M A R C H ! F O L L O W THE S O U N D S O F S H O O T I N G

briefed by Henke's men on the Nijmegenbridge that there had not as yet been contactwith the enemy. At the same time, at 2000hours, the 1st Company of the 10SS Recon-naissance Battalion was involved in a heavyexchange of fire on the Arnhem road bridge.They had radioed Paetsch - Harmel'sdeputy standing in during his absence - thatthe bunkers on the bridge had fallen, and theenemy was already firm in a strongposition. One of Graebner's half-trackrecce groups was also in action at thesouthern end of the bridge, denying Frost's2 PARA the chance to cross. Fire was beingexchanged with houses along the northernbank. With a crisis developing in his rear,and nothing happening to his front inNijmegen - apparently secured - Graebnerturned back with the bulk of his column,and began his final drive toward Arnhem.The defence of the Waal bridges hadinadvertently become Henke's sole respon-sibility again.Nine hours after the airlandings aroundGroesbeek, the first burst of automatic fireshattered the eerie stillness of Nijmegen bynight. It was 1000 hours. The fire had comefrom the area of the traffic circle nearest tothe rail bridge, the Kaizer Karel Plein. Twocompanies of the 1st Battalion 508 Para-chute Infantry Regiment from the 82nd(US) Airborne Division were conducting areconnaissance 'in force' into Nijmegen'ssouthern suburbs. A and B companies weretrying against hope to seize the bridge by acoup de main attack, which Dutch Resist-ance members suggested may be possible,as they were only lightly defended. Thiswas indeed the truth. But as A Companyfanned out to attack, a motor-convoyscreeched noisily to a halt on the other side

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of the traffic circle. Tailboards crasheddown with a clatter, followed by urgentvoices, bumps and scrapings as the SS-troopers in the back urgently dismounted,spurred on by the sounds of gunfire. Litby tracer rounds rapidly feeling across thecircle, and by the flashes of grenades andautomatic weapons, the camouflagedtroopers fanned out and immediately andsavagely counter-attacked. In the confusionand darkness and ear-splitting noise itbecame virtually impossible to distinguishfriend from foe. Fire opened up from everyconceivable direction. The American ACompany, just on the point of retiring, wasonly able to stabilise its position when itssister B Company arrived.About 400 metres north-east of thetraffic circle stood the Post Office. Accord-ing to Dutch civilian reports, it housed themain demolition mechanism for the bridge.Taking advantage of the darkness and con-fusion the building was reached andstormed by American paratroopers.Henke's men within fought back, but wereoverrun, enabling the 'control mechanism'to be destroyed. A fresh SS counter-attack,however, reoccupied the surrounding area,marooning the hapless paratroopers inside.They were to remain under siege for afurther three days. The Americans, unableto push through and heavily engaged in amaze of unknown streets, withdrew inorder to reorganise.The German defenders took advantage ofthe lull and hurriedly attempted to improvetheir positions before dawn. They wererevitalised. There was some hope. A newsituation had emerged. 10SS Panzer Div-ision had arrived - the race appeared tohave been won.

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