1st Airborne: Market Garden 1944 (Past & Present)

A keen cyclist he has toured the Normandy battlefields many times.Leo Marriott is a retired Air Traffic Controller who has had more than thirty books published on his specialist subjects: naval warfare and aviation. He is an experienced pilot and accomplished aerial photographer. Simon Forty has been working in publishing as commissioning editor and author for 35 years. He has

After nine days of fighting, 1st Airborne had lost 8,000 men around Arnhem when the survivors retreated across the Lower Rhine to safety. While the 6th Airborne Division had landed in France on D-Day and covered itself in glory, its counterpart, the 1st Airborne Division, had last seen action during an amphibious assault at Taranto on September 9, 1943, as part of the invasion of Italy. During those nine days, however, they had created a legend: first as the small unit under Lt-Col John Frost held the “bridge too far” and then as the Oosterbeek perimeter came under sustained attack waiting for XXX Corps to arrive.The Past & Present Series reconstructs historical battles by using photography, juxtaposing modern views with those of the past together with concise explanatory text. It was to be 1st Airborne’s last action of the war. Encountering more resistance than expected, including II SS Panzer Corps, the division landed too far from Arnhem bridge, and fought bravely but in vain. Held up en route, particularly at Nijmegen, XXX Corps’ advance to Arnhem stuttered and ran late. In S

He has co-authored with Leo Marriott a series of books on the Normandy Campaign, including The Normandy Battlefields: D-Day & the Bridgehead (2014) and Hitler's Atlantic Wall (2016). About the Author Simon Forty has been working in publishing as commissioning editor and author for 35 years. He is an experienced pilot and accomplished aerial photographer. . A keen cyclist he has toured the Normandy battlefields many times.Leo Marriott is a retired Air Traffic Controller who has had more than thirty books published on his specialist subjects: naval warfare and aviation