Newell, Grant. R. Airborne to Arnhem. Personal reminiscences of the Battle of Arnhem, Operation Market, 17-26 September 1944. Volume 1

Airborne to Arnhem is the first of three volumes of memoirs of the Battle of Arnhem, Operation Market Garden, 17 to 26 September 1944. The three volumes contain over 150 personal accounts from veterans of the 1st Airborne Division and crew members of the RAF and XXX Corps. The study is the result of over forty years of research focusing on the role of the British 1st Airborne Division in the capture of the northern end of the Arnhem Bridge and the subsequent fighting for the Oosterbeek perimeter, as well as the eventual evacuation across the Neder Rijn. Volume 1 of the study contains accounts from members of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Parachute Battalion, the 1st Parachute Brigade and their support units such as the 1st Parachute Squadron, the Royal Engineers, the 1st Airborne Anti-Tank Battery of the Royal Artillery, the 1st Airborne Light Gun Regiment of the Royal Artillery and the 16th Parachute Field Ambulance. Division units are also covered, including the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Defence Train of the 1st Airborne Division, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and the 261 Field Park Company, Royal Engineers, as well as reports from members of the Glider Pilot Regiment. Volume 2 covers the involvement of the glider infantry of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, the 1st Battalion, Border Regiment, and the 7th (Galloway) Battalion, The King's Own Scottish Borderers, of the 1st Airborne Brigade, as well as further reports from the glider pilots who flew them into battle. Volume 2 also begins with coverage of the 4th Parachute Brigade, namely the 10th and 11th Parachute Battalions, including the 133rd Parachute Field Ambulance and the attached 2nd (Oban) Parachute Anti-Tank Battery of the Royal Artillery. Of particular interest is the account of a pilot from the United States Army Air Corps who transported the 10th Parachute Battalion. Volume 3 completes the accounts of members of the 4th Parachute Brigade with the 156th Parachute Battalion and the 4th Parachute Squadron of the Royal Engineers. In addition, there are recollections from members of the 250th (Airborne Unit) Light Composite Company, Royal Army Service Corps, which was responsible for collecting supplies dropped by the RAF. The Royal Artillery, both the 1st Airborne Division and the 2nd Army in the form of the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, RA, the 1st Forward Observation Unit, RA and the 64th Medium Regiment, RA, XXX. Corps are covered in detail. In between are additional reports from glider pilots, including those who transported the glider contingent of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade, as well as a report from the 3rd Polish Parachute Battalion, which was dropped near Driel. Finally, the volume covers the important contribution of the Royal Air Force to the overall operation, including the 38th and 46th Groups and the fighter aircraft tasked with ground support and resupply. After nine days of siege, the evacuation of the survivors of the 1st Airborne Division is first discussed, with the disastrous diversionary attack by the 4th Battalion of the Dorset Regiment and the retreat itself, with reports from members of the 553rd and 260th Field Companies of the Royal Engineers, XXX. Corps, who, together with their Canadian engineering colleagues, were tasked with evacuating the survivors across the Neder Rijn. Each volume in the series contains detailed chapter introductions that provide the reader with background information on the events described by those involved. The entire series is richly illustrated with wartime and post-war photographs, many of them in colour, with detailed accompanying maps illustrating the positions of the units involved at various stages of the battle.