101st Airborne Paratrooper: September 1944

I jumped onto a field near Son on 17 Sep 1944 with the 506th Parachute Infantry. This soldier probably was a member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry.

Many Dutch people came onto the drop zone and helped us gather equipment Later, when our food was short and apples were being harvested they shared them with us.

This must have been taken during "Operation Market Garden" which occurred during the time period (17–25 September 1944). The book, "A Bridge too far" is about this military action, which from the Allied perspective was a failure.

The largest airborne operation ever mounted, Market-Garden cost the Allies between 15,130 and 17,200 killed, wounded, and captured. The bulk of these occurred in the British 1st Airborne Division which began the battle with 10,600 men and saw 1,485 killed and 6,414 captured. German losses numbered between 7,500 and 10,000. Having failed to capture the bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem, the operation was deemed a failure as the subsequent offensive into Germany could not proceed.