OPERATION 'MARKET-GARDEN'

THEN AND NOW VOLUME 1

Before the events of September 1944 fade into history, After the Battle presents the story of the airborne landings in Holland through hundreds of 'then and now' comparison photographs. Editor Karel Margry has studied the battle and explored the battlefield for more than 20 years and has collected virtually every photograph taken during those fateful ten days. Many are published here for the first time giving an unrivalled pictorial account of a bold initiative which the Allied Land Commander, Field-Marshal Bernard Montgomery, believed would shorten the war. The failure to capture and hold the last bridge of the nine to be taken spelled disaster for the lst Airborne Division from which over 8,000 men failed to return.

VOLUME 1: ISBN 1 870067 39 8
SIZE 12"×8½"
336 PAGES
1,064 ILLUSTRATIONS
£34.95 CODE F051

Contents Volume 1:

VOLUME 1 covers the mounting of the operation and the crucial first two days of the battle. The story opens with the planning and preparation of the double undertaking - of 'Market' by the newly created First Allied Airborne Army in the UK and 'Garden' by the British Second Army on the Belgian-Dutch border. The scene then switches to describe the German military situation in the Netherlands on the eve of battle. The massive initial airborne landings of September 17, 1944, are then recounted with equal attention to each of the three airborne divisions involved. The break-out battle by the Guards Armoured Division, spearhead of the ground army, is likewise illustrated with an unprecedented wealth of photographs. The second day of the operation, September 18, sees the Guards reaching the 101st Airborne at Eindhoven, making their first contact with the airborne army.

INTRODUCTION

PART I: OPERATION 'MARKET-GARDEN'
The Creation of First Allied Airborne Army
The Planning of Operation 'Market-Garden'
The Battle of the Belgian Canals
Second Army prepares for Operation 'Garden'
The German Situation in the Netherlands

PART II: THE FIRST DAY
Preliminary Bombing Operations
The Pathfinders
The 101st Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division
The 1st Airborne Division
The XXX Corps Break-Out

PART III: LOSS OF MOMENTUM
The 101st Airborne Division takes Eindhoven
The First Link-Up: XXX Corps reaches Eindhoven
101st Airborne Division: The Second Lift
82nd Airborne Division: The Second Lift
Bomber Resupply for the American Divisions
1st Airborne Division, September 18 (D+1)

Index for Volume 1