Waiting for the fall

Today was teh opening of Op M-G 75 years ago. We discovered there was going to be a massed airdrop on the 18th at Groesbeek so we needed to fill in the day. We joined a tour group in Nijmegan, starting with a walking tour of some key places in that city, then a bus trip around spots further afield, and finished with a walking tour around the bridge area of Arnhem.

Our guide Rob shows us where the library used to stand.

Civilian victims of Allied bombing raids. About 600-700 were killed in a raid on the railway marshalling yards. There's debate about why the town was targeted.

A memorial to a school that was hit killing 24 children

???

The bridge over the Waal at Nijmegen, from the German strongpoint at the southern end

The Americans had been ordered not to make an early thrust on the bridge, and by the time they attacked again the Germans had formed a defence around the bridge. Even the arrival of land forces didn't break the defence. A group of paratroopers crossed the river in assault boats, overcame the defences on the far bank and then stormed the bridge. Fortunately the Germans failed to blow it during all that time.

A new bridge marks the place where the crossing was made

The memorial to the airborne at the crossing point. During the anniversary a veteran marches across the bridge and 48 lights are sequentially lit to mark his progress. They represent the 48 yanks killed.

Erik, our guide for this part of the trip

School trips are hard work for the teachers. Can you imagine this happening in the UK or NZ? Not a chance!

And here is the 'bridge too far' or at least its replacement. Arnhem road bridge.

To the right all the way to the bridge was flattened during the fighting. On the left the old mayoral building. 

Rather weird statue of Marshall (as of the Marshall Plan)

There were tour groups all over the bridge area of Arnhem, including a bus load from Leger, but ours cost the princely sum of €15 each for the full day, lunch included! Subsidised by the Nijmegen and Arnhem authorities. Admittedly we understood very little of the Dutch commentary but we did see various places and got a hint of what they were talking about.

In anticipation of the massed drops we camped just across the border in Kranenburg, within biking distance of the drop zones. Kranenburg had also been the first German town taken in Op Verity.