The bridge at Nijmegen would not be captured on the first day of Market Garden.ĭuring the night, troops of the 508th tried in vain to capture the bridge over the Waal at Nijmegen. At 20.30 hours troops of Company A and B of the 508th were sent towards the bridge, but they were stopped by the Germans just 400 yards from the bridge. Gavin ordered that if the 508th achieved its goals within the first few hours of the operation, a battalion should be sent towards the Waal bridge in Nijmegen to try and seize it. Lindquist secured the drop zone, the high ground north of Groesbeek and established two roadblocks on the edge of Nijmegen quickly. James Gavin, the bridge at Nijmegen wasn’t captured on the first day. With the bridge at Grave and Heumen captured intact, XXX- corps was able to reach Nijmegen.īecause of a misunderstanding between the commander of the 508th, Colonel Roy Lindquist and the Division Commander Brig- Gen. The bridge at Hatert and Malden were blown up by the Germans, while the bridge at Heumen was captured intact. While the main force of the 505th formed a defensive line against German attacks at Mook and the 508th made its way to Nijmegen to seize the Waal bridge, elements of the 504th and 505th were able to capture 1 of the 4 bridges (3 were assigned targets for Marget Garden) over the Maas- Waal canal. He decided to land with the 82nd Airborne Division at Overasselt, so he could place his HQ in the middle of the three airborne divisions that were active during Market Garden. His job was to coordinate the operations of the three airborne divisions in the corridor. Browning acted as the XO for the First Allied Airborne Army, led by Lt- Gen Lewis Brereton. In the afternoon the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion landed on DZ- N at Klein- Amerika and gliders landed at Overasselt carrying elements of Lt- Gen Frederick Browning’s headquarters. In the evening he would lead his troops into Grave, which was abandoned by the enemy. The Grave bridge was also taken swiftly by paratroopers of E- 504 PIR, lead by First Lieutenant John Thompson. The 505th was confronted with some enemy resistance but were quickly able to repulse the attacks and secure the area. Main targets for the 82nd Airborne Division were the bridges at Grave, Malden, Heumen, Hatert, Honinghutje and the ultimate goal, the Waal bridges (rail- and road bridge) at Nijmegen. The 508th was assigned to Drop zone T, located just north- east of Groesbeek at the Wylerbaan. Elements of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment together with engineers from the 307th Airborne Engineers Battalion jumped on Drop zone N just south of Groesbeek. Together they were assigned to capture the bridge. Elements of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) jump from their C- 47’s on Drop zone O (see map) minus Company E, which jumped on a special drop zone just west of the Grave bridge. Early in the afternoon the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division jumped on the drop zones at Groesbeek, Overasselt and Grave.
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