My father was at Arnhem.. he was a radio operator..the radio's arrived broken and missing essential spare parts. He was wounded in the legs and chest by shrapnel from a mortar. Left behind as part of the rear guard who fought off the night attack on those getting across the Rhine. Captured and shipped as a prisoner of war to Dresden, just before the firestorm bombing. During one raid they all ( prison workers, Brit and French soldiers etc) escaped and travelled to Czech Republic eventually to then be repatriated to UK.. by then as he was posted MIA presumed dead, he was given a new enlistment number and sent to Palestine as part of the policing effort. But that was a different story. FYI, there was an earlier B & W film made in the late 40s using many of survivors of Arnhem.. worthy finding and watching.
'Theirs Is the Glory'. "Using the original locations of the battle, the film featured veterans who were actual participants in the battle. The film was jointly produced by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU). Weaving original footage from the battle with re-enactments shot on location at Oosterbeek and Arnhem, the film was shot a year after the battle had ravaged the Dutch streets. As well as veterans, the film also features local people like Father Dyker (a Dutch civilian priest who conducts the service in the film) and Kate ter Horst (who reads a psalm to the wounded men in the cellar) re-enacting their roles and what they did for the airborne troops during the battle." - Wikipedia
The officer with the umbrella actually survived the battle and went on to help organise the escape of scores of men from the 1st Airborne who were hiding out north of the river. His real name was Major Digby Tatham-Water. During the battle he was seen several times wearing a bowler hat as well as carrying the umbrella. When told that the umbrella wouldn't be much protection against shrapnel he said "But what if it rains!"
Major Digby disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car's observational slit and poking the driver in the eye.
The scene where the US Sergeant forced the Doctor at gunpoint to treat and save his Officer's life is genuine, it really happened. It was Staff Sergeant Charles Dohun and thanks to his actions the doctor saved the life of Captain LeGrand Johnson.
It didn't happen in quite that way exactly, but the real story is probably even more unbelievable. James Caan was originally offered the role of the Captain, who was a Normandy veteran and awarded the Silver Star, but Caan liked the role of the Sergeant better and so the characters were reversed to get him on board.
The British paratroopers taken prisoners were actually well-treated by the Waffen SS. The general opinion among the Germans was that the British were the toughest enemies they ever fought (and most of them had fought in Russia). They honored the Brits and treated them with respect. A General said: "At last an enemy worth fighting".
They might have done so in Holland probably because they knew their days were numbered but the SS certainly didn't in 1940 when they murdered 97 men of The Norfolk Regiment or in 1944 when they machine gunned 113 US prisoners in a field killing 88.
It's also in part because the Germans considered the English to be ethnic "cousins" and didn't despise them the way they did other groups like say...the Russians.
Same after Operation Chariot, the Germans were so impressed and thought the Brits were brave and a little insane for not only daring to perform a raid on such a heavily guarded port, but succeeding.
Such an epic war film that you forget about the great individual moments. The young soldier getting shot, for what was only a supply of berets, was a particular gut-punch. Also the "arrest him for 10 seconds" and "was there anything else?" scenes always make me laugh.
1 example, Anthony Hopkins played major Johnny Frost, Frost stopped Hopkins running across the street and informed him that he didn't run, even under fire, I can't have the men seeing me running abd thinking im scared, I walk briskly and show no fear. Then the surrender scene, "we don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner". Again Frost spoke up and said that wasn't said. The director replied, I'm making a movie not an f ing documentary. So many to list, but still a pucka film
The way Richard Attenborough tried to convey the book to the screen is fascinating in itself. I remember when this film came out there was some controversy over how some scenes allegedly prioritised over others, but I feel that Attenborough got it fairly right, considering the requirements of film making. Apparently there was a blackboard divided with chalk into several columns, each headed "Germans", "British", Americans ", etc. Then significant events were placed in the respective columns according to a timeline. Thus it was considered that the overall breadth of Market Garden could be shown in proportion. I leave it to the viewer to decide if they got it right, but I feel, on balance, they did.
dear alan as a licenced london taxi driver i had the great honour of taking about 90 vets to arnhem with the war disabled charity, the headquarters is now a museum and we had a reception there .thegrounds were lined with at least one thousand dutch of all ages clapping and cheering the vets, it was very humbling,asked the dutch why so many there and they replied we uk were never occupied as they suffered terribly after we left
Major Digby tatham wartner actually disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, the man's a legend. Although he survived the battle unlike the character based on him. Johnny frosts uniform is at Duxford in the para's museum. Something I always have to pay my respects to when I go there
@@mapesdhs597 Duxford, bovington, and iwm Lambeth (for the holocaust exhibition alone , which mentions aktion T4 and all the autistics Asperger was responsible for getting gassed, as an autistic myself it meant alot as it's often never mentioned)
@@badgers1975 I've been to Bovington, but there are certainly plenty of other places in that part of England I've yet to visit, especially to the south and east of London (I'm in Edinburgh, so the travel is a bit tricky).
Great reaction Alan. I've added a little info on Kate ter Horst, " The Angel of Arnhem. Kate ter Horst MBE (born 6 July 1906, Amsterdam - 21 February 1992, Oosterbeek) was a Dutch housewife and mother who tended wounded and dying Allied soldiers during the Battle of Arnhem.[1] Her British patients nicknamed her the Angel of Arnhem.[2] Ter Horst was born Kate Anna Arriëns, daughter of Pieter Albert Arriëns and Catharina Maingay. She married Jan ter Horst, a lawyer from Rotterdam, with whom she had six children. One of her daughters, Sophie, still resides in the family home in Oosterbeek.
Major John Frost was a consultant on the film. When he saw Anthony Hopkins play him sprinting between the houses under fire he took him to one side and said “No, officers don’t run in front of the men. The trick is to walk to show lack of concern, but quick enough that they don’t think you’re mad”.
Major *General Frost. I think the quote was something like "you should always walk, not run, to show contempt for the enemy's marksmanship and to set an example to your own men." Dick Attenborough had already got the politically correct shot he wanted and didn't want Hopkins to get it right. Frost also objected to the line given to Hopkins in the hilarious surrender invitation scene, because it was a composite of two separate incidents and the line he objected to wasn't said by him but by another officer (Captain Eric Mackay of the Royal Engineers). He was asked if it was okay for another actor to use it and Frost agreed, so that's why the immortal line "we haven't got the facillities to take you all prisoner" was given to Major Carlyle. I really like the way Hopkins just quietly says to Carlyle "alright?" at the end of the scene.
Americans say "fubar" where as us Brits say "snafu", which means "situation normal, all f*cked up" lol the house that was converted into the field hospital is a war museum today, well worth a visit if you are ever in Holland.
The lessons learned the hard way during Market Garden were put to good use in the Rhine drop in March 45'. Operation Varsity was a success and the largest Airborne drop in one day on one location involving 17,000 American, British and Canadian troops. 1,500 American aircraft and gliders carrying more than 9,000 soldiers, and 1,200 British aircraft and gliders carrying 8,000 Soldiers.
The Dutch underground had been warning the Allies about the German troop movements for days before Market Garden but they were ignored. However, some Allied officers had problems with learning Dutch names and thoughtlessly carried a list of contacts with them which after capture resulted in multiple executions. My father was livid about how the Dutch had been ignored and so ashamed about the Allies letting them down, as he saw it, that he refused to ever go back. In the 1960s, he would not even let me go on a school trip to The Netherlands as he was convinced that we might somehow have the previous generation's mistakes held against us. As for the Poles, I lived my childhood in the UK surrounded by Eastern European refugees and their children who became school friends and still in my seventies know some in my community. Greetings from the UK.
The Dutch were definitely not ignored. Montgomery cancelled Operation Comet because of the worsening intelligence picture and replaced it with Market Garden that added the two American Airborne Divisions. Market Garden failed because the 508th PIR missed the bridge at Nijmegen on the first afternoon, allowing the 10.SS-Panzer-Division to reinforce the city and its bridges. As for the Dutch, they blame all the problems on the Germans regardless, bless 'em. Wonderful people! There's been a conventional narrative about Market Garden established by A Bridge Too Far (book and film) and not challenged until the last 10-12 years with new evidence. I imagine your dad has passed by now, but it's not too late for you to catch up with the latest research we have on the campaign. Best work overall is Swedish historian Christer Bergström's Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2 (2019, 2020), using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection held at Ohio State University and also seeks to debunk the myths in this film.
I remember an oil painting of sergeant Baskeyfield VC of the 2nd south Staffs holding off a german advance with his comrades dead and by himself manning an artillery piece ,he was also seriously injured . The VC that he earnt that day was at oosterbeek just near Arnhem. His actions helped survivors escape across the river orne. My great uncle was one of those survivors, thank you to all these brave men and especially sergeant Baskeyfield .
River Rijn, or Neder Rijn, or Lek - you'll have to get a Dutch person to explain it because after 46 years of studying Market Garden I still can't get my head around all the different names for this river. The Orne is in Normandy anyway.
@davemac1197 Thank you for helping me. Lance sergeant Baskeyfield of the South staffs helped to defend oosterbeek using a six pounder field piece and earned his VC posthumously as you know yourself through your research, I'm truly left with the thought sir after my nan told me about how my Great uncle and others managed to not get captured? How did they find the resources within themselves. Very brave young men.
Market Garden was actually the fastest allied advance against German opposition in the entire September 1944 to February 1945 period. Nearly 100km of German held ground taken in just 3 days. Elsewhere along the front hardly anyone advanced that in the following five months. There was even a retreat in the Ardennes.
Further to the bio on Kate ter Horst, actress Audrey Hepburn was offered the role to play her but turned it down on account of it being "too close to home." During the war she was living in her mother's family home in Arnhem, Huis Zypendaal, until it was commandeered by the Germans. Her grandfather, Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, had been the Arnhem mayor before the war and the family owned this magnificent castle, Huis Zypendaal. After being evicted, they stayed with family friends in a more modest house in nearby Velp. Swedish actress Liv Ullman took the role instead. I believe from my research Huis Zypendaal was occupied by the Arnhem town Ortskommandant (military town commander) but I haven't established the relationship between the Ortskommandant and the Feldkommandant (district commander) Generalmajor Freidrich Kussin, who was famously killed in Wolfheze by 3rd Parachute Battalion after visiting SS-Sturmbannführer Sepp Krafft's HQ at the Hotel Wolfheze and ignored a warning not to use the main Utrecht road back into town, as Krafft had reports of British troops moving on it. I think Kussin may have occupied both positions and Zypendaal house was his residence.
@@swanvictor887 - thank you. The Huis Zypendaal was also used as a filming location as a German occupation headquarters for the 1954 film Betrayed, starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner. If you can find the Dutch website Hollands Decor and the page on 1954 Betrayed, it shows all the locations used in the film and you'll get an idea of how German occupied Arnhem and other locations looked during the war. It also confirms Baron van Heemstra owned the house and that his granddaughter Audrey often stayed there before the Germans commandeered it.
My grandfather, was here during the war at arnhem, he was Airbourne devision, alot of soldiers lost there lives, it was a mess up, my grandfather went back over every year till his death, the airbourne became the parachute regiment, which my brother served in for 22 years, and he still honours the soldiers and my grandfather and goes over every year
You have to remember that the 1st British airborne division, the American 82 and 101 airborne had been sitting around since d-day. They were desperate to get back to battle and show the value of airborne attacks to shorten the war. Without Market Garden the 101 would never have been at Bastone for the Bulge.
Yes. The newly formed First Allied Airborne Army was desperate to get into action before the war ended or winter weather came along. Nobody else had any plans to use the FAAA at the time. Bradley certainly didn't.
The respect that the legend of a man John Frost and those towers of men that are standing around him still carry in the British Army today should not be underestimated, 18 year old soldiers know the story, youngsters make a pilgrimage to a bridge named after him commemorating a battle that was fought before their grandfathers were born. It is an immense source of pride for me that my Regiments Colours carry Arnhem as a battle honour.
This style of movie, showing the overall strategic decisions and stories of individual soldiers as well was first done in the early 60s with the Longest Day, the story of D-Day at Normandy. Difficult to pull off two types of storytelling in one movie but they do it well. Both movies based on books by Cornelius Ryan
The first war film I saw as a kid that showed the true grim realities of war, it's now one of my all time favorites. I learned a few lessons in life from that film. If you put this film with the longest day you have the greatest list of male actors ever.
I mentioned in part one my father was ex 9 Squadron Royal Engineers, one of their plaques/badges was a red shield with two vertical black lines with their pegasus . This represents two bridges and a river of blood.
9 Field Company RE, under command of Major John Winchester DSO (after the war it was named 9 Squadron RE) consisted of 215 officers and other ranks, of which only 57 returned to the UK, the remainder being captured or killed.
My grandad was RE and among the last to arrive at the beaches at Dunkirk... he survived the war so fought right through until 1945 , he passed away before l was born and that's about as much as l know... I'll have to find out his service
I love A Bridge Too Far, brilliant movie with a hit cast and in my opinion ends with a more up beat ending despite the failure to capture all the bridges and hold them.
My late father was in the 1st air landing light division and served at Arnhem.He was badly injured but survived.He lost a lot of his pals and never talked about it. RIP DAD. 1st Air Landing Light Division. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
@@ianbennett1491 - awesome. I have a copy of Arnhem Bridge: Target Mike One by Truesdale et al on the Regiment. There are two Bennetts listed in the Nominal Roll, initials AE and GH.
@@ianbennett1491 - yup! Listed as "Gnr 14264808 - 3 Batt." 3 Battery were supporting 1st Para Brigade at the bridge, so that's awesome. I can recommend the book, an Illustrated history 1942-45.
About the Sonn bridge at the beginning of this clip, important fact to remember...the M4 Sherman medium tank was not exactly light. To handle the passage of an ARMORED CORPS the bridge had to be more substantial than a ribbon, inflatable bridge.
They say the first casualty in any battle is always the plan. Frost and his men did their bit, their orders were to get to the bridge and hold it until reinforced. One of the big problems was the failure of the Reconnaissance squadron in jeeps to get there en masse as quickly as possible. They were ambushed near the railway line on the outskirts of Arnhem, the local german commander acted very quickly on his initiative because he recognised the bridge was the prize, it was a gamble, and sadly it didn't work out.
Major Fuller, the intelligence officer who warned, was in real life Brian Urquhart, renamed in the movie to avoid confusion with General Roy Urquhart. After the war Brian Urquhart join the nascent UN where he helped organize it; he worked on the first UN peacekeeping operations including the iconic blue helmets.
I've been luckily enough to go to Arnhem three times so far, the last time was for the 60th anniversary. Growing up my dad would watch all these movies like A Bridge Too Far, The Great Escape, The Longest Day, and probably a 100 more just like them, and tons of "boring" documentaries about WWII. I, although being a bit of a tomboy, was also a fairly typical little girl and would rather go do something less boring than sit and watch a war film etc. As you probably know, we have Remembrance Sunday service here on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of the 11th, and at 11am we stand for three minutes of silence to remember the men and women that died in service. As a child, I remember being dragged out of bed, or stopped from playing, and made to stand for the 3 minutes, and then left to carry on as before, as my parents continued to watch the march past, and the laying of the wreaths at the Cenotaph. Right up until I was 17, I did not get it, care about it, or have any interest in what happed during the war, despite my parents repeated attempts. Then when I was 17 and a half we went on a two week holiday to the Netherlands, somewhere my dad had been, while in the Merchant Navy, and had promised Mum he'd take her one day. We ended up in Arnhem, somewhere Dad wanted to go, and walked over the John Frost Bridge, and onto the original museum, which was shut. So the next day, off we went again, back to the museum, where again my 17 year old self found herself after a quick look around, at "nothing really interesting", impatiently waiting for her parents to stop reading every scrap of paper on the walls, and leave, because we still had to do the War Graves at Oosterbeek yet, (yawn!). Again my parents started looking and reading everything, and I in my bored state started reading the grave stone. Pretty much what I expected, names, ranks, ages, most of which were in their mid 20's and early 30's. Then I found a 21yr old, and a 19yr old. I stopped and knowing that during the 1940's you couldn't drink, drive, vote until you were 21, and I thought, "Wow, this guy was only a couple of years older than me, he couldn't even have a pint, and yet he could jump out of a plane and die fighting the enemy!" I carried on looking and found more 19 and 20 yr olds, the more I found, the more I got upset, then I found my first of several 18 yr olds, and I lost it! I couldn't take it in, that these lads we only 6- 12 months or so older than me! Or were they? Were they younger? Had they lied about their ages? How long after they turned 18 did they die? They'd given up their lives to help end a war that threatened everyone, and while I stood there sobbing my heart out at these three lads, I FINALLY got it. My parents came over to me and hugged me, I explained what had happened, and how I felt, and we slowly made our way back to the gates. That November, and almost every one since, I always watch the Remembrance Sunday Service, and stand for those three minuets of silence, often thinking of those lads. Thirteen years later, we went back to Arnhem, and the War Graves at Oosterbeek, while we were there, with my nearly seven year old, I found the graves of those lads again, and explained to my daughter why I was crying. Trying to get her to understand. While we we there, we met of of the Veterans from the Battle of Arnhem. He said he came back to Arnhem every year, and stayed with a Dutch family. He asked if we were going to the memorial service the following week? Which we unfortunately said we wouldn't be. He said it was a shame as the service was beautiful. The local school children place flowers on every grave, at the end of the service. After a while we parted company, and wished him the best, and said goodbye. After speaking further about it, we decided to go back to Arnhem and Oosterbeek again in two years for the 60th anniversary, in 2004. Which we did. And the service was beautiful as the old paratrooper had said it was. Even though there were major crowds, we still got to see most of the service. As well as the then Prince Charles, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. And I also paid my respects again to those lads, whilst there, and are now younger than my own daughter.
The line is genuine but the scene is a composite of two separate events on either side of the bridge ramp. General Frost was visiting the set at Deventer bridge when it was being filmed and he objected to the line being spoken by Anthony Hopkins because he never said it - it was Captain Eric Mackay of the Royal Engineers on the other side of the bridge ramp, who was not portrayed in the film. Frost was asked if it was okay if someone else said the line and he agreed. That's why it's used by the Major Carlyle character. I actually quite like the way Hopkins just quietly asks Carlyle "alright?" at the end of the scene.
we watched the film with my grandparents, he never spoke about being there, he never talked about the war, that generation never did, i can remeber as a child watching the film with family, and grandparents. the scene, in it where they were in the room overlooking the bridge, , i have been in the remake of the room, which they had in aldershot in the UK, when we went down for my brothers passing out parade, it was a small room, with a phot window, depicting the scene and the bridge. my grandfather had past the year before my brothers passing out parade, but my grandmother was able to go and look at room and the stuff the airbourne did at arhem
There's a superb and detailed - as well as very well researched - book on Arnhem and Operation Market Garden by the military historian Antony Beevor, called "Arnhem: Battle for the bridges". General Montgomery was desperate for glory and wanted to be supreme commander of Allied forces...but didn't after this. He was repeatedly told that relying on a single raised road would make any reinforcement nearly impossible as they'd be open targets all the way.
Can't rage against Antony Beevor enough - my copy of his book was donated to the Oxfam charity bookstore after wasting my money and not learning anything new, despite it being a newish book published in 2018. His career is making money from old rope. The best overall work now is Swedish historian Christer Bergström's Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2 (2019, 2020), using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection held at Ohio State University and also specifically debunks the myths in this film.
@@davemac1197 Sweden's 'neutral' role in WW2 deserves a long, hard look and a book. They supplied the Germans with nearly all the iron ore they needed for their war machine for the whole of the war, helped finance them by buying coal for the whole of the war and even allowed German troop transports through Sweden en route to Norway. Never seen one book on that big 'neutrality' lie.
There are still bailey bridges around today, still going strong, many were used as surplus after WWII both for regular use, and also for emergency response after natural disaster, and the American descendent of the design was used for a number of temporary bridge repairs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Sorry to say, it wasn't. Johnny Frost even pulled the director about that line, it was never said, he did say tell them to go to hell, also it was a captured para the Germans sent across not a German.
@@andrewdavidson665 my source is Major John Frost himself, also Al Murray's (the pub landlord) father who served in the paras after the war as a colonel and knew Major Frost among numerous others from 1st and 6th airborne, he's wrote numerous books on the regiment and I've listened to indepth talks about all British airborne operations in ww2 given by the colonel, James Holland an Al Murray, even one about the Bailey Bridge (yes, I'm that sad) which they built in the film. If that disappoints you, then this will make you smile, when Anthony Hopkins ran across the street under the flyover, the real Major Frost who was on set for accuracy pulled him up and told him "i didn't run, I walked I can't have the men see I'm scared, no mistake I did walk briskly, but never ran even under fire". The director overuled him.
@@tobytaylor2154 no it doesn't upset me :) I must be just confused because I thought it was in the same making-of where I saw Hopkins say just that - about he was told that running was not right in that scene by Frost - that the surrender thing was a variation of the real thing too.
The cause of failure was optimism. The plan assumed that the Germans wouldn't fight or rather would easily be overcome. The crossing of the Rhine to get into Germany would be a bloody affair, often overlooked in the history of 1945. Alan, it is worth watching The Bridge at Remagen.
Bad luck played a part. The two German divisions near Arnhem had been posted there to rest and recover. The Germans thought it would be a quiet place for them to do so, but they turned out to be in the "right" place at the "right" time.
The cause of the failure was the 508th PIR not following Gavin's instructions to secure the Nijmegen highway bridge on the first afternoon. Frost held the Arnhem bridge for four days, twice as long as should have been needed, in spite of the SS panzer divisions. At least one of those divisions was known to be there and the other possibly at Nijmegen. It was actually good luck that both were northeast of Arnhem and Nijmegen was undefended, but the 508th completely dropped the ball. The reason was a command failure at the top of the 508th that first exhibited in Normandy, but little was done about it by Ridgway in Normandy or by his successor Gavin. Cornelius Ryan did not pursue this line of enquiry in his interview with Gavin, who was covering for a subordinate officer, but the story has come out more recently in Phil Nordyke's combat history of the 508th - Put Us Down In Hell (2012).
Frosts 2 Para was the only one of the three jeep born forces to rush for the bridge to get through. The plan said the total force had to hold for 2 days. With sneak forces the total force holding the north end was about 700 men. They held for 4 days before running out of ammunition. After the battle the Paras said if they had know about the Panzers they would have just brought more anti tank guns - like the 17pdr. Every single thing that could go wrong, went wrong. They still exceeded the expectations. Tragic - that I guess that really sums up war.
My granddad was captured on that bridge in Arnhem. I have a postcard that he sent to his dad stating he was captured but uninjured. I was lucky enough to visit last year.
Fun piece of trivia: The guy singing abide with me at the end is portraying a man known as Taffy Brace (Taff is a slang term that refers to Welsh men). Taffy was from the Welsh town of Tredegar (birth place of the UK’s National Health Service). He had a brother who was a neighbor to my Grandfather.
The bit at 14:00 when he says about the surrender. At first, in real life, the German did not know the British sense of humour and questioned his own English skills.
The film proposes the old, Montgomery version of the motive for Market Garden. It wasn't possible for Montgomery to turn right after Arnhem into Germany. No, no, that was stopped by the Allied general plan to move all their armies in unison over the Rheine. The real motive for Market Garden was to cut off the German Fiftheen Army by the coast and hopefully make the battle easier for the Canadians to crush them and advance north. Market Garden was Montgomery's only way to get in phase with General Patton in the south. Another factor often forgotten was the state of the Dutch population. They needed to be rescued before the winter to avoid a major starvation catastrophe. Even the Germans warned about this - for security reasons.
Elliot gould building that blooming bridge with the music in the background. The soundtrack to this film was one of the enjoyable things about the film 🙂
I'm scouring IMDB trying to find the name of a British actor, who not only appeared in this film plus another war film but was also actually IN the battle he was 'Acting' in years later! I believe he played his C.O in one of the films but due to my age, I can't remember his name. Was it Bogarde, I wonder? Bet my ass somebody here knows the answer!
You may be thinking of Richard Todd, who appeared in the film The Longest Day playing Major Howard of D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks Regiment Airlanding Battalion, that captured the 'Pegasus Bridge' in Normandy on D-Day by glider coup de main. Todd himself was a paratrooper involved in the same operation, as his unit the 7th Parachute Battalion, was tasked to reinforce Howard's small assault force at the bridge. Also, in A Bridge Too Far, Dirk Bogarde, who played Browning, had served during the war in the RAF, ironically as a photo interpreter selecting bombing targets for Dempsey's British 2nd Army staff during Market Garden and the European campaign, and he knew all the main personalities including Montgomery and Browning himself. As well as Browning's widow, who found the portrayal of her husband in the film deeply upsetting, Bogarde also found the script objectionable, but I imagine instead of refusing to play the role and have another actor play it according to the script, he had obviously decided to accept it and seems to play Browning as somewhat conflicted in order to mitigate the worst aspects of the appalling way his character was much maligned. The whole aerial photo epsiode, for example, rested on Cornelius Ryan's interview with Browning's Inelligence Officer, Major Brian Urquhart (changed to 'Major Fuller' in the film to avoid confusion with Sean Connery's General Roy Urquhart), as Browning had already passed away and the photo 'lost' until it was found in a Dutch government archive in 2015. Study of the photo shows that Browning was right to dismiss it and the obsolete tanks belonging to a training unit were located near the 506th PIR's (101st Airborne Division) drop zone when the operation began, and were shot up by escorting aircraft during the landings.
@@davemac1197 YES! Thank YOU! I've been racking my brains trying to remember the actors name. In 2004, at the age of 85 and five years before he died, he appeared in an episode of Holby City - the BBC hospital soap opera...and he gave a mesmerizing performance, recalling his war experiences (his character in the story, but it's clear he was thinking of his real-life experiences too). It was perhaps, one of the best performances I've ever seen on that show. I remember now, in the Longest Day, he played his superior officer while another actor played Him! Regarding Todd, Bogarde David Niven et al, isn't it incredible, just how rounded, experienced and damned interesting Actors were back then?! Even Michael Caine and Roger Moore had been in uniform and served their country! I have no doubts at all, this helped them with their performances. Thanks for coming up with the name!
@@swanvictor887 - you might be interested in this short video about Richard Todd playing Major Howard at Pegasus Bridge. Apparently, Todd was the paratrooper that reported some information to Howard during the battle and Todd was offered the chance to play himelf in the scene. His response was to say that at this stage of his career he could not accept such a small part and played Howard instead, so another actor played Todd in the scene - th-cam.com/users/shortsBGaHk_gDIRo A word of warning - the narrator of the video gets a bit confused and gets the actor's parts the wrong way around. What can I say - the narrator is American. Bless!
Some men at Arnhem did exaggerate the seriousness of their wounds and simply walked out of hospital when the opportunity presented itself. One of these was Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter (name changed to Harry Carlyle in the film), the officer with the umbrella who was in fact a very talented soldier who led A Company and the whole 2nd Battalion into Arnhem, even avoiding an armoured car with some lateral thinking by knocking on the door of a house and asking the Dutch resident if they could pass through it and out the back of the house to by-pass the roadblock. Tatham-Water was instrumental in organising the evasion and eventual escape of almost 150 Airborne men trapped north of the Rijn, and their evacuation across the river in Operation Pegasus was portrayed in episode 5: 'Crossroads' of Band Of Brothers. He worked closely with Lt Col David Dobie, the CO of 1st Parachute Battalion, who was another officer who simply walked out of hospital when the guards weren't looking, and crossed the Rijn with the help of the Dutch resistance to help organise Pegasus from the Allied side. Brigadier Lathbury, who was shot in the back and temporarily paralysed while evading the Germans in the back streets with General Urquhart also recovered from his genuinely serious wound in hospital, able to walk out, and was the most senior officer involved in the Pegasus escape.
to answer your cannon fodder question about destroying nigmegen bridge, the germans were under orders to not let the bridges fall but also not be destroyed, they were to be kept intact for the great german counter attack (which obviously never came but the germans couldnt admit that the war was lost in 44 and the rest was a years mopping up, see battle of the bulge as an example) but in that sense of the plan, the briges were just as important to the germans as they were to the allies
Richard Attenborough appeared in the movie but sometimes it is edited out. He one of the escaped special needs people laughing at the British Paratroopers.
Yes, the numbers are roughly 10,500 total for 1st Airborne Division (not including the Polish Brigade), 2,500 were killed and 6,000 wounded taken prisoner. That leaves about 2,000 that were evacuated, although many still able to fight or be evacuated were technically carrying at least one wound.
If you want to see a great film about this, try "Theirs Was The Glory" filmed less then a year after the war with the vast majority of "actors" actually vets of the real battle - its got no credits, very few stars of the era and uses the actual tactics Its said to be the closest to having real time footage of the operation
There were actually some complaints from the SS! Frost ordered sniping to cease to conserve ammunition, so the paras - all trained marksmen - waited to shoot the Germans as they came in through the door, usually with a single shot to the head, during major attacks. After the battle, the Germans found their dead piled up inside the houses with single bullet wounds to the head and assumed the British had executed their prisoners. The Germans also complained that the Poles were firing on their medics, but considering what the Germans had done to Poland you can hardly blame the Poles... A common misunderstanding generated from the film is that the II.SS-Panzerkorps is shown on the map in von Rundstedt's headquarters as "II SS P.Z. DIV." which would be the 'Das Reich' Division that wiped out an entire French village as revenge for French resistance attacks. The two divisions in the II.SS-Panzerkorps were the 9.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hohenstaufen' and 10.SS-Panzer-Division 'Frundsberg', which were not known for committing any major atrocities. Raised in 1943, they were formed with an officer cadre from the older divisions and enlisted men were mostly Hungarian and Romanian conscripts from the RAD (state labour service) rather than fanatical German volunteers. By the end of the war even half of the officers in the SS were not national socialists with an NSDAP party number listed on their record, as many were army officers that transferred to further their careers and get promotions. Hitler didn't trust the army and was trying to build up the Waffen-SS to eventually replace the army, so transfers were encouraged. Bittrich was implicated by his association with Rommel in the July 1944 'Valkyrie' bomb plot to assassinate Hitler and head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, wanted Bittrich to come see him in Berlin for a little chat. Model refused to release him from the front in order to protect him, so 10.SS-Panzer-Division commander Harmel was in Berlin on 17 September to plead for new equipment on Bittrich's behalf, because Bittrich dare not travel to Berlin himself.
@@mike5d1 - yeah, at first the men were really enjoying themselves because they were trained marksmen who had been used to fighting at maximum ranges in North Africa and Italy, so having their opponents in the street outside their houses was "like shooting fish in a barrel". When Frost ordered sniping to cease and conserve their ammo for major attacks, their response was to use one bullet when they came in through the door.
I believe the biggest mistake was made by General Gavin by first securing the landing area at Groesbeek Heights to the east of Nijmegen before assaulting the Nijmegen bridge. By the time they got around to doing that they had lost the element of surprise and had allowed the Germans to reinforce the defenses around that bridge turning it into a three day battle to take that bridge, allowing the Germans the time to defeat the paratroopers at Arnhem. BTW The German commander leading the battle around Arnhem - SS-Obergruppenführer Bittrich - in his military capacity was a fine and honourable commander with the intention to defeat the enemy, not to slaughter them. It shows in him offering the opportunity to surrender as well as agreeing to a ceasefire to evacuate the British wounded, even offering and supplying German troops to help in the evacuation. He probably felt genuinely sorry and respect for the brave British commander he defeated to whom he offered the chocolate.Later in 1944 he was in command of the German troops in Vienna and in the face of the advance of the allies he withdrew his troops behind the Donau (Danube) to prevent the city from being demolished. After the allies took possession of Vienna he was ordered to retake the city, an order he ignored. After the war he was transferred from US custody to French custody - by his own request - to stand trial for the execution of seventeen French resistance fighters but even the French had to admit he was basically innocent of that crime as he had tried to court-martial those troops that perpetrated that crime but was halted from doing so by his superiors. Yet he was found guilty of being in command of these troops and therefor responsible and sentenced to five years in jail. Make no mistake about how I see him; as a person he had a lot to be desired as he took part in a conference on how to deal with Russian partisans and how to punish the population - including whole villages - for aiding and abetting those partisans as well as having visited concentration camps; he certainly knew what was going on and must have been aware that it was criminal. His military credentials as a commander however cannot be denied........ to call him complicated may be an understatement.
I'm sure I've read somewhere, and its depicted in the film, that an officer carried with him detailed maps showing the deployment of allied forces, against strict orders, and that these maps and plans were discovered in a crashed glider.
@@pauldurkee4764yes you are correct however unlike in the film it was discovered in a US glider from the 101st and not a British glider. These were sent back up the lines and again unlike the movie they actually took them completely truthfully and executed on them. - fighting around the 101st area and along the road was conducted by a Kamfgruppen formed around standard German units, fallshimjager and Luftwaffe ground forces. Their commander actually developed the panzerfaust hunter killer team strategy of deploying 2 men with 2-4 of them in areas of forrest and deep ground and having them shoot on a tank, watch as the column reacts to the 1st attackers, watch another team fire into somewhere else and repeat across 2 attacks and retreat into the brush. At Nijmegen the initial forces were only a small garrison of 12 men. When they seen the landings they deployed a reconnaissance unit to reinforce the bridge (funnily enough the same one that would be redeployed to Arnhem for the failed assault across) and after getting the plane they moved most of the 9th SS into the area between Nijmegen and Arnhem. 10th SS sat on Arnhem and we’re reinforced across the days with fresh troops and tanks designed to hold the area after rolling up the British paras.
The biggest mistake made was the decision by Brereton and Williams to not fly double missions on day one and Hollinghurst for not dropping closer to Arnhem. The Germans also concluded that in a post battle appraisal.
"Faulty intelligence" was not the reality as the II.SS-Panzerkorps were known to be in the Netherlands to refit and both divisions assessed to be reduced to regimental battlegroups with few if any tanks. The rules on passing down intelligence were quite strict depending on the source. The existence of 'Ultra' code intercepts was only made public in 1975, just two years before A Bridge Too Far was released and Cornelius Ryan's 1974 book obviously knew nothing about it. The controversy revolved around the fact that reports from the Dutch resistance identifying the 9.SS-Panzer-Division near Arnhem were not confirmed by another source that could be disclosed down to divisional and brigade level, such as aerial photography. 'Ultra' as a source could only be disclosed down to Army Group (Montgomery) and Army (Dempsey) level headquarters, but not Corps level (Browning and Horrocks). So for the Dutch intelligence to be treated as confirmed, the aerial photography became important, and the only photograph that was obtained showing tanks in the Arnhem area was dismissed by Browning as showing obsolete and probably unserviceable vehicles. The thing is that Browning was right, because the tanks picked up in the photo did not belong to a 1944 panzer division, and they were not in the area identified by the Dutch as hosting SS troops. Montgomery had already cancelled Operation Comet because of the intelligence situation and replaced it with Market Garden, adding two more Airborne Divisions. 1st Airborne Division and the Poles alone took as many anti-tank guns to Arnhem as Model had operational tanks in his entire Army Group. Montgomery and Dempsey were aware of this, but not the lower headquarters. One of the problems with the film is that not a single anti-tank gun belonging to Airborne troops was seen anywhere in the film, because that was contrary to the impression that Richard Attenborough wanted to convey. He wanted to create the impression the Airborne had nothing more than the PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti-Tank), which was a spring-loaded mortar with a 50 yard range. The intelligence picture and the presence of the II.SS-Panzerkorps in the Netherlands (it was not all in Arnhem) was not the reason the operation failed. The real reason was not shown in the film, because it does not seem to have been picked up in Cornelius Ryan's original research, and a Hollywood produced film would never be made showing a blunder made by the 'home side', unless it was a British blunder.
Sgt dohun threatening the surgeon may seem for fetched but it is a true story. It did happen and did save his captain. Only he threatened him with a captured luger not a 1911
It's quite the experience, and hard to take, but the odd moments of levity (from dark humour) it snatches from the mire are well worth having. For good or ill it conveys much about the British character at the time. Thank you Alan. Be well.😉
The actual phones lines between Arnhem and Nijmegen were working but nobody thought of using them at the time of the battle just incase they were bugged by the Germans.
16:01 Hardy Kruger fought in WW2 for the German Reich as part of the 38th SS-Grenadier-Division "Nibelungen" as he was conscripted at 16 and was sentenced to death for refusing to shoot an American squad but the order was countermanded by another officer and he later deserted while serving as a messenger.
Having watched both parts of your reaction to this film Alan, I think you did extremely well considering the circumstances you always find yourself in regarding copyright. As per usual your insights into what's occurring are indeed insightful and in many cases, spot on. "Enemy At The Gates" is another good film - the true story of a Russian sniper - an excellent flick, even if it is a bit cheesy in places. And if I may, can I recommend that you watch "The One That Got Away". I won't spoil it for you by giving you a run-down on the script/story, but it's a bloody good watch.
You read how fubarred the operation was early on in the first reaction. Total shambles, with many a life lost to poor planning. BTW, I think I remember seeing an expert saying that the most important invention that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers was the Bailey Bridge. If you haven't reacted to The Longest Day, about Operation Overlord (D-Day), I'd highly recommend it. Its renowned, but will take a few installments, as quite a long film.
An all star cast and an overview of the operation , and it probably gives as good an impression as possible of it . I'm sure the experiences of the men , and civilians caught up in it were more extreme and I'm grateful to them all . As always you edited it pretty well and your reaction reflected the thoughts of many watching .
The thing with the real Operation Market Garden is that is its mostly seen as a complete failure which I just don’t and refuse to accept. The main objective failed? Yes did the British especially loose a lot of men and equipment? Yes but did the Nazis push back the allied forces? No and would never recover territory once the allies had a foot hold. I firmly believe Market Garden 100% shortened the war, was mostly a success minus the bridges. If the Germans managed to push the allies completely back out then it would’ve been a failure and the war definitely would’ve gone into 1946
It was no more of a failure than all the other allies campaigns that same autumn such as the Hurtgen Forest, Lorraine, Alsace and Operation Queen. None of these achieved their main objectives either, and suffered more casualties.
One of the main reasons for the operation was that the Americans and Britsh had expended huge amounts of money training airborne and glider troops but nothing for them to do after D-day. A number of operations were set up to drop behind German lines to facilitate the Allies advance, but the speed of German retreat negated all of these. Arnham was technically a brilliant plan but conceived and executed too quickly and without enough detailed planning. There was a second road Thirty Corps could have used, for example, but bad intelligence had falsely said it was unsuitable for tanks. They would have had a smoke cover for the river crossing.... but it would have made lousy viewing on film!
Every evening by sun down 365 days a year. people walk over the bridge to remember the 48 fallen soldiers who were killed in the boats to reach the other side to attack the bridge from two sides
As a computer programmer I know all about SPOFs - Single Points of Failure - and the need to avoid them. Market Garden had about as many points of failure as there were components.
That's hilarious because I trained as a programmer/systems analyst myself and have been studying A Bridge Too Far as an interest for 46 years, since reading the book at school shortly before the film opened in cinemas in 1977. The plan actually involved about 24 bridges and the XXX Corps' main supply 'Club Route' had a number of 'Heart Route' diversions using alternative crossings, so only a minimum of 10 bridges on the 'Club Route' were needed to get XXX Corps to Arnhem. The 'Heart Route' was actually used in a couple of instances, so the plan was flexible and it was working. The one thing that any plan cannot survive, however, is someone not even following it, which is what happened at Nijmegen on the first day, and that is the difference between a fatal error and a non-fatal error. Or, in programming terms, an error condition that is not handled versus an error condition that follows another programmed code path. For decades, the conventional narrative established by Cornelius Ryan's book and cemented in public awareness by Richard Attenborough's compromised adaptation, led to many arguments over why the operation failed. The truth is that the arguments raged on because they were arguing over all the non-fatal errors, and many of those were exaggerated or turned out to be myths. The undocumented fatal error was a command failure in one regiment of the 82nd Airborne at Nijmegen, and Gavin sought to shoulder the blame himself instead of dishonourably throwing a subordinate officer under the bus. He asked Browning to help out in muddying the waters over the respective priorities between the Nijmegen highway bridge vs the Groesbeek heights and Browning seems to have been happy to help out in their post-war correspondence. None of this was picked up by Cornelius Ryan in his 1967 interview with Gavin, although Gavin did hint at some of the internal political problems within the division (the interview is online in the Cornelius Ryan Collection at Ohio State University) but that didn't make it into the book. Of course you'll never get a Hollywood film showing an American Colonel compromising a British operation, and for that matter you'll not see a British one doing it either, such are Anglo-American politics since the war. The film did badly at the US box office anyway, as it came out just two years after the fall of Saigon and American audiences would rather line up around the block to see Star Wars again. The true story came out about 10-12 years ago after all the key players had passed away, so this film and Ryan's book are both way out of date. Sources: Lost At Nijmegen, RG Poulussen (2011) Put Us Down In Hell - A Combat History of the 508th PIR in WW2, Phil Nordyke (2012) September Hope - The American Side of a Bridge Too Far, John C McManus (2012) The 508th Connection, chapter 6 - Nijmegen Bridge, Zig Boroughs (2013) Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2, Christer Bergström (2019, 2020) The last book is by a Swedish historian, using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection, and specifically debunks the many myths in the film.
It was a fup, EB. Our lads were left to fight on their own, with no backup or weapons. Glory to the lads for hanging on for so long. The Americans let us down.
One of the best WWII movies. You might want to check these three classics. Battle of the Bulge Battle of Britain Dieppe Any of these will depict their battles quite accurately. Maybe fairly accurate for the Battle/Bulge, but still one helluva good movie.
Hi E.B., glad you managed to react to this great Classic War film. This is the 2nd biggest International War film (with the Brits involved) in my opinion, after the 1962 D-Day film (The Longest Day). Sean Connery is in both, though only as a young squaddie in the earlier film. I hope you will react to (The Longest Day) as well at some point, it includes views from all sides, (Allies, German & French Resistance).
Operation Market Garden could have succeeded. If the air force would let the British land closer to Arnhem and if they wouldn't screw up in Nijmegen and miss the big bridge there, it may have functioned. Montgomery used General Horrocks and XXX Corps as the scapegoat, creating the long-living myth that they drow too slow and refused to act on Arnhem. XXX Corps arrived in Nijmegen in good time, just to find the bridge still occupied by Germans. XXX Corps couldn't move on Arnhem when all its infantry was locked up in hard street fighting in Nijmegen. The Germans had succeeded in their defensive tactics.
can I please please humbly recommend you watch the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain' it's phenomenal. I believe a year ago you watched 'Decisive Moment of the Battle of Britain'; nearly every shot of the aircraft and dogfights is extra footage used and left over from the film!
Great movie one of my all time favourite war movies and just movie in general. I think the movie really sets out exactly what the plan was and what was going on at each stage and particular Bridge and with XXX Corps as they advanced and also the German perspective. I think it does a really good job conveying how a plan that looks genius on paper can go completely to hell in a hand cart once all the other factors combined with ego's come into play. I think one of my favourite bits is when Col "Johnny Frost" is ringing the door bell persistently "Come on! Come on!" And then when it does get answered says: " Now look here I am terribly sorry! We're going to have to commandeer your house! Right lads? Terribly sorry you know!" Its very reminiscent of the scene in Monty Pythons "Life of Brian" when all the Romans march into the house! You will be probably hard pushed to see a more British thing in a movie! Anyone else would have just kicked the door down and got on with it! But even in the middle of a War zone proper decorum is a must! Which I think is brilliant!!
This isn't the end of the story, incredible what happens in the following weeks after the narrative in the film ends. Highly recommend the book 'The Grey Goose of Arnhem' by Leo Heaps, for me the story this tells is even more remarkable.
Have you done The longest day yet Mr Beard , bloody good film about D Day x Pegasus Bridge and the bridge too far sometimes get mixed up ,John Howards experiences on D-Day were re-enacted by actor Richard Todd-who had himself participated in the raid, serving in the 7th Parachute Battalion,[ sent to reinforce Howard's coup-de-main party-in the film The Longest Day, Please Mr Beard if you can do a reaction to a film called Kajaki also called Kilo Two Bravo . as far as i can remember not a shot is fired , its one of the best war movies ever . True story . < every step they take you will be shitting yourself , Most of the wounded ended up in hospital in brum , i was visiting my girlfriend at the time and a few of the guys the real soldiers were sitting outside smoking when i visited her on day . The doc who came to check my girlfriend over was a captain in the british army . uniform with a white coat . Selly Oak Hospital in birmingham , The SAS sent there lads there to do there medic , trauma traing stuff . x Years ago nack in the 80s my bird lived in the middle of nowhere in mid Wales , on morning she heard strange noises coming from outside , so she investigated . she opened the door to be confronted by 2 blokes in shitty boots and shitty coats , turned out they were on the SAS evesion phase so she cooked em a full english breakfast and they fucked off .if they dont get caught doing it then it ok ,
Not correct, at the bridge they held a lot more than one end of the bridge and 2 buildings, they were defending the far side of the bridge, they tried taking both ends but failed, so they defended one end of the bridge and part of the town. Our armoured relief (XXX core) would arrive on the opposite side of the bridge which we failed to take. The Germans attacked in the end through the town with tanks flattening all defensive building in our perimeter forcing the paras onto the street for easy pickings. One thing never understood is this type of warfare is brand new and lessons are being learnt with airborne troops, only a handful of operations had taken place previously. One lesson learnt is don't drop 8 miles from your objective. ✌️
If you want to see another movie about Operation Market Garden, look up Theirs The Glory, from 1946! It's directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. They filmed it with the veterans from the British 1st Airborne Division in the same positions they held during the battle, in the actual ruins of the battle, it's a amazing reenactment. The acting is poor, but hey, they are soldiers, not actors. There is a copy on my other channel, Necramonium Media.
My father was at Arnhem.. he was a radio operator..the radio's arrived broken and missing essential spare parts. He was wounded in the legs and chest by shrapnel from a mortar. Left behind as part of the rear guard who fought off the night attack on those getting across the Rhine. Captured and shipped as a prisoner of war to Dresden, just before the firestorm bombing. During one raid they all ( prison workers, Brit and French soldiers etc) escaped and travelled to Czech Republic eventually to then be repatriated to UK.. by then as he was posted MIA presumed dead, he was given a new enlistment number and sent to Palestine as part of the policing effort. But that was a different story. FYI, there was an earlier B & W film made in the late 40s using many of survivors of Arnhem.. worthy finding and watching.
'Theirs Is the Glory'.
"Using the original locations of the battle, the film featured veterans who were actual participants in the battle. The film was jointly produced by the J. Arthur Rank Organisation and the Army Film and Photographic Unit (AFPU).
Weaving original footage from the battle with re-enactments shot on location at Oosterbeek and Arnhem, the film was shot a year after the battle had ravaged the Dutch streets. As well as veterans, the film also features local people like Father Dyker (a Dutch civilian priest who conducts the service in the film) and Kate ter Horst (who reads a psalm to the wounded men in the cellar) re-enacting their roles and what they did for the airborne troops during the battle." - Wikipedia
The officer with the umbrella actually survived the battle and went on to help organise the escape of scores of men from the 1st Airborne who were hiding out north of the river. His real name was Major Digby Tatham-Water. During the battle he was seen several times wearing a bowler hat as well as carrying the umbrella. When told that the umbrella wouldn't be much protection against shrapnel he said "But what if it rains!"
Allegedly he carried the umbrella because he could never remember the passwords and figured no German would ever carry one.
Gotta love the Brits and Scots, they had no chill during WW2. Like that one guy landing at D-Day and he played a bagpipe.
Major Digby disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, incapacitating the driver by shoving the umbrella through the car's observational slit and poking the driver in the eye.
The UK and the Poles had been at war for over 5 years. Anything that could shorten the slaughter was considered. The surrender scene is accurate 😁
The scene where the US Sergeant forced the Doctor at gunpoint to treat and save his Officer's life is genuine, it really happened. It was Staff Sergeant Charles Dohun and thanks to his actions the doctor saved the life of Captain LeGrand Johnson.
It didn't happen in quite that way exactly, but the real story is probably even more unbelievable. James Caan was originally offered the role of the Captain, who was a Normandy veteran and awarded the Silver Star, but Caan liked the role of the Sergeant better and so the characters were reversed to get him on board.
I love how much you laughed at the “surrender” scene, it’s absolutely class!
The British paratroopers taken prisoners were actually well-treated by the Waffen SS. The general opinion among the Germans was that the British were the toughest enemies they ever fought (and most of them had fought in Russia). They honored the Brits and treated them with respect. A General said: "At last an enemy worth fighting".
They might have done so in Holland probably because they knew their days were numbered but the SS certainly didn't in 1940 when they murdered 97 men of The Norfolk Regiment or in 1944 when they machine gunned 113 US prisoners in a field killing 88.
It's also in part because the Germans considered the English to be ethnic "cousins" and didn't despise them the way they did other groups like say...the Russians.
The 9th and 10th ss weren't involved in the malmedy or
1940 massacres!
Same after Operation Chariot, the Germans were so impressed and thought the Brits were brave and a little insane for not only daring to perform a raid on such a heavily guarded port, but succeeding.
Such an epic war film that you forget about the great individual moments.
The young soldier getting shot, for what was only a supply of berets, was a particular gut-punch. Also the "arrest him for 10 seconds" and "was there anything else?" scenes always make me laugh.
This is my all time favourite war movie. Such a cast. As historically accurate as possible. Fantastic
I agree with one of the best war films, but accuracy, na.
How do you know it's accurate, were you there? 😁🤣
1 example, Anthony Hopkins played major Johnny Frost, Frost stopped Hopkins running across the street and informed him that he didn't run, even under fire, I can't have the men seeing me running abd thinking im scared, I walk briskly and show no fear. Then the surrender scene, "we don't have the facilities to take you all prisoner". Again Frost spoke up and said that wasn't said. The director replied, I'm making a movie not an f ing documentary. So many to list, but still a pucka film
I was lucky enough to meet Kate ter Horst MBE, Her British patients nicknamed her the Angel of Arnhem.
The way Richard Attenborough tried to convey the book to the screen is fascinating in itself. I remember when this film came out there was some controversy over how some scenes allegedly prioritised over others, but I feel that Attenborough got it fairly right, considering the requirements of film making. Apparently there was a blackboard divided with chalk into several columns, each headed "Germans", "British", Americans ", etc. Then significant events were placed in the respective columns according to a timeline. Thus it was considered that the overall breadth of Market Garden could be shown in proportion. I leave it to the viewer to decide if they got it right, but I feel, on balance, they did.
Fair play to Attenborough, he used people like John Frost in an advisory role when making the film.
dear alan as a licenced london taxi driver i had the great honour of taking about 90 vets to arnhem with the war disabled charity, the headquarters is now a museum and we had a reception there .thegrounds were lined with at least one thousand dutch of all ages clapping and cheering the vets, it was very humbling,asked the dutch why so many there and they replied we uk were never occupied as they suffered terribly after we left
After seeing this one you now need to watch The Longest Day (1962), all about D-Day. But you might need multiple parts, it's over three hours long.
Major Digby tatham wartner actually disabled a German armoured car with his umbrella, the man's a legend. Although he survived the battle unlike the character based on him. Johnny frosts uniform is at Duxford in the para's museum. Something I always have to pay my respects to when I go there
Thankyou for mentioning the Dudford museum, I'd not heard of that place, added to the bucket list. 8)
@@mapesdhs597 Duxford, bovington, and iwm Lambeth (for the holocaust exhibition alone , which mentions aktion T4 and all the autistics Asperger was responsible for getting gassed, as an autistic myself it meant alot as it's often never mentioned)
@@badgers1975 I've been to Bovington, but there are certainly plenty of other places in that part of England I've yet to visit, especially to the south and east of London (I'm in Edinburgh, so the travel is a bit tricky).
Great reaction Alan. I've added a little info on Kate ter Horst, " The Angel of Arnhem. Kate ter Horst MBE (born 6 July 1906, Amsterdam - 21 February 1992, Oosterbeek) was a Dutch housewife and mother who tended wounded and dying Allied soldiers during the Battle of Arnhem.[1] Her British patients nicknamed her the Angel of Arnhem.[2]
Ter Horst was born Kate Anna Arriëns, daughter of Pieter Albert Arriëns and Catharina Maingay. She married Jan ter Horst, a lawyer from Rotterdam, with whom she had six children. One of her daughters, Sophie, still resides in the family home in Oosterbeek.
As a Sapper the sight of a Bailey bridge being constructed makes me warm and fuzzy inside.
So, comrade, can I interest you in a little job in Crimea. Paid in dollars and all the potatoes you can eat....
Major John Frost was a consultant on the film. When he saw Anthony Hopkins play him sprinting between the houses under fire he took him to one side and said “No, officers don’t run in front of the men. The trick is to walk to show lack of concern, but quick enough that they don’t think you’re mad”.
Major *General Frost. I think the quote was something like "you should always walk, not run, to show contempt for the enemy's marksmanship and to set an example to your own men." Dick Attenborough had already got the politically correct shot he wanted and didn't want Hopkins to get it right.
Frost also objected to the line given to Hopkins in the hilarious surrender invitation scene, because it was a composite of two separate incidents and the line he objected to wasn't said by him but by another officer (Captain Eric Mackay of the Royal Engineers). He was asked if it was okay for another actor to use it and Frost agreed, so that's why the immortal line "we haven't got the facillities to take you all prisoner" was given to Major Carlyle. I really like the way Hopkins just quietly says to Carlyle "alright?" at the end of the scene.
LtCol Frost at the time.
Americans say "fubar" where as us Brits say "snafu", which means "situation normal, all f*cked up" lol
the house that was converted into the field hospital is a war museum today, well worth a visit if you are ever in Holland.
Oh, I think it’s a progression. Snafu, as you say, then tarfu for things are really f*cked up, then fubar 😂
Oops.
@@snafufubar Didn’t know you had a middle name did you? 😀
The lessons learned the hard way during Market Garden were put to good use in the Rhine drop in March 45'. Operation Varsity was a success and the largest Airborne drop in one day on one location involving 17,000 American, British and Canadian troops. 1,500 American aircraft and gliders carrying more than 9,000 soldiers, and 1,200 British aircraft and gliders carrying 8,000 Soldiers.
The Dutch underground had been warning the Allies about the German troop movements for days before Market Garden but they were ignored. However, some Allied officers had problems with learning Dutch names and thoughtlessly carried a list of contacts with them which after capture resulted in multiple executions.
My father was livid about how the Dutch had been ignored and so ashamed about the Allies letting them down, as he saw it, that he refused to ever go back. In the 1960s, he would not even let me go on a school trip to The Netherlands as he was convinced that we might somehow have the previous generation's mistakes held against us.
As for the Poles, I lived my childhood in the UK surrounded by Eastern European refugees and their children who became school friends and still in my seventies know some in my community.
Greetings from the UK.
The Dutch were definitely not ignored. Montgomery cancelled Operation Comet because of the worsening intelligence picture and replaced it with Market Garden that added the two American Airborne Divisions.
Market Garden failed because the 508th PIR missed the bridge at Nijmegen on the first afternoon, allowing the 10.SS-Panzer-Division to reinforce the city and its bridges.
As for the Dutch, they blame all the problems on the Germans regardless, bless 'em. Wonderful people!
There's been a conventional narrative about Market Garden established by A Bridge Too Far (book and film) and not challenged until the last 10-12 years with new evidence. I imagine your dad has passed by now, but it's not too late for you to catch up with the latest research we have on the campaign.
Best work overall is Swedish historian Christer Bergström's Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2 (2019, 2020), using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection held at Ohio State University and also seeks to debunk the myths in this film.
I remember an oil painting of sergeant Baskeyfield VC of the 2nd south Staffs holding off a german advance with his comrades dead and by himself manning an artillery piece ,he was also seriously injured . The VC that he earnt that day was at oosterbeek just near Arnhem. His actions helped survivors escape across the river orne. My great uncle was one of those survivors, thank you to all these brave men and especially sergeant Baskeyfield .
River Rijn, or Neder Rijn, or Lek - you'll have to get a Dutch person to explain it because after 46 years of studying Market Garden I still can't get my head around all the different names for this river. The Orne is in Normandy anyway.
@davemac1197 Thank you for helping me. Lance sergeant Baskeyfield of the South staffs helped to defend oosterbeek using a six pounder field piece and earned his VC posthumously as you know yourself through your research, I'm truly left with the thought sir after my nan told me about how my Great uncle and others managed to not get captured? How did they find the resources within themselves. Very brave young men.
@@nealmcgloin2984 - I think he used two guns, if I remember correctly. All the VCs at Arnhem were well earned, anyway.
The fact that they got as far as they did was in itself a victory.
Market Garden was actually the fastest allied advance against German opposition in the entire September 1944 to February 1945 period. Nearly 100km of German held ground taken in just 3 days. Elsewhere along the front hardly anyone advanced that in the following five months. There was even a retreat in the Ardennes.
@@lyndoncmp5751 The Allies did capture Aachen after Market Garden.
Further to the bio on Kate ter Horst, actress Audrey Hepburn was offered the role to play her but turned it down on account of it being "too close to home." During the war she was living in her mother's family home in Arnhem, Huis Zypendaal, until it was commandeered by the Germans. Her grandfather, Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra, had been the Arnhem mayor before the war and the family owned this magnificent castle, Huis Zypendaal. After being evicted, they stayed with family friends in a more modest house in nearby Velp. Swedish actress Liv Ullman took the role instead.
I believe from my research Huis Zypendaal was occupied by the Arnhem town Ortskommandant (military town commander) but I haven't established the relationship between the Ortskommandant and the Feldkommandant (district commander) Generalmajor Freidrich Kussin, who was famously killed in Wolfheze by 3rd Parachute Battalion after visiting SS-Sturmbannführer Sepp Krafft's HQ at the Hotel Wolfheze and ignored a warning not to use the main Utrecht road back into town, as Krafft had reports of British troops moving on it. I think Kussin may have occupied both positions and Zypendaal house was his residence.
I knew there was a Hepburn connection to Arnhem but wasn't familiar with the details! Great info, thanks.
@@swanvictor887 - thank you. The Huis Zypendaal was also used as a filming location as a German occupation headquarters for the 1954 film Betrayed, starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner. If you can find the Dutch website Hollands Decor and the page on 1954 Betrayed, it shows all the locations used in the film and you'll get an idea of how German occupied Arnhem and other locations looked during the war. It also confirms Baron van Heemstra owned the house and that his granddaughter Audrey often stayed there before the Germans commandeered it.
My grandfather, was here during the war at arnhem, he was Airbourne devision, alot of soldiers lost there lives, it was a mess up, my grandfather went back over every year till his death, the airbourne became the parachute regiment, which my brother served in for 22 years, and he still honours the soldiers and my grandfather and goes over every year
You have to remember that the 1st British airborne division, the American 82 and 101 airborne had been sitting around since d-day. They were desperate to get back to battle and show the value of airborne attacks to shorten the war. Without Market Garden the 101 would never have been at Bastone for the Bulge.
Yes. The newly formed First Allied Airborne Army was desperate to get into action before the war ended or winter weather came along.
Nobody else had any plans to use the FAAA at the time. Bradley certainly didn't.
The respect that the legend of a man John Frost and those towers of men that are standing around him still carry in the British Army today should not be underestimated, 18 year old soldiers know the story, youngsters make a pilgrimage to a bridge named after him commemorating a battle that was fought before their grandfathers were born. It is an immense source of pride for me that my Regiments Colours carry Arnhem as a battle honour.
The Arnhem bridge over the Rhine is now called the John Frost Bridge, named after then Lt. Colonel (later Major General) John Dutton Frost.
Hello Alan. The only way to win was to try to win. It should never be forgotten that the enemy will try not to lose.
The version of this movie used Surround effects which meant you could actually feel the vibrations of the explosions.
The cast in this movie was huge.. the number of actors that were or would go onto to be some of the all time biggest.
This style of movie, showing the overall strategic decisions and stories of individual soldiers as well was first done in the early 60s with the Longest Day, the story of D-Day at Normandy. Difficult to pull off two types of storytelling in one movie but they do it well. Both movies based on books by Cornelius Ryan
BTW it is Field Marshal Montgomery, not General.
The first war film I saw as a kid that showed the true grim realities of war, it's now one of my all time favorites. I learned a few lessons in life from that film. If you put this film with the longest day you have the greatest list of male actors ever.
I mentioned in part one my father was ex 9 Squadron Royal Engineers, one of their plaques/badges was a red shield with two vertical black lines with their pegasus . This represents two bridges and a river of blood.
9 Field Company RE, under command of Major John Winchester DSO (after the war it was named 9 Squadron RE) consisted of 215 officers and other ranks, of which only 57 returned to the UK, the remainder being captured or killed.
My grandad was RE and among the last to arrive at the beaches at Dunkirk... he survived the war so fought right through until 1945 , he passed away before l was born and that's about as much as l know... I'll have to find out his service
In the book during his interview Sgt. Dohun said that even to the day of the interview, he did not know whether he would have shot the doctor.
thanks for part 2 Bud.
I love A Bridge Too Far, brilliant movie with a hit cast and in my opinion ends with a more up beat ending despite the failure to capture all the bridges and hold them.
My late father was in the 1st air landing light division and served at Arnhem.He was badly injured but survived.He lost a lot of his pals and never talked about it. RIP DAD. 1st Air Landing Light Division. 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
1st Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery?
@@davemac1197 Correct. I still have his beret and medals and other things of importance. He was also at Palestine,Syria Norway,Italy. And others.
@@ianbennett1491 - awesome. I have a copy of Arnhem Bridge: Target Mike One by Truesdale et al on the Regiment. There are two Bennetts listed in the Nominal Roll, initials AE and GH.
@@davemac1197 Wow. my Dad was George Henry Bennett.
@@ianbennett1491 - yup! Listed as "Gnr 14264808 - 3 Batt." 3 Battery were supporting 1st Para Brigade at the bridge, so that's awesome. I can recommend the book, an Illustrated history 1942-45.
Wars a messy business, but this is an absolute classic . 😊 and what a Stella cast .
The code breakers of Bletchley park also were instrumental in shortening the war , a lot of great minds to be greatful to. 😊
My great nan worked there...as a tea lady lol she dis her bit 🎉
@@robertcreighton4635 absolutely bless her .
About the Sonn bridge at the beginning of this clip, important fact to remember...the M4 Sherman medium tank was not exactly light. To handle the passage of an ARMORED CORPS the bridge had to be more substantial than a ribbon, inflatable bridge.
They say the first casualty in any battle is always the plan.
Frost and his men did their bit, their orders were to get to the bridge and hold it until reinforced.
One of the big problems was the failure of the Reconnaissance squadron in jeeps to get there en masse as quickly as possible.
They were ambushed near the railway line on the outskirts of Arnhem, the local german commander acted very quickly on his initiative because he recognised the bridge was the prize, it was a gamble, and sadly it didn't work out.
"No plan survives contact with the enemy." - Helmuth von Moltke
Laurence of Arabia is the only war film more epic, These films could not be remade today even with CGI. Thanks for a great reaction
Have a look at the 1970s Waterloo
@@gwaptiva Sure and Spartacus. You can't get 10,000 extras these days
Major Fuller, the intelligence officer who warned, was in real life Brian Urquhart, renamed in the movie to avoid confusion with General Roy Urquhart.
After the war Brian Urquhart join the nascent UN where he helped organize it; he worked on the first UN peacekeeping operations including the iconic blue helmets.
I've been luckily enough to go to Arnhem three times so far, the last time was for the 60th anniversary.
Growing up my dad would watch all these movies like A Bridge Too Far, The Great Escape, The Longest Day, and probably a 100 more just like them, and tons of "boring" documentaries about WWII. I, although being a bit of a tomboy, was also a fairly typical little girl and would rather go do something less boring than sit and watch a war film etc.
As you probably know, we have Remembrance Sunday service here on the nearest Sunday to the 11th of the 11th, and at 11am we stand for three minutes of silence to remember the men and women that died in service.
As a child, I remember being dragged out of bed, or stopped from playing, and made to stand for the 3 minutes, and then left to carry on as before, as my parents continued to watch the march past, and the laying of the wreaths at the Cenotaph.
Right up until I was 17, I did not get it, care about it, or have any interest in what happed during the war, despite my parents repeated attempts.
Then when I was 17 and a half we went on a two week holiday to the Netherlands, somewhere my dad had been, while in the Merchant Navy, and had promised Mum he'd take her one day.
We ended up in Arnhem, somewhere Dad wanted to go, and walked over the John Frost Bridge, and onto the original museum, which was shut. So the next day, off we went again, back to the museum, where again my 17 year old self found herself after a quick look around, at "nothing really interesting", impatiently waiting for her parents to stop reading every scrap of paper on the walls, and leave, because we still had to do the War Graves at Oosterbeek yet, (yawn!).
Again my parents started looking and reading everything, and I in my bored state started reading the grave stone. Pretty much what I expected, names, ranks, ages, most of which were in their mid 20's and early 30's. Then I found a 21yr old, and a 19yr old. I stopped and knowing that during the 1940's you couldn't drink, drive, vote until you were 21, and I thought, "Wow, this guy was only a couple of years older than me, he couldn't even have a pint, and yet he could jump out of a plane and die fighting the enemy!"
I carried on looking and found more 19 and 20 yr olds, the more I found, the more I got upset, then I found my first of several 18 yr olds, and I lost it! I couldn't take it in, that these lads we only 6- 12 months or so older than me! Or were they? Were they younger? Had they lied about their ages? How long after they turned 18 did they die?
They'd given up their lives to help end a war that threatened everyone, and while I stood there sobbing my heart out at these three lads, I FINALLY got it.
My parents came over to me and hugged me, I explained what had happened, and how I felt, and we slowly made our way back to the gates.
That November, and almost every one since, I always watch the Remembrance Sunday Service, and stand for those three minuets of silence, often thinking of those lads.
Thirteen years later, we went back to Arnhem, and the War Graves at Oosterbeek, while we were there, with my nearly seven year old, I found the graves of those lads again, and explained to my daughter why I was crying. Trying to get her to understand.
While we we there, we met of of the Veterans from the Battle of Arnhem. He said he came back to Arnhem every year, and stayed with a Dutch family. He asked if we were going to the memorial service the following week? Which we unfortunately said we wouldn't be. He said it was a shame as the service was beautiful. The local school children place flowers on every grave, at the end of the service. After a while we parted company, and wished him the best, and said goodbye.
After speaking further about it, we decided to go back to Arnhem and Oosterbeek again in two years for the 60th anniversary, in 2004. Which we did. And the service was beautiful as the old paratrooper had said it was. Even though there were major crowds, we still got to see most of the service. As well as the then Prince Charles, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.
And I also paid my respects again to those lads, whilst there, and are now younger than my own daughter.
Haven't got the the facilities to take you all prisoner, a example of old fashioned British humour and fortitude 😂
The line is genuine but the scene is a composite of two separate events on either side of the bridge ramp. General Frost was visiting the set at Deventer bridge when it was being filmed and he objected to the line being spoken by Anthony Hopkins because he never said it - it was Captain Eric Mackay of the Royal Engineers on the other side of the bridge ramp, who was not portrayed in the film. Frost was asked if it was okay if someone else said the line and he agreed. That's why it's used by the Major Carlyle character. I actually quite like the way Hopkins just quietly asks Carlyle "alright?" at the end of the scene.
Every September, from 1945 to the present, the school children of Arnhem place flowers on the graves of Allied soldiers who fell in their town.
we watched the film with my grandparents, he never spoke about being there, he never talked about the war, that generation never did, i can remeber as a child watching the film with family, and grandparents.
the scene, in it where they were in the room overlooking the bridge, , i have been in the remake of the room, which they had in aldershot in the UK, when we went down for my brothers passing out parade, it was a small room, with a phot window, depicting the scene and the bridge. my grandfather had past the year before my brothers passing out parade, but my grandmother was able to go and look at room and the stuff the airbourne did at arhem
There's a superb and detailed - as well as very well researched - book on Arnhem and Operation Market Garden by the military historian Antony Beevor, called "Arnhem: Battle for the bridges". General Montgomery was desperate for glory and wanted to be supreme commander of Allied forces...but didn't after this. He was repeatedly told that relying on a single raised road would make any reinforcement nearly impossible as they'd be open targets all the way.
Can't rage against Antony Beevor enough - my copy of his book was donated to the Oxfam charity bookstore after wasting my money and not learning anything new, despite it being a newish book published in 2018. His career is making money from old rope.
The best overall work now is Swedish historian Christer Bergström's Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2 (2019, 2020), using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection held at Ohio State University and also specifically debunks the myths in this film.
@@davemac1197 Sweden's 'neutral' role in WW2 deserves a long, hard look and a book. They supplied the Germans with nearly all the iron ore they needed for their war machine for the whole of the war, helped finance them by buying coal for the whole of the war and even allowed German troop transports through Sweden en route to Norway. Never seen one book on that big 'neutrality' lie.
There are still bailey bridges around today, still going strong, many were used as surplus after WWII both for regular use, and also for emergency response after natural disaster, and the American descendent of the design was used for a number of temporary bridge repairs in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The whole not taking all the Germans prisoner thing? As ridiculous as it might have seemed, that was real.
Sorry to say, it wasn't. Johnny Frost even pulled the director about that line, it was never said, he did say tell them to go to hell, also it was a captured para the Germans sent across not a German.
@@tobytaylor2154 it makes a great legend though
@@tobytaylor2154 I was sure I saw a ‘making of’ it where it was said it was true but who said it was different..? Hmm.
@@andrewdavidson665 my source is Major John Frost himself, also Al Murray's (the pub landlord) father who served in the paras after the war as a colonel and knew Major Frost among numerous others from 1st and 6th airborne, he's wrote numerous books on the regiment and I've listened to indepth talks about all British airborne operations in ww2 given by the colonel, James Holland an Al Murray, even one about the Bailey Bridge (yes, I'm that sad) which they built in the film. If that disappoints you, then this will make you smile, when Anthony Hopkins ran across the street under the flyover, the real Major Frost who was on set for accuracy pulled him up and told him "i didn't run, I walked I can't have the men see I'm scared, no mistake I did walk briskly, but never ran even under fire". The director overuled him.
@@tobytaylor2154 no it doesn't upset me :)
I must be just confused because I thought it was in the same making-of where I saw Hopkins say just that - about he was told that running was not right in that scene by Frost - that the surrender thing was a variation of the real thing too.
The cause of failure was optimism. The plan assumed that the Germans wouldn't fight or rather would easily be overcome.
The crossing of the Rhine to get into Germany would be a bloody affair, often overlooked in the history of 1945.
Alan, it is worth watching The Bridge at Remagen.
Bad luck played a part. The two German divisions near Arnhem had been posted there to rest and recover. The Germans thought it would be a quiet place for them to do so, but they turned out to be in the "right" place at the "right" time.
The cause of the failure was the 508th PIR not following Gavin's instructions to secure the Nijmegen highway bridge on the first afternoon. Frost held the Arnhem bridge for four days, twice as long as should have been needed, in spite of the SS panzer divisions. At least one of those divisions was known to be there and the other possibly at Nijmegen. It was actually good luck that both were northeast of Arnhem and Nijmegen was undefended, but the 508th completely dropped the ball.
The reason was a command failure at the top of the 508th that first exhibited in Normandy, but little was done about it by Ridgway in Normandy or by his successor Gavin. Cornelius Ryan did not pursue this line of enquiry in his interview with Gavin, who was covering for a subordinate officer, but the story has come out more recently in Phil Nordyke's combat history of the 508th - Put Us Down In Hell (2012).
Frosts 2 Para was the only one of the three jeep born forces to rush for the bridge to get through. The plan said the total force had to hold for 2 days. With sneak forces the total force holding the north end was about 700 men. They held for 4 days before running out of ammunition. After the battle the Paras said if they had know about the Panzers they would have just brought more anti tank guns - like the 17pdr. Every single thing that could go wrong, went wrong. They still exceeded the expectations. Tragic - that I guess that really sums up war.
My granddad was captured on that bridge in Arnhem. I have a postcard that he sent to his dad stating he was captured but uninjured. I was lucky enough to visit last year.
Fun piece of trivia:
The guy singing abide with me at the end is portraying a man known as Taffy Brace (Taff is a slang term that refers to Welsh men). Taffy was from the Welsh town of Tredegar (birth place of the UK’s National Health Service). He had a brother who was a neighbor to my Grandfather.
The bit at 14:00 when he says about the surrender. At first, in real life, the German did not know the British sense of humour and questioned his own English skills.
The "monster of a machine" tank is just that as it is a post war west german leopard 1 main battle tank mocked up to represent ww2 armour
The film proposes the old, Montgomery version of the motive for Market Garden. It wasn't possible for Montgomery to turn right after Arnhem into Germany. No, no, that was stopped by the Allied general plan to move all their armies in unison over the Rheine. The real motive for Market Garden was to cut off the German Fiftheen Army by the coast and hopefully make the battle easier for the Canadians to crush them and advance north. Market Garden was Montgomery's only way to get in phase with General Patton in the south. Another factor often forgotten was the state of the Dutch population. They needed to be rescued before the winter to avoid a major starvation catastrophe. Even the Germans warned about this - for security reasons.
Elliot gould building that blooming bridge with the music in the background. The soundtrack to this film was one of the enjoyable things about the film 🙂
The soundtrack was composed by John......Addinsell(?).........who was a survivor of the battle.
British Para's. Not to be messed with. Even now, if 2 and 3 para go in you are in trouble. They are closely followed by the commandos
I'm scouring IMDB trying to find the name of a British actor, who not only appeared in this film plus another war film but was also actually IN the battle he was 'Acting' in years later! I believe he played his C.O in one of the films but due to my age, I can't remember his name. Was it Bogarde, I wonder? Bet my ass somebody here knows the answer!
You may be thinking of Richard Todd, who appeared in the film The Longest Day playing Major Howard of D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks Regiment Airlanding Battalion, that captured the 'Pegasus Bridge' in Normandy on D-Day by glider coup de main. Todd himself was a paratrooper involved in the same operation, as his unit the 7th Parachute Battalion, was tasked to reinforce Howard's small assault force at the bridge.
Also, in A Bridge Too Far, Dirk Bogarde, who played Browning, had served during the war in the RAF, ironically as a photo interpreter selecting bombing targets for Dempsey's British 2nd Army staff during Market Garden and the European campaign, and he knew all the main personalities including Montgomery and Browning himself. As well as Browning's widow, who found the portrayal of her husband in the film deeply upsetting, Bogarde also found the script objectionable, but I imagine instead of refusing to play the role and have another actor play it according to the script, he had obviously decided to accept it and seems to play Browning as somewhat conflicted in order to mitigate the worst aspects of the appalling way his character was much maligned.
The whole aerial photo epsiode, for example, rested on Cornelius Ryan's interview with Browning's Inelligence Officer, Major Brian Urquhart (changed to 'Major Fuller' in the film to avoid confusion with Sean Connery's General Roy Urquhart), as Browning had already passed away and the photo 'lost' until it was found in a Dutch government archive in 2015. Study of the photo shows that Browning was right to dismiss it and the obsolete tanks belonging to a training unit were located near the 506th PIR's (101st Airborne Division) drop zone when the operation began, and were shot up by escorting aircraft during the landings.
@@davemac1197 YES! Thank YOU! I've been racking my brains trying to remember the actors name. In 2004, at the age of 85 and five years before he died, he appeared in an episode of Holby City - the BBC hospital soap opera...and he gave a mesmerizing performance, recalling his war experiences (his character in the story, but it's clear he was thinking of his real-life experiences too). It was perhaps, one of the best performances I've ever seen on that show. I remember now, in the Longest Day, he played his superior officer while another actor played Him!
Regarding Todd, Bogarde David Niven et al,
isn't it incredible, just how rounded, experienced and damned interesting Actors were back then?! Even Michael Caine and Roger Moore had been in uniform and served their country! I have no doubts at all, this helped them with their performances.
Thanks for coming up with the name!
@@swanvictor887 - you might be interested in this short video about Richard Todd playing Major Howard at Pegasus Bridge. Apparently, Todd was the paratrooper that reported some information to Howard during the battle and Todd was offered the chance to play himelf in the scene. His response was to say that at this stage of his career he could not accept such a small part and played Howard instead, so another actor played Todd in the scene - th-cam.com/users/shortsBGaHk_gDIRo
A word of warning - the narrator of the video gets a bit confused and gets the actor's parts the wrong way around. What can I say - the narrator is American. Bless!
@@davemac1197 THANK YOU!!! Amazing. Amazing life the man had.
Some men at Arnhem did exaggerate the seriousness of their wounds and simply walked out of hospital when the opportunity presented itself. One of these was Major Allison Digby Tatham-Warter (name changed to Harry Carlyle in the film), the officer with the umbrella who was in fact a very talented soldier who led A Company and the whole 2nd Battalion into Arnhem, even avoiding an armoured car with some lateral thinking by knocking on the door of a house and asking the Dutch resident if they could pass through it and out the back of the house to by-pass the roadblock.
Tatham-Water was instrumental in organising the evasion and eventual escape of almost 150 Airborne men trapped north of the Rijn, and their evacuation across the river in Operation Pegasus was portrayed in episode 5: 'Crossroads' of Band Of Brothers. He worked closely with Lt Col David Dobie, the CO of 1st Parachute Battalion, who was another officer who simply walked out of hospital when the guards weren't looking, and crossed the Rijn with the help of the Dutch resistance to help organise Pegasus from the Allied side. Brigadier Lathbury, who was shot in the back and temporarily paralysed while evading the Germans in the back streets with General Urquhart also recovered from his genuinely serious wound in hospital, able to walk out, and was the most senior officer involved in the Pegasus escape.
to answer your cannon fodder question about destroying nigmegen bridge, the germans were under orders to not let the bridges fall but also not be destroyed, they were to be kept intact for the great german counter attack (which obviously never came but the germans couldnt admit that the war was lost in 44 and the rest was a years mopping up, see battle of the bulge as an example) but in that sense of the plan, the briges were just as important to the germans as they were to the allies
I go to Arnhem every year for the annual commemorations
Richard Attenborough appeared in the movie but sometimes it is edited out. He one of the escaped special needs people laughing at the British Paratroopers.
Great reaction. I think he said less than 2000 made it out.
Yes, the numbers are roughly 10,500 total for 1st Airborne Division (not including the Polish Brigade), 2,500 were killed and 6,000 wounded taken prisoner. That leaves about 2,000 that were evacuated, although many still able to fight or be evacuated were technically carrying at least one wound.
Wow very powerful in my family they where the generation that stopped the nazi big shout out to grandpa bill, grandad Herbert and great uncle sid 👏
If you want to see a great film about this, try "Theirs Was The Glory" filmed less then a year after the war with the vast majority of "actors" actually vets of the real battle - its got no credits, very few stars of the era and uses the actual tactics
Its said to be the closest to having real time footage of the operation
And played out on the actual battlefield. Love that film
Arnhem is one of the few battles involving SS troops where there were no reports of any atrocities.
There were actually some complaints from the SS! Frost ordered sniping to cease to conserve ammunition, so the paras - all trained marksmen - waited to shoot the Germans as they came in through the door, usually with a single shot to the head, during major attacks. After the battle, the Germans found their dead piled up inside the houses with single bullet wounds to the head and assumed the British had executed their prisoners. The Germans also complained that the Poles were firing on their medics, but considering what the Germans had done to Poland you can hardly blame the Poles...
A common misunderstanding generated from the film is that the II.SS-Panzerkorps is shown on the map in von Rundstedt's headquarters as "II SS P.Z. DIV." which would be the 'Das Reich' Division that wiped out an entire French village as revenge for French resistance attacks. The two divisions in the II.SS-Panzerkorps were the 9.SS-Panzer-Division 'Hohenstaufen' and 10.SS-Panzer-Division 'Frundsberg', which were not known for committing any major atrocities. Raised in 1943, they were formed with an officer cadre from the older divisions and enlisted men were mostly Hungarian and Romanian conscripts from the RAD (state labour service) rather than fanatical German volunteers. By the end of the war even half of the officers in the SS were not national socialists with an NSDAP party number listed on their record, as many were army officers that transferred to further their careers and get promotions. Hitler didn't trust the army and was trying to build up the Waffen-SS to eventually replace the army, so transfers were encouraged.
Bittrich was implicated by his association with Rommel in the July 1944 'Valkyrie' bomb plot to assassinate Hitler and head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, wanted Bittrich to come see him in Berlin for a little chat. Model refused to release him from the front in order to protect him, so 10.SS-Panzer-Division commander Harmel was in Berlin on 17 September to plead for new equipment on Bittrich's behalf, because Bittrich dare not travel to Berlin himself.
@@davemac1197I've never heard of that story about the men defending the bridge. When you think about it though it does not come as a surprise.
@@mike5d1 - yeah, at first the men were really enjoying themselves because they were trained marksmen who had been used to fighting at maximum ranges in North Africa and Italy, so having their opponents in the street outside their houses was "like shooting fish in a barrel". When Frost ordered sniping to cease and conserve their ammo for major attacks, their response was to use one bullet when they came in through the door.
I believe the biggest mistake was made by General Gavin by first securing the landing area at Groesbeek Heights to the east of Nijmegen before assaulting the Nijmegen bridge. By the time they got around to doing that they had lost the element of surprise and had allowed the Germans to reinforce the defenses around that bridge turning it into a three day battle to take that bridge, allowing the Germans the time to defeat the paratroopers at Arnhem.
BTW The German commander leading the battle around Arnhem - SS-Obergruppenführer Bittrich - in his military capacity was a fine and honourable commander with the intention to defeat the enemy, not to slaughter them. It shows in him offering the opportunity to surrender as well as agreeing to a ceasefire to evacuate the British wounded, even offering and supplying German troops to help in the evacuation. He probably felt genuinely sorry and respect for the brave British commander he defeated to whom he offered the chocolate.Later in 1944 he was in command of the German troops in Vienna and in the face of the advance of the allies he withdrew his troops behind the Donau (Danube) to prevent the city from being demolished. After the allies took possession of Vienna he was ordered to retake the city, an order he ignored.
After the war he was transferred from US custody to French custody - by his own request - to stand trial for the execution of seventeen French resistance fighters but even the French had to admit he was basically innocent of that crime as he had tried to court-martial those troops that perpetrated that crime but was halted from doing so by his superiors. Yet he was found guilty of being in command of these troops and therefor responsible and sentenced to five years in jail. Make no mistake about how I see him; as a person he had a lot to be desired as he took part in a conference on how to deal with Russian partisans and how to punish the population - including whole villages - for aiding and abetting those partisans as well as having visited concentration camps; he certainly knew what was going on and must have been aware that it was criminal. His military credentials as a commander however cannot be denied........ to call him complicated may be an understatement.
I'm sure I've read somewhere, and its depicted in the film, that an officer carried with him detailed maps showing the deployment of allied forces, against strict orders, and that these maps and plans were discovered in a crashed glider.
@@pauldurkee4764 I believe that wasn't Bittrich but his superior, Field Marshal Walther Model Who was in the area at the time.
@@pauldurkee4764yes you are correct however unlike in the film it was discovered in a US glider from the 101st and not a British glider.
These were sent back up the lines and again unlike the movie they actually took them completely truthfully and executed on them.
- fighting around the 101st area and along the road was conducted by a Kamfgruppen formed around standard German units, fallshimjager and Luftwaffe ground forces.
Their commander actually developed the panzerfaust hunter killer team strategy of deploying 2 men with 2-4 of them in areas of forrest and deep ground and having them shoot on a tank, watch as the column reacts to the 1st attackers, watch another team fire into somewhere else and repeat across 2 attacks and retreat into the brush.
At Nijmegen the initial forces were only a small garrison of 12 men. When they seen the landings they deployed a reconnaissance unit to reinforce the bridge (funnily enough the same one that would be redeployed to Arnhem for the failed assault across) and after getting the plane they moved most of the 9th SS into the area between Nijmegen and Arnhem.
10th SS sat on Arnhem and we’re reinforced across the days with fresh troops and tanks designed to hold the area after rolling up the British paras.
The biggest mistake made was the decision by Brereton and Williams to not fly double missions on day one and Hollinghurst for not dropping closer to Arnhem.
The Germans also concluded that in a post battle appraisal.
"Faulty intelligence" was not the reality as the II.SS-Panzerkorps were known to be in the Netherlands to refit and both divisions assessed to be reduced to regimental battlegroups with few if any tanks. The rules on passing down intelligence were quite strict depending on the source.
The existence of 'Ultra' code intercepts was only made public in 1975, just two years before A Bridge Too Far was released and Cornelius Ryan's 1974 book obviously knew nothing about it. The controversy revolved around the fact that reports from the Dutch resistance identifying the 9.SS-Panzer-Division near Arnhem were not confirmed by another source that could be disclosed down to divisional and brigade level, such as aerial photography.
'Ultra' as a source could only be disclosed down to Army Group (Montgomery) and Army (Dempsey) level headquarters, but not Corps level (Browning and Horrocks). So for the Dutch intelligence to be treated as confirmed, the aerial photography became important, and the only photograph that was obtained showing tanks in the Arnhem area was dismissed by Browning as showing obsolete and probably unserviceable vehicles.
The thing is that Browning was right, because the tanks picked up in the photo did not belong to a 1944 panzer division, and they were not in the area identified by the Dutch as hosting SS troops. Montgomery had already cancelled Operation Comet because of the intelligence situation and replaced it with Market Garden, adding two more Airborne Divisions. 1st Airborne Division and the Poles alone took as many anti-tank guns to Arnhem as Model had operational tanks in his entire Army Group. Montgomery and Dempsey were aware of this, but not the lower headquarters.
One of the problems with the film is that not a single anti-tank gun belonging to Airborne troops was seen anywhere in the film, because that was contrary to the impression that Richard Attenborough wanted to convey. He wanted to create the impression the Airborne had nothing more than the PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti-Tank), which was a spring-loaded mortar with a 50 yard range. The intelligence picture and the presence of the II.SS-Panzerkorps in the Netherlands (it was not all in Arnhem) was not the reason the operation failed. The real reason was not shown in the film, because it does not seem to have been picked up in Cornelius Ryan's original research, and a Hollywood produced film would never be made showing a blunder made by the 'home side', unless it was a British blunder.
Brilliant reaction to an amazing movie!
Sgt dohun threatening the surgeon may seem for fetched but it is a true story. It did happen and did save his captain. Only he threatened him with a captured luger not a 1911
Of the original 10,000 plus 1st Airborne Divisions Paras and glider troops around 8000 were KIA, MIA and POWs.
The vast majority them were POWs and not wounded and they survived the war.
One of the remarkable stories of arnham was that there was a hospital and both sides used it and allowed soldiers to go there.
It's quite the experience, and hard to take, but the odd moments of levity (from dark humour) it snatches from the mire are well worth having. For good or ill it conveys much about the British character at the time. Thank you Alan. Be well.😉
The Horrors of War depicted well , Be Well Alan , best wishes my Friend .
The actual phones lines between Arnhem and Nijmegen were working but nobody thought of using them at the time of the battle just incase they were bugged by the Germans.
16:01 Hardy Kruger fought in WW2 for the German Reich as part of the 38th SS-Grenadier-Division "Nibelungen" as he was conscripted at 16 and was sentenced to death for refusing to shoot an American squad but the order was countermanded by another officer and he later deserted while serving as a messenger.
No plan survive's the Enemy.
Having watched both parts of your reaction to this film Alan, I think you did extremely well considering the circumstances you always find yourself in regarding copyright.
As per usual your insights into what's occurring are indeed insightful and in many cases, spot on.
"Enemy At The Gates" is another good film - the true story of a Russian sniper - an excellent flick, even if it is a bit cheesy in places.
And if I may, can I recommend that you watch "The One That Got Away". I won't spoil it for you by giving you a run-down on the script/story, but it's a bloody good watch.
You read how fubarred the operation was early on in the first reaction. Total shambles, with many a life lost to poor planning.
BTW, I think I remember seeing an expert saying that the most important invention that enabled the Allies to defeat the Axis powers was the Bailey Bridge.
If you haven't reacted to The Longest Day, about Operation Overlord (D-Day), I'd highly recommend it. Its renowned, but will take a few installments, as quite a long film.
An all star cast and an overview of the operation , and it probably gives as good an impression as possible of it . I'm sure the experiences of the men , and civilians caught up in it were more extreme and I'm grateful to them all . As always you edited it pretty well and your reaction reflected the thoughts of many watching .
Oh, there was so much dialogue cut out. Though, tbh I talked a fair bit for copyright breaks but pt1 there was enough dont lecture me that I cut a ton
That's what I meant , I'm aware you have to do that and you did it well - sorry if you though it was criticism .
@@DavidSmith-cx8dg No, not at all. Thank you for the comment.
The thing with the real Operation Market Garden is that is its mostly seen as a complete failure which I just don’t and refuse to accept. The main objective failed? Yes did the British especially loose a lot of men and equipment? Yes but did the Nazis push back the allied forces? No and would never recover territory once the allies had a foot hold. I firmly believe Market Garden 100% shortened the war, was mostly a success minus the bridges. If the Germans managed to push the allies completely back out then it would’ve been a failure and the war definitely would’ve gone into 1946
It was no more of a failure than all the other allies campaigns that same autumn such as the Hurtgen Forest, Lorraine, Alsace and Operation Queen. None of these achieved their main objectives either, and suffered more casualties.
One of the main reasons for the operation was that the Americans and Britsh had expended huge amounts of money training airborne and glider troops but nothing for them to do after D-day. A number of operations were set up to drop behind German lines to facilitate the Allies advance, but the speed of German retreat negated all of these. Arnham was technically a brilliant plan but conceived and executed too quickly and without enough detailed planning. There was a second road Thirty Corps could have used, for example, but bad intelligence had falsely said it was unsuitable for tanks. They would have had a smoke cover for the river crossing.... but it would have made lousy viewing on film!
Every evening by sun down 365 days a year. people walk over the bridge to remember the 48 fallen soldiers who were killed in the boats to reach the other side to attack the bridge from two sides
The Double Tap technique of firing a hand gun is taught by the British Army So one shot is never enough!!!!!!
As a computer programmer I know all about SPOFs - Single Points of Failure - and the need to avoid them. Market Garden had about as many points of failure as there were components.
That's hilarious because I trained as a programmer/systems analyst myself and have been studying A Bridge Too Far as an interest for 46 years, since reading the book at school shortly before the film opened in cinemas in 1977.
The plan actually involved about 24 bridges and the XXX Corps' main supply 'Club Route' had a number of 'Heart Route' diversions using alternative crossings, so only a minimum of 10 bridges on the 'Club Route' were needed to get XXX Corps to Arnhem. The 'Heart Route' was actually used in a couple of instances, so the plan was flexible and it was working. The one thing that any plan cannot survive, however, is someone not even following it, which is what happened at Nijmegen on the first day, and that is the difference between a fatal error and a non-fatal error. Or, in programming terms, an error condition that is not handled versus an error condition that follows another programmed code path.
For decades, the conventional narrative established by Cornelius Ryan's book and cemented in public awareness by Richard Attenborough's compromised adaptation, led to many arguments over why the operation failed. The truth is that the arguments raged on because they were arguing over all the non-fatal errors, and many of those were exaggerated or turned out to be myths. The undocumented fatal error was a command failure in one regiment of the 82nd Airborne at Nijmegen, and Gavin sought to shoulder the blame himself instead of dishonourably throwing a subordinate officer under the bus. He asked Browning to help out in muddying the waters over the respective priorities between the Nijmegen highway bridge vs the Groesbeek heights and Browning seems to have been happy to help out in their post-war correspondence.
None of this was picked up by Cornelius Ryan in his 1967 interview with Gavin, although Gavin did hint at some of the internal political problems within the division (the interview is online in the Cornelius Ryan Collection at Ohio State University) but that didn't make it into the book. Of course you'll never get a Hollywood film showing an American Colonel compromising a British operation, and for that matter you'll not see a British one doing it either, such are Anglo-American politics since the war. The film did badly at the US box office anyway, as it came out just two years after the fall of Saigon and American audiences would rather line up around the block to see Star Wars again.
The true story came out about 10-12 years ago after all the key players had passed away, so this film and Ryan's book are both way out of date.
Sources:
Lost At Nijmegen, RG Poulussen (2011)
Put Us Down In Hell - A Combat History of the 508th PIR in WW2, Phil Nordyke (2012)
September Hope - The American Side of a Bridge Too Far, John C McManus (2012)
The 508th Connection, chapter 6 - Nijmegen Bridge, Zig Boroughs (2013)
Arnhem 1944: An Epic Battle Revisited vols 1 and 2, Christer Bergström (2019, 2020)
The last book is by a Swedish historian, using unpublished documents and interviews in the Cornelius Ryan Collection, and specifically debunks the many myths in the film.
It was a fup, EB. Our lads were left to fight on their own, with no backup or weapons. Glory to the lads for hanging on for so long. The Americans let us down.
there was a great PC game based on this operation, Close Combat 2: A Bridge to Far
This movie was blacklisted from the Oscars for portraying the war in a negative light.
One of the best WWII movies. You might want to check these three classics.
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of Britain
Dieppe
Any of these will depict their battles quite accurately. Maybe fairly accurate for the Battle/Bulge, but still one helluva good movie.
Hi E.B., glad you managed to react to this great Classic War film. This is the 2nd biggest International War film (with the Brits involved) in my opinion, after the 1962 D-Day film (The Longest Day). Sean Connery is in both, though only as a young squaddie in the earlier film. I hope you will react to (The Longest Day) as well at some point, it includes views from all sides, (Allies, German & French Resistance).
Operation Market Garden could have succeeded. If the air force would let the British land closer to Arnhem and if they wouldn't screw up in Nijmegen and miss the big bridge there, it may have functioned. Montgomery used General Horrocks and XXX Corps as the scapegoat, creating the long-living myth that they drow too slow and refused to act on Arnhem. XXX Corps arrived in Nijmegen in good time, just to find the bridge still occupied by Germans. XXX Corps couldn't move on Arnhem when all its infantry was locked up in hard street fighting in Nijmegen. The Germans had succeeded in their defensive tactics.
notice which side drinks tea
can I please please humbly recommend you watch the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain' it's phenomenal. I believe a year ago you watched 'Decisive Moment of the Battle of Britain'; nearly every shot of the aircraft and dogfights is extra footage used and left over from the film!
Great movie one of my all time favourite war movies and just movie in general. I think the movie really sets out exactly what the plan was and what was going on at each stage and particular Bridge and with XXX Corps as they advanced and also the German perspective. I think it does a really good job conveying how a plan that looks genius on paper can go completely to hell in a hand cart once all the other factors combined with ego's come into play. I think one of my favourite bits is when Col "Johnny Frost" is ringing the door bell persistently "Come on! Come on!" And then when it does get answered says: " Now look here I am terribly sorry! We're going to have to commandeer your house! Right lads? Terribly sorry you know!" Its very reminiscent of the scene in Monty Pythons "Life of Brian" when all the Romans march into the house! You will be probably hard pushed to see a more British thing in a movie! Anyone else would have just kicked the door down and got on with it! But even in the middle of a War zone proper decorum is a must! Which I think is brilliant!!
This isn't the end of the story, incredible what happens in the following weeks after the narrative in the film ends. Highly recommend the book 'The Grey Goose of Arnhem' by Leo Heaps, for me the story this tells is even more remarkable.
Have you done The longest day yet Mr Beard , bloody good film about D Day x
Pegasus Bridge and the bridge too far sometimes get mixed up ,John Howards experiences on D-Day were re-enacted by actor Richard Todd-who had himself participated in the raid, serving in the 7th Parachute Battalion,[ sent to reinforce Howard's coup-de-main party-in the film The Longest Day,
Please Mr Beard if you can do a reaction to a film called Kajaki also called Kilo Two Bravo . as far as i can remember not a shot is fired , its one of the best war movies ever . True story . < every step they take you will be shitting yourself , Most of the wounded ended up in hospital in brum , i was visiting my girlfriend at the time and a few of the guys the real soldiers were sitting outside smoking when i visited her on day . The doc who came to check my girlfriend over was a captain in the british army . uniform with a white coat . Selly Oak Hospital in birmingham , The SAS sent there lads there to do there medic , trauma traing stuff . x
Years ago nack in the 80s my bird lived in the middle of nowhere in mid Wales , on morning she heard strange noises coming from outside , so she investigated . she opened the door to be confronted by 2 blokes in shitty boots and shitty coats , turned out they were on the SAS evesion phase so she cooked em a full english breakfast and they fucked off .if they dont get caught doing it then it ok ,
Not correct, at the bridge they held a lot more than one end of the bridge and 2 buildings, they were defending the far side of the bridge, they tried taking both ends but failed, so they defended one end of the bridge and part of the town. Our armoured relief (XXX core) would arrive on the opposite side of the bridge which we failed to take. The Germans attacked in the end through the town with tanks flattening all defensive building in our perimeter forcing the paras onto the street for easy pickings. One thing never understood is this type of warfare is brand new and lessons are being learnt with airborne troops, only a handful of operations had taken place previously. One lesson learnt is don't drop 8 miles from your objective. ✌️
If you want to see another movie about Operation Market Garden, look up Theirs The Glory, from 1946! It's directed by Brian Desmond Hurst. They filmed it with the veterans from the British 1st Airborne Division in the same positions they held during the battle, in the actual ruins of the battle, it's a amazing reenactment. The acting is poor, but hey, they are soldiers, not actors. There is a copy on my other channel, Necramonium Media.
FUBAR and SNAFU combined.