Operation Pegasus

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Operation Pegasus was an Allied action in World War II as a consequence of the failure of Operation Market Garden. Some surviving soldiers from the 1st Airborne Division had avoided capture and sought shelter in the forests to the west around Ede. Operation Pegasus was the effort to bring these soldiers across the Rhine on October 22 and October 23, 1944.

The Allies held Nijmegen and the land north between the Waal and the Rhine. The Dutch Resistance escorted the men from Ede to the bank of the Rhine west of Renkum. Just after midnight on October 23 men of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States) 101st Airborne Division and the Royal Engineers took assault boats across the river to gather these men. The operation was ready to begin at 2300 hours October 22 just to be sure, however the operation did not start until midnight on October 23. In a little over an hour, 140 men were recovered, including Brigadier Gerald Lathbury, although the official report claims 138 men were rescued. A further operation in November to rescue soldiers further east at Heteren failed and the soldiers awaiting rescue were intercepted and killed or captured. The evacuation was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Dobie. All those rescued were transported by air back to England.

This operation appears in episode 5 of Band of Brothers, "Crossroads."

[edit] External links

• http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/RepPegasus.htm Official Report