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Willi Derkow, Berliner, labor leader, refugee, scholar, and human rights activist
The Battle
The battle of Arnhem was a magnificent disaster.
Major G.G. Norton, 1971
There were no exceptions from the fighting line; all ranks were in it. Staff officers, signallers, batmen, drivers and clerks all lent a hand. We were content. Amid the din of continuous fire and crash of falling burning buildings, laughter was often heard.
Major General John Frost, 1980
The biggest mistake historians make is to glorify and narrow mindedly concern themselves with Arnhem and Oosterbeek. The Allies were stopped in the south just north of Nijmegenthat is why Arnhem turned out as it did.
SS Major-General Heinz Harmel, 1987
The Battle of Arnhem, this magnificent feat of Arms, and the most glorious battle of the War is over.
Major General P.R.C. Cummings, Colonel, The South Staffordshire Regiment, letter to anxious relatives of the Second Battalion, 1 October, 1944
The Guards Armoured Division
I always thought that the Guards were the best soldiers that I saw on either side in the warnot only because of their soldierly qualities, but because of their nonchalance and style. It was a remarkable division.
Major General James Gavin, 82nd Airborne Division
And those Guards divisionstheyre good outfits. Best in the British Army. You cant get into em unless youve a Sir in front of your name and a pedigree a yard long. But dont laugh at them. Theyre good fighters.
Lt. Colonel Robert Sink, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division
I was very conscious of the price we had to pay for victorythe Guards Armoured Division [in World War II] had 956 killed, 545 missing and 3,946 wounded. I have since visited their graves; in battle, it was a particularly sad sight to see a burnt out tank and four crosses beside it. I loved them all.
Major-General Allan Adair
The American Ground Forces
All ranks of [George S. Pattons Third Army], when they saw our red berets, would say: Arnhem, Aye. Wed have gotten through. Yes, sir. Wed have gotten through. I could not help believe they would have. There was nothing slow and ponderous about them and they didnt stop for tea, or the night, for that matter.
Lt. Colonel John Frost at his liberation from a POW camp
The British Ground Forces
The British 5th Battalion DCLI formed up in lines of skirmishers to walk shoulder to shoulder across the open fields. It seemed a very foolish command to us. Enemy artillery came in screaming and moaning. Many of the British went down but they still pressed forward, closing the gaps in blown in their lines by the barrage. They marched steadily on, firing their Enfields from the hip, working the bolts and firing again. The English soldiers were brave to a fault, staying in line and moving forward through the crush of artillery, machine-gun and small arms fire. They marched unwaveringly to their deaths. This sort of attack went out with the bloody assaults of our Civil War in the 1800s.
Pfc. Donald Burgett, on the Island after Market Garden
The 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles
I dont believe any division other than one of these two Airborne Divisions could have kept the 25 kilometres of this one road open, with increasing German pressure coming in from both sides. [They] were in fact the toughest troops I have ever come across in my life.
Lt. General Sir Brian Horrocks
Youd better hurry up, medics. Theyre gaining on you.
The badly wounded Captain Melvin C. Davis, on receiving medical aid, then being hit again
They are as fine fellows as we have ever worked with, or could wish to work with, and we both would have liked to have done an assault together.
Major Michael L.Tucker, 23rd Company, Royal Canadian Engineers
The 82nd Airborne Division, the All-Americans
Some of the finest airborne soldiers the world has known.
Major-General Roy Urquhart
I never saw such a gallant action.
Lt. General Frederick Browning, on the 504th PIR crossing of the Waal, September 20, 1944
Im proud to meet the Commanding General of the finest division in the world today.
Lt. General Miles Dempsey to Brig. General James Gavin, September 23, 1944
The 1st Airborne Division, the Red Devils
The British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem was an elite unit. Its performance, especially at the road bridge was, in the last analysis, acknowledged as really heroic.
Walther Harzer in Fallschirme ueber Arnheim, Nach Unterlagen von Walther Harzer
In all my years as a soldier, I have never seen men fight so hard.
General Wilhelm Bittrich
the outstanding independent battalion action of the war.
James Gavin, writing of the action of the Second Parachute Battalion
The 23rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers
Thank you, mate, for what you and your comrades did for us in 1944. We could not say thank you then, because you were just whispers and shadows in the night.
British paratrooper Bill Bateman to Norman Caldwell, a Canadian engineer, 1988
The First Polish Independent Parachute Brigade
I have never been under the impression of such courage. You did not hear one sound of screaming or crying. These were people from hundreds of miles away waiting for a doctor to operate or amputate. A people so very earthy, so honest and with a sincerity that has always impressed us.
Cora Balthussen
The Germans
The German is no fool and a mighty warrior.
Regimental Sergeant-Major J.C. Lord