Arnhem - Operation Market Garden - A Bridge Too Far

Update 2014. Operation Market Garden, that large and ill-fated military effort, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/battle_arnhem_01.shtml, is commemorated each year in The Netherlands.  A recent mass email I received notes a burial ground some 6 miles from Maastricht, where 8,301 American soldiers are buried who died in Operation Market Garden.  The email says that each of the dead, including Canadian and British, are "adopted" by a family in the Netherlands who tend the grave, and keep alive the memory of the sacrifice.  Some display a portrait of "their" soldier.  On Liberation Day, services conclude with a concert, with the final musical selection always the same:  "Il Silenzio" commissioned by the Dutch, created by Italian composer Nino Rossi, and performed first in 1965.  It is built upon the original version of taps. 

The Silence... as performed in 2013 by thirteen-year old Melissa Venema, with Andre Rieu and the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands. See and hear at http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

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A Bridge Too Far, Bridge at Arnhem, Operation Market Garden, the Netherlands (John Frost Bridge)













A fine time to see this bridge, the primary Bridge Too Far, at Arnhem, is at sunset.  This is the bridge featured in the Allied operation, Market Garden, that failed at such cost, an airborne disaster.  See the 1977 film at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075784/l and video clips at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiiUJ4sDuX0 and at ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKDPX8PEiVk

There is a good restaurant here on the river, giving a contemplative view of the bridge.

The bridge is named The John Frost Bridge in honor of the commanding officer who held the bridge for such a long time in September 1944, waiting for the reinforcements that never came. See a memorial history at www.rememberseptember44.com/.

There is a memorial with pictures, outdoor, nearby. Also see the Airborne Museum in nearby residential Oosterbeek, in the hotel that was a center of the fighting in that area. Another history: www.worldwar2database.com/html/arnhem.

Nijmegen - Operation Market Garden - Bridge; VE Day

Nijmegen, Bridge, Operation Market Garden, the Netherlands

 WWII battle areas: Operation Market Garden, commemorated in the film story, "A Bridge Too Far" (that was the bridge at Arnhem, the focus of the British assault as part of the overall operation, to the north). Here is the bridge at Nijmegen, where the Americans fought.

The city is the oldest town in the Netherlands, see //english.nijmegen.nl/historical, dating from Roman times, and Charlemagne.

Operation Market Garden had tragic results, see www.thehistorychannel.co.za/site/features/operation_market_garden.php, but much heroism.

Hotel:  Skip the Casino area, skip the big ones, go right to the bridge bulkhead and look around.  There, at the river Waal,  by the Bridge itself, is The Hotel Courage. Small, excellent location - and not far from the casino, if that is your interest. The hotel is the houselike building in the foreground below.


Bridge at Nijmegen, view with The Hotel Courage  right there


Find the chronology of the battle at www.wingsofliberation.nl/mg-chrono-uk. The Netherlands retains its gratitude for the effort, despite heavy civilian losses. This has become a lasting bond - maybe that does require an overall war cause that is agreed at the time as necessary. Enduring memorials for valor. If there were not an agreed cause, would that have lasted.

Active river traffic.

See the barge going under the bridge in the picture - many barges on the riverways are also the family's home, and the family car may well be at the prow or stern, for use when docked. There is a great deal of that on the Rhine, in Germany. Also the family dog is often visible. And the car on the prow.

Veterans, and those just remembering, or tribute -- so many there, even after all these years. Several men were camped out under the bridge - not homeless-looking - more like veterans. Some slept all night there. We could see from our hotel.

Operation Market Garden tribute sculpture, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

US Troops.  I believe it was the US 82nd Airborne that focused at Nijmegen at Market Garden. There are annual marches by veterans. See picture and account of Operation Market Garden at www.strikehold504th.com/holland.php.

Nijmegen is in Gelderland, central and west in the Netherlands. See a Nijmegen guide at www.nijmegen.nl/ontdeknijmegen/english/index.asp.

VE Day, 60th Anniversary Parade, Nijmegen, the Netherlands

For more complete website, see www.world66.com/europe/netherlands/nijmegen.

VE Day Commemoration.

This parade suddenly went by the window of little place where we were eating, at dusk.

The marchers were also in wheelchairs, and it looked like most of the town was participating. It looked like all surviving relatives were invited to join.

Nijmegen is also the site of an old Charlemagne castle ruin, see Charlemagne's biography and search for Nijmegen at www.chronique.com/Library/MedHistory/charlemagne. It is on the headland overlooking the river, part later rebuilt in 1030. The connections between places come as a surprise. The royal villa is referred to at www.heroicage.org/issues/6/forsman. This is in connection with Charlemagne and dispute resolutions. Romans also were here. See www.livius.org/no-nz/nijmegen/noviomagus-civil. There is a handy map there.