Arnhem 1944

The Airborne Battle

Martin Middlebrook

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9780367159917
• eBook ISBN:
  9780429720765
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

Arnhem - it was the last major battle lost by the British Army, lost not by the men who fought there but by the overconfidence of generals, faulty planning and the failure of a relieving force given too great a task. If the operation of which Arnhem formed a part had been successful, the outcome of the war and the history of post-war Europe would have been greatly altered. Yet is it worth another book? I had fulfilled all my literary ambitions by researching and writing thirteen full-length books and was ready to retire from that laborious craft when Peter van Gorsel, head of Penguin's Dutch office, asked me to write a book on Arnhem for the fiftieth anniversary in 1994. It was the first time that my publishers had requested a book; all previous subjects had been my choice. I eventually agreed for several reasons. I had not previously researched and written about the British Army in the Second World War and had not previously done any work in Holland; so two fresh fields were opened up to me. I also felt that the fighting in and around Arnhem had still not been described in the detail that it merited.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Photographs
• List of Maps
• Introduction
• 1 The Path to Arnhem
• 2 'First Airborne' and Friends
• 3 The Arnhem Area
• 4 Preparations for Battle
• 5 The Air Armada
• 6 The Morning in Holland
• 7 The Landings
• 8 The Vital Hours
• 9 The Battle in the Town - Monday
• 10 The Battle in the Town - Tuesday
• 11 Waiting for the Second Lift
• 12 The Second Lift
• 13 The Battle in the Woods
• 14 The Battle at the Bridge
• 15 The Formation of the Oosterbeek Perimeter
• 16 The Battle at Oosterbeek
• 17 The Resupply Flights
• 18 The Polish Brigade
• 19 The Sacrifice of the Dorsets
• 20 Evacuation
• 21 The Reckoning
• 22 The Years That Followed
• Appendix 1 Order of Battle and Operational Details, 1st British Airborne Division and Attached Units
• Appendix 2 Order of Battle, Polish Independent Parachute Brigade Group
• Appendix 3 Order of Battle, 38 and 46 Groups RAF and RASC Air Despatch Units
• Appendix 4 Order of Battle, US Air Units Carrying British and Polish Parachute Troops on Operation 'Market'
• Appendix 5 Arnhem Today
• Acknowledgements
• Bibliography
• Index