RIGHT
Dutch children
stand next to a
Sherman of the Irish
Guards, Eindhoven,
September 18, 1944.
WILLEM VAN DE POLL/
DUTCH NATIONAL
ARCHIVESRIGHT
A Sherman of the
Irish Guards passes
civilians in France.
THE TANK MUSEUMto relieve 1st Airborne Division at
Arnhem. While the risky tactic,
often termed a ‘Thunder Run’, is
more familiar in modern warfare, it
was uncharacteristically bold for the
period. (In April 2003, two massive
high-speed combined-arms advances
pushed into Baghdad, carried through
by the overwhelming firepower of
mobile and heavily armoured US
Army formations.)
Moving forward, the Irish Group
initially slammed into four rough
battalions of Fallschirmjäger and
other troops. Following the Guards
was 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Divisionwith XXX Corps’
third infantry
division, 50th
(Northumbrian),
as reserve. At least
300 of XXX Corps
artillery pieces
were lent to the
bombardment – a
creeping barrage
designed to clear
the first few miles from the start line.
Several squadrons of attack aircraft
operated above the advance.
From Valkenswaard the Irish
Group, comprising the regiment’s2 nd (Armoured) and 3rd Battalions,
drove on and fought to link with the
US Airborne at Nijmegen. The unit
acting as the Guard’s reconnaissance
regiment was 2nd Household Cavalry
Regiment (2HCR), and it was a
2HCR patrol that brought news of
how difficult it would be to reach
Nijmegen. Checking the state of
the bridge over the Dommel river,
Lieutenant Arthur R J Buchanan-
Jardine had taken a two scout car
patrol in a dash up the road. Having
checked the bridge was still intact,
the patrol raced back through small-
arms, anti-tank and rocket fire. As
the Germans were slow to react, the
patrol returned
safety. Buchanan-
Jardine was
awarded the
Military Cross.
On the morning
of September
18, the Irish
Group was held
up at Aalst and
the Grenadier
Group deployed
to follow the
Household
Cavalry as
Major Wignall’s
squadron had
‘gone clean through’. However,
the Grenadier tanks were held –
and eventually recalled. But, with
101 st (US) Airborne having taken
Eindhoven, the Irish Group hadTHE ORIGINAL THUNDER RUN|ARNHEM
"“[The] roads ran on
raised embankments
over marshy ground,
making it largely
impossible for armour
to move off-road... The
Guards would be forced
to drive on elevated
routes in clear view of
enemy anti-tank guns”"Market
Garden36 http://www.britainatwar.com34-41 THUNDER_RUN_ARNHEM BAW SEPT2019.indd 36 8/14/2019 5:14:07 PM