Operation Market Garden has been recorded as a complete Allied failure in World War II, an overreach that resulted in an entire airborne division being destroyed at its apex. However, within that operation were episodes of heroism that still remain unsung.

On September, 17, 1944, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, floated down across the Dutch countryside, in the midst of German forces, and proceeded to fight their way to vital bridges to enable the Allied offensive to go forward. The 101st Airborne was behind them; the British 1st Airbourne was far advanced. In the 82nd’s sector the crucial conduits needed to be seized.

The Germans knew the importance of the bridge over the Waal River at Nijmegen as well as James Gavin and his 82nd troopers did. Thus began a desperate fight for the Americans to seize it, no matter what the cost. The Germans would not give, however, and fought tenaciously in the town and fortified the bridge. On September 20 Gavin turned his paratroopers into sailors and conducted a deadly daylight amphibious assault in small plywood and canvas craft across the Waal River to secure the north end of the highway bridge in Nijmegen. German machine guns and mortars boiled the water on the crossing, but somehow a number of paratroopers made it to the far bank. Their ferocity thence rolled up the German defenses, and by the end of day the bridge had fallen.

This book draws on a plethora of previously unpublished sources to shed new light on the exploits of the “Devils in Baggy Pants” by Dutch author and historian Frank van Lunteren. A native of Arnhem—the site of “The Bridge too Far”—the author draws on nearly 130 interviews he personally conducted with veterans of the 504th, plus Dutch civilians and British and German soldiers, who here tell their story for the first time.

Table of Contents

Foreword By Brig. Gen. Christopher Tucker (USA, Ret.)
Acknowledgments

1 Replacements: Leicester, England, July 1–September 10, 1944
2 The Seventeenth Mission: Leicester, England, September 11–16, 1944
3 Drop Zone “O”: Overasselt, September 17, 1944
4 Captain Bohannan’s Last Flight: Heijningen, Overasselt, Grave Bridge, September 17, 1944
5 Capture Of The Maas Bridge: Grave, September 17, 1944
6 The Maas–Waal Canal Bridges: Heumen, Malden And Hatert, September 17, 1944
7 Consolidating The Regimental Sector: Grave, Neerbosch, Nijmegen, And Wychen, September 18–19, 1944
8 Suicide Mission: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
9 “All Hell Broke Loose”: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
10 I Company Crossing: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
11 Fort Hof Van Holland And The Fight At The Lent Viaduct: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
12 Enlarging The Bridgehead: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
13 Mission Accomplished: Nijmegen, September 20, 1944
14 The Island: Lent, Oosterhout And Nijmegen, September 22–September 23, 1944
15 No “Walk In The Park”: Holland And Germany, September 24–27, 1944
16 Battle Along The Wylerbaan: Holland And Germany, September 28–October 2, 1944
17 Battle At Erlekom: Holland And Germany, September 28–October 4, 1944
18 Holding The Line: Holland And Germany, October 5–November 14, 1944

Postscript September 1945–March 2014
Appendix A Distinguished Service Cross Recipients
Appendix B Order Of Battle For Operation Market Garden

Notes
Contributing Veterans
Selected Bibliography
Index