Joris Posted September 21, 2006 Share Posted September 21, 2006 Today it seems its all or nothing, yesterday the Nijmegen Waal bridges were finally taken although the price that had to be paid was enormous. The brave paratroopers from the 504th PIR crossed the fast flowing Waal river in broad daylight under a hailstorm of German bullets, grenades and artillery. When they finally reached the far side they had to cross a large stretch of open ground before they finally reached the dike where the Germans were dug in. Like fearless bloodthirsty beasts they stormed the German positions, slaughtering them all and took the rail bridge and later the road bridge quickly. The message that the rail bridge was captured (around 17:00h) seems never to have reached HQ because nothing was undertaken to exploit this. In Nijmegen the ground forces of XXXcorps with the help of the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne finally broke through the German defences and their sides of the bridges were taken too. Unfortunately by the time the road bridge was taken it was nearly dark and there were no forces available to start a drive on Arnhem. This morning the attack towards Arnhem should have started but still not much has happened, if they don’t reach the paras at the Arnhem road bridge soon it might be too late! The German counter attack at Mook which started yesterday morning was finally stopped with the help of the divisional reserve and the Coldstream Guards. In Arnhem at the bridge the fighting seems to winding down, the northern ramp is effectively in back in German hands, only a few ruins are still in the hands of the paras. This morning there was a short truce when the wounded were evacuated after which the fighting started again in all its brutality. In Oosterbeek the permiter that was formed yesterday still holds out, yesterday the Germans tried to cut it in half but by determined counter attacks and stubborn defence the orginal line was restored. The worst thing that happened was the loss of the Westerbouwing heights, which overlooks the ferry crossing, although HQ doesnt seem to realise this at the moment. The strength of the 1st airborne division is now estimated around 3000 man. Between Eindhoven and Son the Germans managed to shell the corridor thereby blocking it for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted September 24, 2007 Author Share Posted September 24, 2007 Bump (although a few days too late) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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