Arnhem: The Complete Story of Operation Market Garden 17-25 September 1944

by William F. Buckingham

On 21 August 1944 German Army Group B was destroyed in Normandy and Allied troops began pressing east from the beachhead they had occupied since the D-Day landings. Within days British troops had liberated Brussels and reached the Dutch border. Encouraged by seeming total German collapse, the Allies gambled their overstretched resources on a high-risk strategy aimed at opening the way into Germany itself – crossing the Rhine.

On the afternoon of Sunday 17 September British tanks advanced into Holland in concert with 1,534 transport aircraft and 491 gliders. Their objective was a series of bridges across the Rhine, possession of which would allow the Allies to advance into Germany. In the event the operation was dogged by bad weather, flawed planning, tardiness and overconfidence, and ended with the Arnhem crossing still in German hands despite an epic nine-day battle that cost the British 1st Airborne Division over two-thirds of its men killed, wounded or captured.

Arnhem: The Complete Story combines analysis and new research by a leading authority on Operation MARKET GARDEN with the words of the men who were there, and provides the most comprehensive account of the battle to date, day by day, hour by desperate hour.

Genres: History, World War II, Military History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

630 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2019

Reviews

[Jonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dense, detailed examination of the British and Polish stand on the North bank of the Rhine and the factors leading to the operation's ultimate failure; other actions in the Airborne Corridor are examined, but only where they impact on the battles in Arnhem and Oosterbeek -follow the title, not the strapline!

Given the outcome of the operation, rounds of the blame game are inevitable, and Mr Buckingham's arguments on this are well thought through and supported, as well as being interesting and persuasive. His final conclusion is also satisfying and similarly well written.

Also satisfying, from a personal point of view, is the degree of myth busting which is undertaken - on both Allied and German sides of the fence- and the degree of detail in both research and writing is breathtaking. No misgivings with this book that the tale has been told so many times before!

An excellent example of how to write a full narrative history. At times it was all too easy to picture the exhausted, battered Paras in their foxholes under unanswerable German artillery fire giving their all.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to concur with previous sceptics. While some back and forth between the British, the Americans and XXX corps is unavoidable, it does not have to be weak-structured. This too finely printed mass of details flonders like the Polish river crossings. One strength? very critical of command failures, mostly by Browning as a Monty protegé and Urquhart as prone to fall into isolation from his troops.

[Peter Corrigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title seems to say it all: the Complete Story of Operation Market Garden. And you would be forgiven, if after slogging through almost 500 pages of some of the smallest print I have ever encountered, you thought it WAS the 'complete' story. But alas, you would be badly mistaken. For it is roughly 90 percent about the Allied side of the story. Yes, he mentions the Germans frequently, but it's almost as if General Sosabowski (the Polish 1st Para Brigade commander--Gene Hackman in 'A Bridge Too Far') forgot to tap on the shoulder of William F. Buckingham and say..'but the Germans, what about them?' as he so famously did during the run-up to the battle. There are plenty of mentions of Haupsturmfuhrers, Obersturmfuhrers and Kampfgruppes but little real insight into the German thinking and the myriad problems they faced. The German Army and the numerous SS units involved were certainly a shadow of the 1940-41 Heer that prevailed In France and Russia during those early days. He mentions tactical weaknesses in armor-infantry coordination in several places but there is no real analysis of why that would occur in such a supposedly experienced force. The obvious answer is 3+ years in Russia and the just-ended Normandy campaign had utterly devastated the fighting ability of the Wehrmacht, but that obvious fact is never mentioned or explored. Give him credit however for utterly demolishing the myth that Market-Garden landed inadvertently on two full SS Panzer Divisions (9th and 10th SS), the truth is that there were pieces of shattered formations and barely combat functional units around Holland, including element of various SS units of highly variable quality. But of the Allies, the detail is nothing short of amazing. It almost seems as if every plane that took off from England was accounted for, every parachute counted and it almost feels as if every British soldier shot is counted in the narrative. The detail is most intense when discussing the BR 1st AB which is perhaps understandable but the focus on the reduction of the Oosterbeek pocket is more or less exhausting. There is also great insight into the decision-making at higher echelons of the Allied effort and he rightfully trashes the British high command for setting up General Sosabowski as a 'fall-guy'. Several unforgivables in a book of this nature were also permitted. No Order of Battle. With the literally overwhelming number of small units whose action is chronicled in excruciating detail that is nothing short of 'criminal'. You have next to no hope of keeping track of the myriad units without it. The maps. No scale and no direction arrow, can't even say how silly that is. I will say it is an admirable effort overall. But it really could have used some editing of the endless stream of action but then provide some more insight into why certain things were happening as opposed the undeniable fact that they were.

[Steve Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book if you want an almost hour by hour narrative. Fair warning, it is quite dense. It took me twice as long as it usually would for a book of this length. The detail is excellent and it comes from both sides. the author pulls no punches and lays the blame right where it belongs.

[Miguel Flugelman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed account of Operation Market Garden, perhaps too detailed , one looses the big picture because of so many microevents described in the book. Was it a tactical/strategic success or failure? What were the consequences ? Did it help or hinder the war effort?