Narrative of the Operation - British Withdrawn

The planned withdrawal of the battered men of the 1st Airborne Division was accomplished during the night of 24-25 September. Roughly 2,000 troops groped their way through enemy lines across muddy fields, under constant fire, to the river bank, where most of them crossed in assault boats and barges and on rafts. Some swam the 150 yards of swift water. Upon reaching the southern bank they had to walk several miles in a drizzling rain before reaching the assembly area, where they were loaded in vehicles and carried back to Nijmegen. Behind them, near Arnhem, they left 1,200 wounded, for whose care arrangements had been made with the Germans.

The withdrawal was tragic for these men, who had fought so bravely against crushing odds for 8 long days. Right up to the end it had seemed that relief could be accomplished, but sufficient forces could not be brought up in time to cross the river by assault. The German tactic of continuous pressure on the supply in the Veghel vicinity had been successful. The interdiction of this vital road for 36 hours beginning on the afternoon of 24 September had been the decisive factor. After that the alternatives were to withdraw the 1st Airborne Division or leave it to a fate of gradual and inevitable extermination. Pride, prestige, and the doubtful distinction of continuing a hopeless fight were not permitted to outweigh the saving of those gallant men.

One round had been lost, but the battle was still on. The 101st Division went into action on the afternoon of 25 September, attacking hard to reopen the road south of Veghel. The battle was waged through the night to a successful conclusion the next morning, when the enemy was again thrown back. However, the road remained within German artillery range and the gauntlet still had to be run.

In the sector of the 82d Division a successful push to the northwest had been made on 20 September in which the town of Oss had been captured. Now the 82d was advancing in the opposite direction into Germany beyond Beek.

D plus 9.--On the afternoon of 26 September two important British units were flown to the air strip west of Grave. The weather, non-operational in the morning over Holland, cleared by afternoon. The 1st Light Antiaircraft Battery and the Airborne Forward Delivery Airfield Group were carried in by 209 C-47's. There were no abortive planes and no losses. The assignments of the transported units were to handle air freight at the Grave strip and to protect it against enemy aircraft. Escort was furnished by 182 fighters of ADGB and 100 fighters of the Eighth Air Force. The former encountered no enemy aircraft and suffered no losses, but those from the Eighth engaged 50 Me 109's and FW 190's in combat, claiming 32-1-8 for a loss of 2 United States planes.

The final phase of the operation occurred during the night of 26-27 September. Not all the remainder of the 1st Division had returned the night before, nor had the covering troops been withdrawn. This was successfully accomplished under cover of darkness and was complete by morning of the 27th. It was decided to bring the 1st Airborne Division back to Brussels, whence it would be flown to England. The Polish Brigade was to continue as a fighting unit under the 2d Army and was withdrawn to the Ravenstein region.

Thus ended an engagement rich in heroism but fraught with frustration.

In spite of the difficulties at Arnhem the airborne operations had proceeded not only according to plan but also with much lower loss than expected. Moreover, they did much to disprove the view that daylight airborne operations over enemy territory heavily defended by flak are excessively hazardous. The great dividends in accuracy of dropping and landing and in quick assembly of troops, which are to be had by daylight, were enjoyed to the full. Three contributing factors were largely responsible for success:

1. Strong cooperating air forces were available and were skillfully employed to knock out flak positions in advance, to beat down flak during the airborne operations themselves, and to protect the troop carriers from hostile aircraft.
2. Excellent staff work so organized the movement of troop carriers, their protection by the cooperating air forces, and the drop and landing zones of troops as to achieve maximum surprise. Large forces were placed at tactically important points either simultaneously or with a minimum loss of time.
3. Thorough training of both airborne and troop carrier personnel produced almost perfect accuracy in the drops and landings. Weapons were quickly retrieved and units rapidly formed up for the accomplishment of their initial missions

From D plus 2 to D plus 8 weather seriously hampered resupply and reinforcement attempts, yet on the whole they, too, were accurately effected. It is true that higher loss rates were suffered on these succeeding days, but this had to be--and was-- expected in the face of increasing enemy resistance.

The decision to carry out a bold daylight operation was one which General Brereton alone could make. His experience as Commanding General, Ninth Air Force, had convinced him that it could be done. The success of the airborne operations testifies to his sound judgment.