Note from Arnhem Bridge

World War II. You’ve probably heard the phrase or title “A Bridge Too Far.” The titles of the book and movie were taken from the words spoken by British Lt. General Frederick Browning — the full quote is actually, “I think we may be going a bridge too far,” in reference to the objectives to capture several bridges in German-occupied Netherlands, in September 1944.

The battle at Arnhem Bridge was fierce: British paratroopers against German SS troops. [For those not familiar with WWII: SS troops were special units, separate/different than standard Wermacht soldiers. The SS were indoctrinated in the Nazi culture — they were the true Nazis of the armed forces.]

The [British] Battalion Headquarters building, still defiantly holding out, was also ablaze. In its basement the wounded, British and German, lay so tightly packed that there was barely room for the orderlies to move between them. The heat became intense and the cellar began filling with smoke. Since it was now simply a matter of time before the building caved in on top of them, a medical officer requested a ceasefire, which the enemy granted. Together, at great risk, both sides removed the wounded to safety. The task took about an hour and no sooner had it been completed than the structure collapsed into a heap of smoking rubble. The means no longer existed by which the small remnant of Frost’s battalion could continue the battle. [The British paratroopers were captured.]

Members of the Dutch Resistance who had joined the British were shot out of hand. So, too, was one paratrooper who resisted a body search. These incidents apart, the SS behaved correctly and even decently, many of them handing out cigarettes and portions of their own rations, as well as arranging transportation of the wounded to hospital.

Last Stand!, by Bryan Perrett.

Bullgrit
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