Arnhem – ‘A Bridge Too Far’ (four-day tour)

This is a tour not to be missed. It covers the fighting that raged around the bridge and in the suburbs of Oosterbeek and tells the story of the battle and the courage of the 1st Airborne soldiers who took part in the operation that could have ended the war by Christmas. In the words of General Horrocks: ‘this is a story that you shall tell your grandchildren, and mightily bored they’ll be’.

After sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, the Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands. Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery favoured a single thrust north over the Lower Rhine river, allowing the British 2nd Army to bypass the German Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. To this end the Allies launched ‘Operation Market Garden’ on 17th September.

The plan was to drop a carpet of airborne troops consisting of three divisions, the US 101st the 82nd and the British 1st. Their job was to capture and hold a number of key bridges and thus create an ‘Airborne Corridor’ over which the British Second Army lead by XXX Corps could advance. The 101st were given the bridges around Eindhoven and the 82nd those at Nijmegen. The British 1st Division was awarded the prize being the bridges across the Rhine at Arnhem, and particularly the road bridge that was to become ‘A Bridge Too Far’.

This tour visits the last two bridges to be taken before Arnhem; the Grave and Waal Road bridges. It also concentrates heavily on the actions of the British 1^st Airborne Division that fights not only for the bridge at Arnhem, but also for its own survival.

Day One: Depart from your chosen UK collection point and proceed to Dover or Folkestone for our channel crossing by ferry or Eurotunnel to Calais.

Our tour begins as we make our way to Arnhem stopping at the Grave Bridge now known as the John S Thompson Bridge which stretched across the Maas. At the time, this was the longest road bridge in Europe stretching 500 metres. Taken by Lt. John Thompson and 15 men of his platoon, the bridge was in allied hands officially by 5pm. We then make our way through Nijmegen and across the Waal Road Bridge. This bridge is not taken until the evening of Wednesday 20^th, and then only after a river crossing assault.

On arrival in Arnhem, we will book into our centrally located hotel and the rest of the evening is at your leisure.

Day Two: Over the next two days we visit the drop and landing zones, notably Renkum and Ginkel Heaths, and discuss if they were the reason for the failure at Arnhem. We then move on to look at the Reconnaissance Troop ambush site as well as the Battle for the Woods fought by 10^th and 156^th battalions of 4^th Parachute Brigade.

On the Lombok Estate, we will walk the area looking at 14 Zwarteweg where Major General Urquhart avoided capture hiding in the attic. We also walk part of the Utrechtseweg and a section called ‘the bottleneck’ were we look at the various actions that saw the destruction of four battalions as they attempted to fight their way into the town and reach the beleaguered 2^nd battalion at the bridge. The area around ‘St Elisabeths Hospital’ and ‘the Monastery’ was a veritable caldron of action on the morning of Tuesday the 19th as the Germans slowly forced the lightly armed British troops to withdraw.

We finish the day with a visit to the Airborne Museum ‘Hartenstein’ (museum entrance fees included in the price). This was the hotel from which 1st Airborne set up their Divisional Headquarters. The area surrounding the Hartenstein was bitterly fought over throughout the battle.

Day Three: Today will follow the Lion Route taken by Lt Col John Frost and the 2nd Battalion leading to the bridge at Arnhem which they held for almost five days. Here we look at the defence of the bridge itself and the men who made this gallant stand.

Finally, we enter the perimeter. This was a defensive pocket, its base anchored to the Lower Rhine River. We’ll look at the brave actions that were fought as the remains of 1^st Airborne defiantly hung in waiting for the arrival of XXX Corps and Second Army. As we tour the perimeter, we look at the Old (Lonsdale) Church at the base of the defensive pocket as well as Kate ter Horst’s House where so many wounded were cared for. Close by is the VC site of Lance-Sergeant John Baskeyfield, who though wounded, continued to man two anti-tank guns stopping two German tanks before being killed.

Our final visit of the day is Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery. Here rest 1,684 service men who died at Arnhem including three VC holders (Lt John Greyburn, Captain Lionel Queripel and Flight Lt David Lord). We would have talked about many of those interred here on this tour and so it is fitting that we lay a wreath in their honour, before heading back to the hotel.

In all, this is a tour that explains the battle for Arnhem in detail and lays to rest some of the myths and comments that have dogged this operation for over eighty years.

Day Four: Today sees us leave our hotel and journey back to France and our crossing back to the UK.