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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Posted on 02/10/2003 5:34:28 AM PST by SAMWolf
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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Crossing the Waal Waal River Crossing by the 3rd Battalion,  This scene depicts the daylight Waal River Crossing in canvas boats propelled by paddles on September 20, 1944, by the Third Battalion of the 504th Parachute Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, straight into the teeth of German machine guns and artillery. This is one of the most famous assaults in modern military history. The 504th sustained over 50% casualties (approximately 25% casualties crossing the canal and another 25% casualties taking the northern end of the Waal River Bridge). To add perspective to this heroic action, it is interesting to note that the Light Brigade at Balaclava sustained 40% casualties, and General George Pickett's Division at Gettysburg sustained 60% casualties in its charge against Union forces at Cemetery Ridge. The difference between the 504th's action and those of the Light Brigade and Pickett's Division is that the 504th accomplished its mission despite taking similar horrific casualties. In his book, A Bridge Too Far, author Cornelius Ryan cites sources who describe this action as "...a second Omaha Beach landing." (A Bridge Too Far - Page 92) The 504th undertook this mission in broad daylight because the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division, General James Gavin, was operating under orders to advance as fast as possible to open the way for British 30th Armored Corps, under the command of British General Sir Brian Horrocks, to move up the road to Arnhem and relieve British and Polish airborne units that had been fighting there for several days. When General Gavin ordered this daylight crossing, minutes and hours counted. General Gavin knew this mission was going to be extremely difficult and gave the 504th's commanding officer, Colonel Reuben Tucker and the commander of the Third Battalion - designated to make the crossing - Major Julian Cook, a list of "proven combat leaders" from other 82nd units that he could augment to the 504th to help him lead his men across the canal. Lieutenant Joseph Brennan of the 505th Parachute Regiment was one of the officers who joined Cook's battalion for the crossing. In recounting his story of the crossing, Captain Brennan said they wanted to get across the 400 yards of open water as fast as humanly possible and those without paddles used their rifle stocks as paddles. One of the troopers in his boat, all too aware of his slim chances of surviving and probably not thinking straight, began paddling furiously with his rifle barrel.  The Waal River Bridge, in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, just a few miles south of Arnhem, was the last critical bridge on the road to Arnhem where British and Polish airborne units were desperately fighting in an attempt to hold the Arnhem Bridge over the Rhine River (the ultimate objective of Operation Market Garden) against vastly numerically superior SS forces. The American 101st Airborne Division in the region of Eindoven, Holland, and the American 82nd Airborne Division in the region of Nijmegen, Holland, had both accomplished their missions of capturing critical bridges thus securing the road up which the British 30th Corps was to advance to Arnhem. Following the successful capture of the Waal River Bridge by the 504th by what was then past sunset, commanders of the 30th Corps waiting in Nijmegen at the southern end of the bridge informed General Gavin that they planned to send the armored column across the captured bridge when infantry and more gasoline and other supplies caught up with them, most likely in the morning. One account of this decision was that they had been ordered not to advance at that time by the Allied Command with British Lieutenant General Frederich "Boy" Browning holding overall command of Operation Market Garden. An oral history account by Lieutenant Thomas Pitt, one of the survivors of the crossing, cites the 30th Corps commanders present as saying they would not move their armor at night. This version was corroborated by Captain Joseph Brennan who also made the crossing. This decision was and still is a source of controversy. There were many factors to consider including intelligence reports indicating that the Germans had massed forces on either side of the eleven-mile road between Nijmegen and Arnhem and were waiting for the armored column to proceed with the intention of pinching them off and crushing them.  This turn of events did not sit well with General Gavin and the 504th which, had they known this information in advance, could have made the crossing that night and sustained far fewer casualties. The 504th had sustained 134 killed, wounded and missing, more than half its strength. (Cornelius Ryan - A Bridge Too Far - page 476) Of the 10,000 British and Polish airborne forces parachuted into Arnhem, and left stranded by the armored ground forces that halted at Nijmegen, only 2,000 were able to escape and rejoin Allied forces.
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You just reminded me of an Irish joke I told to a group of people last weekend. Stay tuned . . .
Hey there SAM, GREAT thread Bro!:^)
"What's the news, Dad?" Seamus asked him.
Paddy took a deep breath.
"'Tis not good, me lad," he said, "I've got cancer, and the good doctor says I've got but a few months to live."
Seamus sat in stunned silence, but his father went on.
"Now you and I are gonna go right over to the pub," he said, "And we can either drink cheerfully or drink in misery, so let's make up our mind to drink cheerfully."
Seamus drove directly to Paddy's favorite pub. They spent many an hour their that afternoon, drinking their favorite Irish ale and singing their favorite Irish songs. When the afternoon stretched into evening, a group of Paddy's best friends showed up. Knowing Paddy the way they did, they could not tell by his revelry whether his visit to the doctor had been a good one or a bad one.
"What's the news, Paddy?" one of them asked.
"'Tis not good, me friend," he said, "I've got AIDS, and the good doctor says I've got but a few months to live."
Seamus gave his father a startled look, but Paddy glared at him before he could say anything.
On their way home that evening, Seamus asked his father why he had told a story like that.
"Those are all your best friends," he said, "And they're going to remember you as someone who died of AIDS, not cancer!"
"They may be mah best friends, Seamus," Paddy replied, "BUT I WANT THEM TO KEEP THUR HANDS OFF YAH MUTHA AFTER I'M GAWN!!!!"
Online Pillow fight 2000.
Online pillow...? But you promised you took out the webcam!
If I see any of the whip cream and trampoline stuff, you're gonna get spanked (more than usual).
It's the way the British have always done it, Joe!
This is amusing to me. It's probalby about 20+20+.
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