Image and Reality: The Experience of 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment in Arnhem and Oosterbeek

This book, based on an Undergraduate dissertation, investigates the experience and the subsequent failures of the 2nd Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment in Arnhem and Oosterbeek during the Operation Market Garden campaign. Their experience was affected by a number of factors such as poor planning and a lack of aerial support, all of which are discussed thoroughly in official reports and in the works of military historians over the past sixty five years. The factors discussed above have all led to a certain ‘image’ being developed with regards to the British theatre of operations, also enhanced by coverage of the events through the film adaptation of Cornelius Ryan’s ‘A Bridge Too Far’. However using first-hand accounts and battle reports, this book also argues that the ‘reality’ is that 2nd Battalion itself had a number of weaknesses that may have affected their ability to achieve their objectives such as their lack of training in urban areas and limited combat experience.