504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division Memorial, Grave
This badly disfigured Memorial plaque shows an American airborne soldier stretched full length from one end to the other of the bridge over the River Maas at Grave in Holland. It represents a formidable story of military planning and bravery.The bridge at Grave was one of those that needed to be captured very early on in Operation Market Garden in September 1944. The task was given to Colonel Reuben H. Tucker's 504th PIR. Colonel Tucker decided to drop men at both ends of the bridge (hence the prone figure in the Memorial) because he said, it tended to confuse the enemy'. The air assault was 100% successful despite resistance from Germans in nearby blockhouses. The plaque carries the words CP CIDER WHITE 18 SEPTEMBER 1944 plus the Division's AA'. signage. It was designed by A. Sanders and erected on 16 May 1987 in commemoration of the fact that after the bridge had been taken intact on the afternoon of the 17th September, Grave itself was reached by nightfall. The town hall became the Command Post (CP) of the 2nd Battalion of the 504th PIR whose radio code was cider and whose codename was white
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100% 82nd Airborne Badly Blockhouses Bravery Cider Codename Commemoration Confuse Decided Despite Disfigured Divisions Drop Ends Erected Fact Failed Formidable Hence Intact Itself Maas Nearby Needed Nightfall Plaque Plus Prone Reached Represents Reuben Sanders Signage Stretched Task Tended Tucker
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