About the book:

In September 1944, the largest airborne operation ever, took place over and on Dutch territory: Operation ‘Market Garden’. Being a combined airborne (‘Market’) and ground (‘Garden’) offensive the objectives of the operations were to capture the river crossings over the canals and rivers on Second Army’s main axis of advance and thus cutting off communications between Germany and The Netherlands.

Two American and one British Airborne Division were involved in the capture of the river crossings near Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. Each Division used paratroopers and gliderborne soldiers in order to land men an materiel close to the planned objectives.

The scope of this book focuses on the involvement of the British Glider Pilot Regiment and the Royal Air Force and their contribution in flying the glider serials on the first three days of Operation ‘Market’: the 17th, 18th and 19th of September 1944. In this period nearly seven-hundred gliders took off for various Landing Zones near Nijmegen / Groesbeek and Arnhem / Oosterbeek.

The Horsa, Hamilcar and Hadrian/Waco gliders took off for the Landing Zones in The Netherlands, carrying some 600 jeeps, 95 guns and  4,500 troops. No less than 75 gliders, eleven percent of the total, landed prematurely. Some of the glider pilots and their passengers got a second chance to get to the Landing Zones and succeeded, others were not so lucky, landing in the Channel or the North Sea or on Dutch or Belgian territory. Some of the downed airborne troops were able to evade capture with the help of the Dutch resistance, others would spend the rest of the war in a prisoner of war camp. 

Many books have been written about the planning of this operation and on finding the reasons for the final outcome of the ‘Battle for Arnhem’. The author has decided not to go into details on this subject and the ground battle will not be described as several other authors have already successfully elaborated on this subject.  

This book is written with the intention of being used as a sort of reference book for those who have an interest in details concerning:

• the planning of airborne operations between ‘D-Day’ and ‘Market’,
• the planning of ‘Market’,
• organisation of the RAF Squadrons within No. 38 and No.46 Groups,
• glider serials per RAF Station,
• glider allotment per airborne unit,
• the transport of men and materiel by gliders,
• the organisation of the Air/Sea Rescue Services,
• glider loading and marshaling, and
• airborne transport and guns.

The author sincerely hopes that this publication will stimulate others to research specific subjects dealing with the epic airborne battle which took place seventy-five years ago. (written in 2019).

The Navigation Diagram for Operation 'Market' (the Airborne phase of 'Market Garden') showing the routes taken by aircraft carrying paratroops, towing gliders and on resupply flights.

Reviews

“The author has produced a monumental work which will go down as the definitive work on the part played by the gliders and their R.A.F. tugs in the Battle of Arnhem. This is a work of reference of the first importance to all those who flew gliders or towed them on ‘Market Garden’, as well as to all students of warfare and the aircraft and their loads involved in the Airborne battles of W.W.II”. 

‘The Eagle’, the magazine of the Glider Pilot Regimental Association, December 2000.

“For anyone who traveled by glider this book cannot be missed”. Arnhem 1944 Veterans’ Club, Newsletter June 2001.

“Dedicated to the men of the Glider Pilot Regiment, this book is a credit to the author, who has assembled an incredible amount of information and detail on the Arnhem operation of September 17-19, 1944. The detail on each ‘lift’ includes the chalked-on numbers on each glider and what unit was taken by which and when. A stunning resource”. 

‘FlyPast’, Britain’s Top-Selling Aviation Monthly, April 2002.

“This important book on the Arnhem operation is the result of ten years research by the author which started as a hobby but grew into a definitive study of the subject. The author is to be congratulated on this excellent private production, a fitting tribute to a courageous group of men”.  ‘Aeroplane Monthly’, February 2003.

“What an absolutely marvelous descriptive book. For once the Reviews have accurately reflected a book and it is certainly one I will use for reference purposes. Many thanks”. Mr. Bryce Gomersall (author of Air Britain’s ‘Stirling ‘File’), May 2003.