Next week is a very special week in history for Gearbox Software. Operation Market Garden, the historical focus of Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway, began on September 17th. Each day next week, Gearbox will remember Market Garden by posting feature articles here on Gearboxity that highlight the actual events of Market Garden, as well as exclusive content from Hell's Highway, so keep your eyes on this site all week!
If you haven't seen the Colonel's Market Garden Briefing or our video exclusive of WWII veteran Ed Peniche , please check them out!
As an introduction to our Market Garden week, here is an excerpt from an article written by our very own Colonel John Antal, US Army Ret.:
"On September 17, 1944, in broad daylight, the Allies launched the largest airborne
operation ever conducted. The planes carrying the 101st encountered heavy antiaircraft
fire as they approached their targets, but the pilots were able to hold formation, and the
paratroopers, for the most part, were delivered to the correct drop zones. These were
located to the west of the main highway and in the center of the division's sector, near the villages of Son, St. Oedenrode, and Best. The 101st Airborne had the critical job of
securing the base of the penetration. They seized the bridges in and around Eindhoven,
Netherlands. The 82d Airborne was jumped to the north to seize the bridges in and
around Nijmegen, Netherlands. The British 1st Airborne and the Poles jumped near
Arnhem, Netherlands, to secure the bridge across the Rhine.
The parachute echelon of the 101st Airborne Division consisted of 436 c-47 transport
planes carrying some 6,809 parachutists of the Division. Four hundred twenty-four
planes dropped on D-Day, and 12 planes carrying Battery "B," 377th Parachute Field
Artillery Battalion, with 140 personnel and 6 guns, dropped on D+3.
A total of 988 CG4A gliders took off from departure bases over a period of 7 days.
Seven hundred and sixty-seven of these gliders landed without incident on the designated L.Z. Approximately 5,000 men took off from the UK and some 4,800 eventually joined
tier units in the combat zone.
The Division missions called for the seizure of the four highway and railway bridges over
the Aa River and Williams Vaart Canal at Veghel, the seizure of the highway bridge over
the Dommel River at St. Oedenrode; the seizure of the highway bridge over the
Wilhelmins Canal at Son; and the seizure of Eindhoven and the main highway bridges
over the streams in that city. The Division objectives were spread over a road distance of
fifteen some miles.
The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division secured their objectives and
linked up with the British XXX Armored Corps on September 18, 1944. The 82d
Airborne, after hard fighting, also secured their objectives around Nijemgan. The British
XXX Corps then continued the attack against fierce opposition up the 60 mile long single
road through the American 82d Airborne to the British 1st Airborne at Arnhem. It was a
race against time.
As the British tanks fought north the Germans counterattacked and did all they could do
to block the attack route and stop supplies from getting forward to the lead British tanks.
During the days that followed, the 101st Airborne fought desperate battles against
determined German counterattacks to cut the road and stop the flow of Allied forces
north. The fighting along the area from Eindhoven to Uden became known as the fight
for “Hell’s Highway” and the courage of the soldiers on both sides is the stuff of
legends. The story of the battle for Hell’s Highway is one of the most dramatic of WWII,
with lightly armed U.S. paratroopers fighting deadly battles against German tanks and
assault guns."
Please join us next week for exclusive Hell's Highway content and historical remembrance of Market Garden.
