Day 1: Sunday, 17 September 1944Allied Landings near Nijmegen
Operation Market Garden opened with Allied success all around. The first landing was in daylight for accuracy, and almost all of the troops arrived on top of their drop zones without incident. In the 82nd Airborne Division, 89% of troops landed on or within 1,000 meters (1000 yards) of their correct drop zones, and 84% of gliders landed on or within 1,000 meters (1,000 yards) of their landing zones. This contrasted with previous operations where night drops had resulted in units being scattered by up to 19 km (12 miles). Losses to enemy aircraft and flak were light; German flak was described in reports as "heavy but inaccurate".
In the south the 101st met little resistance and captured four of five bridges. The bridge at Son was blown up as they approached it, after being delayed by a short engagement with two German anti-tank guns. Later that day several small attacks by the German 59th Infantry Division (a 15th Army unit that had escaped across the South Beveland isthmus because of the failure of XXX Corps to seal it off) were beaten off, while small units of the 101st had moved south of Son.
British landings
The 1st Airborne Division landed without major incident, but problems associated with the poor plan began almost immediately. Only half of the Division arrived with the First Lift, and only half of these, the 1st Parachute Brigade, could advance on the bridge. The remaining troops had to defend the drop zones overnight awaiting the arrival of the Second Lift on the following day. Thus the Division's primary objective had to be tackled by less than a half brigade. While the paratroopers marched eastwards to Arnhem, the Reconnaissance Squadron was to race to the bridge in their jeeps and hold it until the rest of the Brigade arrived. Many jeeps were lost on the 38 gliders of the 1st Division that did not make it to the landing zone; others were unloaded with difficulty. The unit set off to the bridge late, and having travelled only a short distance the vanguard was halted by a strong German defensive position; the squadron could make no further progress.
This had grave consequences. Five hours after the initial landing, feeling that the British were tied down in Arnhem, the Reconnaissance Battalion of the 9th Waffen-SS Panzer Division was able to cross the Arnhem bridge and drive to Nijmegen and the bridge over the Waal branch of the Rhine. No British airborne unit was at this bridge.
Two of the three battalions of the 1st Parachute Brigade were slowed down by small German units of a training battalion which had quickly established a thin blocking line covering the obvious routes into Arnhem. Lieutenant-Colonel John Frost's 2nd Battalion, which was advancing eastwards along the southernmost road into Arnhem, near the Rhine, found its route largely undefended. They arrived at the bridge in the evening and set up defensive positions at the north end. Two attempts to capture the arched steel bridge and its southern approach were unsuccessful. Of the other battalions, the 3rd had only covered half the distance to the bridge when they halted for the night, the rear of their column being under attack and needing time to catch up. The 1st Battalion was similarly fragmented, yet pushed on around the flank of the German line throughout the night. Frequent skirmishes resulted in their making little more progress.
Communication Breakdown
Some loss of communication between the bridge and Divisional Headquarters in one of the drop zones was expected, because 13 km (8 miles) separated them and the main radio used throughout the Division was the Type 22 set designed to have an effective range of just 5 km (3 miles) (Hibbert 2002, p. 99-100). However, the British radios did not function at any range; some had difficulty receiving signals from just a few hundred meters and others received nothing at all. Moreover it was found after landing that the radios had been pre-set to different frequencies, two of which coincided with those of German and British public broadcasting stations (ibid.). Other theories have been advanced to explain the greatly reduced range of the 1st Airborne Division's radio sets. Modern tests using Type 22 sets have suggested that large deposits of iron in the soil could have been to blame.[14] It is also possible that repeated operational stand-bys and cancellations (over a dozen drops were planned and then cancelled in the weeks prior to the operation) had led to sloppy battery charging procedures and lax supervision of this task. Thus communication between 1st Airborne units was poor while German defences were being coordinated and reinforced.
The only means of calling for close air support was through two special American units dropped with the 1st Airborne Division. These units were equipped with "Veeps": jeeps having Very High Frequency SCR-193 crystal sets. It was found impossible to communicate with aircraft on the higher of two frequencies allocated for this purpose, and the sets could not be tuned to the lower frequency (Hibbert & 2002 p100). Despite efforts to re-tune them, the sets were soon destroyed by mortar fire, cutting the 1st Airborne's only possible link with RAF fighter-bombers. The pilots were under orders not to attack on their own initiative since from the air there was no easy way to distinguish friend from foe. Together with poor weather, this led to a critical lack of air support.
XXX Corps Advance
Some loss of communication between the bridge and Divisional Headquarters in one of the drop zones was expected, because 13 km (8 miles) separated them and the main radio used throughout the Division was the Type 22 set designed to have an effective range of just 5 km (3 miles) (Hibbert 2002, p. 99-100). However, the British radios did not function at any range; some had difficulty receiving signals from just a few hundred meters and others received nothing at all. Moreover it was found after landing that the radios had been pre-set to different frequencies, two of which coincided with those of German and British public broadcasting stations (ibid.). Other theories have been advanced to explain the greatly reduced range of the 1st Airborne Division's radio sets. Modern tests using Type 22 sets have suggested that large deposits of iron in the soil could have been to blame.[14] It is also possible that repeated operational stand-bys and cancellations (over a dozen drops were planned and then cancelled in the weeks prior to the operation) had led to sloppy battery charging procedures and lax supervision of this task. Thus communication between 1st Airborne units was poor while German defences were being coordinated and reinforced.
The only means of calling for close air support was through two special American units dropped with the 1st Airborne Division. These units were equipped with "Veeps": jeeps having Very High Frequency SCR-193 crystal sets. It was found impossible to communicate with aircraft on the higher of two frequencies allocated for this purpose, and the sets could not be tuned to the lower frequency (Hibbert & 2002 p100). Despite efforts to re-tune them, the sets were soon destroyed by mortar fire, cutting the 1st Airborne's only possible link with RAF fighter-bombers. The pilots were under orders not to attack on their own initiative since from the air there was no easy way to distinguish friend from foe. Together with poor weather, this led to a critical lack of air support.
The German Reactions
On the German side, it was soon clear what was happening. Field Marshal Walter Model was staying at the Tafelberg Hotel in Oosterbeek, a village to the west of Arnhem, when the British began to land in the countryside to the west of Oosterbeek. Initially confused, he concluded that they were commandos attempting to kidnap him. He made a mad dash for a safer location. Meanwhile, Wilhelm Bittrich, commanding the 2nd SS Panzer Corps, had a clearer head and immediately sent a reconnaissance company of the 9th SS Panzer Division to Nijmegen to reinforce the bridge defence. By midnight, however, Model had gained a clear picture of the situation and issued orders that proved beneficial to the successful defence of Arnhem. The confusion usually attendant upon defending against airborne operations was absent at Arnhem, and the advantage of surprise was largely nullified by an alert reaction.
day 2 Coming Up soon
The Day 1 was a success and ahhh, they surprised the enemy and outnumbered them.
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