Day One: 17 September. The airborne landings on the first day were completed without any major incidents. The 101st Airborne met little resistance and captured four of the five bridges assigned to them. The Germans destroyed the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son just as the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) neared the objective (Badsey, 1993, p. 41). The Bailey bridge, a portable, prefabricated bridge developed by the British, constructed over the canal was not finished until the morning of the 19th (Badsey, 1993, p. 56). The 82nd Airborne captured the bridge near Grave and the high ground at Groesbeck Heights. A communication problem delayed the assault on the Nijmegen Bridge. By the time the 508th PIR reached the bridge,
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Communication issues plagued the British throughout the entire Battle of Arnhem and made it difficult, impossible at times, to communicate with any Allied force not on the ground in Arnhem, including their resupply aircraft. At times, entire resupply drops were landed in German controlled areas for a lack of communication. More seriously, the inability to communicate with XXX Corps meant no one in the Allied command understood how dire the 1st Airborne’s situation in Arnhem was as the days wore on (Builder et al, 1993). When XXX Corps began their drive north at mid-afternoon Horrocks believed the lead elements would reach Eindhoven, 13 miles north, within two or three hours. The advance did not go as planned and after three hours they had only gone seven miles. Four German battalions ambushed the Guards Armored shortly after starting their advance. With no ability to maneuver, the Guards Armored forces had to slowly fight their way north. They reached Valkenswaard by the end of the day, but halted for 12 hours while the engineers constructed a Bailey bridge before continuing (“Operation Market Garden.” n.d.). At this point, Market-Garden was already behind schedule. Unbeknownst to the Allies, a glider from the first wave of the 101st landings was shot down and in the wreckage the Germans discovered air plans for Market. The plans clearly identified which bridges the 101st needed to hold to facilitate the assault for the Guards Armored and later the 43rd and 50th Infantry Divisions (Kershaw, 2004, p.
Communication issues plagued the British throughout the entire Battle of Arnhem and made it difficult, impossible at times, to communicate with any Allied force not on the ground in Arnhem, including their resupply aircraft. At times, entire resupply drops were landed in German controlled areas for a lack of communication. More seriously, the inability to communicate with XXX Corps meant no one in the Allied command understood how dire the 1st Airborne’s situation in Arnhem was as the days wore on (Builder et al, 1993). When XXX Corps began their drive north at mid-afternoon Horrocks believed the lead elements would reach Eindhoven, 13 miles north, within two or three hours. The advance did not go as planned and after three hours they had only gone seven miles. Four German battalions ambushed the Guards Armored shortly after starting their advance. With no ability to maneuver, the Guards Armored forces had to slowly fight their way north. They reached Valkenswaard by the end of the day, but halted for 12 hours while the engineers constructed a Bailey bridge before continuing (“Operation Market Garden.” n.d.). At this point, Market-Garden was already behind schedule. Unbeknownst to the Allies, a glider from the first wave of the 101st landings was shot down and in the wreckage the Germans discovered air plans for Market. The plans clearly identified which bridges the 101st needed to hold to facilitate the assault for the Guards Armored and later the 43rd and 50th Infantry Divisions (Kershaw, 2004, p.