A Bridge Too Far: The true story of the Battle of Arnhem

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The result is that Ryan's last book is his best. He examined an Allied defeat using his detailed first hand account approach. He got those people who were involved in the campaign some long overdue recognition. As Ryan was writing the book he was also fighting Cancer and I believe that the sense of his impending end gives the book a sense of gravitas that his other two books (also excellent) didn't have. The sense of doom is almost palatable which is very appropriate considering the subject matter. His next work was Last Battle The Classic History of the Battle for Berlin (1966), about the Battle of Berlin.

Disini Ryan mendokumentasikan cerita ini dengan bagus. Dia menuliskannya dari perspektif Sekutu, Axis (bukan operator seluler, ya!) dan penduduk sipil. Kita seakan diajak berada dalam situasi chaos sebuah pertempuran yang mengerikan. Pertempuran jarak dekat ala koboy, diberondong ketika menyebrangi sungai, ikut merasakan kepedihan seorang Urquhart yang harus menyaksikan satu persatu anak buahnya kehilangan nyawa dibantai Jerman tanpa bisa berbuat apa-apa. Ikut menyaksikan perjuangan Kolonel John Frost bersama pasukannya yang berperang dengan heroik mempertahankan bagian utara jembatan Arnhem sampai titik darah penghabisan meski pada akhirnya mereka "disapu bersih" oleh Jerman.Kelak jembatan ini oleh pemerintah Belanda dinamakan "John Frost Bridge" untuk mengenang kepahlawanan Kolonel Frost dan anak buahnya. Divisi Angkatan Udara ke-1 Inggeris yang dipimpin Urquhart menjadi "tumbal" untuk operasi ini. Hanya sekitar 20 persen dari 10.000 anak buahnya yang selamat, sisanya tewas, hilang dan ditawan Jerman. Perintah awal mereka hanyalah ditugaskan merebut dan mempertahankan jembatan Arnhem selama dua hari (empat hari paling lama). Tapi kenyataannya mereka harus bertempur habis-habisan selama sembilan hari tanpa suplai makanan dan amunisi dalam posisi terkepung sampai akhirnya ada perintah dari Letjen Browning untuk mundur karena sampai hari ke sembilan Korps ke-30 masih tertahan di Nijmegen. SS дивизии, съответно 9-а (Hohenstaufen) и 10-а (Frundsberg). Започват ожесточени и неравни боеве срещу танкове в околностите и в самия Арнем. Уличната война е сравнена с малък Сталинград - къща за къща и стая за стая. Наземното настъпление ("Гардън") също среща неочаквани трудности, защото се придвижва по един единствен път (Адската магистрала), който лесно може да бъде защитен и блокиран. A Bridge Too Far (1974) by Cornelius Ryan gives an account of Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied attempt to break through German lines at Arnhem by taking a series of bridges in the occupied Netherlands during World War II.The logistics were a mess. The 82nd Airborne Division's initial success, with 89% of troopers hitting their drops, and 84% of gliders making it within 1,000 meters of their Landing Zone (LZ), proved to be the exception, rather than the rule. The 101st Airborne Paratroopers (below) had danger coming from all directions, including themselves. One Private, after dropping a match into an oil drum, was “the only member of the 101st jumping into Holland with no eyebrows.” Baca edisi Indonesianya terus terang bikin geli. ada kalimat2 ato kata2 yang rada2 aneh didengernya. Misalnya, Adegan favorit gue ada di akhir chapter buku ketika ketika Mayjen Urquhart setelah mundur dari Arnhem dan dalam perjalanan menuju Driel ia mampir dimarkas Jendral Thomas untuk meminjam jip untuk pulang. Ia menolak ketika dipersilakan masuk dan tetap berdiri tegak diluar dibawah guyuran hujan menunggu jip datang. Pun demikian ketika ia berada di markas Letjen Browning. Dengan sabar ia tetap berdiri sekian lama menunggu Browning yang sedang... molor! Dengan tegas ia menolak tawaran ajudan Browning untuk mengganti bajunya yang dekil, bau dan basah. "Tidak usah." tolak Urquhart, "Saya ingin menemui Browning dalam keadaan basah kuyup ini. Persis seperti keadaan kami yang sebenarnya." Ketika Browning bangun pembicaraan pun berlanjut. Gue embat dari adegan filmnya aja, kurang lebih sama sih ama yang dibuku. Urquhart dengan jantan meminta maaf atas kegagalannya. "I'm sorry about the way it worked out." In September 1944, after launching the successful D-Day, Allies assertively unleash Operation Market Garden. The successful operation will lead them directly into the rear of the German lines. The Allies could swing into the Ruhr, the industrial heart of the Reich. The object (according to General Browning) "is to lay a carpet of airborne troops down over which our ground forces can pass." That maneuver might well bring about the total collapse of Germany. Well, at least that's what Allied Commander believe (Montgomery in particular). A really (I mean, really, really) wild scheme intended to put en early end to WW2 by invading Germany. For starters, the book makes no bones- Monty was the wrong man to listen to in 1944 (the book, by inference, leads the reader to believe who was- George Patton). The Allies were coordinating too many troops in too many places with far far too many variables. The book does a superb job explaining these moving parts to the reader (complete with very well detailed maps) without making the reader feel overwhelmed. Its a very good and clean read.

On a trip to Normandy in 1949 Ryan became interested in telling a more complete story of D-Day than had been produced to date. He began compiling information and conducting over 1000 interviews as he gathered stories from both the Allies and the Germans, as well as the French civilians. Operation Market Garden was a bold plan that involved tremendous risk. Browning was not the only senior officer who thought Montgomery was “nuts” for even attempting this risky undertaking. Nevertheless, the plan moved ahead. The concerns of senior leaders, however, were not unwarranted. Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne operation in history, would prove to be one of the biggest disasters of the Allied war effort. Allied troops suffered more than 15,000 casualties and the loss of 88 tanks in Operation Market Garden. Nevertheless, Montgomery claimed that the campaign was “90 per cent successful.” In response, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, retorted: “My country can never again afford the luxury of another Montgomery success.” Oh, and by the way, gliders are not the same thing as airplanes—something that first-time glider pilots attempted to communicate with leadership without much success. But, nevertheless, their dedication was impressive. One of the pilots of the IX Troop Carrier Command even managed to get his jumpers into the green light zone despite the fact that his plane was on fire! Ryan was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from Ohio University, where the Cornelius Ryan Collection is housed (Alden Library). He was diagnosed with cancer in 1970, and struggled to finish A Bridge Too Far during his illness. He died in Manhattan, while on tour promoting the book, A Bridge Too Far, only two months after publication.Edisi aslinya gue kasih bintang lima tapi untuk buku ini bintang empat aja deh. Semata-mata karena ini buku versi abridged dan unsur "fun" dalam gaya bahasa terjemahannya yang bikin nyengir. Kalo ini buku ini terbitnya tahun 2000an dijamin gue bakal ngasi bintang satu buat bahasa yang rada2 kacau balau:D Jadi inget review-nya buku perang yang laen dari seorang Jendral di rumah sebelah yang ngadat ngerasa dikibulin penerbit ampe dia minta duitnya dibalikin lagi , hihihihi *tiaraaaaaap ~ takut dilempar granat ama Jendral Pantouw* The detailed, well-written story of Montgomery's uncharacteristicly daring plan to force open a path through Holland into Germany and end the war by Christmas, and how that plan failed. Montgomery, defending himself, pointed out that the Allies reached 90% of their objectives. Unfortunately, a road that takes you only 90% of the way to your destination is useless, and in this case, tragically expensive in terms of causalities. I wouldn't have minded a few more details about the 101st and 82nd airborne's corridor; Ryan concentrated, with reason, on the British 1st airborne and the Polish brigade and their actions around Arnhem. This work was followed by A Bridge Too Far (1974), which tells the story of Operation Market Garden, the ill-fated assault by allied airborne forces on the Netherlands culminating in the Battle of Arnhem.

He married Kathryn Morgan (1925–1993), a novelist, and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1951.

Ryan was born in Dublin. After finishing his education Ryan moved to London in 1940, and became a war correspondent for ''The Daily Telegraph'' in 1941. Kenyataannya? Operasi itu ternyata hanya megah diawal saja. Secara keseluruhan operasi itu bisa dianggap gagal total. Jembatan Arnhem yang merupakan sasaran utama gagal direbut. Operasi ini sendiri menelan korban sekitar 17.000 tentara di pihak Sekutu. Dua kali lipat korban Operasi Normandia yang mengerahkan sekitar satu juta tentara. Banyak aspek yang "mendalangi" kegagalan operasi tsb dan sampai sekarang masih sering diperdebatkan. Seperti perencanaan yang kurang matang, lemahnya intelijen, Divisi Angkatan Udara ke-1 Inggeris yang belum berpengalaman diturunkan terlalu jauh dari sasaran sehingga kehilangan daya pukul dan elemen kejutnya, radio yang tidak berfungsi, kegagalan Korps ke-30 menembus pertahanan Jerman yang bertarung habis-habisan dan macem-macem lagi dah. As others have pointed out before A Bridge Too Far was something of a ground-breaker. Operation Market-Garden was a forgotten battle in the annals of World War II. Forgotten by all except those who fought it in it (both sides) and those who survived it (soldiers and civilians). Yes there had been a few books and a couple films about the failed operation. In 1954 Clark Gable starred in a movie called Betrayed that blamed the failure on a traitor within the Dutch resistance which made for great drama, but wasn't the case. The Allies did it to themselves. IMHO, this book remarkably evokes "what happened" behind one of the biggest military gambling in history. Ryan fastidiously portrays the ambitious plans which resulted in more Allies casualties than the entire Normandy landing.

Operasi ambisius yang dirancang oleh Jendral Bernard "Monty" Montgomery ini dimaksudkan untuk merebut sejumlah jembatan penting untuk mendahului pasukan darat dengan sasaran utamanya adalah jembatan di sungai Rein di Arnhem yang mengarah langsung ke perbatasan Jerman. Dengan demikian bisa mendobrak Siegfried Line dan menyusup ke daerah Ruhr, kawasan industri terpenting di Jerman. Montgomery yakin bila Ruhr bisa direbut maka dipastikan Jerman akan menyerah dan dia percaya bisa mengakhiri perang dunia sebelum Natal 1944. Pada saat bersamaan komandan US 3rd Army Jendral Patton mengajukan usul yang sama untuk mem by-pass Siegfried Line lewat jalur selatan melalui Metz dan Saarland. Akibat masalah suplai yang rumit, Panglima Perang sekutu, Eisenhower (dengan berbagai pertimbangan) memutuskan lebih memilih usul Monty untuk menyerbu lewat jalur utara (Belanda) dan mengalihkan seluruh suplai untuk operasi Market Garden. Kemarahan Patton meledak ketika pasukannya yang tengah merangsek maju meninggalkan pasukan yang lain harus menghentikan lajunya dan "menganggur" selama lima hari di tepi sungai Meuse akibat permintaan 40 ribu gallon bahan bakar hanya dipenuhi setengahnya saja. Jendral temperamental ini tentu saja naik pitam, "Anak buah saya bisa memakan ikat pinggang mereka kalo mereka lapar. Tapi tank2 saya tidak bisa makan ikat pinggang! Mereka butuh BBM!" teriaknya dongkol. Hehehe.. sabar Jendral.. sabaaaaar. The best one-liner regarding Monty, though, definitely came from Ryan's interview with Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands who said: “My country can never again afford the luxury of another Montgomery success.” Yes, this LZ!Many plans begin with the chilling phrase, "Home By Christmas." Well, this was the ultimate "Home By Christmas" plan and ended ingloriously. The book details the very pointed philosophy on Monty- get the troops behind German lines via paratroopers, then on the other side, crush them with armor. Sandwiched between the two sides, the Germans would be defeated in droves. The book then details the planning and the shear mass of the invasion- it was actually a bigger overall operation than D-Day. And it was as much a failure as D-Day was a success. How Eisenhower was talked into this disastrous invasion by Montgomery is dealt with early in the book, but is worth pondering. While it may be true that many unforeseen and unforeseeable events conspired to doom the invasion, still one wonders if Eisenhower was to some extent simply worn out by having to deal with Montgomery and finally gave in to him on this idea because it was the least bad of all that he had proposed so far. Certainly he never envisioned the actual result. When Dutch generals learned of the route that the Third Army proposed to take, they anxiously tried to discourage anyone who would listen, warning of the dangers of using the exposed dike roads. Problems arose almost immediately. The 1st Airborne Division landed some distance from its objectives and was met with unexpected resistance. Only a small British force was able to reach the Arnhem bridge, while the advance of the ground forces was stopped short in their attempt to relieve the airborne troops on schedule. After four days, the small force at the bridge was inevitably overwhelmed, leaving the rest of the division trapped north of the river. Attempts to reinforce the trapped paratroopers were largely unsuccessful, and attempts to provide supplies mostly fell into German hands. After nine days of fighting, the remnants of the division were forced to abort their mission and withdraw. The bridge at Arnhem was never captured and the inexperienced British 1st Airborne Division was decimated at Arnhem, losing nearly three quarters of its strength and did not see combat again. The failed operation meant the war would continue into 1945. A classic. Required reading for every military person. What's amazing is how almost this exact plan was war-gamed prior to the war and failed exactly like the real plan failed. I've been looking into Airborne operations lately as I just wrote a scene where one of my characters parachutes into France on D-Day-- the biggest drop ever. I went through jump school a long time ago-- let's say I saw Alien in the post theater at Benning the night before my first jump-- and then served in the airborne in Special Forces and was a jump master. What is surprising is how unsuccessful large-scale airborne operations have been throughout history. The Germans took Crete but their losses were staggering. For Normandy, most point to the chaos and confusion sown by the chaotic and confusing drop. Some objectives were taken and the bravery of the men can't be denied. But it appears that no one really wanted to take a hard look at how it all worked.