The account of the fateful bridge too far...'It was a bridge too
far and perhaps the whole plan was doomed to failure from the
start, but we had to try, didn't we?' 17 September 1944: 30,000
airborne soldiers prepare to drop 64 miles behind enemy lines into
Nazi-occupied Holland; tens of thousands of ground troops race down
Hell's Highway in tanks and armoured cars, trucks and half-tracks
to link up with them. The goal - to secure eight bridges across the
Rhine and end the war by Christmas. Ten days later, over 15,000 of
these soldiers have died, 6,000 have been taken prisoner. Operation
Market Garden was the daring plan to stage a coup de main in
occupied territory, gain control of those bridges, and obtain a
direct route into Hitler's Germany. But the operation failed and
the allied forces suffered a brutal military defeat. In the 75
years since, tactics have been analysed and blame has been placed,
but the heart of Arnhem's story lies in the selflessness and
bravery of those troops that fought, the courage and resilience of
the civilians caught up in confrontation, and the pure
determination to fight for their lives and their freedom. This is
the story of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. In
Ballantyne's Arnhem, we go into battle with not only the famous
commanders in the thick of the action, but also with all those
whose fates were determined by their decisions. Based on first-hand
interviews, military records, and diaries, we witness the confusion
and mayhem of war - from the horrific and devastating to the
surreal and mundane. But most of all, we witness the self-sacrifice
and valour of the men who gave their lives to liberate strangers in
a foreign country. Praise for Arnhem: Ten Days in the Cauldron
'Reminiscent of Stephen Ambrose at his best... some remarkable
stories, which Ballantyne neatly dovetails into a rolling epic' Dr
Harry Bennett, University of Plymouth 'Breath-taking... I
thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of Arnhem, adding, if you
like, a trench-level perspective to those other accounts written
from more senior, and sometimes more detached, points of view.
Thoroughly recommended' British Journal for Military History
General
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