101ST AIRBORNE: Market Garden 1944

1-2137503

The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past. It shows how much infrastructure has remained and points to the passing nature of things such as outfits, uniforms, and ephemera. More than 100 color and black and white photos and maps (contemporary and modern) and illustrations provide extensive coverage of the area of invasion.

The 101st parachuted right into the middle of enemy territory and north of Eindhoven. They met little resistance to begin with and captured most of their initial objectives by the end of 17 September. But the Germans managed to demolish the division's primary objective, a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son, forcing the 101st to attempted to capture a similar bridge a few kilometers away at Best.

They found the approach blocked but continued to hold territory enabling engineers to rebuild the demolished bridge. Other divisional units continued moving to the south and eventually reached the northern end of Eindhoven. In the following days they successfully defended the town of Veghel but failed to take the City of Helmond. As Operation Market Garden progressed, the rest of the 101st Airborne Division joined the 82nd Airborne Division on the island to the north of Nijmegen. The Screaming Eagles saw seventy-two days of fierce round-the-clock fighting against crack German troops and showed their fighting ability and tenacity.