Market Garden - Netherlands

On Day 1, BSL personnel will meet the arriving personnel as they exit customs and then proceed to escort them to the charter bus. From there, the group will proceed to lodging in Nijmegen and conduct a group meeting and dinner to discuss the overall concept of Operation Market Garden, possible themes for discussion across the stops and review the overall sequence of events for the staff ride.

On Day 2, the group will eat breakfast in the hotel and meet up with BSL personnel for movement to the days stops. During this movement, the BSL facilitator will conduct an overview of the situation in the Netherlands, the Allied and German preparations, and the overall intent for the 101st as part of OPERATION MARKET-GARDEN across the Eindhoven, Son, Veghel, and Eerde areas that were the center of fighting from 17-24 September 1944. Following the stop, the group will visit the Wings of Liberation Museum, the Drop Zones for the 502nd and 506th, a visit to PFC Mann’s MOH and LTC Cole’s Memorial, and the bridge in Son. From there the group will move up into Veghel, Eerde, and a visit to Kastel Heeswijk. There will be a group dinner and discussion on the uniqueness of the 101st Airborne fight.

On Day 3, after breakfast at the hotel, the group will focus on the 82nd objectives around the critical town of Nijmegen. This will start with a visit to the city of Grave, the LT Thompson Bridge, the 504th drop zone at Overasselt, the 505th and 508th drop zones near Groesbeek, and a visit to the Vrijheidsmuseum with its great diorama of the shifting fights for the 82nd. After lunch, the group will proceed back into Nijmegen to discuss the fighting in the town around Kronenburgerpark and Valkhofpark at the south end of the Nijmegen bridge. Depending on the time of year, the group will eat dinner and then participate in the Sunset March across the Waal River commemorating the 48 paratroopers killed in the river crossing at sunset. The order will of dinner or the march will be dependent upon the time of sunset.

On Day 4, the group will eat breakfast, check out of lodging, and then do a short visit into “The Island” for a discussion of the actions at the Crossroads and the link-up with the 1st Airborne Division (UK) southwest of Arnhem. The group will then proceed to the Ginkelse Heide airborne monument, the Harstein Hotel with its tremendous museum, and then conclude the visit at the John Frost Bridge - the Bridge Too Far. Following the last visit, the group will then move to lodging at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport before departing the next morning for travel back to the US.