Thread by @18airbornecorps

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Gavin vs Cook

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One of the more memorable scenes in the film “A Bridge Too Far” is the confrontation between Jim Gavin (played by Ryan O’Neal) and Julian Cook (played by Robert Redford) in which Gavin gives the order for the Waal River crossing. Here’s that scene.

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In the film, Gavin gives Julian the order on the afternoon of September 20th, directing him to cross the river that same evening.

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In reality, Gavin appeared at the 504th command post on the afternoon of September 19th and spoke with Cook, directing him to prepare to cross the Waal River the next day at ~ 11 AM.

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But Gavin had already spoken with Rueben Tucker, the commander of the 504th by the time he got to Julian Cook. It is unclear whether Cook first heard the order from Gavin or if Tucker already spoke with Julian by the time Gavin got to him.

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In real life, Gavin explained the logistics of the mission to Cook. This is not depicted in the movie.

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For example, Gavin explained that the 30 Corps were to gather the boats and that troops from C Company, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, would operate them.

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Once the engineer troopers got the first set of Cook’s troops from the south side to the north side of the river, they would turn around and go back south with empty boats.

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Then, Gavin explained, they would pick up the rest of Cook’s men and return.

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Unsaid: this was an arbitrary tasking of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion: these men had no training in amphibious operations whatsoever.

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In this book, Gavin writes that he picked the engineer battalion because they were innovative, but that may not be entirely accurate.

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Gavin, some believe, wanted riflemen, not engineers, fighting on the other side of the river. Plus, the engineers were simply available for the mission.

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In the scene in the film, Gavin is looking to inspire his untested battalion commander. It’s not clear how accurate this scene is, given that Gavin never discussed this confrontation in any of his writings.

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By the time Gavin got to Cook, he’d already briefed the 307th.

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This much is clear: Cook, for his part, didn’t like Gavin, even before this order. Julian was a by-the-book kind of leader. He felt Gavin’s overly aggressive leadership style to be reckless.

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Julian preferred the more methodical leadership style of his boss, Rueben Tucker.

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So, when Gavin gave Julian what he believed to be a near-suicide mission (the Germans on the north side of the river would have free shots at the boys in the boats in broad daylight), he was furious.

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This book claims Cook argues with Gavin, pushing back in a manner that borders on disrespect.

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That, however, is based on Cook’s own account and doesn’t match the accounts of at least one of the paratroopers who witnessed the exchange.

FINAL

Nonetheless, one thing is certain: Cook was livid with his Division Commander.