ARNHEM by Urquhart, Maj. Gen. Robert E, CB,DSO

New York 1958, Norton, first US edition, hard bound in dust jacket, VG/VG condition ( end papers lightly toned and dj shows light wear on spine), 6x9, 237 pages, illustrations, maps, appendices include Airborne order of battle, index. This is the story of Arnhem, a heroic failure in the battle for control of the lower Rhine in September 1944.Field-Marshal Montgomery wrote to General Urquhart after the battle. "Them can be few episodes more glorious than the epic of Arnhem, and those that follow will find it hard to live up to the standards you have set."The mililary plan was a bold one: an ambitious airdrop using American and British divisions under Montgomery was to drive a wedge across Holland, to be quickly followed up on the ground. The prize: a crossing of the lower Rhine, isolation of German forces on the wrong side of the river, and the chance to rush through to the heart of industrial Germany, with the hope of peace by Christmas.The most distant target was allotted to the British First Airborne Division. Their orders were to seize the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem and hold it for twenty four hours. They held it against tremendous odds for three days, and three nights. Right from the beginning the operation was beset with incredible problems. Communication was almost nonexistent, the plans of the battle were in enemy hands within two hours of the landing, reinforcements never arrived, and resupplies were dropped onto German positions. After nine days, driven back into an ever shrinking perimeter, the First Division was called out and its survivors fought their way back across the Rhine.Losses were so heavy that this heroic division was never re-formed. General Eisenhower has written their epitaph in a letter to their commander: "There has been nn single performance by any unit that has more greatly impressed me or more highly excited admiration. Pressed from every side, without relief, reinforcement or respite, they inflicted such heavy losses on the German that his infantry dared not close with them. In an unremitting hail of steel ... they never flinched, never wavered."General Urquhart tells this grim and amazing story with great frankness and even humor. This addition to the literature of World War II should become a classic of great war reporting.