The Last Bridge

Our final stops were in the Arnhem area.  After driving across the John Frost Bridge, named for the lieutenant colonel commanding the parachute battalion that seized the north end of the Rhine Bridge but then became isolated from the rest of 1st Airborne and forced to surrender on Sept. 21, we headed west a few miles to Oosterbeek, the Arnhem suburb containing the British landing zones and where the last stand of the paratroopers took place.  It's where the Hartenstein Airborne museum is located in the building that served as 1st Airborne HQ during the battle.

 

Make sure to visit the museum.  Exhibits and artifacts are outstanding.  The special exhibit was the standout, telling the story of General Stanislaw Sosabowski, commander of the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, and of his son, Stanislaw Janusz "Stasinek" Sosabowski.  The father fought against the Germans in 1939, escaped from Poland and eventually made his way to the UK, where he became one of 250,000 Poles who fought with the Western Allies.  The son remained in Poland, joining the Home Army and participating in the 1944 Warsaw Uprising.  And thereby hangs a tale we learned about on our visit.

Outside the museum is this tribute from the British and Polish airborne to the Dutch people who came to their aid during the battle.

But for several decades after the battle relations between the British and Polish veterans was troubled.  We learned some of the story at the Sosabowski exhibit but only learned the rest when we finished our visit at the small town of Driel on the south side of the Rhine, directly opposite Oosterbeek.

The Polish Parachute Brigade was organized with the intent that it would be eventually dropped into Warsaw to help with its liberation.  Its soldiers would be the first Poles to return from exile.  However, the British insisted that it be placed under their command and participate in Market Garden.  Sosabowski was an abrasive and outspoken commander, a style that clashed with British military manners, and he was disliked for that reason.  He also expressed doubts about the feasibility of Market Garden.

While Sosabowski parachuted in on the third day of the operation, most of his command did not arrive until Sept 21.  The plan was to have the Poles seize the ferry at Driel and cross the river to help 1st Airborne.  However, the ferry had been disabled the day before by the locals to prevent the Germans from using it, so only a couple of hundred Poles made it across on rubber boats.  The rest of the brigade remained in Driel, eventually fighting its way out.

With the failure of Market Garden, the British military, specifically Field Marshall Montgomery and British Airborne Army Commander Browning sought to pin the blame on Sosabowski and the Poles (Perfidious Albion strikes once again).  Though it was nonsense, they succeeded in forcing the Polish government-in-exile, dependent on British goodwill, to dismiss Sosabowski, who would spend the rest of his life trying to reclaim his reputation.

Because of the communist takeover of Poland, Sosabowski could not return, living in the UK until his death in 1967.  His family was given permission to have him buried in Poland.  In  1945 Sosabowski was reunited with his son Stanisek, who managed to flee Poland at war's end.  Stanisek had been a member of the Home Army, led attacks on Germans, and fought in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.  Badly wounded he lost sight in his remaining eye (the other eye was lost in a childhood accident), leaving him blind.  Saved by a nurse, who later became his wife, after coming to the UK he became a doctor.

Meanwhile, in Driel, a local woman Cora Baltussen, made it her life's mission to restore the reputation of the Poles, who were fondly remembered in the town.  She discovered that plans for the Dutch Queen to award ten Poles medals for bravery were derailed by British objections.  Over the years, and with the help of historians, the Poles began to be treated more fairly and in the 21st century the Dutch government awarded the medal and has held events honoring the parachute brigade.  Today, the square in the center of Driel is filled with monuments and displays celebrating the Poles and Sosabowski, and the church on the square contains a large exhibit explaining their story and the efforts to rehabilitate their reputation.

Driel