Thread by @18airbornecorps

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Wednesday, 20 September 1944

D+3

THE CROSSING

[Given the amount of activity on this day, the number of characters we're introducing here, & the length of this thread, this is the only content we'll release today]

#MarketGarden76
#WaalRiverCrossing

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The morning opens to light rain and overcast skies and, for the civilians remaining in Arnhem, flames.

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Parts of Arnhem remain on fire from the previous night’s bombing. A local man noted that the towers of the church of St. Walburgis “looked like great columns of fire.”

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Back to England: Major General Stanisław Sosabowski, commander of the First Independent Polish Airborne Brigade, waited in agony to get into the fight.

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Days prior the Pole’s jump was delayed due to weather. Now, ~ 8:45 AM, the I Airborne Corps liaison to the Poles, informs Sosabowski that his men are not to land near the Arnhem bridge as planned.

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Instead, they were to jump west, to Driel [unsaid: the DZ near the Arnhem bridge was our because it was not in Allied hands].

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Take-off for the Poles: 12:30 PM. Finally, the Polish troops will get into the fight. This, however, was delayed once again due to weather.

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Meanwhile, back to Arnhem: the weather is terrible news for Lt Colonel John Frost’s 2nd Para Battalion.

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Cut off from the rest of the 1st Airborne Division, Frost's men are running out of food and ammo. They know the weather will delay supply drops and reinforcements.

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While Frost did not know the location of 30 Corps (in deference to @rgpoulussen’s research, we’re using the Arabic numerals going forward) but suspected the Corps would not break through to reach his paratroopers.

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Resupply drops were attempted, but with changes to the plan. Some supplies were dropped in the towns, others in the forested areas. With significant effort, the 82d Airborne elements managed to recover ~ 80% of the supplies dropped for them.

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The Poles waited in England, gathered around radios to catch news of the fight from Warsaw. Inside Sosabowski was a quiet hell, knowing that the Allied paratroopers needed his fresh men.

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The First Airborne Corps units had been reduced by nearly 75% due to continued fighting and delays in reinforcements. Caring for and managing casualties also grows difficult.

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In fact, the British struggled so much in moving wounded paratroopers to care that at one point a midday-ceasefire was agreed upon with the Germans. (American paratrooper medic pictured here during OMG)

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German medics escorted casualty evacuations from the battlefield area. Some even took over stations to administer proper care for wounded.

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Meanwhile, 3rd Battalion, 504th prepares for the river crossing.

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Everything rests on this remarkable bridge crossing and the *simultaneous* American/British assault on the south side of the Waal Bridge, the Hunnerpark area.

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Should the 3rd Battalion, 504 take the other side, the bridge would be safe for XXX Corps to use on its way to Arnhem and rescue John Frost and the isolated British Airborne troops.

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Troopers from C Company, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, would operate the boats and ferry their airborne brethren to the enemy-held north shore. They would then take the 1st Battalion, 504th back across.

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The first wave was to consist of ~ 260 Americans. A squad of 13 men per boat + 3 engineer coxswains.

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The troops were set to cross at 11AM…but, no boats. The 33 boats Horrocks promised Gavin (see yesterday’s D+2 thread) still hadn’t arrived. [the 4 trucks carrying the boats couldn’t get through Panzer attacks on the Son Bridge.

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Gavin delays the crossing until 1:30 PM.

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Around mid-day, General Matthew B. Ridgway shows up in the tent over looking the Waal River Gavin is using for the 82nd Airborne Division Command Post.

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Ridgway has no command authority over the battle right now. None. He's doing what we'd call "battlefield circulation." [Gavin works for Boy Browning, the British I Airborne Corps Commander. Ridgway’s XVIII Airborne Corps is not involved in this operation].

25 of 67:

Protocol calls for Gavin to give Ridgway – sort of still his boss, and the man he’s worked for for 2 years – a briefing on the operation. By most accounts, Ridgway didn’t specifically ask for a briefing, but it’s an unspoken requirement.

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There are a couple of different accounts of what happened. According to one, Gavin started briefing Ridgway and then just stopped and walked off to deal with the river crossing.

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According to historian John C. McManus, Gavin completely blow off Ridgway, walking out of the tent without offering a briefing.

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Either way, some stuff went down. Bottom line: Gavin was focused on the planning and positioning of the river crossing operation. He felt Ridgway was just being a nuisance. Ridgway was deeply offended.

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In the days that followed, Gavin noted in his letters home that he was concerned he would be fired over the incident.

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The incident caused a rift between the two men that lasted beyond WWII (though they seem to have later reconciled).

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1:30 PM: no boats. Every lost minute now represents a greater danger for Frost’s surrounded battalion at the Arnhem bridge.

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The Poles are waiting in England.

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The Devils in Baggy Pants are waiting on the south side of the river.

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John Frost’s Paras are waiting in Arnhem.

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Tension mounts.

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War is hell. But waiting is something worse than hell.

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Major Julian Cook, commander of 3rd Battalion of the 504, enters the power station in this diagram with his leaders. From inside the power station, they have a clear view of German defenses on the north bank.

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They see that the Germans are dug in and well-positioned.

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They can also see that the current was strong; the Paratroopers would have to row against a swirling, angry waters while rowing into the death of German bullets.

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Before entering the power station [pictured], the men knew this was an unusual mission. Now they know it is near-suicide.

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Cook thought: “We are being asked to make an Omaha beach landing all by ourselves.”

2PM: No boats. Some men cleaned weapons. Some chatted nervously. There was no way to relieve the stress.

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2:40 PM: three trucks of the British 615 Field Squadron rrive near the power plant. The drivers hop out and unload the much-anticipated boats. [only 26 boats arrived as the 4th truck didn’t make it]

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The Paratroopers, observing their British comrades pulling the boats off the truck, cannot believe what they see: flimsy canvas boats. No engine. No armor.

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504th Captain T. Moffatt Burriss: “They looked like piece of plywood with canvas wrapped around them and a few extra boards piled on top…they wouldn’t make it across a swimming pool.”

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The boats are 19 feet long and ~ 30 inches high. Each with two paddles.

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Were it not so deadly serious, the whole endeavor would be simply ridiculous.

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2:50 PM: 2nd Battalion, 504 begins supporting fire. [here’s Julian Cook’s hand-drawn diagram]

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Julian orders his 26 boat teams forward.

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As the men get into the boats at the river’s edge, things become chaotic.

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Think about it: this is a task for which these men are untrained. They will cross in the face of enemy fire with no protection against a fast-moving current.

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Nonetheless, the crossing commences.

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3:03 PM: the first boats hit the water and immediately received plunging fire from the railway bridge, the Hof van Holland fortress, a 20mm gun on the dike road and from machine guns in the flats between the Waal River and the dike road.

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The Irish Guards attempt to cover the river crossing with their tanks, but the cover fire the tanks provided is insufficient.

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The enemy fire is some of the thickest these combat-hardened men had ever seen. Lead flies from all directions. Bullets rip gaping holes in the boats. Mortars explode nearby, some hitting boats.

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To propel the boats, the Paratroopers use their rifles as paddles.

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Some boats drift downstream. Some capsize. Paratroopers drown.

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Only 13 of the 26 boats are still usable by the time the men make it to the shore.

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The 3rd battalion, 504 troopers try to get into cover immediately on the other side.

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There was much vomiting on reaching the north bank due to the exhaustion of the crossing and the lack of sufficient sleep and food in the previous days.

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The chaos during the river crossing and sprint to the dike broke up squad, platoon and company integrity and ad hoc groups were formed.

The 504 medics load their casualties into a local hospital. The hospital has no power or heat.

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The 504 fights ferociously. As they do, they cut any wires they saw in hopes of preventing the Germans from blowing the bridge. The 307th Engineers make five circuits back and forth.

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Through the operation, Major Julian Cook, who had missed the combat action of Sicily as the 504th Supply Officer and who’s men viewed him with suspicion, earned the respect of his Paratroopers.

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Around 6:30 PM, one troop of Sherman tanks of "1" Squadron 2 Grenadier Guards successfully crossed the highway bridge over the Waal River moments before 504 PIR reached the Waal Bridge.

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The 505th and Grenadier Guards attack the south ramp of the Nijmegen Bridge, with the 504th flanking the rail bridge and the road bridge.

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Due to the bravery of the 504th and the ingenuity of the 307th Engineers, Gavin’s crazy plan worked.

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The Germans had held and defended the bridge for nearly 3 days.

FINAL:

By day's end, the bridge was in Allied hands. 267 German bodies lay across it. The fight continued.