"Operation Market Garden Tour – Son en Breugel" Son en Breugel by vichatherly

After lunch in Eindhoven we travelled to Son en Breugel, on the first atfternoon of the first day of our three day road trip tour of the major bridges and landing zones of WWII Operation Market Garden.

This was Monty’s ambitious plan to end the war by Christmas and took place on 17th to the 25th September 1944.

I went on the trip with my brother-in-law Damian, who was also interested in going “A Bridge Too Far”. We were taking “Hell’s Highway” starting from Leopoldsburg and Lommel in Belgium and then into Holland and Eindhoven, Son, Best, Veghel,
Grave, Overasselt, Nijmegen, Groesbeek and then finally onto Oosterbeek and Arnhem.

New Son Bridge

When the Americans got to the Son Bridge, over the Wilhelmina Canal, they unfortunately saw it blown up in their faces.

All through the night of the 18/19 September 1944, the sappers of 14 Field Squadron, pressed into service some of the German prisoners and began to build the 100ft long Class 40 Bailey Bridge that was to carry the whole of XXX Corp.

It was completed at 06:15, but by now the operation was now over 30 hours behind schedule.

It took us a little while to find the new bridge, which was completed in 1983. This bridge can be raised to enable large boats to sail underneath. Whilst we were there it was raised, but this did not stop and intrepid local cyclist from weaving around the crash barriers and across the bridge, “That was lucky” he said with a smile as he passed us.