 The 501st, with the rest of the division, moved from initial objective areas to positions on "the island" between the Waal and Rhine Rivers; it became clear that they would not be withdrawn from the Netherlands after a few days, as they had been told; their combat skills were too much needed by the British.The prolonged fighting on "the island" was anything but the way to use an airborne unit.After the initial hard fighting it became a static war of patrolling and attrition, principally by artillery and mortars.