Legendary WW2 River Crossing Seen in A Bridge Too Far | Market Garden with James Holland & Al Murray

Retracing Operation Market Garden, James Holland and Al Murray are on the south bank of the Waal River in Nijmegen at the site of the 3/504th PIR's daring daylight crossing in small canvas boats on September 20th 1944 . ✅ SUBSCRIBE / @ww2walkingtheground "

The US paratroopers were engulfed in German fire with only half of the 26 boats making it to the other side, a scene later immortalised in Richard Attenborough's 1977 film 'A Bridge Too Far' starring Robert Redford. With special thanks to Durham Light Infantry for allowing us to feature their close-up footage of the 80th anniversary reenactment of the crossing.

Note to viewers: The Sunset March

In 2013 the city of Nijmegen completed the construction of the new city bridge seen in this video, close to the area where US 82nd Airborne Division crossed the river Waal with the loss of 48 soldiers lives. The new bridge was installed with 48 pairs of street lights and at sunset the lights are lit up pair by pair at a slow marching pace and accompanied by a military veteran who walks in pace with the lights being lit. For more information

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Watch the first series of WW2 Walking the Ground in Normandy here

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