September 15
Eastern Front, Poland
Units of the Soviet-raised First Polish Army cross the Vistula River and seize bridgeheads in Warsaw.

British paratroopers in action near Arnhem.
The enemy is close, as indicated by the acute
angle of the mortar tube

Allied vehicles rumble across the bridge at
Nijmegen, Holland, during the disastrous
Operation Market Garden

Air War, Norway
Lancasters from 9 and 617 Squadrons of the RAF attack Germany's only remaining battleship - the Tirpitz - in Altenfiord. However, little damage is done, chiefly due to the effectiveness of the German smokescreens.

September 17
Western Front, Holland
Operation Market Garden, General Bernard Montgomery's plan for an armored and airborne thrust across Holland to outflank the German defenses, begins. The British 1st Airborne Division lands near Arnhem, the US 101st Airborne Division near Eindhoven, the US 82nd Airborne Division near Grave and Nijmegen, while the British XXX Corps advances from the Dutch border. The 82nd lands without difficulty and takes the Maas and Maas-Waal Canal bridges, but then encounters heavy resistance at Nijmegen. The 101st Division also takes its bridges, but the British paratroopers discover their way to Arnhem is blocked by German units. Only one battalion, under Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, manages to reach the bridge, where it is quickly cut off.

September 19-21
Western Front, Holland
Forward elements of the British XXX Corps reach US paratroopers at Eindhoven, but at Arnhem all attempts to break through to the troops fail. On the 20th, the bridge at Nijmegen is captured by a combined force drawn from the US 82nd Airborne Division and the British XXX Corps. The next day, the British troops at Arnhem are overwhelmed. The remainder form a defensive perimeter on the northern bank of the Neder Rijn, around the village of Oosterbeek.

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