John Frost Bridge (Arnhem)

Netherlands / Gelderland / Arnhem / Nijmeegseweg
 memorial, Second World War 1939-1945, place with historical importance, interesting place, bridge, war memorial
John Frost Bridge (A bridge too far)
John Dutton Frost, as commander of the 2nd Parachute Battalion, commanded about 600 lightly-armed men who held on to the north side of a bridge over the River Rhine, waiting for relief from the rest of Airborne Division to his west and a Brittish tank division to his south.
The help never came and Frost and his men were surrendered after four days of fighting. Following his surrender Frost was held as a prisoner of war at Spanenberg and later a hospital in Obermassfeldt. He was freed when the area was overrun by United States troops in March 1945.
In 1978 the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem was renamed the John Frost bridge in his honour reportedly after much reluctance to accept the honour from Frost. His role in the battle was told in the Cornelius Ryan's bestseller A Bridge Too Far.

Below is a link to a site that is dedicated to all men that fought during operation Market Garden and for those that lost their lives during the operation for the freedom of Europe.
www.4en5mei.nl/herdenken-en-vieren/oorlogsmonumenten/mo...
www.bruggenstichting.nl/index.php/informatief/bruggen-d...
www.market-garden.info/
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   51°58'26"N   5°54'38"E

Comments

  • The first b/w photo with the girls and civilian car that is taken in Nijmegen. It is the traffic bridge across the river Waal.
This article was last modified 9 years ago