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Love this show, you both are so well versed with what happened. My grandfather fought in Arnhem and survived. Lance Corporal Alfred McMeekin 🕊

Your enthusiasm is contagious Al. Thank you both.

You both really know your stuff. "A bridge too far" barely touches on everything that's mentioned here. Fascinating insights.

Gripping stuff guys

Great as always Thanks

In 1976 I was a very young extra in A bridge too far. During filming scenes around the Hartenstein headquarters (in reality an abandoned large house between Twello and Deventer) we were watching the scene with the canister filled with red barets. When it was over, I was able to take one of these barets laying around and took it home.... The film company was very protecting the uniforms we were wearing during the scenes, but here I couldn't resist to take a souvenir!

Again a wonderfull episode. I walked the tunnel many times and every time I wonder how the hell do you drive a jeep trough this. I'm Dutch and tall (yes that' s a pleonasm), but I have so much trouble walking that tunnel bowed and head down in the dark. You can not believe that a jeep can fit in there.

Major Tattum

I tend to think each major belligerant ended up making the "best" tank for the war they were fighting. The Germans, facing hordes of allied Shermans and T-34s, needed a good anti-armor tank that was survivable enough to minimize their limited manpower and support capacity shortcomings. The Panther fit the bill. The Soviets needed a tank that they could crank out very quickly in very large numbers, that was easily serviced, didn't require a lot of crew training to operate, and was 'good enough' to engage German armor provided they had sufficient numbers and supporting arms to carry the day. The T-34 did this better than any other WW2 tank could. The video covered most of why the Sherman was such a good fit for the Western allies. I'd only add that the US and Commonwealth forces didn't need a tank optimised for anti-armor actions b/c apart from the rare case where you happened to be right in front of a MAJOR German offensive there were hardly any German AFV around. Films and games have given armchair tank commanders a woefully unrealistic sense of how much tank on tank fighting an American, British or Canadian tank commander was likely to be doing in 44-45.

This is it , this THE tunnel , that’s actually insane hearing it described and seeing it are what it’s all about , that’s class , did they make it for the borrowers ? This tunnel deserves some sort of medal surely how did they fit anything through it 😱😱😱 lovely stuff lads 👊

You did it again guys, thanks.

Gentlemen, your knowledge is utterly amazing on this subject, thank you so much for your TRUE facts about this campaign 🤜🤜

Wow!!! What a fantastic video guys....21 minutes seemed like 2......I've read about Hacketts Hollow, and this is the first time I've seen it "Live"...Thanks to you both.. ...:)

I want to find myself a woman, who looks at me like Jim looks at Al even when he forgets to hold the umbrella over both.

1:20 Monthy Python : "RUN AWAY>>>RUN AWAAAAAY"

Really enjoyed the video mate can't wait for the next one

'Love it lads. Great series. As a 'veteran', I'd love to join you.

Men at Arnhem by Geoffrey Powell is such a good book. I first read it as a young teenager and vividly remember the bayonet charge out of the hollow. I found out years later that Powell had run the book shop in the village where I went to school. Alas he had passed away by the time I realised. I had no idea the quiet old man who ran the book shop was him! Fascinating video.

Never appreciated how steep that railway embankment is and how narrow that tunnel is 😮

Another quality episode. Will you be mentioning Anthony Deane-Drummond at some point ? A man in a closet 😁

Interesting

Having recently read Al Murray's excellent book on Arnhem, this series of Walking the Ground is brilliant. It's not until you see it that you can appreciate just how small the tunnel is, plus how high & steep the embankment. Suberb video gentlemen, bravo

Excellent! Who the hell thought it'd be a good idea to send red berets at that time 👀

Needs a walking the ground (driving the tunnel) episode where you try to get a jeep and 17pounder through that tunnel

Stop saying "about 500 people" went across and under the railway through the culvert. They were airborne soldiers, i.e. men! Please call them that.

Amazing video, thank you

I love how that talk about the mechanics that have work on it and the people on the ship that have to carry it. But really nothing about the crew that was in it. Then for the generals to use it as a spare head tank when it was an infantry SUPPORT tank, just what they asked for, was just stupid. That is what the Pershing was for. Nothing like sneaking up on a Panther and bouncing the first shot to make you want to go home. The situation was so bad that the generals had to bring over the Pershing to get tankers to have hope that they too might get a Pershing.

Nice one. Good work guys. A post-war, civilian Dakota painted in the iconic KG374 livery of the aircraft flown by David Lord VC DFC was located at the entrance to Depot Para, Browning Barracks, Aldershot for many years. Now relocated to Merville Barracks, Colchester.

Al Muarry's knowledge is juet IN-Credible 😲

Superb stuff gentlemen . I am friends with David Pott ,John's son . David said his dad was a wonderful father and a delightful man . :)

Europe for Europeans

u need talk about Major Robert Cain VC (Jeremy Clarkson's ex Father In Law)

Seeing the actual terrain and distance from Arnhem via ground level really makes it rather crazy that the Brits accepted those drop zones. Way too far away and nowhere close enough to the objectives. I guess we should, yet again, blame the Americans as we all know it’s their fault as usual.

This is the best! Two great guys in the rain showing us where it all went down.

That's the Arnhem I recognise, pissing it down!

Don't have two knowledgeable people. They naturally want to talk over eachother to prove they already know. Have a teacher and a learner. Documentary 101.

Excellent series

Can't you find someone better tha remoaner Murray for a walk?

When they linked arms in the Horsa, it was right arm to guy on rights left arm. They weren't singing Auld Lang Syne 😂. And while they had seat belts, they were facing 90 degrees from the line of travel. I remember at the time of the bridge replacement that they were going to replace it with a bog standard road bridge u til they made the announcement & there was (rightly) uproar.

I think the Army might had been a bit embarrassed on how their elite troops didn’t back up a this (one man army) man. …and didn’t advertise it much.

About time others are finding out! Once there was a video on TH-cam , done by reenactors, (the only one on the subject) …and the reenactors happened to be Mexican! These Mexicans were the only ones at the time, that seems to know anything about the subject!

Downfall of a spoilt pampered playboy.

I've really enjoyed this series. Both lads are great, knowledgeable & enthusiastic. I just wish someone would tell JH that the mic is next to him. He's like my mum on the phone- shouting when there's no need 😂

Thank you, Mr. Holland. I am a retired US Army veteran, and I was an Airborne Combat Engineer stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. Our Engineer Battalion was no longer a part of the 82nd Airborne Division but had been in past history. So, every year, we would participate in the reenactment of the Crossing of the Waal with the 82nd at Ft. Bragg. We would leave our battalion assembly area separated by platoon. So that each platoon had their own boat and there were enough soldiers who could rotate carrying the boat and taking a break. We ran with our boats without stopping, rotating those on the boat as we ran, just under 11 miles to the pond/simulated Waal river. Then we competed by racing the other boat teams in round trips across the pond/river. My first year in this reenactment, I thought we would be finished after the boat race. Boy, was I wrong. We then had to run carrying the boats the 11+ miles back to our battalion area. Thank God we were done for the day after that. In the airborne, we ran a lot, and I mean a lot. We ran 8-10 miles on Monday PT, 6-8 on Wednesday PT, and 8-12 on Friday PT every week. But, that day was 22+ miles carrying big heavy rubber dingy's. All in all, though. It was a blast to get to reenact that event.

Wow! I always assumed the British paras were supposed to move directly to the bridge immediately just like the 82nd and 101st. I was a paratrooper and we would jump, take 1 hour to assemble (at night) and move out to the objective. having to secure all these DZ's add to how poor the plan was.

Had the airborne division tasked with capturing and securing the Arnhem bridge been successful in accomplishing all of their objectives could they have been able to hold out long enough so that the delay at Nijmegen wouldn't have doomed the division?

I love their imitation of how us Americans talk, is exactly how Americans imitate how tough New Yorkers talk.

Individually or strategically? Individually they were not a great tank (good enough) and even in '44 they were still burning like candles. Strategically the Sherman was an amazing tank and only the T-34 (with 2 more years production) beats it in terms of numbers produced. 50,000 in 3 years! If you want to be truly impressed by US industry of the time look at what happens to the number of US Aircraft carriers across the war. It's crazy.

My grandfather was a specialist in Able Company in the US 506th, in Normandie and in Bastogne (but _not_ Market, because of Purple Heart #1)... I'd intended to do Normandie for decades, but finding myself in Nederland for a spell I think I'm going to do the whole thing, catch as catch can... Eindhoven sometime before Spring is over, Normandie this summer, and maybe go to Germany in the fall and see where it ended. Y'all are letting me see what to look for... only I'm not going to walk the ground, I'm going to ride it; Cherbourg to Ste-Mère-Église is just a bit far on leather personnel carriers, but only two hours by bicycle - well, maybe three for me :) And of course the whole Dutch countryside is filled with fietspaden... :)

I really enjoyed this series, seeing the actual ground is very helpful in understanding how the battle played out. As to whether Market Garden would have ended the war early, that is tossup. One thing I would point out is that Market Garden was very out-of-character for Monty. His normal strategy was to assemble overwhelming force and a meticulous plan to defeat his enemies. Market Garden was nothing like that, a bold thrust to be sure but it seemed to lack the careful planning that Monty was known for. In my opinion, Monty was chafing under Allied command and resented the fact that Britain needed the Americans to win the war. I believe that Monty proposed Market Garden as a way to end the war on British terms with a definitive British victory. But hey, that's just my opinion man