The Highway

The start point for Operation Market Garden is less than a two hour drive from the northern part of the Battle of the Bulge.  The plan for Market Garden (Sept 17-25, 1944) was for three airborne landings - 101st in the area of Eindhoven to seize bridges over rivers and canals in the area; 82nd near Nijmegen to seize bridges over the Meuse and Waal, and for the British 1st Airborne to take the Rhine bridge at Arnhem.  British XXX Corps was to drive up the highway from Lommel on the Belgian/Dutch border to reinforce the lightly armed paratroopers.  Once the Rhine bridge was secure the Allies would have outflanked the Siegfried Line/Westwall and could race into Germany.

We retraced the XXX Corps route from its start, stopping at markers and memorials along the way.  As in the Bulge battle area, local citizens and towns have erected and maintained these along the entire route.  I wanted to highlight two.

 

This is the memorial to Medal of Honor recipient Private First Class Joe Eugene Mann, located on a path near the Wilhelmina Canal near Best, north of Eindhoven.  The drop zones for the 101st were in the Best area and one of their goals were to seize the bridges over the canal.  After landing on Sept. 17, the following day Joe Mann knocked out a German 88 mm gun and an ammo dump.  His MOH citation goes on to read:

Completely disregarding the great danger involved, he remained in his exposed position, and, with his M1 rifle, killed the enemy one by one until he was wounded four times. Taken to a covered position, he insisted on returning to a forward position to stand guard during the night.

The wounds to his arms required they be strapped to his torso, making them unusable.  The following morning he was in a crater with several other wounded when the Germans counterattacked and a grenade landed in the crater.  Unable to use his arms to toss it away, Joe called "grenade!" and fell on it, saving his fellow troopers.  He received the MOH posthumously.  Joe Mann was 22 years old.  As you can see in the photo, the marker is well maintained and surrounded by fresh flowers and American flags.

 (Joe Mann)

This is a memorial at St Anthony's Mill in the town of Eerde, north of Best.  Much of the Eindhoven and Nijmegen areas seized by the Americans was under constant German counterattack for a week.  St Anthony's Mill, an actual windmill, was the site of prolonged fighting.  This memorial, which today sits next to a modest neighborhood of small well-kept homes, is maintained locally.  A few feet away is another memorial with the names of 75 men from the 101st who perished in the area around the mill. 

Highly recommended for a visit in this area is the Wings of Liberation Museum in Best.  It can be a little difficult to find, located within what is primarily a children's park.  The museum is directly adjacent to the 101st landing zones which, for the most part, remain open fields, and boasts an excellent collection of military equipment and an accompanying audio tour that highlights the bravery of the Dutch resistance.