Operation ‘Market-Garden’ has reached ‘Bettuwe’ (‘The Island’) – a flat and soggy area of polder land between the two great arms of the Rhine; the Neder-Rijn and the Waal. Following the daring assault on the Nijmegen Bridges by the US 82nd Airborne Division and the British Guards Armoured Division on 20th September, XXX Corps now has only ten miles to go to reach the beleaguered 2 Para at Arnhem Road Bridge and the rest of 1st Airborne Division at Oosterbeek. However, The Island has several nasty surprises for XXX Corps; the only high ground hereabouts are the large dykes (or ‘bunds’), often twenty feet or more high, along which run the main roads and railway. In between the bunds are waterlogged fields – well below sea-level and very muddy – totally unsuitable for mechanised warfare. These are broken by tall windbreak hedges and orchards, which severely limit the visual range for artillery observers and long-ranged weapons. The villages are thickly surrounded by orchards and have been turned into fortresses by the German defenders. General Horrocks, commanding XXX Corps, knew all this in advance and has brought up 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division to lead the way across The Island. However, things are desperate at Arnhem and until the 43rd can be moved to the front line, the Guards Armoured will have to attempt to batter on through the enemy. Immediately following the fall of the Nijmegen Road Bridge on the 20th, the Grenadier Guards find their progress northwards halted by tenacious resistance just north of Lent. Despite a tantalisingly short distance to the trapped 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem, the Guards are forced to halt. Ammunition is in desperately short supply (particularly for the artillery), fighting is still going on in Nijmegen and the Coldstream Guards Group (one-quarter of the division) are now heading south again – to help the US Airborne Divisions fight off determined German attacks against the precariously narrow ‘corridor’. The last chance to relieve 2 Para at Arnhem Bridge has now gone – John Frost’s heroic defence is finally crushed. However, XXX Corps remains unaware of developments at Arnhem and the rest of 1st Airborne Division fights on at Oosterbeek. The assault is renewed on the 21st, with the Irish Guards Group once again leading the way north. However, they aren’t to know that with the fall of Arnhem Bridge, reinforcements for Heinz Harmel’s 10th SS Panzer Division ‘Frundsberg’, including tanks, are now taking up blocking positions around the town of Elst. Despite requesting every artillery piece and Typhoon that XXX Corps can muster, the Irish Guards are appalled at the pathetic display of firepower in front of them – they had gotten used to crushing displays of British high-explosive might on the road from Normandy and this is far less than they’re used to. What they don’t know is that the artillery is now down to the last few rounds – further cuts of the corridor north and south of Veghel have totally closed ‘Hell’s Highway’, thus preventing ammunition from reaching the foremost units of XXX Corps. Added to this is a total failure of communications between their RAF liaison officer and the Typhoon squadrons ordered to support them.
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