Allied Operation Market Garden (I)

Cromwell tanks of the British Guards Armoured Division at Nijmegen road bridge

Waffen-SS officer in conversation with Wehrmacht troops in the Nijmegen region

Allied Paratroopers raining on Dutch soil – Operation Market Garden

Wilhelm Bittrich's II.SS-Panzerkorps targeting Allied Paratroopers and gliders

Waffen-SS machine gun fire raked the sky west of Arnhem

The British 1st Airborne Division, Polish 1st Parachute Brigade, U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division was dropped along a line marked by Eindhoven in the south and Arnhem in the north in mid-September 1944, both cities in the eastern part of the Netherlands. The Market portion of the operation was made up of the airborne attacks. The Garden portion of the operation consisted of the British 2nd Army roaring north along highway 69 (Hell's Highway). The two attacks were known collectively as Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne drop in military history involving three Allied divisions, employing more than 16,000 paratroops. The report that Arnhem was free of serious resistance was incorrect. Several days before the Operation, the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen and its sister formation 10.SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg (II.SS-Panzerkorps) were moved into the Arnhem area to rest and refit, however they had both been so severely mauled during the Normandy fighting that they now mustered a combined force of approximately 6,000 men. No longer worthy of the title “division”, the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg were dubbed divisional SS-Kampfgruppen. Although numerically weaker to the British 1st Airborne Division, their men were all excellently trained and battle-hardened. SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich's II.SS-Panzerkorps played a decisive role in the defeat of the Allied offensive. Elements of the Frundsberg were sent south to respond to the American landings at Nijmegen, while the Hohenstaufen would defend Arnhem. Also present were the German Luftwaffe's Luftflotte 3 and some 600 Dutch SS trainees in the heterogeneous Kampfgruppe Tettau. Credit: The Pegasus Archive. Top image: on September 17 1944, U.S. 82nd Airborne Division were stopped in their tracks by hastily-organised German reinforcements at the all-important road bridge at Nijmegen. After a combined attack from the 82nd and British Guards Armoured Division was halted by reinforcements from the Frundsberg it became clear that the bridge could not be stormed. Credit: Tom Marshall. Welsh Guards Archives. Fair use. Second image: Waffen-SS, Heer and Luftwaffe troops in the Market Garden battle area in September 1944. Some sources says the photo was taken in the Betuwe region between Arnhem and Nijmegen, whereas others say it was taken in Nijmegen in front of the Hunnerpark at the foot of the south approach to the road bridge over the Waal. The SS officer is believed to be the commanding officer in that area SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl-Heinz Euling of the Frundsberg. The Knights Cross holder Karl-Heinz Euling died aged 94 on April 14 2014 in München. Photo taken by SS-Kriegsberichter Pospesch. Credit: Jakob Lagerweij. Commons: Bundesarchiv. Bottom clips: the sky was filled with Allied aircraft and parachuting British troops when this was filmed west of Arnhem on September 17 1944. As British paratroopers landed on their drop zone around Oosterbeek, combat hardened SS-Panzergrenadiers from the Hohenstaufen were waiting and made sure they did not receive a warm welcome. Bittrich's II SS Corps were at this stage divided into several smaller SS-Kampfgruppen acting as a blocking force. The Allies encountered a tough and determined resistance - far more than expected. Footage from Die Deutsche Wochenschau. Fair use.