Frank van Lunteren - The Battle of the Bridges: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Operation Market Garden

T he authors of the first regimental history, 1st Lt. William D. Mandle and PFC David H. Whittier, were faced with a huge challenge. Only limited and incomplete documentation was available as they compiled their manuscript from December 1944 through may 1945. In retrospect, it is unfortunate that Cpl. George B. Graves, Jr., a clerk in Regimental Headquarters who was discharged as a private, was not a regular part of the writers team back in 1944. Graves had envisioned writing a book on the history of the 504th Regimental Combat Team [RCT] when the unit was still in action during the Holland Campaign. During the many months he was overseas, he kept a private diary and continually sent retyped reports, photos and medal citations to his wife to keep for his book. Although he finished a beautifully composed scrapbook for his own collection, the book remained unwritten. In a way, I feel as if I am finishing what George Graves had planned to do back in 1944.

I was very fortunate to have received much cooperation from multiple sources: the three children of Lt. William mandleSteve, Shannon and Kimkindly supported me in every possible way, not least by supplying dozens of photos from their late father's archives. Lieutenant mandle wanted to write another regimental history in serial form, but was diagnosed with cancer and died in 1962 before he could finish his manuscript. Steve transcribed dozens of his father's wartime letters and sent them to me. thank you all three for your continual support, which bettered my research and gave me a rare, privileged view of the life and work of a young lieutenant during WWII.

Mike Bigalke not only shared photos, letters and reports from the late Cpl. George Graves's scrapbook, but also sent photocopies of regimental reports on the Italian campaigns he had located in the Donovan Research Library at Fort Benning and a much-treasured original Propblast regimental newspaper from April 1945, now a valued piece in my collection. Robert Wolfe did the same with the reports and lists of decorated troopers we had seen during our August 2007 visit to the United States Army History Military Institute in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Fellow historian John C. McManus (author of the excellent September Hope) and Fred Baldino, James McNamara, Jr., and Timothy Rose generously provided photocopies from the Cornelius Ryan Archives, including questionnaires by Baldino, McManus and Rose that I had selected from the list on the archive's website. Steve Mrozek, official 82nd Airborne Division Historian for many years and the author of two great books, supplied invaluable copies of the August 1944 regimental roster, which enabled me to trace down veterans I would otherwise have never found.

Raymond and Kathleen Buttke I first met in September 2004 when we visited the Liberation Museum in Groesbeek along with Phil and Judy Rosenkrantz, veterans Albert Clark (A Company), Francis Keefe (I Company), and Francis's nephew, Jack Barry. It was Francis who first asked me to write this regimental history in August 2007 when I was guest speaker at the 504th PIR dinner. Raymond and Kathleen shared their research on troopers killed in the Waal Crossing, and Phil gave permission to use the letters and wartime photographs of his uncle, Sgt. David Rosenkrantz.

In the Netherlands, help was received from Jan Bos, unit historian of the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion, who graciously provided a copy of his 376th PFAB history and scans of unique wartime photographs by Capt. Louis Hauptfleisch. Dennis and Gerda Hermsen supplied me with information on the late Richard Gentzel and William Sandoval, and also supplied numerous personal photographs from the American Cemetery in Henri-Chapelle. Egbert van de Schootbrugge contributed Ted Bachenheimer's Individual Deceased Personnel File, which gave me rich insight into the post-war correspondence of the army and understanding of the relatives of a deceased paratrooper. The epigraph from Katherina Bachenheimer's letter to the Memorial Division comes from this source.

I also owe hearty thanks to two great friends, Johan van Asten and Jos Bex. Jos put me in contact with the family of the late Peter Colishion and contributed maps based on the Waal River Crossing. In August 2007, Johan accompanied me to the 61st Annual Convention of the 82nd Airborne Division in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. An unsung hero, he has spent years battling the Nijmegen municipal bureaucracy in the effort to increase official awareness of the importance of properly maintaining and preserving the Waal Crossing monument erected by Dutch civilians in September 1984.

Jan Timmermans at the Graafs Museum in Grave and Anne-Marie Jansen at the Van 't Lindenhout Museum in Neerbosch supplied photographs and background on local events in September 1944. Ben Overhand shared his knowledge of the Den Heuvel battle and photographs and documentation concerning Lieutenants Kennedy and Preston and Staff Sergeant Baldwin. Brig. Gen. Ben Bouman (Ret.) kindly provided written recollections and answered many questions regarding his short time with B Company in Holland. Arjen Kuiken provided five unique and formerly unpublished photographs of the Provinciale Geldersche Electriciteits Maatsshappij power station on the south bank of the Waal River. I relied on my father Wim to enhance the digital quality of several photographs, a talent my publisher (and I!) greatly appreciated.