Men at Arnhem

When I think about Operation Market-Garden, I've always thought of the view presented by the classic 70's movie, A Bridge Too Far.

It wasn't until recently that I thought that it would be interesting to read more books about the battle and learn more about it.

One of the first books I read was Men at Arnhem by Geoffrey Powell, an officer of the British airborne forces at Arnhem. He was among the main body of British airborne troops who landed far away from Arnhem (according to the original plan!) He recounts their attempts to reinforce Frost's forces holding the Arnhem bridge. As we know now, the British airborne troops were in trouble right from the beginning, due to their poor mobility and being landed so far away from the bridge. In a very engrossing read, Powell writes about the desperate attempts of his troops to push through to the bridge and how they were quickly stymied by strong German forces. He writes about how men would suddenly be killed around him and about the declining morale of the British troops as the airborne troops starting running out of ammo, rations and other essential supplies.

This book provided really interesting information about the state of the British airborne troops trying to reinforce the bridge and their thoughts about the British XXX Corps who were supposed to relief them by land. As well, there are interesting sections about how the British and Polish airborne troops interacted (the Polish troops did not speak much English).

It's a book I highly recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about Arnhem. This book is considered one of the best squad level combat books. Interesting footnote: originally, this book was published under the pen name of "Tom Angus" in the 70's and the names of his soldiers and officers were all changed. In this newer version, all the correct names have been reinstated, creating a greater sense of realism.

Another book about Arnhem which I'm currently reading is 'It Never Snows in September' by Robert Kershaw. This book is most interesting because it presents Operation Market-Garden from the German viewpoint, based on German interviews and battle reports. You very quickly learn why British XXX Corps took so long to reach Arnhem -- the width of the traffic corridor was extremely narrow and was cut off by German troops numerous times as the Germans fought determinedly against the airborne forces trying to keep the passageway open. It really shows how ambitious Monty's plan was!

Colin
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