RIGHT
Welcoming crowds
greet XXX Corps
as they push
forward. This photo
is thought to have
been taken in
Brussels.
AIRBORNE ARCHIVE/
VIA AUTHORBELOW
Led by a Firefly,
British tanks cross
Nijmegen Bridge
on September
21, 1944.
TOPFOTOserved as First
Lord of the
Admiralty and in
his post-cabinet life, he was Secretary
General of NATO. During his career
he survived two major political crises;
the first in 1954, when as a junior
minister during the Crichel Down
affair his resignation was refused by
Churchill. The second was in 1962,
after an official report vindicated him
from alleged wrongdoings arising from
rumours relating to the Soviet spy
John Vassall. Clearly, his qualities – as
demonstrated by his political career –
are dramatically different from those
alleged on the back of one incident,
one decision that Lord Carrington had
to make during Market Garden.A HARROWING DASH
On September 17, 82nd Airborne
dropped in the area of Nijmegen,
quickly securing the majority of its
objectives. However, the division was
not able to take the bridges. Enemy
resistance was simply much stronger
than anticipated. Fighting continued,
as it did along the route of XXX Corps,
and it was not until September 19 that
leading elements of the corps arrived.
An initial attack by tanks and
paratroopers fell short and a new plan
was formulated. On September 20 the
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment
crossed the Waal in British-supplied
assault boats, supported by Irish
Guards’ Shermans and XXX Corps
artillery to secure the northern ramp
of the bridge. This they achieved,
having crossed the river under fire
and sustaining heavy casualties. As this
was happening the 505th, supported
by four Shermans of the GrenadierGuards, crossed the 400-yard-long
bridge – two tanks made it safely to the
northern side and the remaining two,
although damaged,
joined them later.
These tanks
were the charge
of Captain the
Lord Carrington,
a 25-year-old
Grenadier Guards
subaltern, acting
as second-in-
command of
the squadron.
The dash was
harrowing,
and there were
certainly concerns
that the bridge might be blown
while the tanks were crossing. In his
autobiography, the Lord wrote: “Ourlittle force was led by an excellent
Grenadier, Sergeant Robinson, who
was rightly awarded the Distinguished
Conduct Medal
for his action.
Two of our tanks
were hit – not
lethally – by anti-
tank fire, and we
found a number of
Germans perched
in the girders
who tried to drop
things on us...
Robinson and
the leading tank
troop sprayed the
opposite bank and
we lost nobody.
When I arrived at the far end, my
sense of relief was considerable: the
bridge had not been blown, we had not
been plunged into the Waal.”NO OTHER OPTION
As Carrington crossed the bridge,
back in Nijmegen the infantry of 3rd
Battalion, Grenadier Guards was
fighting hard to continue the advance,
but it suffered many casualties and
was down to a single subaltern. At this
time artillery support was desultory – a
single battery that had not registered
properly – and no air cover was
available. The road north to Arnhem
ran atop raised dykes and without
infantry support any movement by the
tanks, more than likely, would have
been short lived.
Suggestions this road was initially
lightly defended may have foundation,
but as the German stranglehold on
Arnhem tightened, XXX Corps met
increasingly heavy resistance as itMarket
GardenCARRINGTON – ONE MAN'S DECISION|ARNHEM
“When I arrived
at the far end, my
sense of relief was
considerable: the
bridge had not been
blown, we had not
been plunged into
the Waal.”54 http://www.britainatwar.com52-57 CARRINGTON_ARNHEM BAW SEPT2019.indd 54 8/14/2019 5:34:47 PM