Tim Saunders - The Island Nijmegen to Arnhem

Other guides in the Battleground Europe Series:

Walking the Salient by Paul Reed

Ypres - Sanctuary Wood and Hooge by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Hill 60 by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Messines Ridge by Peter Oldham

Ypres - Polygon Wood by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Passchendaele by Nigel Cave

Ypres - Airfields and Airmen by Michael OConnor

Ypres - St Julien by Graham Keech

Walking the Somme by Paul Reed

Somme - Gommecourt by Nigel Cave

Somme - Serre by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Somme - Beaumont Hamel by Nigel Cave

Somme - Thiepval by Michael Stedman

Somme - La Boisselle by Michael Stedman

Somme - Fricourt by Michael Stedman

Somme - Carnoy-Montauban by Graham Maddocks

Somme - Pozieres by Graham Keech

Somme - Courcelette by Paul Reed

Somme - Boom Ravine by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Mametz Wood by Michael Renshaw

Somme - Delville Wood by Nigel Cave

Somme - Advance to Victory (North) 1918 by Michael Stedman

Somme - Flers by Trevor Pidgeon

Somme - Bazentin Ridge by Edward Hancock and Nigel Cave

Somme - Combles by Paul Reed

Arras - Vimy Ridge by Nigel Cave

Arras - Gavrelle by Trevor Tasker and Kyle Tallett

Arras - Bullecourt by Graham Keech

Arras - Monchy le Preux by Colin Fox

Hindenburg Line by Peter Oldham

Hindenburg Line Epehy by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line Riqueval by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line Villers-Plouich by Bill Mitchinson

Hindenburg Line - Cambrai by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

Hindenburg Line - Saint Quentin by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Hindenburg Line -Bourlon Wood by Jack Horsfall & Nigel Cave

La Basse - Neuve Chapelle by Geoffrey Bridger

Loos - Hohenzollen by Andrew Rawson

Loos - Hill 70 by Andrew Rawson

Mons by Jack Horsfall and Nigel Cave

Accrington Pals Trail by William Turner

Poets at War: Wilfred Owen by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Poets at War: Edmund Blunden by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Poets at War: Graves & Sassoon by Helen McPhail and Philip Guest

Gallipoli by Nigel Steel

Walking the Italian Front by Francis Mackay

Italy - Asiago by Francis Mackay

Verdun by Christina Holstein

Boer War - The Relief of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - The Siege of Ladysmith by Lewis Childs

Boer War - Kimberley by Lewis Childs

Isandlwana by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Rorkes Drift by Ian Knight and Ian Castle

Wars of the Roses - Wakefield / Towton by Philip A. Haigh

English Civil War - Naseby by Martin Marix Evans, Peter Burton and Michael Westaway

Napoleonic - Hougoumont by Julian Paget and Derek Saunders

Napoleonic - Waterloo by Andrew Uffindell and Michael Corum

WW2 Pegasus Bridge/Merville Battery by Carl Shilleto

WW2 Utah Beach by Carl Shilleto

WW2 Gold Beach by Christopher Dunphie & Garry Johnson

WW2 Normandy - Gold Beach Jig by Tim Saunders

WW2 Omaha Beach by Tim Kilvert-Jones

WW2 Sword Beach by Tim Kilvert-Jones

WW2 Battle of the Bulge - St Vith by Michael Tolhurst

WW2 Battle of the Bulge - Bastogne by Michael Tolhurst

WW2 Dunkirk by Patrick Wilson

WW2 Calais by Jon Cooksey

WW2 Boulogne by Jon Cooksey

WW2 Das Reich Drive to Normandy by Philip Vickers

WW2 Hill 112 by Tim Saunders

WW2 Market Garden - Nijmegen by Tim Saunders

WW2 Market Garden - Hells Highway by Tim Saunders

WW2 Market Garden - Arnhem, Oosterbeek by Frank Steer

WW2 Market Garden - The Island by Tim Saunders

WW2 Channel Islands by George Forty

Battleground Europe Series guides under contract for future release : Stamford Bridge & Hastings by Peter Marren

Somme - High Wood by Terry Carter

Somme - German Advance 1918 by Michael Stedman

Somme - Beaucourt by Michael Renshaw

Walking Arras by Paul Reed

Gallipoli - Gully Ravine by Stephen Chambers

Fromelles by Peter Pedersen

Hamel by Peter Pedersen

WW2 Normandy - Epsom by Tim Saunders

WW2 Normandy - Mont Pinon by Eric Hunt

WW2 Normandy - Operation Bluecoat by Ian Daglish

WW2 Market Garden - Arnhem, The Bridge by Frank Steer

WW2 Normandy - Falaise by Tim Kilvert-Jones

WW2 Walcheren by Andrew Rawson

With the continued expansion of the Battleground series a Battleground Series Club has been formed to benefit the reader. The purpose of the Club is to keep members informed of new titles and to offer many other reader-benefits. Membership is free and by registering an interest you can help us predict print runs and thus assist us in maintaining the quality and prices at their present levels.

Please call the office 01226 734555, or send your name and address along with a request for more information to:

Battleground Series Club Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Dedicated to my daughter
Victoria Saunders
with Love

Other books in the series by Tim Saunders
Hill 112 Normandy
Hells Highway Market Garden
Nijmegen Market Garden
Gold Beach-JIG Normandy

First published in 2002 and reprinted in 2012 by

LEO COOPER
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Tim Saunders, 2002, 2012

ISBN 0 85052 861 5

eISBN 978 1 78303 708 7

A CIP catalogue of this book is available from the British Library

Printed by Redwood Books Limited
Trowbridge, Wiltshire

For up-to-date information on other titles produced under the Leo Cooper
imprint, please telephone or write to:

Pen & Sword Books Ltd, FREEPOST, 47 Church Street
Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS
Telephone 01226 734222

CONTENTS

Infantrymen of the Dorsets clearing a bunker built into a dyke on the Island. A rare action photograph.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to veterans and inhabitants of the Island, particularly those of 43rd Wessex Division, for their help with this book. Much has been written over the sixty years since the dramatic events of September 1944. However, some of the material has proved to be superficial, contradictory and often simply incorrect but veterans contributions and examination of archives has helped clear up a number of myths. Again, I am indebted to the hard-pressed staff of British regimental headquarters, whose forebears battles are covered in this book. They have been most helpful; regimental secretaries and knowledgeable volunteers are a mine of information. Across the Atlantic, veterans associations have helped me with official and personal accounts. Visits to the Public Record Office and archives of airborne museums in Britain and Holland were essential and I unreservedly thank them for their help.

I would also like to thank the many Dutch people who helped me locate and gain access to some of the more obscure sites. It would take too long to name them here but their greatest contribution has been their warmth and friendliness. Sources in Germany, have helped guide me to records of Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe units, including to some of the many ad hoc formations and units taking part in the fighting on the Island.