The Red Devils in the Operation Market Garden (XX0021)

The Red Devils at Arnhem, September 1944

Operation Market Garden was an attempt to end the war in 1944 by seizing a corridor of bridges across the Netherlands and crossing the Rhine before the German army could recover. The plan required every bridge to be taken and held until ground forces arrived. The last of them, at Arnhem, was the responsibility of the British 1st Airborne Division — the Red Devils.

The Plan and Its Assumptions

Market Garden depended on a single road for the ground advance, on light German opposition, and on airborne units holding for between two and four days. All three assumptions proved wrong. Allied intelligence indications of armoured formations refitting near Arnhem were discounted; the drop zones were placed some ten kilometres from the bridge because of flak concerns; and radio sets failed almost immediately, leaving the division unable to coordinate or to call for air support.

The Bridge

Only the 2nd Parachute Battalion under Lieutenant Colonel John Frost reached the northern end of the road bridge. Some 740 men held it against armoured attack for four days — twice the planned duration — without resupply, water or ammunition beyond what they carried. The rest of the division was contained in the suburb of Oosterbeek and never reached them. XXX Corps, delayed on the single road, arrived too late.

The Withdrawal

Of roughly 10,000 men of the 1st Airborne who landed at Arnhem, about 2,000 were evacuated across the Rhine on the night of 25 September. The division was effectively destroyed and never again committed as a formation. The Dutch civilian population of the area suffered severe reprisals and a famine winter that followed the failed offensive.

Giuseppe Rava’s Original Work

Giuseppe Rava reconstructs the British paratrooper of September 1944 from the documentary record: the Denison smock, the airborne helmet without netting, the Sten gun and the PIAT, in the suburban terrain of Oosterbeek and Arnhem that defined the fighting.

This is a limited edition fine art print, hand-signed by the artist, produced in SRA3 format on fine art paper. Ships worldwide.