The Battle of Arnhem
The Hartenstein Airborne Museum
Following the success of the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and the subsequent liberation of Paris some two & a half months later, the western Allies were looking for the best strategy to win World War II in Europe as quickly as possible. In September 1944 they launched a daring airborne operation in the Netherlands to secure key bridges over the Meuse, Waal & Rhine rivers and advance into Germany's industrial heartland, the Ruhr region, outflanking the Siegfried Line. Devised by Field Marshal Montgomery and code-named Operation Market Garden, the plan ultimately failed at Arnhem, where British & Polish airborne troops met with far more resistance than anticipated, which delayed the Allied crossing of the Rhine for six months.
The Hartenstein Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek tells the story of the Battle of Arnhem. Housed in a former hotel that served as the HQ of the 1st Airborne Division, located roughly halfway between the Allied drop & landing zones and the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, the museum’s permanent exhibition gives a day-by-day account of the battle, from the parachute droppings on the 17th of September to the withdrawal nine days later, zooming in on the personal stories of soldiers & civilians, while also looking at the battle from a strategic & tactical perspective. In the basement you will find the Airborne Experience, which showcases the battle in all its intensity, following the footsteps of a British parachutist. A visit to the museum takes about two to three hours.
www.airbornemuseum.nlReader Comments
Giles
Operation Market Garden was the greatest demonstration of paratroop power ever seen, but the cost of failure was horrendous. In his book Arnhem, military historian Antony Beevor makes clear just how disastrous Montgomery’s vainglorious plan was.
Ronnie
The Airborne at the Bridge exhibition, located near the John Frost Bridge in Arnhem, tells the personal stories of a British lieutenant, a German Hauptsturmführer and a Dutch captain who fought & died during the Battle of Arnhem, giving you an opportunity to learn about the battle from three perspectives.
Claire
Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, 5 minutes by car from the Airborne Museum, contains the graves of most British & Polish servicemen killed during the September landings, and many of those killed in later fighting in the area.