Arnhem

The trip to Arnhem was structured to cover the operation "Market Garden", not just the action at Arnhem, and so it would start in Bruxelles and follow the route of XXX Corps towards Arnhem.

Afternoon in Bruxelles

Day 1 on the route of XXX Corps

Day 2 around Arnhem

Afternoon in Bruges

I don't intend to try to cover Operation Market Garden on these pages, just to give a flavour of the tour. We would go from Bruxelles to 'Joe's' bridge, captured on the 10th September by Lt. Col. J.O.E. Vandeleur and from there follow the path of 30 Corps as they moved up the single narrow road, 'Club' Route, towards the bridges that would be taken by the American 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. The British 1st Airborne Division would drop near Arnhem on the 17th September and were planned to take and hold the bridge there until the planned arrival of 30 Corps on 19th September.

The itinerary would see us arrive in Bruxelles around 3pm on the Sunday, allowing us time to look round. Day 1 proper would be the route through the 101st & 82nd Airborne areas to Arnhem by that evening. Day 2 would be spent in the Oosterbeek and Arnhem area covering the activities of 1st Airborne Division, then back home on the last day via Bruges where we had a lovely afternoon in this old city.

Plaque at "Joe's" Bridge commemorating it's taking by the Irish Guards.

The DVD on the left is available through Amazon, just click on the photo.