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The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II
An account of heroism and courage in one of the Allies’ biggest military catastrophes of the Second World War. Ideal for readers of James Holland, Anthony Beevor and Cornelius Ryan. Ten thousand Allied troops landed in the Netherlands in September 1944. This was the largest airborne invasion ever undertaken and it ended in utter disaster. Eight thousand men were killed, wounded, or captured during the Battle of Arnhem. Yet, what of those who escaped? And how did they manage it when surrounded by German troops? Leo Heaps’ remarkable book The Grey Goose of Arnhem charts the activities of two hundred and fifty men who, with the aid of Dutch Resistance, made it back across the Rhine to Allied lines. As a member of the First Airborne, Heaps draws from his own experiences as a soldier who fought, evaded capture, and then returned to work with the Dutch Resistance, for which he was awarded the Military Cross, as well as using material from private diaries, letters, and interviews with about forty paratroopers and Dutch Resistance leaders to record a thorough account of the most amazing mass escape of World War Two. These men never gave up in the face of insurmountable odds. Indeed, as Heaps explains, rather than stay within the safety of allied lines, some of these men returned to the frontlines to assist the Resistance and ensure that as many of their comrades returned as possible. The Grey Goose of Arnhem is a brilliant account of heroism that weaves together the accounts of numerous unforgettable characters to provide insight into what the Battle of Arnhem and its aftermath was like from those who saw it first-hand. "Heaps' narrative of the captures, escapes and evasion (including his own) after the battle is well constructed. ... The tension of the moment is tautly recreated. The conclusion is exciting and rewarding. It is a valuable addition to the record of the gallant First Airborne Division." Infantry Journal
269 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1976
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
February 16, 2024
This book is a collection of stories about British paratroopers who were left around the Arnhem battlefield after the 1st Airborne Division evacuated across the Rhine River. These men fought in all the different battles of this major engagement, from the bridge, to the shrinking perimeter during the last days of the battle. Some were wounded, some were captured before escaping and some were just dropped in the wrong place. Yet these men all evaded capture from German units in the aftermath of the battle and were greatly assisted by the Dutch underground and hidden for week before being rescued by US forces from the 101st Airborne Division (as seen on Band of Brothers), in a daring night time crossing of the Rhine without the enemy even knowing it happened.
The book focuses on a multitude of escapers, from brigadiers, down to lowly privates, from battle hardened veterans to green medical troops. Each story is unique and highlights how not only courage, but also luck played it's part in who made it out, and who did not. Some of the stories in this book are better than others, yet it is still an overall good book and recommended Red Devils reading.
The book focuses on a multitude of escapers, from brigadiers, down to lowly privates, from battle hardened veterans to green medical troops. Each story is unique and highlights how not only courage, but also luck played it's part in who made it out, and who did not. Some of the stories in this book are better than others, yet it is still an overall good book and recommended Red Devils reading.
April 29, 2020
I received an advanced reading copy of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. I started this book with great interest as I have recently read 'Dutch Girl' by Robert Matzen which takes place during the same time and area. Operation Market Garden was a spectacular failure when the allied soldiers lost the bridge at Arnhem in 1944. As a result, hundreds of soldiers were left stranded in German-controlled Arnhem when the allied troops withdrew. Thanks to the bravery of the Dutch Resistance many of the lost soldiers were saved. Others were not so lucky. This book, however, was very hard to follow and not well-structured. Single paragraphs were extremely long and the point of view kept switching between first person and third person. I even went back and read the first 15% over again thinking I had missed something, but it didn't help. The rescue itself was amazing, but the story followed so many different men that it was hard to keep them all straight. Maybe some sort of forward or introduction that explained how the book came to be would have helped clarify things. The one take-away I did get from this book was that we shouldn't complain about being stuck at home during this pandemic. These men were stuck behind enemy lines. They didn't know who to trust, or where their next meal was coming from. They slept in barns, in fields and in various hiding places always wondering if they would be discovered and killed, or even worse, sent to concentration camps. Staying home doesn't seem so bad after all that.
January 21, 2021
In a fight there is this strange psychological imperative to hold onto a weapon even if it is no longer doing you any good. And in some ways that describes FM Montgomery during the failed Operation Market Garden. He had a plan and he wouldn't let go of it when it was obviously failing.
Adding to the disaster, there was no contingency for failure. Secondary objectives, sabotage and evade, escape. In battle everything goes wrong and you can't figure out what you're going to do when you're downrange and under sustained fire. You make those decisions in the planning stage.
Market Garden was audacious and ambitious, and Montgomery would have been lauded as a genius if it succeeded, it ended up a mess that cost thousands of lives.
And in some ways this book mirrors that. It's a mess. It doesn't shine a light, it rambles along without much in the way of direction. It could have been great if the author focused on a few of the key players and used them to offer an insight into the thinking behind the operation and how it went wrong.
I was hoping for much more.
Adding to the disaster, there was no contingency for failure. Secondary objectives, sabotage and evade, escape. In battle everything goes wrong and you can't figure out what you're going to do when you're downrange and under sustained fire. You make those decisions in the planning stage.
Market Garden was audacious and ambitious, and Montgomery would have been lauded as a genius if it succeeded, it ended up a mess that cost thousands of lives.
And in some ways this book mirrors that. It's a mess. It doesn't shine a light, it rambles along without much in the way of direction. It could have been great if the author focused on a few of the key players and used them to offer an insight into the thinking behind the operation and how it went wrong.
I was hoping for much more.
August 15, 2020
In 1977, I convinced my father and mother to take me to a matinee of A Bridge Too Far. I am sure that she would have preferred Annie Hall. My father may have favored Clint Eastwood in The Gauntlet, but he was always game for a western or war movie. The flick was based on the Cornelius Ryan book of the same name that told the story of Market Garden. A combination of airdrops and a fast strike of armor to secure a series of bridges towards Germany…to end the war before Christmas, 1944.
My father ended up buying the movie on Beta. I now own it on Apple. I have read a few more books on Market Garden but had never heard of a young Canadian Lieutenant’s role in the operation, until I read, The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II. Written by Leo Heaps, it was published first in the late ‘60’s and re-released this year.
The cool part? Leo is from my hometown of Winnipeg. Born in 1923, the son of Arthur Heaps, a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the country’s current New Democratic Party. He was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University.
During the Second World War, Heaps joined the Canadian army but was hardly a good soldier. In fact, he was a sarcastic and an immature thorn-in-the-side of his commanding officers, “successive commanders had branded me ‘not of officer caliber, no initiative, not aggressive enough.’” He was so unapplied that Heaps failed to qualify for the infantry. His father wanted him to work on his aunt’s farm therefore being legally exempt from service.
Instead, Heaps was voluntarily seconded as a CANLOAN officer to the British Army at age 21 and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport, even though he was not officially a member of the British 1st Airborne Division and had never before made a parachute jump. Later, he would explain that he was bored in the Canadian infantry holding unit and craved action.
CANLOAN was a volunteer program through which Canadian officers were loaned to the British Army. The British officer corps was greatly reduced due to death and injury. 673 Canadian officers volunteered and joined the British in the invasion and liberation of Europe in 1944–1945. The casualty count was high. CANLOAN suffered 465 casualties, of which 128 were fatal. A memorial lists the names of the 128 CANLOAN officers who died during the conflict. It sits on a star-shaped stone plaza in Stanley Park in Vancouver.
Leo Heaps would be awarded the Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. In Israel, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar.
During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960's he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably The Grey Goose of Arnhem, telling his own story of the battle, the aftermath, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.
An accomplished ocean sailor and tennis player he always made time for these two pursuits, while still attending obscure auctions, where he uncovered several rare works of art. Heaps returned to Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.
So, that is the author (who needs a biography), now how about this book? It is extremely well-written. There are facts and figures, geographic details, strategic and tactical movements but it is a lively, colorful narrative versus clinical telling (much how Cornelius Ryan writes). One issue, it is so dense with characters that they are tough to keep straight. That is because Heaps does not dwell on himself, the book tells the stories of several others, all different ranks and services, and how they connect later to escape German forces.
One such character is Staff Sergeant Kettley, a member of a glider crew that was shot down. He took refuge in a building until the bottom floors were blasted out from under him by a German self-propelled gun. He fell down a story and half but seemed unhurt. Several years later, he discovered the fall moved his pelvis two inches out of alignment. He avoided capture and came across a paratroop aid station. Outside was a mound of dead bodies. Kettley saw one’s hand move to scratch his nose. He alerted the orderlies who saved the man.
Other cool Canadian bits included the 23rd Field Company of Canadian Engineers who were not directly in the battle order (no Canadian units were). When the operation fell apart the Canuck Engineers brought up 14 storm boats with 60 horsepowers to cross a river and extract members of the much battered 1st Airborne Division. Father Mongeon, attached to the engineers, administers last rights, gave encouragement, and half his uniform to the wounded. The French-Canadian priest was long remembered for his care.
The book contains many surreal scenes including German soldiers looting a Bata Shoe Store. And, how following the battle, the SS and Dutch resistance fought each other inhumanely. Most surreal, many cafes stayed open to both sides as the front lines and skirmishes shifted back and forth.
Heaps was not the only Canadian to parachute into Market Garden. There was one other. His name, Lieutenant James Lloyd McKenna, another CANLOAN officer attached to the 11th Parachute Battalion as Second-in-Command of the Mortar Platoon. One morning they exchanged somber greetings given how the battle was going and Heaps writes that he never knew what happened to McKenna.
Sadly, I learned that McKenna was killed in action on the 22nd September 1944, aged 26, and was first buried in the garden of a house on Weverstraat in Oosterbeek, before being interred in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery.
Born on the 12th August 1918, the son of Cornelius and Elizabeth McKenna of Grand Pabos, Gaspe County, Quebec, he was raised on a farm but at the time of enlistment had been working as an estates clerk with the Royal Trust Company in Quebec City. He trained as a parachutist in the United States in August 1942, and after arriving in the Britain in June 1944 was posted to the British 11th Battalion on the 10th July.
I never knew of the Canadian connections to this famous operation. This is not a spoiler alert as we all now know that Heaps survived. His capture and escape tell much about the man, as does the rest of his life. Heaps wrote more books based on his exploits…and friendships. For 30 years, he was friends of Hugh Hambleton. Hambleton was a Canadian economist and intelligence officer in both the US and Canadian militaries. He was also a decades long Soviet spy while working for NATO and in academia including the University of Laval. Though questioned by the RCMP, it took a trip to the UK for their authorities to arrest, convict and jail the man. Heaps’ book on Hambleton is called, Hugh Hambleton, Spy. Thirty Years with the KGB.
Heaps is an amazing figure and a fine writer. This book was a pleasure to find as were the important pieces of history I never knew existed.
My father ended up buying the movie on Beta. I now own it on Apple. I have read a few more books on Market Garden but had never heard of a young Canadian Lieutenant’s role in the operation, until I read, The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II. Written by Leo Heaps, it was published first in the late ‘60’s and re-released this year.
The cool part? Leo is from my hometown of Winnipeg. Born in 1923, the son of Arthur Heaps, a founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the forerunner of the country’s current New Democratic Party. He was raised in Winnipeg and received an education at Queen's University, the University of California, and McGill University.
During the Second World War, Heaps joined the Canadian army but was hardly a good soldier. In fact, he was a sarcastic and an immature thorn-in-the-side of his commanding officers, “successive commanders had branded me ‘not of officer caliber, no initiative, not aggressive enough.’” He was so unapplied that Heaps failed to qualify for the infantry. His father wanted him to work on his aunt’s farm therefore being legally exempt from service.
Instead, Heaps was voluntarily seconded as a CANLOAN officer to the British Army at age 21 and found himself commanding the 1st Battalion's Transport, even though he was not officially a member of the British 1st Airborne Division and had never before made a parachute jump. Later, he would explain that he was bored in the Canadian infantry holding unit and craved action.
CANLOAN was a volunteer program through which Canadian officers were loaned to the British Army. The British officer corps was greatly reduced due to death and injury. 673 Canadian officers volunteered and joined the British in the invasion and liberation of Europe in 1944–1945. The casualty count was high. CANLOAN suffered 465 casualties, of which 128 were fatal. A memorial lists the names of the 128 CANLOAN officers who died during the conflict. It sits on a star-shaped stone plaza in Stanley Park in Vancouver.
Leo Heaps would be awarded the Military Cross for his work with the Dutch Resistance. His brother, David, had also achieved the same distinction, thereby making them the only Jewish brothers during the Second World War to win the decoration. After the war, Heaps went to Israel and aided their army in the establishment of mobile striking units. In Israel, he met his wife-to-be, Tamar.
During the Hungarian Revolution he led a special rescue team to bring refugees out and across the border. In the mid-1960's he returned to Britain where he dabbled in various entrepreneurial projects as well as writing several books, notably The Grey Goose of Arnhem, telling his own story of the battle, the aftermath, and also the stories of other Arnhem evaders and their dealings with the Resistance.
An accomplished ocean sailor and tennis player he always made time for these two pursuits, while still attending obscure auctions, where he uncovered several rare works of art. Heaps returned to Toronto, Canada, and was amongst the forty Canadian veterans who returned to Arnhem in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary. He died in 1995.
So, that is the author (who needs a biography), now how about this book? It is extremely well-written. There are facts and figures, geographic details, strategic and tactical movements but it is a lively, colorful narrative versus clinical telling (much how Cornelius Ryan writes). One issue, it is so dense with characters that they are tough to keep straight. That is because Heaps does not dwell on himself, the book tells the stories of several others, all different ranks and services, and how they connect later to escape German forces.
One such character is Staff Sergeant Kettley, a member of a glider crew that was shot down. He took refuge in a building until the bottom floors were blasted out from under him by a German self-propelled gun. He fell down a story and half but seemed unhurt. Several years later, he discovered the fall moved his pelvis two inches out of alignment. He avoided capture and came across a paratroop aid station. Outside was a mound of dead bodies. Kettley saw one’s hand move to scratch his nose. He alerted the orderlies who saved the man.
Other cool Canadian bits included the 23rd Field Company of Canadian Engineers who were not directly in the battle order (no Canadian units were). When the operation fell apart the Canuck Engineers brought up 14 storm boats with 60 horsepowers to cross a river and extract members of the much battered 1st Airborne Division. Father Mongeon, attached to the engineers, administers last rights, gave encouragement, and half his uniform to the wounded. The French-Canadian priest was long remembered for his care.
The book contains many surreal scenes including German soldiers looting a Bata Shoe Store. And, how following the battle, the SS and Dutch resistance fought each other inhumanely. Most surreal, many cafes stayed open to both sides as the front lines and skirmishes shifted back and forth.
Heaps was not the only Canadian to parachute into Market Garden. There was one other. His name, Lieutenant James Lloyd McKenna, another CANLOAN officer attached to the 11th Parachute Battalion as Second-in-Command of the Mortar Platoon. One morning they exchanged somber greetings given how the battle was going and Heaps writes that he never knew what happened to McKenna.
Sadly, I learned that McKenna was killed in action on the 22nd September 1944, aged 26, and was first buried in the garden of a house on Weverstraat in Oosterbeek, before being interred in the Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery.
Born on the 12th August 1918, the son of Cornelius and Elizabeth McKenna of Grand Pabos, Gaspe County, Quebec, he was raised on a farm but at the time of enlistment had been working as an estates clerk with the Royal Trust Company in Quebec City. He trained as a parachutist in the United States in August 1942, and after arriving in the Britain in June 1944 was posted to the British 11th Battalion on the 10th July.
I never knew of the Canadian connections to this famous operation. This is not a spoiler alert as we all now know that Heaps survived. His capture and escape tell much about the man, as does the rest of his life. Heaps wrote more books based on his exploits…and friendships. For 30 years, he was friends of Hugh Hambleton. Hambleton was a Canadian economist and intelligence officer in both the US and Canadian militaries. He was also a decades long Soviet spy while working for NATO and in academia including the University of Laval. Though questioned by the RCMP, it took a trip to the UK for their authorities to arrest, convict and jail the man. Heaps’ book on Hambleton is called, Hugh Hambleton, Spy. Thirty Years with the KGB.
Heaps is an amazing figure and a fine writer. This book was a pleasure to find as were the important pieces of history I never knew existed.
January 13, 2021
I had really hoped this would be more of a "true story", and in a sense it was. But it was also a lot of rambling, which made it difficult to keep up with. It was rather confusing because there was so much back and forth. I have to be honest, I got good and lost, more than once. Then I had to go back and read it over to get my bearings again. Eventually I muddled through.
There is a lot of minute detail in this story. It probably would work well for some, especially those that like "all the details." But I was hoping for something different, and so this was not totally to my liking. Not horrible but tedious for me.
There is a lot of minute detail in this story. It probably would work well for some, especially those that like "all the details." But I was hoping for something different, and so this was not totally to my liking. Not horrible but tedious for me.
July 24, 2021
One of the greatest escape stories. Full of British humour and daring.
October 30, 2020
4.4 rating.
While the book starts out with “operation Market Garden”, one of biggest screw ups in WWII costing many thousands of Allied dead, wounded, captured ,
(The movie about it was named “A Bridge Too Far”)
90% of the book is about the 250 scattered survivors who hid behind enemy lines for weeks until they eventually made it back to the Allied area.
The courage and innovation needed was exemplary,
Especially by a few unique leaders.
But the real heroes of the book were the Dutch underground. As well as the Dutch people in general.
I had no idea how much they suffered under Nazi tyranny.
The Dutch have weird names so did have a hard time keeping track of the many characters.
While the book starts out with “operation Market Garden”, one of biggest screw ups in WWII costing many thousands of Allied dead, wounded, captured ,
(The movie about it was named “A Bridge Too Far”)
90% of the book is about the 250 scattered survivors who hid behind enemy lines for weeks until they eventually made it back to the Allied area.
The courage and innovation needed was exemplary,
Especially by a few unique leaders.
But the real heroes of the book were the Dutch underground. As well as the Dutch people in general.
I had no idea how much they suffered under Nazi tyranny.
The Dutch have weird names so did have a hard time keeping track of the many characters.
April 20, 2020
A personalized account of a generalized disaster.
From my studies of high school history many years ago, I never formed a positive opinion of General Bernhard Montgomery. I sensed his ego far outstripped his abilities as a war "executor". This particular "grand scheme" of his resulted in disaster. The evasion and ultimate escape described in this book is a testament to the individuals, but not to the General.
From my studies of high school history many years ago, I never formed a positive opinion of General Bernhard Montgomery. I sensed his ego far outstripped his abilities as a war "executor". This particular "grand scheme" of his resulted in disaster. The evasion and ultimate escape described in this book is a testament to the individuals, but not to the General.
March 6, 2021
This, I found, to be rather disjointed. I felt as though I was jumping forward and backwards in time and place without any warning of where I was going and why.
The first part of the book describes the airborne assault and the ‘Battle for Arnhem’ not the events that followed: “The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II.” This I accept, as readers may not have spent time prior to this understanding the breadth of ‘Market Garden’ and Arnhem. I would say it is advisable to do that prior to this reading. As here, we don’t get too full a story.
From then, we are given detailed accounts of the efforts made by many (including the resistance, who are owed a great deal and made huge sacrifice) to evade capture and return to allied lines. In this remaining two-thirds of the tale, we find the heart of the telling.
“What manner of men are these that wear the ‘Maroon Beret’? They are firstly all volunteers and are toughened by physical training. As a result, they have infectious optimism and that offensive eagerness which comes from well-being. They have 'jumped' from the air and by doing so have conquered fear.” Field Marshall, Bernard Law Montgomery.
While being transported to a German prison camp, three men, confined in a boxcar, smash a hole in a wooden panel leap off the moving train and survive, other than a few bumps and grazes. Who’d have thought it?
A string of stories: individual ingenuity, self-reliance, endurance, joint-planning in the face of adversity. A good read.
The first part of the book describes the airborne assault and the ‘Battle for Arnhem’ not the events that followed: “The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II.” This I accept, as readers may not have spent time prior to this understanding the breadth of ‘Market Garden’ and Arnhem. I would say it is advisable to do that prior to this reading. As here, we don’t get too full a story.
From then, we are given detailed accounts of the efforts made by many (including the resistance, who are owed a great deal and made huge sacrifice) to evade capture and return to allied lines. In this remaining two-thirds of the tale, we find the heart of the telling.
“What manner of men are these that wear the ‘Maroon Beret’? They are firstly all volunteers and are toughened by physical training. As a result, they have infectious optimism and that offensive eagerness which comes from well-being. They have 'jumped' from the air and by doing so have conquered fear.” Field Marshall, Bernard Law Montgomery.
While being transported to a German prison camp, three men, confined in a boxcar, smash a hole in a wooden panel leap off the moving train and survive, other than a few bumps and grazes. Who’d have thought it?
A string of stories: individual ingenuity, self-reliance, endurance, joint-planning in the face of adversity. A good read.
June 20, 2021
The Coda to "A Bridge Too Far" - Most people who are even passingly familiar with the history of the Second World War have heard of Operation Market Garden, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery's bold plan to concentrate overwhelming forces on a narrow front to cross the Rhine River and strike at the industrial heart of Germany. The combined airborne and armored assault infamously stalled short of the objective - the bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem - the "bridge too far."
Most histories of Market Garden address the escape of the British forces stranded at Arnhem, but only as an afterthought.
This book is a detailed account of those men - "The Evaders" who, with the help of the Dutch resistance hid and survived under German occupation. The author, Leo Heaps, was one of those men.
If you are looking for a history of the battle of Arnhem, this isn't recommended. There are several fantastic works that analyze and detail that operation - including Cornelius Ryan's classic "A Bridge Too Far" and John C McManus' "September Hope.". Instead, " The Grey Goose of Arnhem" is the story of the individuals of the British 1st Airborne who were left behind and the Dutch civilians who risked everything to protect them. While the book follows several individuals and groups of British paratroopers - it provides a record of Dutch heroes who made evasion possible.
This is a worthwhile read that chronicles their stories.
Most histories of Market Garden address the escape of the British forces stranded at Arnhem, but only as an afterthought.
This book is a detailed account of those men - "The Evaders" who, with the help of the Dutch resistance hid and survived under German occupation. The author, Leo Heaps, was one of those men.
If you are looking for a history of the battle of Arnhem, this isn't recommended. There are several fantastic works that analyze and detail that operation - including Cornelius Ryan's classic "A Bridge Too Far" and John C McManus' "September Hope.". Instead, " The Grey Goose of Arnhem" is the story of the individuals of the British 1st Airborne who were left behind and the Dutch civilians who risked everything to protect them. While the book follows several individuals and groups of British paratroopers - it provides a record of Dutch heroes who made evasion possible.
This is a worthwhile read that chronicles their stories.
May 25, 2020
Extraordinary!
To most people, operation Market-Garden ends with the evacuation of the remnants of 1st airborne from the Hartenstein hotel. This is so far from the case! This book, deals with the battle and the authors part in it well. However it really gets fascinating when the conventional histories end.
The stories of the survivors are quite amazing but what really shines is the NEVER sufficiently celebrated, unquestioning HEROISM of the men, women and children of the Dutch resistance. The risks these people took, the sacrifices they made, even ordinary citizens not "actively" involved showed levels of courage humbling to the modern reader.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Market-Garden, in fact, without this story no account of the battle is complete!
Thanks for reading my review.
To most people, operation Market-Garden ends with the evacuation of the remnants of 1st airborne from the Hartenstein hotel. This is so far from the case! This book, deals with the battle and the authors part in it well. However it really gets fascinating when the conventional histories end.
The stories of the survivors are quite amazing but what really shines is the NEVER sufficiently celebrated, unquestioning HEROISM of the men, women and children of the Dutch resistance. The risks these people took, the sacrifices they made, even ordinary citizens not "actively" involved showed levels of courage humbling to the modern reader.
I heartily recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about Market-Garden, in fact, without this story no account of the battle is complete!
Thanks for reading my review.
December 5, 2021
I read the Evaders many years ago, and not sure if this really isn't the same book. It's been too long for me to tell you the differences. This man is INCREDIBLY lucky. With all the things he's done, it's surprising he wasn't killed. This is one of the better books of Operation Pegasus, the escape of over 100+ evaders who'd been trapped on the wrong side of the Rhine when the 1st Airborne Division withdrew. The other book I'd recommend would be Hackett's memoir where he goes into detail is his personal experience. The Dutch did so much to try to help with the Liberation.
May 14, 2020
Muddled
I really wanted to enjoy this but the constant jumping and changing made it very difficult. This is not a linear story but you follow a little bit if a story and then jump to another that begins a few days before, or after. One minute you are dealing with events at the start of the battle; the next you are dealing with someone's story at the end and then another story from the middle.
If the editors had done their job thuis could have been a much more enjoyable read.
I really wanted to enjoy this but the constant jumping and changing made it very difficult. This is not a linear story but you follow a little bit if a story and then jump to another that begins a few days before, or after. One minute you are dealing with events at the start of the battle; the next you are dealing with someone's story at the end and then another story from the middle.
If the editors had done their job thuis could have been a much more enjoyable read.
August 9, 2020
ARNHEM the aftermath
For those who are interested in the battle of Arnhem this book is a "must" read to complete the picture of this epic battle. Indeed, the bravery and sacrifice of this epic battle did not end with the defeat at Arnhem but was to carry on under the very noses of the German army with the bravery and help of the local population and the local resistance often with grave consequences. This must rank as one of the greatest mass escapes of WW2
For those who are interested in the battle of Arnhem this book is a "must" read to complete the picture of this epic battle. Indeed, the bravery and sacrifice of this epic battle did not end with the defeat at Arnhem but was to carry on under the very noses of the German army with the bravery and help of the local population and the local resistance often with grave consequences. This must rank as one of the greatest mass escapes of WW2
October 9, 2020
Best story I have read about a little known story of WW2
I am sad the author passed away, his story about the evaders was excellent and someday someone should write an update because many of people of the story have probably passed away. Even though it slowed the reading the author’s attention to detail was great. I always wondered what happened to the men who were left behind now I know, great what happened to the people in the story!!
I am sad the author passed away, his story about the evaders was excellent and someday someone should write an update because many of people of the story have probably passed away. Even though it slowed the reading the author’s attention to detail was great. I always wondered what happened to the men who were left behind now I know, great what happened to the people in the story!!
December 24, 2020
Not a Golden Egg, Yet Nourishing
The Grey Goose of Arnhem could use some grooming. A good edit and a diet that would reduce it by 75 pages would be a good start. Also, I'd try to rearrange and re-chapterize it, as it becomes long winded and confusing.
This is the book for that student of history who's read three or four books about Market Garden and simply wants more.
More dies not necessarily mean better, as proven by this tome.
The Grey Goose of Arnhem could use some grooming. A good edit and a diet that would reduce it by 75 pages would be a good start. Also, I'd try to rearrange and re-chapterize it, as it becomes long winded and confusing.
This is the book for that student of history who's read three or four books about Market Garden and simply wants more.
More dies not necessarily mean better, as proven by this tome.
June 8, 2021
Unbelievable
This story is hard to imagine. That men could live under the horrid conditions these men did is hard to believe. The sacrifices of the citizens who helped to hide the soldiers is well documented. This is a Great book that documents the battle around Amhem. It is a good book to read if you like WW2 stories. I recommend it if one is willing to wade your way through all the unfamiliar names and places.
This story is hard to imagine. That men could live under the horrid conditions these men did is hard to believe. The sacrifices of the citizens who helped to hide the soldiers is well documented. This is a Great book that documents the battle around Amhem. It is a good book to read if you like WW2 stories. I recommend it if one is willing to wade your way through all the unfamiliar names and places.
May 14, 2022
Perseverance
This story recounts the uncommon bravery, resourcefulness, and spirit of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines after their mission went horribly wrong. Indeed, the bravery and effectiveness of the Dutch resistance network and ordinary citizens helped to sustain the soldiers until some were able to escape to Allied land. War is hell, and this story helps to understand its effects on all involved.
This story recounts the uncommon bravery, resourcefulness, and spirit of soldiers trapped behind enemy lines after their mission went horribly wrong. Indeed, the bravery and effectiveness of the Dutch resistance network and ordinary citizens helped to sustain the soldiers until some were able to escape to Allied land. War is hell, and this story helps to understand its effects on all involved.
January 11, 2021
After A Bridge Too Far
A detailed accounting of some of the abandoned Airborne and Glider troops of Market Garden (it doesn’t end at Oosterbeek). But hard to follow with jagged editing and dropping names, then returning to them in haphazard fashion. Best that the reader make a list on a chalkboard to see how everybody fits together.
A detailed accounting of some of the abandoned Airborne and Glider troops of Market Garden (it doesn’t end at Oosterbeek). But hard to follow with jagged editing and dropping names, then returning to them in haphazard fashion. Best that the reader make a list on a chalkboard to see how everybody fits together.
April 11, 2024
Great book!
A great find and a very good listen. This Canadian author has written this story about a huge effort to extract these soldiers, from both his own experience, and research… and it’s not a tale that has been told elsewhere. Very revealing about the efforts of the Dutch resistance. Definitely recommended!
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
A great find and a very good listen. This Canadian author has written this story about a huge effort to extract these soldiers, from both his own experience, and research… and it’s not a tale that has been told elsewhere. Very revealing about the efforts of the Dutch resistance. Definitely recommended!
I listened to the Audible audiobook.
August 16, 2020
No goose was harmed in this story.
I enjoyed the heroics and was interested by the story. The only problem with the story was the Dutch names. I have to admit that at some point I began to skip over them to get on with the story.
I enjoyed the heroics and was interested by the story. The only problem with the story was the Dutch names. I have to admit that at some point I began to skip over them to get on with the story.
October 21, 2020
Fascinating
The story of Operation Market Garden has always fascinated me and this account of the battle and fate of the evaders exploits is absolutely riveting. The stories of their valor, fortitude and commitment to duty should never grow old or be forgotten.
The story of Operation Market Garden has always fascinated me and this account of the battle and fate of the evaders exploits is absolutely riveting. The stories of their valor, fortitude and commitment to duty should never grow old or be forgotten.
November 17, 2020
Being ex forces, and Airborne, I found this an extremely fascinating read. My only criticism is the format, slightly confusing, chopping and changing between each story. However,I would definately recommend this book.
December 11, 2020
This is an interesting book, which accurately captures the bravery of those involved, as well as providing insight into the aftermath of the Battle. However, the narrative, because it jumps around significantly, can be difficult to follow. This impacts on overall enjoyment.
December 17, 2020
I'd sum this one up with two words - exciting and confusing. It tells of the escape by Allied soldiers and other refugees after they were cut off by the failure of the abortive Montgomery Rhine attack near the end of World War 2. Much of the country is boggy and very hard to navigate and the Nazis are relentless and ruthless. Overall, it is an entertaining if confusing read.
January 2, 2021
Another great WW2 account
This is yet another great account of a relatively unknown WW2 event. A little hard to follow due to the multitude of players, but very interesting nonetheless!
This is yet another great account of a relatively unknown WW2 event. A little hard to follow due to the multitude of players, but very interesting nonetheless!
April 2, 2021
A. Lesser-known escape
This escape after the Arnhem disaster seems incredible, but true. With the help of the Dutch underground allied troops were able to return to allied lines whist surrounded by German troops. A true stealth operation and a good story.
This escape after the Arnhem disaster seems incredible, but true. With the help of the Dutch underground allied troops were able to return to allied lines whist surrounded by German troops. A true stealth operation and a good story.
June 18, 2021
I’m overly obsessed with anything Operation Market Garden related so obviously I had to read this. I liked that it covered the “after” which is missed by many other books. A word of caution, it does contain “spoilers” for how Market Garden turned out…
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July 11, 2021very sad at times but an enjoyable read
I couldn't put the book down. I am giving this read five stars. It kept me captivated. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the characters.
Any person who likes reading war stories I think would enjoy this novel.
I couldn't put the book down. I am giving this read five stars. It kept me captivated. I couldn't wait to find out what happened to the characters.
Any person who likes reading war stories I think would enjoy this novel.
March 2, 2023
Good story about survival of 100+ mostly British soldiers, stuck behind enemy lines after the failure of Market Garden. The author perhaps includes too many characters in the narrative- many with similar experiences - vs. focusing on fewer and going more in-depth.
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