer later said the intelligence staffs were the most unhappy people at the front. Operation Garden was not going against dispirited troops waiting to be swept aside.

General Brian Horrocks estimated his corps would reach Eindhoven, 13 miles beyond the breakout point, in two or three hours. By nightfall on September 17, the XXX Corps lead element, Lt. Col. Joe Vandeleur’s Irish Guards Armored Group, had driven just 7 miles.

1425 Hours

Veghel
The 101st Airborne captures the four bridges almost as soon as they land. At St. Oedenrode, the highway bridge is quickly secured. Units heading for the secondary bridge at Best run into heavy German fire; what starts as firefight between companies soon consumes an entire American regiment. As elements of the 506th Regiment move within hand-grenade range of the bridge at Son, the Germans blow it up.

About the same time, the Germans are the beneficiary of a stroke of luck. A briefcase, found in a crashed glider, is brought to Col. Gen. Kurt Student. Inside are the Operation Market-Garden plans: the landing zones, the objectives, the timetables. The plans end any indecision on Student’s part: “[The plans] showed us everything. ... I knew exactly what to do.” The commander of the German First Parachute Army orders units to defend the bridges.

1430 Hours

Doetinchem
Field Marshal Walter Model, commander of Army Group B, arrives at General Bittrich’s II SS Panzer Corps headquarters. Model fled his headquarters in Oosterbeek when the 1st Airborne began dropping almost in his lap. Now he tells Bittrich, “They almost got me! They were after my headquarters.”

Bittrich snaps Model back to the matter at hand by stating his theory on Allied strategy. The airborne forces are intended to isolate the Fifteenth Army while British armor drives for the Rhine. Bittrich tells Model, “Herr Field Marshal, I strongly urge that the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem be immediately destroyed.” Model disagrees: “The bridges are not to be blown.” The field marshal wants the bridges defended; he plans to use them when the time comes for a counterattack.

1500 Hours

Arnhem
The 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions are on the move. The 9th Hohenstaufen, commanded by Lt. Col. Walter Harzer, begins to take up positions to the west of Arnhem, between the 1st Airborne and the Arnhem bridge.

1530 Hours

Oosterbeek
The three battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade continue moving toward the Arnhem bridge along three routes. There is sporadic resistance at first, but by 1630 hours two of the three battalions are halted by fire from SS Maj. Sepp Kraft’s grenadiers and lead elements of the 9th Hohenstaufen. Only the 2nd Battalion, commanded by Col. John Frost, continues to advance toward the bridge; Frost’s men are following a secondary road while the others follow major arterials.

The situation grows more confused as the Red Devils come under more German fire and radio communication proves to be impossible. Conflicting and inaccurate messages arrive. Major General Urquhart sets out to get firsthand information from his subordinates. At the same time, several subordinates set out to report to Urquhart; the parties will miss each other by minutes several times. The end result is that Urquhart is trapped in the attic of a house and is out of contact with the rest of the division for nearly two days.

1800 Hours

Oosterbeek
Colonel Frost’s battalion reaches the railroad bridge just west of Arnhem. As a team of his paratroopers sprints forward, the Germans detonate the charges wired to the bridge. Disappointed, they rejoin the dash toward the Arnhem bridge.

1900 Hours

Arnhem
Captain Paul Gräbner, commander of the 9th SS Panzer’s reconnaissance battalion, roars across the Arnhem road bridge at the head of a 40-vehicle column. Gräbner’s orders: Scout the roads to Nijmegen. His column makes a deliberate sweep on both sides of the highway but find nothing.

Oosterbeek
SS Captain Hans Moeller receives orders to move to the front line. Four trucks loaded with Panzer-grenadiers roll toward Oosterbeek through the dusk when tracers whip across the road. Moeller thinks it is a live-fire exercise, but the shout of a Wermacht major apprises Moeller of the situation: "That's live ammunition the Tommies have landed!"

1930 Hours

Arnhem
Captain Eric Mackay, leading a small group of Royal Engineers, reaches the Arnhem bridge. In the gathering dark it dominates the landscape. The modern three-span bridge and its ramps stretch 2,000 feet from the city side (north) to the country side (south) of the Lower Rhine. Mackay’s force passes under the bridge and takes up positions just east; the men ready themselves for the assault on the bridge. Within 30 minutes Colonel Frost and his men begin to arrive, taking up positions on the west side of the ramp. Then the Red Devils rush the bridge; Mackay’s engineers use a flamethrower and light off the explosives the Germans have brought out to wire to the bridge. The explosion tears through the German defenders; firing as they run, the paratroopers try to cross to the south side.

Fire from the German positions is heavy and accurate. The Red Devils are driven back - but the British now secure their hold on the north end of the Arnhem bridge.

Mackay’s little force secures a group of buildings on the east side of the bridge; from their positions the engineers can cover the streets leading up to, and under, the bridge, along with the northern ramp and the bridge itself.

Frost’s force takes up positions in the buildings on the west side of the bridge; these men will cover the approaches from the west.

Nijmegen
Elements of the 82nd Airborne approach the bridge in Nijmegen through dark and silent streets. Then, the sound of German machine gun bullets ripping through the air and 20-millimeter cannon shells exploding all around greet the All American paratroopers. Captain Gräbner’s reconnaissance force has finally found the Allied paratroopers. The Americans are pinned down.

2300 Hours

Terborg
Field Marshal Walter Model receives a long and startling radio message from Col. Gen. Kurt Student: Student has obtained the Allied plans for Operation Market-Garden. Earlier in the day, Model fled his headquarters in Oosterbeek; he was sure the airborne force’s objective was the capture of Army Group B headquarters. Now Model refuses to believe the plans are authentic. “If we are to believe these plans and are to assume that the Arnhem bridge is the true objective why were not troops dropped directly on the bridge?” he asks his staff. Still, Model is too cagey to discount the plan entirely; orders are sent out to every available antiaircraft unit naming the time and place of subsequent Allied troop and supply drops. This proves to be one of the best orders the field marshal issues during the next seven days.

2330 Hours

Arnhem
Brigadier General Heinz Harmel returns to Arnhem after a nearly 12-hour drive from Berlin. The commander of the 10th SS Panzer (Frundsberg) Division has been pleading for more tanks, guns, and men to block the expected British armored thrust; now, after being briefed at his own headquarters, he drives to see his commander.

Lieutenant General Wilhelm Bittrich gives Harmel more information and orders. The commander of II SS Panzer Corps tells Harmel that the British have landed airborne forces west of Arnhem and an undetermined force is holding the north end of the Arnhem bridge. There has been contact with the enemy at Nijmegen; Harmel is to take his 10th SS Panzer, proceed south, and secure the bridge in Nijmegen. Lieutenant Colonel Harzer’s 9th SS Panzer will dispatch with the British west of Arnhem, Bittrich tells Harmel.

Harmel asks how he can get his division across the Rhine if the British are holding the north end of the Arnhem bridge. Bittrich tells Harmel that ferrying operations have already been started.

Harmel then asks Bittrich why the bridge at Nijmegen isn’t destroyed. Bittrich replies that Model has squashed the suggestion; the bridges may be needed for counterattacks. Harmel neatly summarizes the German supply predicament when he asks Bittrich: “With what?”

At the end of the first day of Operation Market-Garden, there has been success and failure. Both the 101st and 82nd Airborne succeeded in capturing primary objectives; however, both must fight off German counterattacks to hold their objectives and the 82nd still must secure the Nijmegen bridge. The Irish Guards Armored Group only covered half the distance from the jumping-off point to Eindhoven, but all are hopeful the pace can be picked up the next day. At Arnhem, the 1st Airborne has a hold on the Arnhem bridge and the hope of getting the rest of the division to the bridge on Monday.