Featured battle : Operation Market Garden

Part of Second World War

Date : 17 September 1944 - 26 September 1944

Montgomery's audacious plan to punch a narrow hole through German lines and turn the flank of the Siegfried line. The aim was to lay a 'carpet' of Airborne forces to capture vital bridges over the Meuse, Rhine and Lower Rhine around Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, then force the 2nd Army, spearheaded by the British XXX Corps down the causeway to link up with the Airborne divisions. German resistance was, however, much stronger that expected as 2 German Panzer units were resting in the area and the supposedly 'scratch' units defending the line fought hard. Additionally the nature of the terrain made it particularly easy for the germans to cut the road, raised between low-lying boggy fields. Although the US 101st and eventually the 82nd Airborne secured their bridges the column was unable to reach the British 1st Airborne in Arnhem, who were surrounded and crushed. Their 10 day stand, however, became legendary.

Battle for the Bocage 1944

Tim Saunders
This is the story of one small campaign of a whole world war. This is the crucial action which turned a toe hold into a hand hold. The desperate struggle which was pushed forward by the 50th Division aided by 7th and 8th Armoured divisions, Royal Artillery and all other support arms. The text is very clear and there are numerous photographs, almost one per page, of the people and the equipment. There are maps of different kinds which cover every planned advance and the general area of operations. Unfortunately not a single one has the scale which leaves the reader to work hard with the text to understand the distances involved.
The narrative works at the level of divisions, battalions, batteries, companies, platoons, squadrons, troops, sections and individuals. The ‘voices’ of the officers and men plus their various citations for bravery tell a vivid tale. Also the German side is not neglected from the reporting of actions and feelings. I would like to have seen a full body count at the end for this campaign, it must have been very high and would have served as a sobering reminder of the real cost of this ‘hand hold’.
This book is not easy to put down, it’s a real page turner. You may of course reflect that when you finish it the campaign will be much clearer to you than it was at the time to any of those involved from Army commander to Tommy Atkins. The fog of war has been blown away by Tim Saunders.
We highly recommend this great read.

Pen & Sword Military, 2021