Airborne Museum - Oosterbeek (Holland)

The Airborne museum

The museum was founded to commemorate the Battle of Arnhem which took place from Sunday 17 September until early Tuesday morning, 26 September 1944.

British airborne troops had as their main task to capture the Rhine bridge at Arnhem as part of operation Market-Garden.
The Battle of Arnhem had become famous for its near success and its mystical aftermath, the intense fighting and the bond forged between the civilians and the British & Polish liberators. The Airborne museum relates the history of this battle and tries to picture the struggle between the Allied forces and the Germans during those September days.

Historical information

Operation Market-Garden concisted of two parts:

a) “Market”: the capture of the bridges over the rivers and canals between Eindhoven and Arnhem by American, British and Polish airborne troops.

The Arnhem Bridge (renamed the "John Frost" Brug) looking east (Stephen Stratford 2006).

b) “Garden”: the simultaneous advance of the ground troops of British 30 Corps from the Belgian/Dutch border to beyond the great rivers. Once over the Rhine, the Ruhr area could be quickly surrounded. Then, a rapid advance along the German lower plains and Berlin could be reached.

In view of the spectaculary rapid advance by the Allies through France and Belgium, and the resulting German panic, little heavy opposition was expected. Optimism that the operation would be a success was high; the war could be over before Christmas 1944. The complete plan was the brainchild of Filed Maershall B. Montgomery.

Note: 36 Dutch soldiers took part in Operation Market Garden.

Operation “Market-Garden”: the plan

Operation “Market-Garden”: the outcome

Operation "Market-Garden": events day by day

17/9: Airborne landings near Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem. Around Nijmegen everything goes according to plan. However, the bridge at Son (north of Eindhoven) is blown up by the Germans. At Arnhem, only Frost and his battalion manage to occupy the northern end of the bridge. Ground troops of British 30 Corps begin their advance towards Arnhem from the Belgian/Dutch border.

18/9: Second British landing near Ede: The other British Battalions do not succeed in reaching Frost. Eindhohen liberated by the Allies 24hours behind schedule.

19/9: The British battalions withdraw into a perimeter around the Hartenstein hotel.

20/9: The fighting at the Rhine bridge and in the perimeter continues. The Waal bridge at Nijmegen is captured intact, 48 hours behind schedule.

21/9: Frost’s battalions of British 30 Corps are overwhelmed. The Germans recapture Westerbouwing Height. The Poles land two days later than scheduled, not south of the Rhine bridge as planned, but at Driel, opposite to the perimeter.

22/9: British 30 Corps reach Driel, 72 hours behind schedule

23/9 to 25/9: Polish parachute troops and a unit of British 30 corps fail in their attempts to recapture Westerbouwing height and to reach the perimeter.

25/9: The remanants of the 1st British Airborne Division withdraw across the Rhine with the assistance of British and Canadian engineers. The wounded stay behind, together with the medical troops and the chaplains.

Operation Market-Garden: epilog

On September 17th, 1944 between 1.30 and 2.00 pm the airborne landings started.
The American 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles” landed between Son and Veghel, the American 82nd Airborne Division “All American” near Grave and Nijmegen and the 1st British Airborne Division near Arnhem.

In September 1944 more than ten thousand British and Polish Airborne troops fought in and around Arnhem. Their objective was to take the Rhine bridge. Six hundred of them managed to reach the bridge. Waiting for reinforcement they fought for four days holding the Northern ramp. The rest of the force, however, did not succeed in reaching them. Those held out for five more days at Oosterbeek before finally making their way across the Rhine to Allied held ground. Only 2.293 made it back to England.

Due to multiple causes the operation went not as planned. The advance of the British army from Neerpelt in Belgium was delayed because of the German heavy resistance and because the bridge over the Wilhelmina canal in Son was blown up by the Germans and a Bailey bridge had to be built. The advance was then already 36 hours behind scheduke. Bad radio links prevented adequate communications, especially in the Arnhem area. Because of the bad weather reinforcement troops and supplies could not be dropped in time. The presence of two SS divisions in the vicinity of Arnhem was fatal for the British troops.

Finally the objective was not met. The bridge at Arnhem could not be captured and so the advance into Germany was not possible. However the south of the Netherlands was liberated. The rest of the country had to wait for their liberation until the next year in 1945.

History of the Hartenstein hotel

The house of Hartenstein in its present form was built around 1865.
In 1942 Hartenstein (probably named after an inn “The Red Hart”) was purchased by the municipality of Renkum/Oosterbeek, and became an hotel.
The Hartenstein building was during the battle of Arnhem the HQ of Major-General R.E. Urquhart commanding the British 1st Airborne Division (a battle in the perimeter around the Hartenstein hotel in Oosterbeek took place between 20 and 26/9/1944). The house survived and returned to being an hotel in 1945.

The Airborne museum was founded in 1949 and was housed in Doorwerth Castle where it remained until 1978, when it was relocated in the former British headquarters. On 11 May 1978, the museum was re-opened in this building by Major-General R.E. Urquhart.

The official website of the museum stands here.

Location information

The museum is located at Oosterbeek (Sonseweg 39, 5681 BH Best, Postbox 89) near Arnhem in the Netherlands.
The museum is located at 200 km of Liège (Belgium).