Market Garden
Veterans Association
Lest We Forget
Operation Market Garden (17–25 September 1944) was an Allied military operation planned, and predominantly led, by the British. It was fought in the Netherlands and Germany in World War II. The success of the operation depended on taking a series of nine bridges, the last being at the city of Arnhem over the Rhine river. Airborne and land forces succeeded in the liberation of the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen, but failed in keeping their farthest positions in and around the city of Arnhem including the bridge over the Rhine.
~ All are remembered with Respect, Pride and Gratitude ~
Our new designed logo for the 80th Anniversary of Operation Market Garden in 2024 (click to enlarge)
major James Corrigan
On the 10th of November 2021 we lost the last officer of the 6th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (The Faithful Durhams). Major James Corrigan, a truly delightful gentleman, a wonderful character and our friend.
Standard Bearer of the Market Garden Veterans Association.
*1924 - †2021
We will remember him.
9 April 2021
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II's husband, died aged 99
1921 - 2021
A statement issued by the palace spoke of the Queen's "deep sorrow" following his death at Windsor Castle . The Duke of Edinburgh, the longest-serving royal consort in British history, was at the Queen's side for more than her six decades of reign. "It is with deep sorrow that Her Majesty The Queen announces the death of her beloved husband," the palace said. "The Royal Family join with people around the world in mourning his loss."
Naval and wartime service
With war looming, Prince Philip decided on a military career. He wanted to join the Royal Air Force but his mother's family had a seafaring tradition and he became a cadet at the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
He transferred to the battleship HMS Valiant in the Mediterranean Fleet, where he was mentioned in dispatches for his part in the Battle of Cape Matapan in 1941.
By October 1942, he was one of the youngest first lieutenants in the Royal Navy, serving on board the destroyer HMS Wallace.
Philip took leave from the Royal Navy in July 1951. He never returned in an active role.
The duke was not a man to carry regrets, but he did say in later life that he was sorry he had been unable to continue his career in the navy.
In 1975, he was appointed Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a position he handed over to his son Andrew in 2017.
But his greatest achievement was undoubtedly the constancy and strength of his support for the Queen in the long years of her reign.
14-22 SEPTEMBER
2024
Operation Market Garden
80th Anniversary Commemoration
Follow us on Facebook for all information and programmes of events to take place in the Nijmegen, Eindhoven and Arnhem area
Market Garden, in the footsteps of the 75th
Tim Hendriks, author
This book is to pay respect for what the finest of young men did to liberate the Netherlands 75 years ago during the biggest airborne operation in September 1944. Tim Hendriks would like to share this book with you to have a guide to travel and see what these young men have seen back in 1944. This guide will get you to many places from the Belgium border up to Arnhem “A bridge too far”. Hereby I would like to quote General Sir Brian Horrocks: "This is a tale you will tell your grandchildren". As history is all ours to share and pass along. Enjoy and remember freedom isn’t free it has been paid for!
Lest we forget!
DENYS HUNTER
Market Garden veteran Denys Hunter passed away the 14th of February 2020 at the age of 95. The war veteran belonged to the C Troop 342 Battery, 86th Hertfordshire Yeomanry Fields Regiment, Royal Artillery.Denys Hunter was deployed at Market Garden at the age of 20, which started for him on September 17, 1944. He helped free the cities of Valkenswaard, Eindhoven, Son, Veghel and later Nijmegen. There he worked with the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.
(Denys is on the left in the picture)
Tim Hendriks, author of Market Garden, in the footsteps of the 75th (2019)
Lord Peter Carrington
passed away at the age of 99
6 June 1919 - 9 July 2018
Educated at Sandhurst, the Royal Military College, Lord Carrington was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards as a second lieutenant on 26 January 1939. He served with the regiment during the Second World War and was promoted to lieutenant and rose to the rank of temporary captain and acting major and was awarded the Military Cross. He took part in the Operation Market Garden (september 1944) as a tank commander with the 82nd AD, the 504th PIR and XXX Corps troops in Nijmegen and at the Waal bridge.
Neville Foote, Royal Artillery
Goodbye to our friend, 99-year-old Royal Artillery veteran Neville Foote.
Neville had joined 79th Batallion Scottish Horse Medium Regiment in 1940. As a Lance Bombardier Signaller, he boarded HMS Cheshire on 2nd June 1944 and began the journey across the English Channel to Normandy.
The 79th Battalion and Canada’s North Nova Scotia Highlanders landed on Juno Beach with the second wave on D-Day. Carrying a folding bicycle under his arm, Neville was under heavy fire as the allies had failed to take out all the German defence guns.
Neville took part in the capture of Nijmegen Bridge during Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.
He crossed the Rhine in March 1945, where he saw his best friend being “blown to bits” when their bren gun carrier went over a mine. Despite suffering a shrapnel wound himself, Neville was given field dressing and transferred into another carrier just 12 hours later.
Pushing on into Germany, Neville could not have imagined the horrors which awaited him when he was tasked with liberating Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 14th April 1945.
After two days the Medical Corps took over and Neville pressed on again until VE Day on 8th May 1945 when he was in Bremerhaven.
We will remember him!
Grand Duke Jean, the former head of state from Luxembourg, passed away at the age of 98
5 January 1921 – 23 April 2019
Jean was the eldest son of Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix. Jean's primary education was initially in Luxembourg, before attending Ampleforth College in England. In 1938, he was officially named Hereditary Grand Duke as heir to the throne of Luxembourg. While Luxembourg was occupied by Germans during the Second World War, the grand ducal family was abroad in exile. Jean studied at the Université Laval in Quebec City. Jean later volunteered to join the British army's Irish Guards in 1942, and after graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, received his commission in 1943. He participated in the Normandy landings and the Battle for Caen, and joined the Allied forces in the liberation of Luxembourg, as lieutenant of the Irish Guards he went on to Belgium and the Netherlands, who honored him with the War Remembrance Cross.
NijmegeN
The Battle of Nijmegen or Liberation of Nijmegen occurred in the Netherlands from 17 to 20 September 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden during World War II. The Allies' primary goal was to capture the two bridges over the Waal River at Nijmegen, the road route over the Waalbrug (Waal Bridge) and Nijmegen railway bridge, and relieve the British 1st Airborne Division and Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade at Arnhem, 10 miles (16 km) north of Nijmegen. The Allied infantry units at Arnhem were surrounded by German forces, and involved in heavy fighting for control of bridges over the Rhine.
The BridgeS
On 17 September Companies of the 504th Infantry Regiment were dropped near the Grave Bridge, which was conquered and defended successfully against German counterattacks after a two to three hour firefight. The 1st Battalion of the 504th had to seize the four Canal bridges, designated as no. 7, 8, 9 and 10. Bridge 8 was destroyed by the Germans; Bridge 9 near Hatert was blown up as well; but Bridge 7 near Heumen was captured by the Americans. At night of 18 September, Companies F, D and HQ occupied Grave without any resistance; they waited until the arrival of the British XXX Corps.
The CrossinG
On 20th September the crossing took place at 15:00, around 2 kilometres downstream from the Waal Bridge, near the old Gelderland Power Plant. The U.S. Paratroopers of the 3rd Parachute Infantry Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment were fired on by German tanks, artillery and small arms, suffering losses (48 troopers were killed with several dozens more were wounded). Some boats capsized or sank during the crossing. With 16 boats, the 3rd Battalion succeeded in transporting most troops to the other side in several shifts.
Read more Second World War 60th Anniversary (2004)
Operation Market Garden Netherlands 17–25 September 1944
Unforgettable Moments
Operation Market Garden 80th
Anniversary will be commemorated in the towns of the Netherlands from the 17th till the 21nd of September 2024.
We will visit Grave, Groesbeek, Driel, Arnhem, Renkum and Nijmegen.
All the events will be attended by crowds of Dutch people and their foreign guests from the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland, Belgium, France and many other countries.
This might be the last chance to pay our respect to all the veterans who fought for our liberty and freedom in September 1944 during Operation Market Garden.
We will remember them!
Will we see you in 2024?
STorieS of MarkeT GardeN
STORIES
The ranks of veterans and citizens who actually witnessed the events of September 1944 are deminishing. It is our duty that their stories will not disappear with them and that future generations be aware of our freedom and the price these heroes paid for it. There are thousands of stories originating from the days of September 1944, here are a few of them...
MariA ten HorN
PeteR RobinsoN
In the picture Peter Robinson is on the centre right
In the picture Maria ten Horn is on the right
During the height of the battle of Nijmegen, three Grenadiers, LSgt WFR Draycott, Gdsm J. Newsome and Gdsm GA Richardson were killed when their tank received a direct hit. This was near to the home of Maria ten Horn and Maria and her family buried the Grenadiers in their garden with Maria tending their graves regularly with flowers. However, as the war passed on from Nijmegen, the War Graves Commission eventually moved the graves to the Jonkerbos War Cemetery. For the next 54 years, until her illness, she continued to visit the graves at regular intervals to place flowers on the three Grenadier graves. (Grenadier Gazette No22 1999)
JacK PritcharD
It wasn't until days later that I found out what had happened to the men I had left behind at Nijmegen. Both Number 4 Company and the Kings Company had gained their objectives on the approaches to the road bridge, clearing Hunner Park and the Valkhof of German troops and capturing their heavier weapons. The way was now clear for the tanks of the Second Battalion to storm the bridge. Major John Trotter, commanding number 1 Squadron of the 2nd Bn Grenadier Guards, ordered Sergeant Robinson to make the first attempt, but his Sherman was hit twice by anti-tank gun fire and he was forced to pull back for minor repairs. It wasn't until dusk was falling that a second attempt was made.
charles Raymond Olsen
In the picture (1959) Ray Olsen is on the left, the author in the centre
It isn’t fair to have one regiment in the lead all the time. You all took it in turns to lead. The Irish Guards started off leading first of all…probably Number 1 Squadron. And then somebody else and then it comes to the individual troops. Somebody’s got to be in front there and of course you take that in turn as well and that was where I came unlucky. The bridge wasn’t taken, which was our objective. We reached the far end of the bridge and immediately there was a road block. So the troop sergeant covered me through and then I got to the other side and covered the rest of the troops through.
DenniS FredericK LaddS
In Memory of Lance Corporal
DENNIS FREDERICK LADDS
2612986, 2nd Bn., Grenadier Guards
who died age 31 on 13 November 1944
Son of Frederick William Joachim Ladds and Clara Ladds, of Cambridge; husband of Margery Osyth Louise Ladds, of Cambridge.
Remembered with honour
Casualty of War on the road from Gangelt to Geilenkirchen (Germany)
Grave/Memorial reference L.1.
In September 1944, my father, Ray Olson, was in England recovering from a gunshot wound received in Carentan, Normandy.
There being no rest for the weary, it was time to head
off into battle again—this time in the Netherlands for
Operation Market Garden.
As in Normandy, few paratroopers landed where planned due to anti-aircraft fire scattering their planes. My father and two others who landed near each other did not know the way to their rendezvous location. They saw a nearby farmhouse and, having been assured that all Dutch people could be trusted to help, decided to ask for directions.
The patriarch of the family took them in and, despite the language barrier, used my father's maps to point out the best route to their destination.
More stories
The Unsung Hero of the battle for Nijmegen Bridge by Jack Pritchard (pdf)
“Wars and shadows” memoirs of General Sir David Fraser Grenadier Guards (pdf)
Wartime letters from estranged mother arrive 60 years too late (pdf)
Want to share a story? Submit your contribution here
VeteranS of MarkeT GardeN
'OUR' VETERANS
Soldiers who took part in Operation Market Garden in September 1944 to try to take strategic bridges near Nijmegen and Arnhem are welcomed every year.
The failed operation, which was mounted to shorten the war, was depicted in the film A Bridge Too Far.
They come form the United Kingdom, the United States and Poland.
Charles Reeves
In Remembrance
02 August 1924 - 15 March 2015
Ridder in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau
1939-1945 Northwest Europe Decorations
La Croix du Combattant de L'Europe
Croix de Merite
Das Ehrenkreuz de Bundeswehr in Gold
National President of the Market Garden Veterans Association
UniteD KingdoM
The 1st Airborne Division was an airborne infantry division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was formed in late 1941 during World War II.
UniteD StateS
The All American division was constituted, originally as the 82nd Division, in the National Army on 5 August 1917, shortly after the American entry into World War I.
PolanD
The 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the Polish Armed Forces in the West under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski.
XXX Corps (30 Corps) was a corps of the British Army during the Second World War. It fought in Normandy, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 until May 1945. The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War.
The 101st Airborne Division was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord (the D-Day landings and airborne landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France), Operation Market Garden, the liberation of the Netherlands and its action during the Battle of the Bulge around the city of Bastogne, Belgium.
During the operation, the Brigade's anti-tank battery went into Arnhem on the third day of the battle (19 September), supporting the British paratroopers at Oosterbeek. This left Sosabowski without any anti-tank capability. The light artillery battery was left behind in England due to a shortage of gliders. Owing to bad weather and a shortage of transport planes, the drop into Driel was delayed by two days, to 21 September.
Grenadier Guards as part of
the XXX Corps
During 1944, the Guards Armoured Division was withdrawn from the line to prepare for Operation Market Garden. They formed the spearhead of the attacks into the Netherlands, with the Grenadier Guards managing to seize the Nijmegen Bridge with the help of the US 82nd Airborne Division.Following this they spent the winter in the Netherlands and Germany, before being moved into Belgium as a reserve against the Battle of the Bulge. The infantry of the Welsh Guards were also replaced by the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, due to a severe lack of replacements in the British Army at the time.
In 1994, the Grenadier Guards was reduced to a single battalion, its colours passed to a newly formed company, "The Nijmegen Company".
Grenadier Guards historical info panel
Unveiling of the historical information panel
"War Graves at the Foot of the Nebo",
the small cemetery of the Grenadier Guards 1944-45
on Friday September 17, 2021
Location:
Heilig Landstichting opposite the Nebo monastery.
All guardsmen found their final resting place at the Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen.
The CrossinG of The Waal
20TH SEPTEMBER 1944
In memory of the Waal crossing in 1944 by personnel of the US Army 504th Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division, the bridge and the road bear the name 'De Oversteek' (The Crossing). This name was officially established by the city council in June 2009. At the opening two veterans from the Second World War were present, as well as surviving relatives of the 48 soldiers killed in the action.
As a tribute to these men, the bridge is equipped with 48 pairs of light poles that, after switching on the city lights, pair after couple from south (Nijmegen) to north (Lent), in the pace of a slow march. Since October 19, 2014, as a daily tribute, every night at sunset one or more veterans walk the so-called Sunset March across the bridge while the 48 lights are ignited.
A book has been published on The Crossing.
It is about the search for the 48 American war
heroes that were killed.
The book describes the run-up to the crossing,
the situation in Nijmegen at the time of Operation
Market Garden.
ISBN13 9789078987031
EAN 9789078987031
JAMES Maggie Megellas
James Megellas (March 11, 1917 - April 2, 2020) was a retired United States Army officer who commanded a platoon in Company "H" of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 82nd Airborne Division during World War II. He was "the most-decorated officer in the history of the 82nd Airborne Division," having received a Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, and been nominated for the Medal of Honor.
ThomaS MoffatT BurrisS
Thomas Moffatt Burriss (Sep 22, 1919 - Jan 4, 2019) was an American politician in the state of South Carolina. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives as a member of the Republican Party from 1977 to 1992, representing Richland County, South Carolina. He was a general contractor and veteran of World War II.
JuliaN CooK
Colonel Julian Aaron Cook (October 7, 1916 – June 19, 1990) was an officer of the United States Army who gained fame during World War II for his crossing of the Waal river during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.
He volunteered for the airborne forces in 1942, joining the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (504th PIR), which became part of the 82nd "All American" Airborne Division.
ContacT and InfO
Market Garden Veterans Association Nijmegen The Netherlands - Honor and remember the men and the events of Operation Market Garden in September 1944, lest we forget!
1ST INDEPENDENT PARACHUTE BRIGADE - poland
Created in September 1942 under the command of Major General Stanisław Sosabowski. Operation Market Garden eventually saw the unit sent into action in support of the British 1st Airborne Division at the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. The Poles jumped on 21 September at Driel on the South bank of the Rhine. The Poles suffered significant casualties during the next few days of fighting, but still were able to cause around 2,500 German troops to be diverted to deal with them for fear of their supporting the remnants of the 1st Airborne trapped over the lower Rhine in Oosterbeek.
CORA BALTUSSEN 1912-2005 Mother of the Brigade
During the Battle of Arnhem on 21 September 1944 in Driel, she was the first Dutch to meet the paratroopers of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade. As an employee of the Red Cross, she took care of the wounded. Cora continued to care for the wounded in Driel until the evacuation of the village at the beginning of October 1944.
She was one of the founders of the Driel-Poland Foundation. Two weeks after her death, the Dutch government decided to distinguish the Polish paratroopers with the Military Order of William, the decorations of which were issued by Queen Beatrix on 31 May 2006.
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