I am starting to really become interested in the battles of Opertaion Market Garden and I was hoping with your knowledge on the battle that you could share some with me. Anything at all would be most appreciated-concentrating more on the actual battles, units involved and outcomes.
Thankyou...

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

*bump*

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

Am sure Martin will reply, but you could start by getting hold of the excellent After The Battle 'Market Garden Then & Now'. Details on the web at:

http://www.afterthebattle.com/market.htm

I used it 'in the field' the other week, and in my opinion it is THE book on the battle.

I am also about to add a load of Market Garden pages to my website. On the links page there are already a load of links to existing Arnhem sites I could find.

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Paul Reed
Webmaster - Battlefields of WW2- http://www.ww2battlefields.info
D Day Ancestors: The British Army in Normandy - http://www.ddayancestors.com

Panzer,

Check this site on Market Garden. This link directs you to the Bibliography page...http://www.marketgarden.com/new/frames.html

After that go to the Homne page and start discover from there....

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"Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true!" - Homer Simpson

Just got the message. Wow - where to begin !?

Have a look at the ABRG website ; -

http://www.back.to/arnhem

And then ( of course ! ) Sommecourt's website for links and information. As he correctly says, the recent two-volume 'Market-Garden: Then & Now' although not cheap, is sure to become a 'standard' work. There is an almost incredible number of books on this single battle - I have literally a complete shelf-full.

If asked to recommend just a couple which are easy to get, I'd certainly suggest 'Arnhem 1944 : The Airborne Battle' by Martin Middlebrook and 'The Devil's Birthday : The Bridges To Arnhem' by Geoffrey Powell ( the last one covers the whole operation, not just Arnhem/Oosterbeek ).

For the German side, Robert Kershaw's 'It Never Snows In September' is useful but has been criticised for errors of fact.

And for a view of 'what it was like', there is an extraordinary novelised account of 21 Independent Coy's experience in 'The Cauldron' by Zeno ( a pseudonym for No 2 Platoon Sgt Ken Allerton ). This is sadly hard to find which is a pity - it's one of the best books I know about fighting in NW Europe.

Arnhem is a big subject ( for a relatively small battle ! ) ; let us all know if there are particular areas you're focussing on.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

Excellent, thankyou very much all. I will give all of those sites a close look this morning.

Martin-I am mainly concentrating on each of the sector battles at Son, Nijmegen, Eindhoven and I think the last one is called Kesel (????). I am also interested to see any decorations awarded during these battles to the Allied side.

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"GARRY OWEN"-Traditional war-cry of the US 7th Cavalry.
"CURRAHEE"-War-cry of the US 506th PIR.
"Everybody thinks that they are going to get the chance to punch some Nazi in the face at Normandy-and those days are over, they are long gone"-Lt Chris Burnett

You've probably realised that most of the 'Arnhem' books cover the Arnhem/Oosterbeek fighting. Possibly unfair, but it was a spectacular story.

For the 'full view', including the 'Hell's Highway' actions, you need to read '...Then & Now' and 'The Devil's Birthday' ( see above ), and don't forget Cornelius Ryan's 'A Bridge Too Far' which gives good coverage of the US actions. I'd also recommend Jim Gavin's memoir, 'On To Berlin' and also a book which I don't yet have, 'Battle At Best' by S L A Marshall.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson