Battle of Nijmegen

Battle of Nijmegen Liberation of Nijmegen
Part of Operation Market Garden during World War II
The Waal Bridge and northeast central Nijmegen, heavily damaged during the battle.[1] Photo taken on 28 September 1944 from the Dominican Church.[2]
Date 17 – 20 September 1944 Location Nijmegen Result Allied victory Nijmegen, the road and rail bridges conquered Allied march resumed, but too late to win the Battle of Arnhem
Belligerents
United States 82nd Airborne Division 504th Infantry Regiment 505th Infantry Regiment 508th Infantry Regiment  United Kingdom British XXX Corps Guards Armoured Division	Germany 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg and 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, regrouped as: Kampfgruppe Reinhold Kampfgruppe Euling Kampfgruppe Henke
Commanders and leaders
Brig. Gen. Gavin Cpt. Cook Col. Tucker Lt.-Gen. Horrocks	Gen. Walter Model Stubaf. Leo Reinhold Hstuf. Karl-Heinz Euling Oberst Henke
Casualties and losses
48 (504 RCT)[3] 19 (F/508)[3] 15 (H/504)[3]	300+ (Waalbrug south)[4] 267 (Railway bridge)[3] 80 (Waalbrug north)[3]

The Battle of Nijmegen or Liberation of Nijmegen occurred from 17 to 20 September 1944, as part of Operation Market Garden during World War II. The Allies' primary goal was to capture the Road Bridge (or Waal Bridge) and Railway Bridge of Nijmegen, Netherlands intact, to secure a quick link to Arnhem, where combat raged over three bridges. The conquest of Nijmegen took longer than expected, cost hundreds of civilian lives, and caused huge material damage to the city. The 20 September Waal Crossing finally enabled the occupation of the two bridges, but it was too late to relieve the 1st British Airborne Division in Arnhem. In part due to this major delay, Operation Market Garden as a whole became a failure.^[5]

Background

The Market Garden plan.

The River Waal at Nijmegen was an important natural barrier, which was not overarched until 1879 by the Railway Bridge, and in 1936 by the Road Bridge, commonly known as the Waal Bridge. At the time, the Waal Bridge was a remarkable feat of engineering: it was the longest tied-arch bridge in Europe. On 10 May 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands, the Road Bridge had been demolished by Dutch military engineers to prevent a rapid advance of the Wehrmacht.^[6] In the course of the German occupation, the bridge was repaired, and reopend in 1943.

On 22 February 1944, the Allied Bombing of Nijmegen took place. Its intended target of opportunity was the railway station area (which the Germans used for weapons transport), but because the attack was carelessly executed, most bombs dropped on residential buildings in the city centre, killing about 800 civilians.^[7] After the fact, the Nazis made lots of propaganda in an attempt to sway the population's sympathy against the Allies, but they failed, and it may even have been counterproductive. On the eve of Market Garden, most Nijmegeners were passionately awaiting the Allied liberation, despite the horrible bombardment.^[8]

That liberation seemed to come soon when in late August Heeresgruppe B collapsed in Normandy and made a rushed, chaotic retreat to Germany, leaving the Allies to capture Northern France and Belgium in a matter of days.^[9] Reports spread that the British had conquered Brussels and Antwerp on 3 and 4 September, and allegedly –but incorrecty– Breda as well. This gave rise to a euphoric ambiance throughout the Netherlands on the next day, later known as Mad Tuesday, when one exaggerated rumour after another fed the hope that liberation would occur in a matter of hours. However, the German forces managed to regroup, and would not be driven out of Holland without a fight. British general Montgomery then designed the ambitious plan Market Garden, to surprise the remaining occupiers by the deployment of paratroopers. These would quickly seize several crucial bridges across major rivers (Market), after which the heavy armour could advance straight through the Netherlands, along Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem, and reach the Ruhr, where a vital part of Germany's war industry was located (Garden). This may have been sufficient to finish the war before the end of 1944.^[10]

Preparation

Paradroppings near Nijmegen.

The success of Market Garden depended on the timely and intact capture of a number of bridges in the southeastern Netherlands by American, British, Polish and Canadian airborne forces. These were to clear the way, Highway 69 or later nicknamed "Hell's Highway"– from Belgium to the north Nether Rhine bank for the advance of the heavily armed British XXX Corps (supported by the Guards Armoured Division), consisting of dozens of Sherman tanks and artillery. If this firepower could be moved across all major Dutch rivers in time, Germany might be defeated and the war ended before 1945.

The 82nd Airborne Division and the 504th, 505th and 508th Infantry Regiment (placed under the 82nd Division for the operation), commanded by Brigadier General James Gavin, was tasked to take all bridges between Grave and Arnhem. The bridges in question were the Grave Bridge, four bridges spanning the Maas–Waal Canal, the Railway Bridge and especially the Waal Bridge near Nijmegen. The 82nd's main force and the 504th would land north and south of Grave to capture the first 5 bridges, while the 505th and 508th Infantry Regiment would jump at Groesbeek to secure the vital Groesbeek Heights (to block any German counterattacks e.g. from the Klever Reichswald),^[11] to advance towards Nijmegen and lastly to occupy the Waal Bridge.

Course of the battle

The Grave and Canal bridges

The 82nd Division drops near Grave.

On 17 September at 12:30, Companies D, E and F of the 504th Infantry Regiment (placed under the 82nd Division for the operation) were dropped near the Grave Bridge, which was conquered and defended successfully against German counterattacks after a two to three hour firefight.^[12] The 1st Batallion of the 504th, led by major Harrison, had to seize the four Canal bridges, designated as no. 7, 8, 9 and 10.^[13] Bridge 8 was destroyed by the Germans at 16:15; Bridge 9 near Hatert was blown up at 20:15 as well; but at 19:00, Bridge 7 near Heumen was captured by the Americans.^[14] At night around 2:30 of 18 September, Companies F, D and HQ occupied Grave without any resistance; they waited until the arrival of the British XXX Corps, which came at 8:30.^[15]

Meanwhile, the three parachutist regiments dug in at the Groesbeek Heights. There seems to have been miscommunication between Brigadier General Gavin, who wanted to make sure the heights were well-defended, and Colonel Roy E. Lindquist, commander of the 508th regiment. On 17 September around 18:00, 1/508 PIR left its half-dug trenches and advanced towards Nijmegen to take the Road Bridge.^[16]

March on Nijmegen

17 September: battle of Keizer Karelplein

Around 22:00, Companies A and B of 1/508 PIR advanced, whilst C waited. Company A was guided by a member of the Dutch resistance for about 8 km until a crossroads at the southend of Nijmegen, where he suddenly disappeared and was never seen again. After long waiting, the American soldiers decided to march on. Several blocks before the Keizer Karelplein, a platoon came under fire by a German machine gun, which, however, was soon taken out. On the square, a major firefight broke out: German soldiers shot at the paratroopers from the square's centre and the houses surrounding it.^[17]

Both the Germans and the Americans received reinforcements (the latter first Company B 1/508, later other companies). However, when the German 406th Infantry Division attacked the landing zones near Groesbeek in the morning of 18 September, almost the entire regiment 1/508 was pulled back. Only Company G 3/508 stayed in town in an attempt to capture the Road Bridge anyway. They relinquished the Keizer Karelplein, and tried a more eastern route, systematically cleaning up every German guard post underway, and almost reaching the bridge.^[18]

Waal Bridge not demolished

British soldiers dismantle German explosives on the Waal Bridge.

The Allies' greatest fear was that the Germans would blow up Nijmegen's Road Bridge, which would render Market Garden a failure. Indeed, the Germans had already installed explosives on the bridge, ready to be detonated when that would be deemed necessary, but this never happened during the entire battle. Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model, commander of the German forces in the Netherlands, counted on an Allied defeat at Arnhem. This meant the bridge could still be of use for a large-scale counteroffensive, and so it was not destroyed on 17 September.^[5] On 18 September, resistance member Jan van Hoof allegedly sabotaged the explosives, but this remains uncertain. However, when he was arrested and executed by the Germans the next day, he was soon heroised as the "Saviour of the Waal Bridge". An official investigation after the war concluded the Germans would have had enough time to charge the bridge with explosives once more and demolish it anyway; however, they again did not do so out of strategic considerations.^[19] According to another hypothesis, the Germans supposedly failed to blow up the bridge on 20 September, because the ignition system malfunctioned.^[5]

18 September: German reinforcements

On 18 September, Model sent reinforcements from Arnhem to keep the Waal Bridge out of the American paratroopers' hands. Because the British 1st Airborne Division was still in control of the Arnhem bridge at the time,^[20] the 1. Kompagnie SS-Panzer-Pionier-Abteilung commanded by SS-Untersturmführer Werner Baumgärtel and the 2. Bataillon SS-Panzergrenadier-Regiment 19 under leadership of SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl-Heinz Euling crossed the Rhine at Pannerden as the 500 man strong 'Kampfgruppe Euling', used the still intact Waal Bridge and dug in at the Hunnerpark.^[4] These reinforcements enabled the SS to regroup under the command of Sturmbannführer Leo Reinhold, who set up his headquarters on the north Waal bank. Fallschirmjäger oberst Henke prepared the Railway Bridge's defences. The two roundabouts and beltway were reinforced during the next 48 hours. The American parachutists would have to wait for the XXX Corps' help in taking the bridges, even though according to the planning, they should have been captured before the British arrival.^[21]

19 September: battle of Keizer Lodewijkplein

Nijmegian civilians ride along on a jeep during the advance (20 Sept.).

The British and American commanders Browning (British 1st Airborne Division), Gavin (U.S. 82nd Airborne Division), Horrocks (British XXX Corps) and Adair (British Guards Armoured Division) held a meeting in the morning of 19 September in Molenhoek to determine their strategy. The bi-national force was split in two groups: the western group would take the Railway Bridge, and the eastern group the Road Bridge. The arrival of the British gave Gavin the necessary sense of security to send some of his troops from the Groesbeek Heights to join the assault.

At 16:00, the Anglo-American combat forces moved into town, resulting in a heavy firefight at the Keizer Lodewijkplein. The British tanks and armour exchanged fire with the German anti-tank cannons and infantry entrenched at the Valkhof fortress, while the American paratroopers fortified themselves in residential buildings on the square's south side. Meanwhile, heavy German artillery bombarded the attackers from Lent across the river Waal.^[22]

Soon it became apparent that a mere head-on assault on the German positions might take several more days. However, the Allies did not have that much time to spare in relieving the British troops in Arnhem. It necessitated capturing the north end of both bridges to isolate the German forces on the south bank. To accomplish this, infantry would have to cross the river while being fired on.^[23] The American 3rd Batallion of the 504th Infantry Regiment crossed the Heumen bridge in the evening of 19 September, and set up camp in the Jonkerbos at 21:15. Brigadier General Gavin ordered Captain Julian Aaron Cook to find boats to cross the Waal. Initially, Cook had no idea where to get them. Eventually, canvas boats had to be imported all the way from Belgium, delaying the Waal crossing by a day.^[24] Originally, these would be 32 boats, but underway a track carrying six boats was destroyed, and so only 26 reached their destination.^[25]

20 September: battle of Nijmegen centre

To make the river crossing a success, a renewed attack on the bridge's south sides was needed to divert the enemy's attention and firepower. Nijmegen's city centre had to be swept clean systematically first, block by block. This operation began in the morning of 20 September at 8:30, succeeding unexpectedly quickly. The occupying force was easily pushed back, as long as it could delay the Allies. Much of the combat took place on rooftops, where parachutists rapidly hopped from one rooftop to the next. Only in the Kronenburgerpark, where the elite SS troops of Kampfgruppe Henke had a clear shot, the advance went slowly. Meanwhile, the II. Fallschirmjäger Corps of general Eugen Meindl charged the U.S. formations at Groesbeek and Mook, but failed to force a breakthrough.^[26]

20 September 15:00 : Waal Crossing

When the British XXX Corps could finally cross the Waal Bridge, it was too late to relieve Arnhem.

The planned crossing of 8:00 had to be delayed time and again because of logistical problems: the supply of canvas boots by truck from Belgium was difficult, since Hell's Highway was narrow, and constantly blocked by burnt-out vehicles.^[27] The crossing finally took place at 15:00, around 2 kilometres downsteam from the Waal Bridge, near the old Gelderland Power Plant.^[4] Two British Spitfires were to provide the rowers air support, but FLAKs shot one down, after which the other returned to England.^[28] The American soldiers of the 3rd Batallion were fired on by German tanks, artillery and small arms, suffering sensitive losses (48 troopers were killed, and several dozens more were wounded). Some boats capsized or sank during the crossing. A telephone wire was laid across the riverbed for communication between the two banks.^[29] With 16 boats, the 3rd Batallion succeeded in transporting most troops to the other side in several shifts. In the late afternoon, they had conquered the Railway Bridge's north end, and prepared for a German counterstrike. At dusk, about 200 to 300 German soldiers approached them to surrender. Around the same time, the Waal Bridge's north side was seized by another group after an extraordinarily bloody fight. The 1st Batallion then relieved the 3rd to guard the Railway Bridge.^[30]

Time was ticking away on the southern bank, as the tanks' and artillery's munitions was running out. This was a long-term problem as well, because more munitions were needed for the rest of Operation Market Garden, and the supply logistics were in a terrible condition.^[31] In the battle for the Waal Bridge in the Hunnerpark and on the Keizer Lodewijkplein, over 300 of Kampfgruppe Euling's 500 German soldiers lost their lives, 60 were taken prisoners, and the rest were able to escape.^[4]

Aftermath

March halted

British Sherman tank passes a knocked-out German Panzer III in Oosterhout (27 Sept).

Around the same time the Nijmegian bridges were captured, the British paratroopers under John Frost had to surrender the Rhine Bridge in Arnhem to the Germans. A rapid advance from Nijmegen to Arnhem to retake the bridge, was blocked by a combination of factors, including sunset, unfamiliarity with the terrain ahead (the Betuwe), German reinforcements near Ressen coming from Arnhem (3 Tiger tanks and 2 infantry companies), ongoing firefights and chaos in Nijmegen, and continuous logistical problems on "Hell's Highway", due to events such as the German counterattacks near Veghel. The march of the XXX Corps was delayed for another 18 hours after the Waal Bridge's conquest,^[32] but eventually it was so worn out after 5 days of combat, that the offensive could not be resumed. On 21 September, a battle near Elst obstructed further progress of the XXX Corps and the Guards Armoured Division on the road to Arnhem. The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division played an important role on 22 September by creating a side corridor to Oosterbeek (where the British parachutists under Roy Urquhart had fortified themselves against a superior German enemy that vastly outnumbered them) via Driel (just liberated by the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade under Stanisław Sosabowski).^[33] Attempts were made to still turn the Battle of Arnhem into an Allied success now that the forces were linked up, but these were thwarted on 23 September. On 24 September, the XXX Corps' generals decided in the Valburg Conference to abandon Market Garden, pull the troops out of Arnhem, and let the frontline fall back to Nijmegen. Remaining British troops tried to escape to the south, or hide in occupied territory. During Operation Berlin (25–26 September), more than 2400 of them could be evacuated with American help. Operation Pegasus (22–23 October) managed to save another 100.

Nijmegen front city

The Railway Bridge sabotaged by Kampfschwimmer (30 Sept.).

After the Allied withdrawal from Arnhem and the Betuwe, the frontline was again at Nijmegen, which would be bombarded regularly for the next five months. Historians wonder why Nijmegen was not evacuated right after liberation –just like Arnhem would be by the Germans on 23 September – which could have prevented hundreds of extra civilian casualties.^[34] The German forces especially tried to destroy the Waal Bridge on several occasions in numerous ways, but they failed every time. The best attempt took place on 29 September, just before 17:30. A group of German Kampfschwimmer ("combat swimmers") succeeded in placing floating mines on both bridges, managing to destroy the middle section of the Railway Bridge, and pounding a hole into the road deck of the Road Bridge. However, the latter could be saved with a British bailey bridge.^[5]

Political revolution

On 17 September NSB burgemeester Marius van Lokhorst and the more moderate NSB loco burgemeester Harmanus Hondius were put out of office by the Allies. Hondius fled to Arnhem, whilst Van Lokhorst had already fled to Groningen around Mad Tuesday.^[35] Petrus van der Velden was installed as the new burgemeester on 19 September. This aroused a lot of criticism from the Nijmegeners, because during his previous tenure as burgemeester (1 May 1942 – 24 February 1943) he had complied a lot with the commands of the German occupiers than his predecessor. On 16 October 1944, he was succeeded by Charles Hustinx, who would remain burgemeester of Nijmegen until 1 January 1968.

The Supreme Court of the Netherlands, which the Germans temporary moved from The Hague to Nijmegen in 1943, was partially purged after the liberation. Justice Minister Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, who still resided in London, ordered the dismissal of all pro-Nazi judges appointed by the Germans, but also the temporary suspension of all other judges of the Supreme Court, including those who had already been appointed before the war, which was unconstitutional.^[36] Besides, although Nijmegen already lay in liberated territory, most judges who were fired by the Zuivering-Decreet were still in occupied areas, leading to a complex legal situation.^[37]

Historiography and memory

During the Battle of Nijmegen, there were only two reporters with the 82nd Airborne Division at hotel Sionshof, and they were both busy covering the actions on the Groesbeek Heights. Therefore, contemporary British and American press did not pay much attention to what was happening in Nijmegen, which had to be (re)constructed from other sources later.^[39]

Historian Joost Rosendaal found out that the Bombing of Nijmegen of 22 February 1944 has been registered in collective memory much clearer than the liberation and the five months front city, even though these amounted to roughly the same number of casualties. The city suffered about 7% (over two thousand) of all war deaths in the Netherlands, which is far out of proportion. Moreover, many of the fallen have not been commemorated officially for many years, because they were 'pointless' civilian casualties; the nationalistic commemorations preferred to give attention to 'heroic sacrifices' such as soldiers and resistance members who 'died for the fatherland'.^[34]

In the course of the war, 10,000 Nijmegeners were wounded, 5,500 of whom were permanently disabled. 5,000 houses (nearly a quarter) were destroyed, and another 13,000 homes were more or less heavily damaged. With 12,000 homeless people and another 3,000 evacuees from the surrounding areas, there was an extreme post-war housing crisis.^[6]

References

Further reading

• van Lunteren, Frank (2014). The Battle of the Bridges: The 504 Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Casemate Publishers. ISBN 9781612002323. Retrieved 27 April 2017. 
• Saunders, Tim (2008). Nijmegen: U.S. 82nd Airborne Division - 1944. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN 9781783461141. Retrieved 28 April 2017. 
• Nordyke, Phil (2010). All American, All the Way: From Market Garden to Berlin. A Combat History of the 82nd Airborne Division in World War II. Voyageur Press. ISBN 9781616739836. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberation of Nijmegen.

• War deaths Nijmegen 1940-1945