Take the Arnhem Bridge**

by David Boutwell (boutwell@erols.com)**

German Advance/Delay vs British Advance/Defend*
Arnhem, Netherlands, September 18, 1944*
Turns:26**

Best played by 2 players. If played against AI, play as British first (see Game Notes!)**



Arnhem (September 18, 1944)* 

After landing at DZ X and LZ Z in Ginkel Heath, 5 miles west of Arnhem Bridge, on the afternoon of September 17, 1944, the three parachute battalions of 1 Brigade Group, 1 Airborne Division, were to advance toward their target (Arnhem Bridge). The brigade was to proceed toward Arnhem along three routes. 1 Para Battalion was to make the northernmost advance along Lion Route, the Ede-Arnhem road, and 3 Para Battalion was to advance along Tiger Route, the Ede-Arnhem railway. 2 Para Battalion, commanded by Lt. Colonel John Frost, was to approach the bridge via Leopard Route, the approach route nearest the Rhine River.** 

Unfortunately for the brigade, several hastily, yet effectively, organized German kampfgruppen barred its way along Lion and Tiger Routes. Kampfgruppen Von Allworden, Weber, Spindler and SS Panzerjaeger 9, along the northeastern edge of the landing zones forced 1 Para Battalion to abandon Lion Route and move in a southerly direction toward Tiger Route. 3 Para Battalion, moving along Tiger Route, was blocked by SS Krafft Training Battalion 16. 3 Para Battalions C Coy, acting independently,  actually found a clear route all the way to the bridge where it joined Frost. Both 1 and 3 Para wasted valuable time and manpower attempting to push past these "Sperrlinie".**
    
Frosts 2 Para Battalion, accompanied by Brigade HQ, an anti-tank troop, several troops of engineers and various other units, moved further to the south, side-stepped the German resistance and sped toward its goal. 2 Para passed through the southern edge of the town of Oosterbeek and crossed under the railroad at Laag Station. An attempt to capture the railway bridge across the Rhine, further to the south, ended with the bridge being blown in the face of 9 Platoon of C Coy. The battalion then continued its blistering pace toward the bridge, encountering relatively light resistance along the way.**

2 Para Battalion reached the bridge around 8:00 PM. However, during its advance, the battalions C Coy had been dispatched from the rest of the battalion  to capture the local German HQ on Utrechsestraat. Meeting resistence in the narrow streets of Arnhem, C Coy had been forced to take shelter for the night. Most of B Coy was assigned to the area of the pontoon bridge, west of the main bridge, to attempt to improvise a way across the Rhine. If it was successful, it was to cross over, advance eastward, and capture the southern end of the bridge. The speed of the British advance took the Germans in the area of the bridge by surprise. Several large units were in the area, but were in the process of moving south to Nijmegan to counter the American landings there. Frosts men actually watched the 9th SS Pz Divisions Recon battalion cross the bridge on its way south. The bridge was mistakenly left virtually unguarded, to the good fortune of the British paratroopers, who promptly occupied it.**

1 and 3 Para Battalions were not so lucky. KG Weber, a Luftwaffe signals unit, and SS KG Von Allworden, a three-company-strong  9th SS Pz Div. unit, held up 1 Para well into the evening, and caused it significant casualties. Battalion Krafft held up 3 Para around Oosterbeek until 9:30 PM, when it withdrew to the northwest to prevent being surrounded. Little did Captain Krafft know that he had been bypassed hours earlier by Frost.**

Both 1 and 3 Para were on the move well before dawn the next day. The two battalions moved south-eastward in a long, drawn-out column in an attempt to reach the route taken by Frost. Good progress was made with little initial opposition. 3 Paras B Coy was well in advance of the rest of the column, and reached the area around the Rhine Pavilion before 7:00 AM. As the Sun rose, German units began to contest the column.** 

Obersturmbannfuhrer Spindler, commander of the 9th SS Pz Divisions artillery regiment, had been given control of several kampfgruppen from almost every branch of the German Army. Spindler personally commanded two companies of artillery crewmen acting as infantry. KG Moeller consisted of engineers from the 9th SS Division.** 

Kg Harder contained dismounted tank crewmen, naval and logistical personnel. During the night of September 17, he had established a blocking line running perpendicular to the Rhine River, from St. Elizabeths Hospital to the Museum, then down to the Onderlangs. This blocking line covered every approach route to Arnhem from the west.** 

Frosts battalion had established a perimeter around Arnhem Bridge during the evening of September 17, leaving the previously mentioned companies more or less cut off in town to the west. Several German units had already begun probing this perimeter. One unit did so unintentionally. A convoy of V2 rocket crews, retreating from the coast, stumbled across the bridge and into 2 Para captivity. Units with more hostile motives included elements of SS Pz Gr Regt. 21 on the perimeters western edge, near Eusibius-Plein, and SS KG Brinkman and part of SS KG Euling on the northern edge, near the bridge ramp. To the south, SS Captain Graebners Recon Battalion 9 was returning from assessing the situation near Nijmegan, and would arrive at the southern end of the bridge at dawn.**

Note: This is the situation at the beginning of the scenario.** 

Historically, 1 and 3 Para spent most of the morning moving into position to make an effective push against KG Spindler. This was no easy task, as the two battalions were strung out in a long column to the west, and were having to eliminate snipers and fend off probing armored cars and self-propelled flak, as well as punch through blocking actions by German units, particularly around Oosterbeek Laag Station. The German attacks that developed around the bridge were initially unorganized and were dealt with by the British as they occurred. Later in the day, as SS Colonel Harmel, commander of 10th SS Pz Div. arrived and took personal control of the situation, attacks became more organized and effective. The two companies of 2 Para that had been assigned to tasks in Arnhem attempted to break through to the bridge perimeter, but most of them, except for a large part of B Coy, were cut off and captured.**


Sources**

It Never Snows In September- Kershaw*
Arnhem 1944- Piekalkiewicz*
A Tour Of Arnhem Battlefields- Waddy*
Arnhem 1944- Middlebrook**

I also received numerous documents from Robert Shaw, whose father-in-law, Neville Ashley, served under Grayburn and Frost. Nevilles platoon was the first onto the bridge on the night of September 17th, and he was wounded and captured at Arnhem Bridge.  Neville was a close friend of Frost after the war, which is unusual, according to Mr. Shaw, because of the difference in the mens rank and social class. Mr. Shaw has personally interviewed most of the survivors of the fight for the bridge, and has also interviewed numerous German veterans.** 


