British and American troops stacking dynamite on the Nijmege

British and American troops stacking dynamite charges against the railing of Nijmegen Bridge, September 1944. As the Allied army advanced towards Nijmegen, the German general defending the town put 10, 000 lbs of explosives on the bridge, to blow it up if the Allies managed to overcome his men. In the event, the Germans were unable to destroy the bridge; hence this photograph of the British and American troops collecting all the dynamite and moving it elsewhere. On 17th September 1944 Operation Market Garden was put into action; a bold plan devised by Field-Marshal Montgomery to drop thousands of airborne troops into Holland to capture an invasion route into Germany. The British First Airborne, American 81st and 101st Divisions took part in the plan, which was ultimately unsuccessful

101st 81st Advanced Airborne Blow Bold Charges Collecting Defending Destroy Devised Divisions Drop Dynamite Explosives Managed Nijmegen Overcome Railing Stacking Ultimately Unable Unsuccessful

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