This week marks the 70-year anniversary of World War II’s Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem. The operation, led by the United Kingdom’s Field Marshall Bernard Law Montgomery, was an audacious attempt to use airborne troops to invade Germany through the Netherlands, with the hope that a victory here would bring the war in Europe to an end by Christmas. The operation was ultimately unsuccessful, however, and led to an estimated 18,000 Allied soldiers either killed or captured.
Although the anniversary of this part of World War II has passed by mostly unnoticed here in the U.S., it’s a different story over in England where the battle is being honored with ceremonies, reenactments and veterans returning to the battlefield to pay their respects to their lost comrades:
94-year-old Tom visits Arnhem every year to commemorate the anniversary of Operation Market Garden http://t.co/XgFfq7QNlA #arnhem70
— Pen & Sword Books (@penswordbooks) September 20, 2014
70 jaar geleden was #Maastricht de eerste stad in Nederland die bevrijd werd en dat vieren we volop! pic.twitter.com/K5H1UPBbBX
— Onno Hoes (@onnohoes) September 13, 2014
He didn't make it. Photo courtesy of warcemeteries.nl #lestweforget #arnhem70 pic.twitter.com/RSCE6uc8oJ
— 3468marsh (@3468marsh) September 18, 2014
And here are a select few of the many fantastic photos of both the battle and the veterans who fought it getting shared via the hashtag, #Arnehm70:
Lots of re-enactors at #Arnhem70 pic.twitter.com/b0UNm6yw01
— Paul Reed (@sommecourt) September 20, 2014
Private Stan Wright at the 'Bear Pit' memorial in #Arnhem 70 years since he fought here aged 20 pic.twitter.com/tWSYhcwEtr
— British Army (@BritishArmy) September 19, 2014
#Paratroopers descend enmasse at the DZs near #Arnhem70, September #1944 Copyright: Airborne Assault Museum, Duxford pic.twitter.com/kZJZ8Wyra8
— British Army (@BritishArmy) September 20, 2014
Read Lance Corporal Wally Smith's http://t.co/5AzK6ob8su account of the Battle of #Arnhem70 in 1944 pic.twitter.com/3mZOnqCQpY
— British Army (@BritishArmy) September 20, 2014
https://twitter.com/leowalker226/status/513399600074752000
70 yrs ago started Operation #MarketGarden in which participated 1st #Polish Parachute Brigade led by gen #Sosabowski pic.twitter.com/pIMweesX7A
— Embassy of Poland US (@PolishEmbassyUS) September 17, 2014
Seventy years on … #Arnhem70 pic.twitter.com/7FWqbMOmMn
— CallyCoastGuard (@BillyBaywatch) September 17, 2014
Related:
‘Respect!’: 93-year-old vet Jim Martin will parachute into Normandy for D-Day anniversary; Updated
Obama chewed out for chomping gum at D‑Day ceremonies
On #DDay70, grateful citizens remember heroes who liberated concentration camps
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