Sunday, March 17, 2019

Holland'44 via Vassal - Part 3

Night September 19th

 It might be a distraction, but 11th Armoured are making progress.
Helmond is a victory city and there are two victory locations further to the east.

 The yellow line high lights the Guards Division's race for Nijmegen.
The red line is the alternative supply route for the 82nd.

The 82nd have a good hold on the Betuwe.

Morning September 20th


The morning starts off overcast, but is expected to improve to just cloudy by the afternoon.  This means the desperately needed paratrooper reinforcements will only trickle in late in the day.

The German counterattack against the 11th Armoured has been beaten off.
On the otherside of the corridor the 50th Division are having a quiet time.

The Guards Division are closing in on the Germans now blocking the way to Nijmegen.

The Allied forces north of the Waal are out of supply,
but they have been able to link up with the troops over the Rhine.

Afternoon September 20th

The 43rd Division is racing north.
The 11th Armoured pressing east.

The overcast weather allowed four paratrooper units to drop and reinforce the 82nd Airborne.
These helped the Allies recover Grave and reopen the road to Nijmegen.  Phew!

But in Arnhem the Germans have tightened the noose,
recapturing part of the city and driving back the British paras to the west.

Night September 20th

Down at Eindhoven the way is clear for further reinforcements to rush north.
The 11th Armoured continues to push east.

At Grave the situation has been recovered and the 43rd Division is about to cross the Maas.
It has been held up by traffic jams along the way.
Nijmegen itself came under threat, but enough troops and supplies have got through to at least stabilize the situation. 

But in Arnhem things are dire.

The weather for the next day will be critical.  Clear weather would see the Polish paratroopers arriving, which would be a major boost for the defenders of the bridgehead across the Rhine.



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