IT NEVER S N O W S IN SEPTEMBER

An SP gun knocked out onBenedendorpsweg in Oosterbeek. Up to 50per cent of the German armour deployedup to 24 September was destroyed.

happen. The crew frantically baled out asthe entire hull burst into a fiery violentconflagration. A mortar round had struckan air vent on the petrol tank. Althoughvirtually impregnable, the 'mobile bunkers'could be immobilised by PIAT anti-tankrounds, or gammon bombs cutting tracksor affixed to vital points by reckless butmore nimble British paratroopers. Theireffectiveness once again was dependentupon the quality of the accompanyinginfantry. Even in Elst, where they wereattached to the 10SS, there were consider-able problems - it was found the small canalbridges collapsed under their weight.The investment of Oosterbeek was takingon a medieval character. Artillery fire toreinto the once prosperous middle-class sub-urb. Special street-fighting teams had been

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An assault gun changes position on Weverstraat near the Oosterbeekchurch. A dead British paratrooper lies in the foreground.

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