Today, we take a look at the events that transpired on the fourth day of Operation Market Garden - September 20th.  Stay tuned with us all week as we detail the history of Market Garden and release exclusive brand new screens from Hell's Highway each day.

The following information is quoted from an article written by Retired Colonel William Wilson that originally appeared in the September 1994 issue of World War II.  Thanks to Colonel John Antal, US Army Ret. (our military and authenticity advisor) for making this information available.

 ^{PAN Resistance members escorting German POWs during Market Garden.}

Running Short: 

 "The fourth day, Allied supplies were short and getting shorter.
There was only a 30 percent recovery of the paradrop that day -- no gas and only
one meal for the troops. On the morning of the fourth day, 30 ambulances and
four 2 1/2-ton trucks took the division wounded through to the evac hospital in
Belgium. From the fourth day on, the 101st was aware that the Germans would
attempt to cut the corridor, stop the flow of traffic and deal, at leisure, with the
82nd in Nijmegen and the British 1st in Arnhem. A battalion of the 82nd's 504th
Parachute Regiment, commanded by Major Julian A. Cook, had mounted four
devastation attacks before raising the American flag on the north side of the
Nijmegen bridge. The airborne divisions could not be everywhere. Some sections
of road were completely unguarded. Tension mounted; when and where would
the Germans strike? "

^{Thousands of paratroopers drift earthward during the invasion of Holland while planes fly overhead.}

Timeline of September 20, 1944: 

• This day the road from Eindhoven to Nijmegen got the name
  Hell's Highway. Why? Because the allied line was very narrow,
  only this road! In addition, the Germans crossed that line
  more than once and it was really hard fighting. German
  soldiers attacked in the morning the road to Nijmegen. They
  attacked south of Son. They had very little cover and the
  Americans used their 75 mm howitzers. The German tanks
  and half-tracks could hardly be used because of the wet and
  muddy fields. The Germans were not able to cut the lifeline
  of the allies, but they reached their goal: delay. All traffic on
  the road came to a halt and black clouds of vehicles being hit
  were seen from far distance. The British came with their
  Cromwells and found some diversion to attack the Germans.
  Several Cromwells were knocked out and some drove on a
  mine. The Germans fired the road to Nijmegen with Panthers
  and STU' s and the Allies losses were heavy. The Germans
  also lost some tanks due to fuel shortage and they were
  counterattacked from several directions. They withdrew. The
  British attacked from Eindhoven and at 12.00 hour the
  Germans were driven back en they had lost 158 men. The
  fighting took 5 hours and all traffic had come to a halt during
  that time. The British were numerical superior to the
  Germans and came with their 44th tankbataillon and their
  Hussar tankbataillon. They also had some Sextons. The small
  village Nederwetten was conquered and the Germans lost 2
  Panthers and had to withdraw to Nuenen. The promise given
  to von Mahltzahn that he would receive fuel for his brigade
  was broken. He had lost 9 Panthers in total and some just
  because of fuel shortage.

• The British para's on the bridge in Arnhem, although heavily
  attacked, are still holding out. Around noon, the radios
  started working and they learned that the rest of the
  division had no hopes of relieving them, and that XXX Corps
  was stuck to their south in front of Nijmegen bridge. By the
  afternoon, the Germans had complete control of the Arnhem
  bridge and started setting fire to the houses the British
  were defending. The rest of the division had now set up
  defensive positions in Oosterbeek to the west of Arnhem,
  waiting for the arrival of XXX Corps.

• In Nijmegen, the boats still had not arrived during the night,
  so the troops continued to wait. They did not arrive until the
  afternoon, but time was so short they decided to do the
  crossing in daylight. In what is generally considered to be one
  of the bravest actions in military history, they made the
  crossing in 26 rowboats into well-defended positions. They
  took the banks and pressed to the bridge, which caused the
  Germans to pull back from their positions on the southern
  side. That freed the Guards Armored, who rushed across the
  bridge and met the airborne troops. Nijmegen bridge over
  the River Waal was now in Allied hands after four long days.

• Continuing the advance towards Arnhem is pointless because
  the 43rd Infantry Division has not yet arrived.

• The Germans attack against the 101st at the bridge in Son but
  are defeated. Running battles between the 101st and various
  German units continued, eventually with several Panthers once
  again rushing in and cutting off the roads, only leaving when
  they ran low on ammunition.

• Supply from the air is more successful today, especially near
  Overasselt. 
  
  

This is the fourth shot of five exclusives that will be released on Gearboxity this week.  If you sign up for our mailing list (on the top left of the main page), you'll receive an extra exclusive screenshot this Friday, so sign up now!

Further Resources:

A video about this day in Market Garden can be seen by clicking this link .  Gearboxity also offers the words of veteran Ed Peniche in our exclusive video series , and a briefing of Operation Market Garden from the Colonel.  For further reading, see:
A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, The Epic of the 101st Airborne by
David J. Phillips, and Hell's Highway by George Koskimaki.