Undaunted Courage

On September 20th, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment under the leadership of Major Julian Cook had conducted an amphibious crossing on the Waal River and secured the Nijmegen Bridge. This audacious operation had cost the 504th dearly, and they were not about to lose this last bridge to Arnhem. The …

1944-09-21

Comp13

On September 20th, the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment under the leadership of Major Julian Cook had conducted an amphibious crossing on the Waal River and secured the Nijmegen Bridge. This audacious operation had cost the 504th dearly, and they were not about to lose this last bridge to Arnhem. The following day, the Germans began counterattacked the small bridgehead held by the surviving paratroopers. Private John Towle, a bazooka man, saw a swarm of SS troopers and tanks advancing towards his company's positions. He picked up his stove pipe, an armful of ammunition, and raced towards the enemy. - Dale Holmstrom

Oosterhout, Holland

Operation Market Garden was a failed World War II military operation fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 25 September 1944. It was the brainchild of Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery and strongly supported by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt. The airborne part of the operation was undertaken by the First Allied Airborne Army with the land operation by XXX Corps of the British Second Army. The objective was to create a 64 mi (103 km) salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, creating an Allied invasion route into northern Germany. This was to be achieved by seizing a series of nine bridges by Airborne forces with land forces swiftly following over the bridges. The operation succeeded in liberating the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen along with many towns, creating a 60 mi (97 km) salient into German-held territory limiting V-2 rocket launching sites. It failed, however, to secure a bridgehead over the Rhine, with the advance being halted at the river.

Wikipedia: Operation Market Garden

American

Germany