European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 24, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Allied flags the Waal River Bridge and the Road to arnhem were ail part of the 50th anniversary events. Reliving Market continued from Page 19 from jumping at the a Day commemoration last summer in Normandy. Along with four other veterans he was to jump last saturday but wind driven rain forced officials to cancel the jumps for the 82nd and yets. The next Day the world War ii boys insisted that they try again. But the weather again did them in. In the end the dutch at Nijm Egen let the vets jump when they returned to the Airport. They landed safely using Square chutes. The drops that really counted though said Jones were the ones that the vets made in Sicily Salerno Normandy arid Nijm Egen during the War. On sunday some veterans boarded amphibious Landing Craft and re created the boat crossing of the Waal just West of the Nijm Egen railway and Road Bridges. In the desperate 1944 Daylight assault 26 boats went out and Only 11 came Back. At the commemoration a crowd of 200,000 lined the Waal riverbanks and Edge of the Bridge to cheer the vets on. One British Veteran waved his Beret and called out is eve a body Happy the dutch people Many of them eating French Fries with Mayonnaise and sipping cokes yelled Back " yesh a Parade of some 700 Vintage vehicles driving hell s Highway corridor from Eindhoven arrived snore than dutch schoolgirls present Flowers to american veterans of the Waal crossing. At right British guards Lead a Parade through Nijm Egen after an ecumenical Church service. Is photos by Ken George two hours late. But the dutch people As they did for much of the four year nazi occupation waited. Meanwhile Britain s lord Peter Carrington captured their attention re creating the Grenadier guards crossing in a tank. Carrington the former United kingdom minister of foreign affairs and Secretary general of nato was the first tank commander to Cross the Bridge Over the Waal. Alrnost200 american military people based in Europe helped with command and control of what some dutch organizers called the largest paramilitary operation since the War. V. Y. " a .-., soldiers mostly from the 21st theater army area come headquartered in Kaiserslautern Germany attempted to trouble shoot and coordinate with dutch authorities to keep things on schedule. But the same thing happened As happened 50 years ago said Samantha Chroman a 21st Talcom project officer about events like the Parade. They were delayed by the local populace waving Flowers and american -. The dutch faced some unexpected delays said Chroman. They turned to the 21st logistic experts. Our people were there to provide the. Backbone to allow events to go on. Unfortunately for the Veteran paratroops logistical support could do nothing about the weather. Dutch paratroops jump at the Klein America drop zone. Windy Rainy weather cancelled most  is by Effie Batman staff writer unday sept. 17,1944, was sunny and warm. The windmills hardly turned in the Southern Netherlands wetlands. Three months after the a Day landings at Normandy France the Allied Advance across Western Europe had stretched thin and stalled. To break through the German lines the allies mounted a combined ground and airborne assault second in history Only to a Day code named operation Market Garden. British Field marshal Bernard Montgomery s plan was to capture several Bridges Over a series of Rivers and canals from Eindhoven to arnhem via Nijm Egen then drive East through the German Industrial Ruhr Region. With this bold strike Montgomery envisioned the allies eating their Christmas puddings in Adolf Hitler s Berlin. From the air paratroops were to land and capture the Bridges without damaging them at three cities. The american 101st airborne div was to land near Eindhoven the american 82nd airborne near Nijm Egen and the British 1 St airborne div later joined by a polish paratroop brigade near arnhem. On the ground the British. 30th corps of the 2nd army was to punch a corridor North to arnhem and outflank Germany s Siegfried line. The forces were to also eliminate v1 and v2 rocket launch Sites which kept England in terror. Market was the air operation and Garden was the drive on the ground. To succeed the British ground forces had to reach its paratroops farthest out on the Battlefield limb in two or three Days All the while troops were to be resupplied by Airdrop. But through a series of equipment failures blunders and Montgomery s disregard of intelligence warnings that two German armoured divisions were in the arnhem area the fighting raged for More than a week. Of 10,000 British paratroopers Only 2,000 returned from arnhem a Bridge too far out of the allies reach. On the operation s sunny september Start 50 years ago this week an air Armada almost 10 Miles wide and 100 Miles Long left 24 airfields in England and dropped 20,000 British and american troops. The screaming eagles of the 101st secured most of. Their 11 targeted Bridges near Eindhoven Early on. The All american paratroops of the 82nd landed just Southeast of Nijm Egen at Groesbeek. After three Days battling German reinforcements who had been rushed into the area the lightly armed troops could not Lake the important Waal Bridge. In a desperate Daylight venture in Flimsy Canvas boats the americans made a Hail Mary crossing of the River under fire. They took the Bridge from the North end. At arnhem the British 1st airborne landed Well enough but its situation quickly deteriorated. The Landing zone More than six Miles to the West of the last Bridge meant a heavy March. Jeeps that were to transport the British troops never arrived. Radios failed. The division commander maj. Gen. Roy e. Urquhart set out to View the situation but was Cut off from his troops and was forced to spend a Day and a half hiding in an attic before he could rejoin his forces. The poles were delayed because of bad weather in England. By the time they arrived the germans who had obtained Complete Battle plans from a crashed glider were waiting for them and gunned paratroops Down As they dropped from the sky. In addition the Long narrow line of Allied ground forces delayed initially by crowds of dutch people jubilant at their liberation fell increasing behind the timetable battling German tanks. German tanks of the 9th and 10th is Panzer divisions charged to the defense of the Bridges which the germans dared not destroy lest they needed them for a possible offensive of their own. All attempts to relieve the beleaguered British paratroops who had reached the Northern Edge of the arnhem Bridge failed. On the morning of the fourth Day of heavy fighting what was left of the paratroops out of time and out of ammunition gave up. The fighting on the perimeter continued for More than three Days but four battalions of British paratroops melted before the German tanks. On sept. 25, with the British 30th corps Only a mile away Montgomery ordered Urquhart and his trapped men to withdraw. It was too late to save the British 1st airborne div. The allies walked swam and made their Way Back to Nijm Egen. In All during the nine Days of Market Garden combined losses airborne and ground forces in killed wounded and missing amounted to More than 17,000. American losses were put at 3,974. Although the americans achieved their Mission Overall the operation was judged a failure. As one historian wrote the arnhem adventure was Over and with it Market Garden. All objectives save arnhem had been won but without arnhem the rest were As  arnhem Lay in rubble for More than six months under the germans until the War ended. Contributing to this report Cox news service. 20 the stars and stripes saturday september 24, 1994 the stars and stripes 21