The Flip-Side of a Bridge Too Far

Tucker-Jones, Anthony.  The Devil's Bridge: The German Victory at Arnhem, 1944.  Oxford:
          Osprey Publishing, 2020.  ISBN: 9781472839862

 Every battle has at least two sides and Operation Market Garden is no exception.  You are not familiar with this battle dreamed up by Marshall Montgomery?  Ah, you are in for a treat.  Sit down and read A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, then watch the movie by the same name.  Now you are ready for The Devil's Bridge.

Tucker-Jones mined and scoured the German archives and military records to put together the German side of Operation Market Garden.  He opens with the situation in early September when the German Army was in retreat all along the front lines.  Antwerp has fallen to the Brits, but they had not gained the river ways leading into Antwerp.   Scratch forces were in place at the Albert Canal under General Student.  Model had recently moved his headquarters to Arnhem when the Brits and Americans dropped out of the skies and almost nabbed him.  All the local forces were turned out, no matter their ability, bodies were needed to stem the Allied tide.  And they managed, barely, time and time again.  They could not prevail and turn back the British and American forces, but they slowed their advance enough that the Allied armies never got over the Arnhem bridge until 1945.  It was a heroic action on both sides, but gained the Allied armies little useful ground and continued the whittling of German forces in the West.

If you are looking for the flip-side of A Bridge Too Far, you have the right book in hand!