The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Hell's Highway (Sept. 1944) - Oct 14th, 2004

World War II's Special Collector's Edition - Band of Brothers. | 2004 | Michael Haskew

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Holding the Line Along Hell's Highway

As the 101st secured Eindhoven and Veghel at the start of Operation Market-Garden, its battles in Holland were only just beginning.

In broad daylight the three parachute infantry regiments of the 101st Airborne Division descended with amazing accuracy on designated drop zones in Nazi-occupied Holland. It was September 17, 1944, and the Screaming Eagles were to play a vital role in Operation Market-Garden. Once the Allied armies had broken out of their D-Day beachhead and through the bocage, or hedgerow country, of France, they advanced rapidly. Disorganized German units retreated before them.



Fixed fortifications, known as the Siegfried Line or West Wall, barred a direct strike into Germany itself. In the northern area of Allied operations, British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery had devised an ambitious plan to outflank the Siegfried Line and facilitate a drive directly into the Ruhr, the industrial heart of Germany. Montgomery's plan relied on the First Allied Airborne Army, of which the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, including the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions, was a part. The commander of this army was Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton.


In England paratroopers from 101 Airborne Division are 'boarding' for operation Market Garden on September 17th 1944.

The U.S. airborne troops, who had participated in the D-Day operations, had been resting and absorbing replacements in England since mid-July. For Market-Garden, it was hoped that the Americans, along with the British 1st Airborne Division, would launch a bold strike across the Maas, Waal and Neder Rijn (Rhine) rivers in Holland that would pave the way for ground troops to advance swiftly into Germany and end the war by Christmas of 1944.


Holland, September 18, 1944. Heavily loaded American CG-4 gliders bound for LZ W in the 101st Airborne Division's area.

Key to the success of Montgomery's plan would be the seizure of bridges across rivers and adjacent canals by the airborne troops and swift movement of ground forces up a single highway, spanning roughly 60 miles from the Allied lines in Belgium to the Dutch town of Arnhem. The troops would hold the bridges until relief appeared in the form of the British XXX Corps charging down the single road, crossing the bridges successively and arriving at Arnhem as the vanguard of a larger force pushing southeast into Germany.


The Son Bridge

The 101st would secure the southernmost bridges, including one over the Wilhelmina Canal at the town of Son, a pair spanning the Dommel River at St. Oedenrode and then four more over the Aar River near the town of Veghel. Eindhoven was also to be captured while the men of the 101st held open 15 miles of the road toward Arnhem for the XXX Corps' use. By the end of their service in Market-Garden, the men of the 101st would refer to this stretch of road as "Hell's Highway." Farther north, the 82nd Airborne was ordered to capture the bridge at Grave, the longest in Europe. The 82nd would also take one or more of the four bridges across the Maas-Waal Canal, another bridge over the Waal at Nijmegen and the area around the town of Groesbeek. The final leg of the XXX Corps' drive involved a dash from Nijmegen to Arnhem, where the British 1st Airborne was to capture and hold three bridges across the Rhine.


The haystack at right would have softened the landing for this paratrooper who hit the earth head first during operations in Holland by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944.

Had Market-Garden succeeded, the war might indeed have been shortened. As it turned out, elements of two SS panzer divisions, the 9th and 10th, had been ordered to the vicinity of the Allied thrust to rest and refit in the days immediately prior to the start of the operation. Also, by coincidence, while Market-Garden was getting underway, the German 59th and 245th Infantry divisions were in transit from the area of the German Fifteenth Army to that of the First Parachute Army—right in the operation's path.


The Son DZ on 17 September, 1944

Intelligence that indicated strong concentrations of German forces in the proposed area of operations appears to have been ignored by planners. Due to stiff resistance, Operation Market-Garden was doomed to failure. The 1st Airborne fought an epic battle for 10 days in and around Arnhem, but of the nearly 10,000 British paratroopers who participated, just over 2,000 escaped death or captivity.


Holland liberated - 17-09-44 Son. Soldiers of the 101st US Airborne Division and citizens looking at a German 88mm anti aircraft gun which has shot down 17 allied aircraft judging by the number of kill rings on its gun barrel, before being knocked out.

On the afternoon of September 17, the 101st executed a nearly flawless airdrop. All but two of its battalions were delivered to their correct drop zones. Unlike what had happened in the D-Day drops, the transport pilots held their planes steady and on course through anti-aircraft fire rather than taking evasive action that could have scattered the troops. Most units assembled and moved toward their objectives shortly after landing.


Holland liberated - 17-09-44 Son. A soldier of the 101st U.S. Airborne Division is leaving the landing area near Son. Note his beret on his right shoulder and Garand rifle.

Dropping near Son, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Robert F. Sink, was to capture a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal and then advance south to Eindhoven. The 502nd, commanded by Colonel John H. Michaelis, would establish a perimeter around its drop zone just north of the 506th so that it could later be used as a glider landing zone. It was then to capture a bridge over the Dommel and take bridges over the Wilhelmina Canal near the town of Best. The 501st, under Colonel Howard R. Johnson, was still farther north, where the regiment was instructed to take both road and rail bridges on the Willems Canal and the Aar River near the town of Veghel.

[SAMWolf]

The 501st, including its 1st Battalion, which had been dropped in the wrong place, made rapid progress toward its objectives. Lieutenant Colonel Harry W.O. Kinnard, commander of the battalion, gathered his forces and set out in the direction of Veghel. Some of Kinnard's men commandeered bicycles and trucks, leading the rest of the battalion toward the bridges. When Kinnard arrived on the outskirts of Veghel, his troopers had already taken the railroad bridge over the Aar River. The 3rd Battalion took the town of Eerde and cut the Veghel–St. Oedenrode highway, safeguarding the regiment's rear. Meanwhile, the 2nd Battalion seized three bridges at Veghel.



The 501st secured all of its September 17 objectives in about three hours, capturing 50 prisoners in the process. In his haste to move toward Veghel, however, Kinnard was unable to transport all of his battalion's equipment. He had left 46 men under the command of Captain W.S. Burd to bring this equipment, along with those paratroopers injured in the jump, forward at a slower pace. Burd's detachment was attacked by a strong force of Germans and pushed back to a single building. When word of Burd's plight reached Kinnard, Johnson allowed him to send a platoon to the rescue. The attempt failed, and Burd's group was captured.


This is one of the first photos taken after the paratroopers entered Eindhoven to liberate the town and clear the road for the British Armoured Division.Fltr: priv.Robert E.Jones - staff sergeant Hugh Bonden and Clyde E.Jeffers.The first picture of the liberation of Eindhoven Sept.18th 1944 (11.00 PM)

The other unit dropped out of its prescribed zone was the 1st Battalion of the 502nd Regiment. Nevertheless, that battalion, under Lt. Col. Patrick F. Cassidy, took St. Oedenrode, which commanded a major highway and a bridge over the Dommel. The 1st's men killed 20 Germans and captured 58 in the process.

Major General Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st, wanted to capture rail and highway bridges over the Wilhelmina Canal near Best. Those bridges did not sit directly along the line of advance of the XXX Corps, but Taylor felt that their possession would strengthen his position and provide another route if the road through Son were cut.

A picture of a small percentage of the prisoners taken on 18 September, 1944 near Best, Holland.

The 502nd's Company H drew the assignment of taking the bridges and soon ran into strong opposition. Its commander, Captain Robert E. Jones, dispatched a patrol toward the bridges. Led by Lieutenant Edward L. Wierzbowski, this group came within sight of the highway bridge but was forced to dig in, its strength reduced to only three officers and 15 men. Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, who earned the Medal of Honor in Normandy, commanded the 3rd Battalion, 502nd. He started out with the rest of his battalion to find Captain Jones and Company H at 1800 hours on the 17th, but his effort to link up was thwarted by darkness. The fight for Best would ultimately require a much larger force, including British tanks and at least two more battalions, to secure the area during the next two days. Private First Class Joe E. Mann would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 19—he died after being shot by a German sniper. General Taylor moved ahead with the 1st Battalion, 506th, south of Son, approaching the Wilhelmina Canal road bridge from the west. Just south of the town, below the Zonsche Forest, 88mm guns began shelling the Americans. The other two battalions of the 506th, commanded by Colonel Sink, came under fire from additional 88s.


LZ W, Holland, September 18, 1944. Troopers of the 101st Airborne using axes and other implements to rescue a badly injured glider pilot (seen at bottom centre of photo) pinned in wreckage of this CG-4.

Don Burgett, a member of the 1st Battalion, remembered the vicious fight for Son. "We organized and we began to charge the guns," he recalled. "The only way we were going to survive was to knock out the 88s even though a lot of us were going to die trying to do it. As we were running toward them, they fired at us at point-blank range. We overran their positions. There were several 88s. They were sandbagged and dug in and used for anti-aircraft. A trooper from D Company got in close enough and fired a bazooka and knocked out one of the guns."


On 18 September, 1944, some German prisoners were taken on the edge of LZ 'W' near Son, Holland. In this photo, some HQ/502 personnel are writing down names of the prisoners and a couple of recently-landed CG-4A gliders are visible in the background. Trooper in the foreground is S-2 man August 'Gus' Mangoni, who had jumped as a Pathfinder in Normandy. Lt.Joe Pangerl snapped this dramatic photo while on the move and very busy.

Both groups from the 506th then moved toward the bridge. "We overran the 88s, took the German gunners prisoner, and someone said, "Let's take the bridge,'" continued Burgett. "We started to run toward the bridge. We were within yards of the bridge when the Germans blew it up. It went off with quite a force....We hit the ground. I rolled over on my back because everything got real quiet, and I saw the debris in the air. I remember seeing this tiny straw that was turning slowly, way up in the air, and as it hit its maximum trajectory and started to come down, it became larger and larger. About halfway down we realized the size of this thing. It was probably about 2 feet wide and 40 feet long. There was no place to run. When it hit the ground, the ground shook like jello."


Sink (middle) marched into Eindhoven with his men to move the 506th command post to Eindhoven . This photo is made in Eindhoven, Frankrijkstraat.

With the Son bridge in ruins, the effort to capture Eindhoven slowed. However, the XXX Corps halted that evening at Valkenswaard, six miles away. By the time the XXX Corps arrived at Eindhoven the next day, the town was in the hands of the 101st. As night fell on the 17th, the 101st controlled Veghel, St. Oedenrode and Son. Although the 502nd had encountered battle-toughened German troops around Best, the objective there was secondary. In a few hours, the 101st would have its stretch of Hell's Highway completely open.


September 17, 1944, Eindhoven, Holland. American glider troops assemble after having just arrived from England. The motorcycle was captured from the Germans. In its sidecar rides the German soldier who had been driving the motorcycle when the American landed

Almost from the beginning, jubilant Dutch civilians had welcomed the Allied paratroopers as liberators. Early on the morning of September 18, the 506th destroyed a pair of 88s and pushed into Eindhoven. While throngs of citizens welcomed them, the paratroopers disarmed a handful of Germans. As the townspeople erupted in celebration, one American officer remembered: "The reception was terrific. The air seemed to reek with hate for the Germans...."


The vital Bailey-bridge near Son

Finally, at 1700 hours that evening, the leading elements of the XXX Corps rumbled through Eindhoven virtually without stopping. At Son, Canadian engineers, who had been notified that the existing bridge had been destroyed, worked throughout the night to deploy a prefabricated Bailey bridge. At 0645 on the 19th, 33 hours behind schedule, the tanks of the XXX Corps rumbled over the Wilhelmina Canal.

[SAMWolf]

By the morning of September 19, the XXX Corps had crossed the Willems Canal and the Aar River at Veghel and was moving into the 82nd Airborne's zone. While the 82nd had been successful in achieving most of its goals, the Germans still held the bridge across the Waal at Nijmegen. It was captured with a herculean effort on the afternoon of the 20th, but the armored "cavalry" did not cross the Waal until the 21st. Time was running out for the heroic British paratroopers at Arnhem.


A scene along Hell's Highway in September, 1944. The occupants of the jeep are members of 101st Divarty.

In the 101st's sector, the primary job became holding the narrow corridor of hope open against repeated enemy counterattacks. While Allied armor was advancing northward, it was vital to keep the road open to facilitate the flow of troops and supplies. The Germans, however, fought back viciously against the 101st's defensive positions around Eindhoven, Son, St. Oedenrode and Veghel. General Taylor likened the action to the bushwhacking style of fighting between small garrisons of troops and Indians in the American West. The Germans would attack, cut the road and then be driven back by the troopers of the 101st.



On the 22nd, the Germans mounted a counterattack against Veghel supported by heavy artillery and aircraft. The attack was not beaten back until two days later. "It was a very depressing atmosphere listening to the civilians moan, shriek, sing hymns and say their prayers," wrote Daniel Kenyon Webster of the 506th's Company E, remembering the rain of artillery. He and Private Don Wiseman dug a deep foxhole. "Wiseman and I sat in our corners and cursed," Webster continued. "Every time we heard a shell come over, we closed our eyes and put our heads between our legs. Every time the shells went off, we looked up and grinned at each other."


Landing at the dropzone near Son. Not all landings pass without mishap. While descending two gliders of the 101st Airborne Division have collided and crashed on the landing zone. One pilot is killed. The five occupants of the second glider are trapped inside the wreckage. Paratroopers of the 506th PIR that has just landed rush forward to help. Identified outside the glider are f.l.t.r. Joe Crawford, Chaplain Tilden McGee, Captain Tollet and Stanley Speiwak.

On September 24, the Germans ravaged a British column on Hell's Highway at Koevering. Burgett remembered: "The Germans brought up some 40mm cannons and they had some self-propelled guns, and they shot up the British who were lined up on the side of the road…brewing tea in those five-gallon tins, and the Germans just opened up on them. They killed over 300. "When we got down to Koevering, the trucks were still burning," continued Burgett. "We went into the attack immediately. I remember we killed two Germans in a haystack. Then we made an attack west across the road at a farmhouse. The farmhouse was set on fire. We went into the German side, and we drove them back."


101st Airborne Trooper shares his food with Dutch civilians.

Although it became apparent that Market-Garden was a strategic failure, the men of the 101st Airborne could say that they had done their part admirably. The northern flank of the Allied armies was extended 65 miles across two canals and the Maas and Waal rivers, while a considerable amount of Dutch territory had been freed from Nazi occupation. The division had killed many Germans and captured 3,511, while suffering 2,110 casualties itself.



Although most of the men of the 101st expected to be pulled out of the line at the end of September, the division was placed under the control of the British XII Corps on the 28th and transferred north to the front line in an area known as the Island, a 5-kilometer strip of land between the Neder Rijn and the Waal. Due to heavy demands for manpower, the British were pressed for troops, and both the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions found themselves in positions that resembled the trench lines of World War I. Occasionally, they experienced artillery duels between the Germans and the British and were involved in infantry clashes.



On the night of October 5, a platoon of the 506th's Company E, supported by a detachment from Company F, mauled two companies of German SS troops attempting to infiltrate American lines in support of an attack by the 363rd Volksgrenadier Division. Captain (later Major) Richard Winters, Company E's commander, led his 35 men brilliantly, demonstrating great bravery and coolness under fire.


This pic shows Lt.Delmar Denson Idol of A/502 on a combat patrol near Dodewaard, Holland on the Island in October, 1944. Capt. Joe Pangerl photographed Idol as he scanned no man's land for signs of dug-in German positions.

Moving along a road adjacent to a dike near the banks of the Neder Rijn, Winters shot a German who was only three yards away and then opened up on a mass of enemy troops. "The movements of the Germans seemed to be unreal to me," he reflected. "When they rose up, it seemed to be so slow. When they turned to look over their shoulders at me, it was in slow motion. When they started to raise their rifles to fire at me, it was in slow, slow motion. I emptied the first clip [eight rounds] and, still standing in the middle of the road, put in a second clip and, still shooting from the hip, emptied that clip into the mass."



Winters remembered that action as the "highlight of all E Company actions for the entire war, even better than D-Day, because it demonstrated Easy's overall superiority in every phase of infantry tactics: patrol, defense, attack under a base of fire, withdrawal, and above all, superior marksmanship with rifles, machine gun and mortar fire."



The 101st held its positions on the Island until late November, when it was withdrawn to Camp Mourmelon, outside the French village of Mourmelon-le-Grand. From the Market-Garden drop until its last troopers were relieved, the division had spent 72 days in combat zones. In the defensive fighting at the Island, it suffered 1,682 casualties.

The men of the 101st experienced combat for the first time on D-Day. They had fought gallantly as veterans in Holland. But their sternest test and their finest hour were yet to come, at the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne.

Additional Sources:

members.lycos.nl/bandofbrotherse506pi
www.101airborneww2.com
www.barakuda.ch
www.mariaheide.nl
home.tiscali.nl/~jschoe
www.pointvista.com
www.army.mil
www.campbell.army.mil
home.wanadoo.nl
www.yankee-yankee.bravepages.com
home.tiscali.nl

[SAMWolf]

There was no question that Operation Market Garden was a gallant failure. It had not placed the Allies across the Rhine, nor had it encircled the German armies in Holland. It had not bared the right flank of the Siegfried Line.

Though the operation as a whole was a failure, there were some gains. The Allies' northern flank was advanced 65 miles over a series of rigid obstacles-specifically, two canals and two rivers. Large parts of Holland were liberated, making it possible for the strategic port of Antwerp to be reopened. After 10 days, the campaign became one of normal combat operations. The assault and counterattacks had drained the forces of both sides. The battle now was an anticlimax. The airborne forces assumed their mission of assault was over and that they would be withdrawn and outfitted for another parachute operation. But that did not happen. The British did not have sufficient forces to hold. The First Allied Airborne Army was not relieved until 71 days after it jumped into Holland.

General Brereton said of the operation: "The 82nd and 101st divisions...accomplished every one of their objectives....In the years to come everyone will remember Arnhem, but no one will remember that two American divisions fought their hearts out in the Dutch canal country and whipped hell out of the Germans."

As my company rode through Veghel, Uden, and Eindhoven, the Dutch recognized the 101st "Screaming Eagle" shoulder patches on our uniforms. They also recognized the "All American" shoulder patch of the 82nd. They stopped repairing their damaged buildings and shouted "September 17." The Dutch had not forgotten that the American and British airborne divisions were the first to free them.

Colonel William Wilson (Retired)

[SAMWolf]

Here are the recommended holiday mailing dates for military mail this year:

For military mail addressed TO APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

• Parcel Post - November 13
• Space Available - November 27
• Parcel Airlift - December 4
• Priority Mail, First Class cards and letters - Mailing date is December 11 to all locations
  • EXCEPT for locations starting with ZIP 093. For all locations starting with ZIP 093 the mailing date is December 6.
• Express Mail - December 20 to locations where Express Mail service is available. Check with your local post office to determine which APO/FPO addresses can receive Express Mail. Note: This service is not available to ships.

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For military mail FROM APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

• Space Available - November 20
• Parcel Airlift - December 4
• Priority Mail, First Class cards and letters - December 11
• Express Mail - December 18 from APO/FPO addresses where Express Mail can be accepted. Check with your local military post office to determine if they can accept Express Mail. Note: This service is not available from ships.

Thanks for the information StayAt HomeMother

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Veter ans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



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[SAMWolf]

Hey! Someone kidnapped Hagar!

Good Night Snippy

[snippy_about_it]

Oh no! The troops will find him!

[snippy_about_it]

He's been rescued. Good thing cuz I have to get some sleep. Goodnight Sam.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

[snopercod]

No helicopters, no radios to speak of, no spy satellites...those men were tough!

Frankie Mayo of Operation AC was on Rush yesterday pleading for folks to sign up to "adopt" a soldier or Marine. It seems interest has fallen off as we approach the election.

Right now Frankie is sending space heaters (only $17.99), Christmas Trees, santas, and snowmen. Boots too.

[The Mayor]

Still on the other computer with no ping list

October 14, 2004

Wholeness Of Life

Read: Mark 2:1-12

Son, your sins are forgiven you. . . . Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. —Mark 2:5,11

Bible In One Year: Isaiah 43-44; 1 Thessalonians 2

---

A social worker told her colleagues about a young boy in an urban ghetto who appeared to be little more than a bit of twisted human flesh. He had been struck by a car several months before and had not received proper medical attention.

Although not part of her caseload, the social worker took the boy to an orthopedist, who performed surgery on his legs. Two years later the boy walked into her office without crutches. His recovery was complete. The two embraced. "If I accomplish nothing else in my life," said the social worker to herself, "I have made a real difference with at least this one!"

She paused, then said to her colleagues, "This was all several years ago now. Where do you think that boy is today?" Some suggested that he might be a school teacher, others a physician or a social worker. With deep emotion, the woman responded, "No, he's in the penitentiary for one of the foulest crimes a human can commit. I was instrumental in teaching him how to walk again, but there was no one to teach him where to walk."

We must point people to Jesus. Through Him, those with broken bodies, broken dreams, broken homes, and broken hearts receive wholeness of life. —Haddon Robinson

Lord, help us to tell of Your love for mankind—
A love for the sin-sick, the broken, the blind;
And help them to see by the way that we live
A wholeness of being that You long to give. —D. De Haan

A person may go wrong in many different directions but right in only one.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning, everyone!

[Soaring Feather]

Morning, PE. Cool Flag-o-gram today. Thank You.

[alfa6]

Currahhe Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Cool F-O-G P.E. Will have some more pics to you later today.

Hi Manna

In hindsight one of the drawbacks of the Market Garden attack was that it diverted much needed forces from the capture of Antwerp and the clearing of the Scheldt Estuary. (sp) It is my recollection that had the forces used in M-G been instead used to take Antwerp and clear the Estuary that the supply crisis that SHAEF found itself in during the autumn of 1944 might have been signicantly mitigated.

Ah but if it had worked the Allies would have been geniueses, no.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Professional Engineer]

Hey, TreadHead

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy sir

[SAMWolf]

You can always count on the 101st!. :-)