Battle of the Nijmegen salient 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 30 September 1944 – 8 October 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Netherlands | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| Coordinates | 51.9167, 5.8500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of the Nijmegen salient or the Defence of the Nijmegen bridgehead was a series of engagements that took place in the Netherlands during World War II between 30 September and 8 October 1944. The battle occurred in the aftermath of Operation Market Garden, a failed attempt by the Allies to cut off German forces in the Netherlands and end the war quickly.
Walter Model who commanded German forces during Market Garden attempted to regain the Nijmegen salient which had been seized by the allies to contain the offensive and drive them off the Betuwe, which became known as 'the Island'. Wilhelm Bittrich led the II SS Panzer Korps in the counter-offensive, in particular with the aim of retaking Nijmegen and its bridges. German forces were not prepared to make assaults and many units were without tank support. The 21st Army Group (General Bernard Montgomery) commanded the area from Southern Holland to the North sea. British forces on the island were led by General Ivor Thomas who commanded an ad hoc force assembled to defend the area. Despite losing some ground, the British managed to repel all the attacks. British troops then counter-attacked from 4 October, and managed to recapture all of the lost ground and gained a number of villages.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of the Nijmegen salient (revision 1379281289), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Knodsenburg 1591 · 7 km
- Battle of Arnhem 1944 · 8 km
- Liberation of Arnhem 1945 · 9 km
- Battle of Arnhem (1813) 1813 · 9 km
- Siege of Nijmegen (1591) 1591 · 9 km
- Siege of Nijmegen (1794) 1794 · 9 km
Browse more: battles in Netherlands · Europe · World War II era battles