Posted on 10/05/2014 7:09:52 PM PDT by Abakumov
Mario Patruno, a 93 year old World War Two veteran, formerly of the 101st Airborne Division, is featured in this documentary on Operation Market Garden. The short film, produced by the USAF 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, mixes rarely seen documentary footage with contemporary coverage of the 70th anniversary celebration and jump recreation by combined U.S. and Dutch airborne troops.
Private Patruno jumped at Normandy and Eindhoven with the 101st, and was wounded in both operations. He fought in house to house battles with Nazi troops, and was shot in the face, but survived to tell his story.
(Excerpt) Read more at radixnews.com ...
Very nice - thanks for posting!
I think “Market Garden” was not a bad idea, it was just unlucky and also flawed in it’s execution.
I think Patton basically had the same idea but was not allowed to carry it out.
Patton was a much better general than Montgomery in offensive operations.
www.gpsdeclassified.com
Monty’s folly that got a lot of good guys killed but he had to have it his way.
Thanks for posting. I’ll watch when Tchaikivsky is finished.
I read in one of the books about Patton that both he and Montgomery thought an opening had occurred where a quick thrust into Germany could end the war in a couple of weeks.
The surprising thing to me was that Montgomery would try such an audacious plan. He saw such an enormous amount of death as a young officer in WWI that he became very conservative as a general.
Montgomery could not get it right from Normandy onward. The American generals couldn’t stand his theatrics and ego. Patton was particularly unimpressed. I’ve been to that area of the Netherlands when I was young. That’s rough country to carry on operations. Narrow, primitive roads interspersed with woods and swampy areas, the bridges (back then at least) were also narrow and couldn’t put up with heavy loads.
CC
The single road that the success of Market Garden depended on was elevated many feet above the surrounding terrain. Almost impossible for competent opposition to NOT stop them in their tracks. General Model was not merely competent, but their best defensive general. It didn’t help that the plans for the operation were delivered to Model in the first hours of operation from a crashed glider.
You’re welcome. I think it was very well done, and considering you never see mainstream press coverage of these types of events I think it’s important to get the word out when possible.
Plus, for the plan to succeed the Allies had to meet all their objectives, while to defeat the plan the Germans only had to deny one objective. “A bridge too far” really sums it up — those Brits at Arnhem were given an impossible task and it’s amazing they held out as long as they did.
Bump.
Market Garden ping
Monty was an idiot.
You may find this interesting.
101st Airborne in the video and how much they and all US Troopers are appreciated by Holland.
The King of the Netherlands did not think Monty's flawed plan was a good idea. His statements were not kind toward Monty.
The Germans thought Monty and Patton were the best. They probably knew better than anyone else.
Patton was the general to lead a dagger thrust in September, but the place to do it was on Monty’s front.
It also did not help that British Intel knew there were 2 SS Panzer divisions recently moved into the area, information that Montgomery ignored.
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