Memorial to E Co, 505th Reg, 82nd Airborne

There were 24 key bridges that had to be captured on the way up to Arnhem. One of them was a bridge across the Maas River near the town of Grave. E Co, 505th Reg, 82nd Airborne was assigned to capture the bridge with a parachute drop attack. As the C-47's approached the drop zone, the navigator in the first plane toggled the green light to jump. In the trailing airplane, the jump master, Lt. John Thompson, recognized that it was the wrong drop zone and held off until they were over the right one. The platoon of 30 paratroopers jumped in and took the bridge without sustaining any casualties. Here is a memorial to Lt Thompson and his troopers. The countryside all the way up "Hell's Highway" is marked with numerous memorials to the battles fought in Market Garden.