Operation Market Garden: Arnhem - Battle of the Woods

Jumping in to Drop Zones eight to ten miles from Arnhem on the second day of Operation Market Garden was always going to be difficult for Brigadier Shan Hacketts 4th British Parachute Brigade. With little information on how 1 Para Brigades battle went the day before or what faced them on the ground the stage was set for an epic battle. Author John Waddy, veteran company commander in 156 Para Battalion and a team of some of the best Arnhem experts take the viewer to the ground where 4 Para Brigade tangled with the SS troopers of the Hohenstaufen Panzer Division in the woods to the west of Arnhem in what was to be an unequal but heroic battle; the result of a flawed concept and plan. Driven back from the German blocking position the Brigade was withdrawing across Landing Zone P when the Polish heavy lift aboard gliders swept in to further chaos to a rapidly deteriorating situation. Captain Quirepel was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross for his action in helping stem the enemy advance long enough for the Paratroopers to escape across the railway embankment by nightfall. On the third day of the battle veterans recall a lethal day of cat and mouse in the woods as the Paratroopers and surviving glider soldiers struggled to rejoin the rest of the Division around Oosterbeek.