title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: The National Bureau of Investigation suspects the Nordic Resistance Movement to be continuing its operations under the names Kohti Vapautta!, Atomwaffen Division Finland and Suomalaisapu. In its annual threat assessment for 2020, the bureau found that despite the ban, the threat of far-right terrorism had risen and identified 400 persons of interest "motivated and with the capacity to perform terrorism in Finland". International links and funding networks were pointed out as a special source of concern. According to the University of Oslo Center for Research on Extremism:


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: some NRM activists have reasoned that only radical measures will be effective post-ban, thus coming to support e.g. the accelerationist model of activity. Certain members of the group have also appeared as contributors to publications that promote esoteric forms of neo-Nazism. A corresponding shift towards a more “cultic” direction has also been observed in the United Kingdom after the banning of the National Action (NA).


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: "Nordiske Motstandsbevegelsen" is the Norwegian chapter of the Nordic Resistance Movement, founded by Haakon Forwald, former member of Dissection and Misanthropic Luciferian Order. They are organized in four subchapters (or nests) in Norway. In 2014 Norwegian police confiscated illegal submachine guns and automatic rifles from a member. In 2019, another member was arrested after hijacking an ambulance, trying to ram a police car and driving into a crowd. Inside the ambulance the police discovered a shotgun and Uzi submachine gun.


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: There have been a few newspaper articles on ties of the movement to Iceland, and it has a website under Icelandic domain.


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: In September 2019 between 10 and 15 Swedish members of the Nordic Resistance Movement staged an event at Lækjartorg in Reykjavík where they spread flyers and promoted the organisation. The event sparked an anti-Nazi demonstration a few days later which drew an estimated crowd of 200 participants.


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: In September 2022, the Icelandic police raided several safe houses for Nordic neo-Nazis and confiscated automatic rifles. The police also arrested four neo-Nazis connected to the NRM, accused of planning terror attacks.


title: Nordic Resistance Movement

text: "Nordiske Modstandsbevægelse" is the Danish branch of the Nordic Resistance Movement and it is led by Jacob Vullum Andersen. In 2019 on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht a jewish graveyard was vandalized by Danish NRM members in the town of Randers. In 2021 on the Passover a Jewish graveyard was vandalized in the city of Aalborg. Benny Dagan, Israeli ambassador to Denmark, commented “Strongly condemn this anti-Semitic act in Aalborg using the infamous blood libel of murdering Christian children and baking matzos with their blood. I have full confidence that Danish authorities [will] punish the perpetrators, but Nazi Nordfront has to be outlawed.”


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands after sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, after the Battle of Normandy. Operation Market Garden was proposed by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who favoured a single push northwards over the branches of the Lower Rhine River, allowing the British Second Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. US Airborne troops were dropped in the Netherlands to secure bridges and towns along the line of the Allied advance. Farthest north, the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem to capture bridges across the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine), supported by men of the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade. The British XXX Corps were expected to reach the British airborne forces in two to three days.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The 1st Airborne Division landed some distance from its objectives and was hampered by unexpected resistance, especially from elements of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions. Only a small force was able to reach the Arnhem road bridge while the advance of the main body of the division was stopped on the outskirts of the town. XXX Corps was unable to advance north from Nijmegen in the Battle of Nijmegen as quickly as planned and the British airborne troops were not relieved according to schedule. After four days, the small British force at the bridge was overwhelmed and the rest of the division trapped in a small pocket north of the river. The paratroops could not be sufficiently reinforced by the Poles or XXX Corps when they arrived on the southern bank, nor by Royal Air Force supply flights. After nine days of fighting, the remnants of the division were withdrawn in Operation Berlin. The Allies were unable to advance further with no secure bridges over the Nederrijn and the front line stabilised south of Arnhem. The 1st Airborne Division lost nearly three quarters of its strength and did not see combat again.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: By September 1944, Allied forces had broken out of their Normandy beachhead and pursued the remnants of the German armies across northern France and Belgium. Although Allied commanders generally favoured a broad front policy to continue the advance into Germany and the Netherlands, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery proposed a bold plan to head north through Dutch Gelderland, bypassing the German Siegfried Line defences and opening a route into the German industrial heartland of the Ruhr. Initially proposed as a British and Polish operation codenamed Operation Comet, the plan was soon expanded to involve most of the First Allied Airborne Army and a set-piece ground advance into the Netherlands, codenamed Market Garden.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Montgomery's plan involved dropping the US 101st Airborne Division to capture bridges around Eindhoven, the US 82nd Airborne Division to capture crossings around Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division, with the Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, to capture three bridges across the Nederrijn at Arnhem. Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton commanded the First Allied Airborne Army but his second-in-command Lieutenant-General Frederick Browning took command of the airborne operation. The British Second Army, led by XXX Corps, would advance up the "Airborne corridor", securing the airborne divisions' positions and crossing the Rhine within two days. If successful, the plan would open the door to Germany and hopefully force an end to the war in Europe by the end of the year.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: With the British 6th Airborne Division still refitting after Operation Tonga and the fighting in Normandy, the task of securing the Rhine bridgehead fell to the 1st Airborne Division under the command of Major-General Roy Urquhart. The division was made up of three brigades of infantry (two parachute, one glider-borne), supporting artillery of the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment and anti-tank batteries and Royal Engineer units, as well as supporting elements such as the Royal Army Service Corps and Royal Army Medical Corps. Most of the division had seen action in North Africa and Sicily, particularly the 1st Parachute Brigade and 1st Airlanding Brigade. This was the first time the division had fought as a complete formation. Urquhart also had the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade under his command. His force was also substantially reinforced by some 1,200 men of the Glider Pilot Regiment, who would fly the glider-borne infantry and vehicles into Arnhem, providing the equivalent of two battalions of infantry for the operation. Smaller additions included a Dutch commando unit and American communications teams.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The division was required to secure the road, rail and pontoon bridges over the Nederrijn at Arnhem and hold them for two to three days until relieved by XXX Corps. From the beginning Urquhart was severely constrained in his planning for the operation. The US IX Troop Carrier Command (Major General Williams) could not land all the airborne troops in one go. Williams decided that it would only be possible to fly one air lift per day, meaning it would take three days to deliver the division and Polish Brigade. Few areas were suitable for glider landings and Williams was reluctant to send his aircraft too close to Arnhem and into the flak from Deelen airfield after the drop. Urquhart was forced to pick drop zones (DZ) and landing zones (LZ) up to from Arnhem, on the north side of the river. With the need to secure the bridges, towns and drop zones for subsequent supply drops, the 1st Airborne would need to defend a perimeter long whilst waiting for XXX Corps.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Urquhart decided to land the 1st Parachute Brigade (Brigadier Gerald Lathbury) and the 1st Airlanding Brigade (Brigadier Philip "Pip" Hicks') on the first day of the operation, along with Divisional HQ, the 1st Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery and attached Royal Engineer and medical units. The Airlanding Brigade would land on LZs 'S' and 'Z' and move to secure the drop zones and landing zones for the following days' drops, whilst the three battalions of the parachute brigade would arrive at DZ 'X' and follow separate routes to the Arnhem bridges. The 2nd Battalion (Lieutenant colonel (Lt. Col.) John Frost) would follow the riverside roads to the centre of Arnhem ("Lion" route) and secure the main road and railway bridges, as well as a pontoon bridge between them. The 3rd Battalion (Lt. Col. Fitch) would head through Oosterbeek to Arnhem ("Tiger" route), assist in the capture of the road bridge and take up positions in the east of the town. The 1st Battalion (Lt. Col. Dobie) would follow "Leopard" route north of the railway line to occupy high ground north and north west of Arnhem.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The advance into Arnhem would be led by a troop of jeeps from the 1st Airborne Reconnaissance Squadron (Major Frederick Gough) on "Leopard" route, who would attempt a on the road bridge. On the second day, the 4th Parachute Brigade (Brigadier John "Shan" Hackett) would arrive at DZ 'Y', accompanied by extra artillery units and the rest of the Airlanding Brigade on LZ 'X'. Hackett's three battalions would then reinforce the positions north and north west of Arnhem. On the third day, the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade would be dropped south of the river at DZ 'K'. Using the road bridge, they would reinforce the perimeter east of Arnhem, linking with their artillery which would be flown in by glider to LZ 'L'. The 1st Airlanding Brigade would fall back to cover Oosterbeek on the western side of the perimeter and 1st Parachute Brigade would fall back to cover the southern side of the bridges. The remaining units of the division would follow XXX Corps on land in what was known as the "sea tail". Once XXX Corps had arrived and advanced beyond the bridgehead, the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division would land at Deelen airfield to support the ground forces north of the Rhine. The operation would be supplied by daily flights by 38 Group and 46 Group RAF who would make the first drop on LZ 'L' on day 2 and subsequent drops on DZ 'V'.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The division was told to expect only limited resistance from German reserve forces. A serious challenge to their operation was not expected and many men believed that their work would lead to the ending of the war. Some – anticipating a period of occupation in Germany – packed leisure equipment in their kit or in the sea tail. Browning's intelligence officer – Major Brian Urquhart — obtained information from the 21st Army Group in Belgium and Dutch resistance that German armour was present around Arnhem. This was backed up with aerial reconnaissance that he ordered to be flown. Browning was dismissive and ordered his chief medical officer to have Urquhart sent on sick leave. SHAEF was aware that there were almost certainly two Panzer divisions at Arnhem but with the operation looming chose to ignore them. Such information would have been gleaned from Ultra intercepts that the First Allied Airborne Army was not privy to and therefore could not act upon themselves.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Allied liberation of Antwerp on 4 September had caused a rout of German reserve troops in the Netherlands, nicknamed "Mad Tuesday". The Allied pause at the Dutch border gave the Germans time to regroup although it would make subsequent attempts to clarify the exact German forces opposing the Allies extremely difficult. "Generalfeldmarschall" Walter Model — commander of Army Group B — had moved his headquarters to Arnhem and was re-establishing defences in the area and co-ordinating the reorganisation of the scattered units so that by the time the Allies launched Market Garden there would be several units opposing them. To the west of Arnhem was "Kampfgruppe Von Tettau", a force equivalent to seven battalions made up of all manner of German units (including "Heer", "Luftwaffe", "Kriegsmarine", rear echelon and "Waffen-SS" troops) under the command of General Hans von Tettau at Grebbeberg. This included the SS Non-commissioned officer school "SS Unteroffizierschule Arnheim" and the 16th SS Training Battalion under the command of SS "Sturmbannführer" Sepp Krafft, whose unit would play a crucial role in the opening phases of the battle. Within Arnhem itself, the town garrison was under the command of Major-General Friedrich Kussin.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The II SS Panzer Corps ("Obergruppenführer" Wilhelm Bittrich)— comprising the remains of the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen (Walter Harzer) and the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg (Heinz Harmel)— had moved into the area north of Arnhem to refit and reorganise. Although badly mauled in Normandy and during their escape from the Falaise pocket, the corps was made up of veterans and made available significantly more forces to the Germans than the Allies had been led to expect. The divisions were also specially trained in anti-airborne operations; during their formation both divisions had undergone month-long anti-airborne exercises whilst waiting for their heavy equipment, and had also spent the last 15 months studying the best reactions to a parachute attack in classroom and field exercises. The 9th SS had a "Panzergrenadier" brigade, a reconnaissance battalion, an artillery battalion, two batteries of self-propelled guns and a company of tanks. The number of men who were available after the withdrawal from Normandy is unclear. Some sources suggest that the 9th had up to 6,000 men, others suggest that the combined total of the 9th and 10th SS was only 6,000–7,000 men.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: There were also Dutch units allied to the Germans present at Arnhem. These formations recruited from Dutch nationals (mainly criminals, men wishing to avoid national service or men affiliated with the "Nationaal-Socialistische Beweging") and were incorporated into the German Army. At Arnhem, the partly Dutch SS "Wachbattalion" 3 was attached to "Kampfgruppe Von Tettau" and the 3rd Battalion of the 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland training at nearby Hoogeveen was quickly attached to the 9th SS Panzer Division when they arrived on 20 September.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: As the battle progressed, more and more forces would become available to the Germans. Adolf Hitler, stunned by the attack, agreed that the defence of the Netherlands should receive priority and reinforcements streamed in from Wehrkreis VI, the Wesel area and Armed Forces Command Netherlands (General Friedrich Christiansen). Model arranged for units to be sent straight to the units in action and rushed in specialist urban warfare and machine gun battalions. Each day of the battle, the German military strength increased whilst the British supplies diminished. By 21 September, the fifth day of the battle, German forces outnumbered the British by 3:1 and continued to increase.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The first lift was preceded by intense bombing and strafing raids made by the British Second Tactical Air Force and the American 8th and 9th Air Forces. These targeted the known flak guns and German garrisons and barracks across the area. Meanwhile, the first lift suffered only light losses as the aircraft and gliders flew from British bases to the target area. The first arrivals were the 21st Independent Parachute Company, who landed at 12:40 in order to mark the landing zones for the gliders and parachutists of the main force. The landings were largely unopposed and the battalions were formed up in good order and ready to carry out their tasks by 14:45.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Airlanding Brigade moved quickly to secure the landing zones. The 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment moved into Wolfheze, the 1st Battalion, Border Regiment secured DZ 'X', deploying its companies around the DZ and in Renkum, and the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers moved to secure DZ 'Y'. Here, they ambushed the Dutch SS Wach Battalion as it headed toward Arnhem from Ede. Units of the Airlanding Artillery and Divisional HQ headed into Wolfheze and Oosterbeek where medical officers set up a Regimental Aid Post at the home of Kate ter Horst.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: While the 1st Airlanding Brigade moved off from the landing zones, the 1st Parachute Brigade prepared to head east toward the bridges, with Lathbury and his HQ Company following Frost on "Lion" route. Although some jeeps of the reconnaissance squadron were lost on the flight over, the company formed up in good strength and moved off along "Leopard" route.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Germans were unprepared for the landings and initially thrown into confusion. Model – erroneously assuming that the paratroopers had come to capture him – fled his headquarters at the Tafelberg Hotel in Oosterbeek and went to Bittrich's headquarters east of Arnhem at Doetinchem, where he took personal control of the battle. The 10th SS Division was sent south to respond to the American landings at Nijmegen and to defend the "island" (the polder between the Nederrijn and Waal rivers), while the 9th would defend Arnhem. The 9th SS was in the midst of preparing to return to Germany and Harmel was in Berlin trying to secure more men and supplies for his unit. He was instantly ordered to return to Arnhem whilst his division began to prepare its forces for battle. "Obersturmbannführer" Ludwig Spindler — commander of the 9th SS Armoured Artillery Regiment – quickly organised a small "Kampfgruppe" (battlegroup; "Kampfgruppe Spindler") was initially only 120 men, but would incorporate 16 separate units over the course of the battle). In the late afternoon, he was ordered to advance west to Oosterbeek and establish a blocking line to prevent the British from reaching Arnhem centre.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The 9th SS division's 40-vehicle reconnaissance battalion under the command of "Hauptsturmführer" Viktor Gräbner was ordered south to Nijmegen, crossing the Arnhem bridge at dusk. Initially, however, no units were ordered to secure the bridge itself. Kussin, the Arnhem Garrison commander, was killed by men of the 3rd Parachute Battalion as he sped towards his headquarters, and his death led to a breakdown of the German command. It was not until late in the afternoon that the Reconnaissance Battalion of 10th SS Division were ordered to secure the bridge. At the time of the landings, only one organised unit was in place to oppose the Allied advance toward the bridges (the 16th SS Training Battalion camped in Wolfheze) and their commander – Sepp Krafft – acted quickly to establish a blocking screen west of Oosterbeek.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Allied advance quickly ran into trouble. The reconnaissance squadron was ambushed by the northern flank of Krafft's blocking line and withdrew. The 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions were also stalled by Krafft's defences and spent the rest of the day skirting his line. The 3rd Parachute Battalion went south and halted in Oosterbeek for most of the night while 1st Parachute Battalion went further north but hit Spindler's forces and was unable to reach the Arnhem-Ede road of "Leopard" route. Instead Dobie decided to abandon his original plan, and head towards the bridge to assist Frost instead. The battalion headed south into Oosterbeek overnight. Only the 2nd Parachute Battalion was largely unopposed, bypassing the defences that did not as yet reach down as far as the river. They were slowed by cheering Dutch civilians and did not reach the bridges until late in the day. The railway bridge was blown by German engineers as the Allies approached it and the pontoon bridge was missing its central section. At dusk, the men of A Company under Major Digby Tatham-Warter observed Gräbner's force cross the bridge, on their way to Nijmegen. Most of the battalion and various other supporting units—including two jeeps of Gough's squadron, four 6-pounder anti-tank guns, Brigade HQ (without Lathbury), and Royal Engineers (in total numbering about 740 men)— moved into Arnhem centre as night fell.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Owing to the oversight in German orders, the British were able to secure the undefended northern end of the road bridge. Lieutenant Jack Grayburn led an attempt to secure the southern end of the bridge but was unsuccessful, and a later attempt using a flame thrower only succeeded in setting the freshly painted girders of the bridge alight. However, the British were able to make good their position and quickly repulsed the 10th SS Reconnaissance Battalion and other German units when they arrived to secure the bridge.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Allied advance was severely hampered by poor communications in these crucial initial phases. The paratroopers' radio sets range was instantly limited by the wooded terrain and as the battalions advanced they lost contact with Divisional HQ at the landing zones. Over the coming nine days, radio communication within the division, with Browning's HQ at Nijmegen, with XXX Corps and with the United Kingdom would be intermittent and unreliable, severely hampering the British units. Carrier pigeons were even used to make contact with Britain. Partly as a consequence of this limitation, Urquhart decided to follow the 1st Parachute Brigade and make contact with Lathbury. When he found the Brigade HQ on "Lion" route, he was informed by Major Hibbert, who, at that time, was still en route to the bridge, that Lathbury himself was visiting the 3rd Battalion. Urquhart followed Lathbury there but subsequently would not be able to return to Divisional HQ for two days.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: As the second day dawned, the 9th SS Panzer Division continued to reinforce the German blocking line. Krafft's unit withdrew overnight and joined Spindler's line, coming under his command. Spindler's force was now becoming so large as more men and units arrived at the new front, that he was forced to split it into two battle groups: "Kampfgruppen" Allworden and Harder. The defensive line now blocked the entire western side of Arnhem and had just closed the gap exploited by Frost alongside the river the previous evening.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Overnight, the 1st and 3rd Parachute battalions had skirted as far south as 2nd Parachute Battalion's original "Lion" route, hoping to follow them into Arnhem centre. They approached the German line on the outskirts of the town before light and for several hours attempted to fight through the German positions. Spindler's force—being continually reinforced—was too strong to penetrate, and by 10:00 the British advance was stopped. A more coordinated attack followed in the afternoon, but it too was repulsed. Urquhart attempted to return to his Divisional Headquarters at Oosterbeek but became cut off and was forced to take shelter in a Dutch family's loft with two fellow officers. Lathbury was injured and also forced into hiding.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: At the road bridge, German forces of the 9th SS had quickly surrounded Frost's battalion, cutting them off from the rest of the division. At around 09:00, the 9th SS Reconnaissance Battalion headed back toward Arnhem from south of the river, having concluded that it was not needed at Nijmegen. Though aware of the British troops at the bridge, it attempted to cross by force. In the resultant two-hour battle, it was beaten back with heavy losses; 12 out of the battalion's 22 armored vehicles involved in the assault were destroyed or knocked out and its commanding officer, Viktor Gräbner, was killed in action. German attacks carried on around the British perimeter at the Arnhem bridge for the rest of the day, but the British continued to hold.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: At the landing zones, Urquhart's Chief of Staff Lt. Col Charles Mackenzie informed Brigadier Hicks that, in Urquhart's and Lathbury's absence, he was acting divisional commander. Mackenzie also advised him to send one of his units – the South Staffords (which was not complete and was awaiting its full complement of men in the second lift) — to Arnhem to help with the advance to the bridge. The South Staffords departed in the morning and linked up with the 1st Parachute Battalion in the late afternoon.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: German forces began to probe the 1st Airlanding Brigade defences throughout the morning. Units of Kampfgruppe Von Tettau attacked the Border's positions; men of the SS NCO school overran Renkum and "Kriegsmarine" troops engaged the British all day as they withdrew. Minor fighting broke out around LZ 'X' but not enough to seriously hamper the glider landing there. At DZ 'Y', the Dutch SS Wach Battalion became heavily engaged with the King's Own Scottish Borderers, threatening to hamper the arrival of the second lift. The communications breakdown meant that it was impossible to warn the aircraft. Equally, there was no way for the division to know that the 2nd lift had been delayed by ground fog in England. Thus, the arrival of the 4th Parachute Brigade under Brigadier Hackett and several more troops of artillery at the drop zones was several hours overdue. When the parachutists did arrive after 15:00, they dropped under fire. Several were killed as aircraft and parachutists were shot down and the heath-land they were landing on burned. Nevertheless, the arrival of a full brigade overwhelmed the Dutch who were routed and surrendered in droves.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Despite the setbacks the units assembled with only slight casualties, but the changing circumstances at Arnhem meant that their roles were quickly changed. The 11th Parachute Battalion and the rest of the South Staffords were immediately despatched to Arnhem to assist in the attempt to break through to the bridge, where they linked up with the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalions after dark. Hicks' decision to send the 11th Parachute Battalion to Arnhem (thus weakening the 4th Parachute Brigade), dismayed Hackett, who remonstrated with Hicks to no avail. However, he was given command of the King's Own Scottish Borderers who were moving toward LZ 'L' to secure it for Tuesday's landing. The 10th and 156th Parachute Battalions moved north of the railway line to take up their planned defensive positions north west of Arnhem, but the leading elements of 156th Parachute Battalion made contact with the main 9th SS blocking line after dark and withdrew for the night.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Shortly after the second lift arrived, the first supply drop was made onto LZ 'L'. Although most supplies arrived, only a small amount could be collected as the area was not under full British control. The poor radio communication meant that it was not possible to alert the RAF and unsecured drop zones would be a major problem in the days to come.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: When the South Staffords and 11th Parachute Battalion arrived at the 1st and 3rd Parachute Battalion's positions on the western outskirts of Arnhem, the British hoped to have sufficient troops to break through to Frost's position at the bridge. Lieutenant Colonel Dobie of 1st Parachute Battalion planned to attack before first light but an erroneous report suggesting that the bridge had fallen led to the attack being cancelled. By the time the report was corrected first light was not long away, but, with reinforcement at the bridge the priority, the attack had to proceed. The advance began on a narrow front between the railway line to the north and the river to the south. The 1st Parachute Battalion would lead, supported by remnants of the 3rd Parachute Battalion, with the 2nd South Staffordshires on the left flank and the 11th Parachute Battalion following behind. As soon as it became light, the 1st Parachute Battalion was spotted and halted by fire from the main German defensive line. Trapped in open ground and under heavy fire from three sides, the 1st Parachute Battalion disintegrated and what remained of the 3rd Parachute Battalion fell back.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The 2nd South Staffordshires were similarly cut off and save for about 150 men, overcome by midday. The 11th Parachute Battalion – which had thus far not been heavily involved – was now overwhelmed in exposed positions while attempting to capture high ground to the north. The South Staffords similarly attempted to secure high ground but were driven off. With no hope of breaking through, the 500 remaining men of these four battalions retreated westwards in the direction of the main force, away in Oosterbeek. As they approached Oosterbeek they were met by Lieutenant Colonel Sheriff Thompson, of the 1st Airlanding Light Artillery Regiment, who formed most of the men into a defensive screen under Major Robert Cain forward of his artillery positions. The battle gave Urquhart the opportunity to escape from his hiding place and he was able to return to Division HQ at the Hotel Hartenstein in Oosterbeek, where for the first time he was able to learn the extent of the German forces facing them. In Britain, ground fog again frustrated reinforcement. Thirty-five gliders of the 3rd lift carrying the Polish glider borne elements were delayed in taking off and the whole parachute brigade failed to take off at all. This would have serious consequences on the ground when the delayed gliders arrived.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: North of the railway line, the 156th and 10th Parachute Battalions became engaged with the German defensive line as they attempted to seize the high ground in the woods north of Oosterbeek. Both battalions' advances were blunted against the well-defended German positions and by early afternoon they had not advanced any further than their original positions. Urquhart—realising the need to assume a more defensive stance and prevent the two battalions being cut off north of the railway—ordered them to fall back to Wolfheze and Oosterbeek. Making a fighting withdrawal with the Germans of "Kampfgruppe" Krafft closely pursuing them, the units fell back across LZ 'L', defended by the King's Own Scottish Borderers who were awaiting the arrival of the glider borne elements of the Polish Parachute Brigade. Heavy fighting ensued as the gliders arrived in the middle of the retreat and Polish losses were heavy. All four Allied units streamed south and west toward the road crossings over the steep railway cutting at Oosterbeek and Wolfheze and gathered in "ad hoc" units in the woods on the south side, where most of them spent the night. Some German units followed them across the railway and an SS battalion reached Wolfheze, but was stopped when it was strafed by its own air force.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In the afternoon, the RAF flew its first major resupply mission, using 164 aircraft to fly in of supplies to the British. The Germans – who had been expecting resupply efforts – had moved five flak batteries into the area specifically to attack these flights and, as the RAF came into view, they succeeded in shooting down 10 aircraft. Despite the bravery of the pilots (Flight Lieutenant David Lord received the Victoria Cross posthumously), the Airborne forces only recovered of supplies. The dropzone – Supply DZ 'V' — was still in German hands (the British would never reach this zone during the battle) and no message had reached Britain to explain this. At the bridge, Frost's forces continued to hold but without supply or reinforcement their position was becoming weaker. The Germans – realising that infantry attacks were unlikely to remove the stubborn defenders – began to systematically destroy the houses the British were in using tanks, artillery, and mortars. In the absence of any Allied air cover, the "Luftwaffe" were able to make strafing runs on the British occupied houses as well.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: By now, the 1st Airborne division was too weak to attempt to reach Frost at the bridge. Eight of the nine infantry battalions were badly mauled or scattered and only one – 1st Battalion, The Border Regiment – still existed as a unit. Urquhart made the difficult decision to abandon the 2nd Parachute Battalion to fend for itself. By forming a defensive perimeter around Oosterbeek and securing the Driel ferry crossing, Urquhart hoped to hold out until XXX Corps could reach them and establish a new bridgehead over the Rhine.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The eastern side of this new perimeter was fairly stable after the previous day's retreat from Arnhem, with numerous "ad hoc" units under company commanders defending the approaches to Oosterbeek. Major Richard Lonsdale had taken command of the outlying units and their positions weathered heavy German attacks before falling back to the main divisional perimeter. This sector was later designated Lonsdale Force and would remain the main line of defence on the south eastern perimeter. The Border Regiment held most of the western edge of the town, with scattered units filling the gaps to the north. As more units fell back to the new defensive area, they were re-organised to establish a thumb-shaped perimeter using the Nederrijn as its southern base.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The mixed units at Wolfheze began to fall back in the morning but several were surrounded and captured, including one party of 130 men. 150 men of 156th Parachute Battalion – led by Hackett himself – became pinned down and took cover in a hollow some west of the Oosterbeek perimeter. The men broke out of the hollow in the late afternoon and approximately 90 of them made it to the Border Regiment's positions.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The afternoon's supply drop was little better than the previous day's. Although a message had reached Britain to arrange a new dropping zone near the Hotel Hartenstein, some aircraft flew to LZ 'Z' where their supplies fell into German hands. At Oosterbeek, the Germans had used British marker panels and flares to attract the aircraft to their positions and the aircraft were unable to distinguish the exact dropping zones. Ten of the 164 aircraft involved were shot down around Arnhem for only 13% of supplies reaching British hands.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: At the bridge, Frost was finally able to make radio contact with his divisional commander Urquhart and was given the difficult news that reinforcement was doubtful. Shortly afterwards, at about 13:30, Frost was injured in the legs by a mortar bomb and command passed to Major Gough. Despite their stubborn defence of the few building they still held, by late afternoon the British position was becoming untenable. When fire took hold of many of the buildings in which the wounded were being treated, a two-hour truce was organised in the late afternoon and the wounded (including Frost) were taken into captivity. Overnight, a few units managed to hold out for a little longer and several groups tried to break out toward the Oosterbeek perimeter, although almost all of them, including Major Hibbert, were captured.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: By 05:00 on Thursday morning all resistance at the bridge had ceased. In later years Walter Harzer claimed that, during the final hours of fighting, his men intercepted a radio message sent from the bridge that ended with the sentences: "Out of ammunition. God Save the King."


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Throughout the morning, the Germans mopped up British survivors and stragglers in hiding around Arnhem bridge. It took several hours to clear the bridge of debris allowing German armour to cross and reinforce Nijmegen. Crucially, the British had held the bridge long enough to allow Nijmegen bridge to be captured by the 82nd Airborne and Guards' Armoured Division working together. With the resistance at the bridge crushed, the Germans had more troops available to commit to the Oosterbeek engagement, although this changed suddenly in the afternoon.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Delayed by weather, the parachute infantry battalions of Stanisław Sosabowski's 1st (Polish) Parachute Brigade were finally able to take off in England. 114 C-47s took off but 41 aircraft turned back after Troop Carrier Command decided it would be too dangerous to land if the aircraft were up too long. The remainder pressed on; they did not have the correct transmission codes and did not understand the messages. One of the few messages to get out of Arnhem warned the Poles that DZ 'K' was not secure and to land instead on the polder east of Driel where they should secure the Heveadorp ferry on the south bank of the Rhine. The Poles dropped under fire at 17:00 and sustained casualties but assembled in good order. Advancing to the river bank, they discovered that the ferry was gone; the ferryman had sunk it to deny its use to the Germans.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The arrival of the Poles relieved the pressure on the British as the Germans were forced to send more forces south of the Rhine. Fearing an attack on the southern end of the road bridge or the Nijmegen road, a battalion of the 34th SS Volunteer Grenadier Division Landstorm Nederland, Machine Gun Battalion 47 and other "Kampfgruppes" headed across the river overnight.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: At Oosterbeek, the defensive positions were consolidated and organised into two zones. Hicks would command the western and northern sides of the perimeter and Hackett, after some rest, the eastern front. The perimeter was not a complete defensive line but a collection of defensive pockets in houses and foxholes surrounding the centre of Oosterbeek, with the divisional headquarters at the Hotel Hartenstein at its centre. The perimeter was roughly around and was defended by approximately 3,600 men. Despite the Germans' best efforts, the line would remain roughly unchanged for the next five days, although Germans of the Hermann Göring NCO School attacked the Border positions on the west side near the Rhine, forcing them to abandon strategically important high ground overlooking Oosterbeek. The biggest boost to the besieged British was being able to make contact with forward artillery units of XXX Corps. Radio contact was made with 64th Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery who were able to drop heavy and accurate shellfire on German positions around the perimeter. The radio link to the battery's Headquarters was also used as the main line of communication to XXX Corps. So important was the shellfire provided by 64 Medium Regiment that afterward Urquhart lobbied (unsuccessfully) for the regiment to be able to wear the airborne Pegasus badge on their uniforms.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The British had witnessed the Polish drop but were unable to make contact by radio so a swimmer (Private Ernest Henry Archer) was sent south of the Rhine. The British planned to supply rafts for a river crossing that night as the Poles were desperately needed on the northern bank. The Poles waited on the southern bank, but by 03:00 no rafts were evident and they withdrew to Driel to take up defensive positions.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Overnight, the Germans south of the river formed a blocking line along the railway, linking up with 10th SS to the south and screening the road bridge from the Poles. The Polish were well dug in at Driel, however, and German armour was unable to manoeuvre off of the main roads to attack them. Hopes were raised when three armoured cars of XXX Corps' Household Cavalry managed to skirt the German defences on the island and link up with Sosabowski's force. These were followed after dark by tanks of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards and infantry of the 5th Battalion Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Behind them, the rest of the 43rd Wessex Division was making its way up a narrow corridor.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In Oosterbeek, heavy fighting continued around the perimeter. Intense shelling and snipers increased the number of casualties at the aid posts in the hotels and houses of the town. Bittrich ordered that the attacks be stepped up and the British bridgehead north of the Rhine destroyed, and at 09:00 the major attacks began with the various "Kampfgruppen" of 9th SS attacking from the east and "Kampfgruppe von Tettau"s units from the west. There were only small gains but these attacks were followed by simultaneous attacks in the afternoon when the Germans made determined moves on the northern and eastern ends. To the north, they succeeded in briefly forcing back the King's Own Scottish Borderers before the latter counterattacked and retook their positions. Urquhart realised the futility of holding the tactically unimportant tip however and ordered the units in the north to fall back and defend a shorter line. To the east, the remains of 10th Parachute Battalion were nearly annihilated in their small position on the main Arnhem road, but the Germans failed to gain any significant ground.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Two of Urquhart's staff officers swam the Rhine during the day and made contact with Sosabowski's HQ. It was arranged that six rubber boats should be supplied on the northern bank to enable the Poles to cross the river and come into the Oosterbeek perimeter. That night the plan was put into operation but the cable designed to run the boats across broke and the small oars were not enough to paddle across the fast-flowing river. Only 55 Poles made it across before light and only 35 of these made it into the perimeter.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Spindler was ordered to switch his attacks further south to try to force the British away from the river, isolating the British from any hope of reinforcement and allowing them to be destroyed. Despite their best efforts, however, they were unsuccessful, although the constant artillery and assaults continued to wear the British defences down further.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: A break in the weather allowed the RAF to finally fly combat missions against the German forces surrounding Urquhart's men. Hawker Typhoons and Republic P-47 Thunderbolts strafed German positions throughout the day and occasionally duelled with the "Luftwaffe" over the battlefield. The RAF attempted their final resupply flight from Britain on the Saturday afternoon, but lost eight planes for little gain to the airborne troops. Some small resupply efforts would be made from Allied airfields in Europe over the next two days but to little effect.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: South of the river, the Poles prepared for another crossing. That night, they awaited the arrival of assault boats from XXX Corps, but these did not arrive until after midnight, and many were without oars. The crossings started at 03:00, with fire support from the 43rd Wessex Division. Through the remaining hours of darkness, only 153 men were able to cross – less than ¼ of the hoped for reinforcement.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In the morning, Horrocks visited the Polish positions at Driel to see the front for himself. Later, he held a conference attended by Browning, Major-General Ivor Thomas of the 43rd (Wessex) Division and Sosabowski at Valburg. In a controversial meeting in which Sosabowski was politically outmanoeuvred, it was decided that another crossing would be attempted that night. When the Germans cut the narrow supply road near Nijmegen later that day, it seems that Horrocks realised the futility of the situation and plans were drawn up to withdraw the 1st Airborne Division.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In Oosterbeek, the situation was desperate; Hackett was wounded in the morning and had to give up the eastern command. The RAF attempted some close support around the perimeter which just held but shelling and sniping increased casualties by the hour. The aid stations were occupied by 2,000 men, British, German and Dutch civilian casualties. Because many aid posts were in the front line, in homes taken over earlier in the battle, the odd situation was created where casualties were evacuated forward rather than rearwards. Without evacuation, the wounded were often injured again and some posts changed hands between the British and Germans several times as the perimeter was fought over.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: During the fighting around Oosterbeek, there had been short, local truces around the aid posts to allow the wounded to reach them but on Sunday Colonel Graeme Warrack—the senior medical officer—asked Urquhart permission to arrange a truce. Warrack was taken to see Bittrich who agreed and offered Warrack as many supplies as he could carry. Between 15:00 and 17:00, a general ceasefire began around the perimeter and about 450 stretcher cases and walking wounded were evacuated from the perimeter, the Germans using jeeps and ambulances to take serious cases straight to Saint Elisabeth Hospital in Arnhem where British, German and Dutch medical staff worked together.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: That night, the Allies on the south side of the river attempted another crossing. The plan called for 4th Battalion The Dorset Regiment and the 1st Polish Parachute Battalion to cross at 22:00 using boats and DUKWs. Sosabowski was furious at having to give up control of one of his battalions and thought the plan dangerous but was overruled. The boats took until 1:00 a.m. to arrive, several having been destroyed or lost "en route"; in a last minute change of plan, only the Dorsets would cross. The small boats, without skilled crews, the strong current and poor choice of landing site on the north bank meant that of the 315 men who embarked, only a handful reached the British lines on the other side. The DUKWs and most boats landed too far downstream and at least 200 men were captured.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: During the night, a copy of the withdrawal plan was sent across the river to Urquhart. Despite the obviously frustrating content, Urquhart knew there was little other choice. He radioed Thomas at 08:00 and agreed to the plan provided it went ahead that night. The Airborne forces would need to endure another day in their perimeter. More men were evacuated from the aid posts throughout the day but there was no official truce and this was sometimes done under fire. At 10:00, the Germans began their most successful assault on the perimeter, attacking the south-eastern end with infantry supported by newly arrived Tiger tanks. This assault pushed through the defenders' outer lines and threatened to isolate the bulk of the division from the river. Strong counter-attacks from the defenders and concentrated shellfire from south of the river eventually repulsed the Germans.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Urquhart made his withdrawal plan on the model used in the evacuation of Gallipoli during the First World War. The northernmost units would fall back first, moving through the more southerly groups who would then follow behind. The Glider Pilots would organise the routes to the river and the operation would be covered by an intense artillery bombardment from XXX Corps. South of the river the evacuation was organised and staffed by men of the 43rd (Wessex) Divisional engineers and Royal Canadian Engineers, using rafts and storm boats. To keep the operation secret, the plan was not announced until the afternoon and some men (mainly wounded) would remain to provide covering fire through the night. Men were ordered to muffle their boots and weapons to help them bypass German incursions into the perimeter. Some men took the opportunity to shave before withdrawing, providing quite a morale boost.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: By 21:00, heavy rain had begun to fall, which helped disguise the withdrawal. The bombardment commenced and the units began to fall back to the river. Half of the engineers' boats were too far west to be used (the 43rd (Wessex) Division mistakenly believing the crossing points used by the Dorsets the previous night were in British hands), slowing the evacuation. The Germans shelled the withdrawal, believing it to be a supply attempt. At 05:00, the operation was ended lest the coming light enable the Germans to fire onto the boats more accurately. A total of 2,163 Airborne men, 160 Poles, 75 Dorsets and several dozen other men were evacuated but about 300 men were left behind on the northern bank when the operation was stopped and 95 men were killed overnight during the evacuation.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: During the morning of 26 September, the Germans pressed home their attacks and cut off the bridgehead from the river. It was not until about noon that they realised the British had gone. Later in the day, they rounded up about 600 men, mostly wounded in aid stations and those left behind on the north bank, as well as some pockets of resistance that had been out of radio contact with division headquarters and did not know about the withdrawal.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Allies withdrew from the southern bank of the Rhine and the front remained on "the island" between the Rhine and Waal rivers. The Germans counter-attacked in October at the Battle of the Nijmegen salient and were repulsed; the front line in the area remained stable until after the winter. The bridgeheads across the Maas and Waal served as an important base for operations against the Germans on the Rhine and Operation Veritable into Germany.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Polish brigade was moved to Nijmegen to defend the withdrawal of British troops in Operation Berlin before returning to England in early October. Shortly afterwards, the British scapegoated Sosabowski and the Polish Brigade for the failure at Arnhem, perhaps to cover their own failings. On 17 October, Montgomery informed Alan Brooke—Chief of the Imperial General Staff—that he felt the Polish forces had "fought very badly" at Arnhem and that he did not want them under his command. David Bennett wrote that Montgomery had almost certainly been fed gross misinformation that supported his prejudices.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: A month later Browning wrote a long letter, highly critical of Sosabowski, to Brooke's deputy. In it, he accused Sosabowski of being difficult, unadaptable, argumentative and "loth to play his full part in the operation unless everything was done for him and his brigade". It is possible that Browning wanted unfairly to blame Sosabowski, although it may equally have been the work of officers of the 43rd Division. Browning recommended that Sosabowski be replaced – suggesting Lieutenant Colonel Jachnik or Major Tonn – and in December the Polish government in exile duly dismissed him, in a move almost certainly made under British pressure.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Carlo D'Este wrote "Sosabowski, an experienced and highly competent officer, was removed because he had become an embarrassment to Browning's own ineptitude. Had Sosabowski's counsel been heeded the battle might have been won, even at the eleventh hour." Although it may be fair to say that Sosabowski was difficult to work with, his scapegoating is judged a disgrace in the accounts of many historians. Brian Urquhartwho had done so much to warn his superiors about the dangers of Arnhemdescribed the criticism of Sosabowski and the brigade as "grotesque" and his dismissal as a "shameful act".


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Arnhem was a victory for the Germans (albeit tempered by their losses further south) and a defeat for the Second Army. Many military commentators and historians believe that the failure to secure Arnhem was not the fault of the airborne forces (who had held out for far longer than planned) but of the operation. John Frost noted that "by far the worst mistake was the lack of priority given to the capture of Nijmegen Bridge" and was unable to understand why Browning had ordered Brigadier General James M. Gavin, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division to secure the Groesbeek Heights "before" Nijmegen Bridge. In his analysis of the battle, Martin Middlebrook believed the "failure of Browning to give the 82nd US Airborne Division a greater priority in capturing the bridge at Nijmegen" was only just behind the weakness of the air plan in importance.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In his assessment of the German perspective at Arnhem, Robert Kershaw concluded that "the battle on the Waal at Nijmegen proved to be the decisive event" and that Arnhem became a simple matter of containment after the British had retreated into the Oosterbeek perimeter. After that, it was merely "a side-show to the crisis being enacted on the Waal". Heinz Harmel asserted that "The Allies were stopped in the south just north of Nijmegen – that is why Arnhem turned out as it did". Gavin commented that "there was no failure at Arnhem. If, historically, there remains an implication of failure it was the failure of the ground forces to arrive in time to exploit the initial gains of the [1st] Airborne Division".


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The air plan was a grave weakness in the events at Arnhem. Middlebrook believes that the refusal to consider night drops, two lifts on day 1 or a "coup-de-main" assault on Arnhem bridge were "cardinal fundamental errors" and that the failure to land nearer the bridge threw away the airborne force's most valuable asset – that of surprise. Frost believed that the distance from the drop zones to the bridge and the long approach on foot was a "glaring snag" and was highly critical of the "unwillingness of the air forces to fly more than one sortie in the day [which] was one of the chief factors that mitigated against success".


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Allies' failure to secure a bridge over the Lower Rhine spelled the end of Market Garden. While all other objectives had been achieved, the failure to secure the Arnhem road bridge over the Rhine meant that the operation failed in its ultimate objective. Montgomery claimed that the operation was 90 per cent successful and the Allies had driven a deep salient into German-occupied territory that was quickly reinforced. Milton Shulman observed that the operation had driven a wedge into the German positions, isolating the 15th Army north of Antwerp from the First Parachute Army on the eastern side of the bulge. This complicated the supply problem of the 15th Army and removed the chance of the Germans being able to assemble enough troops for a serious counter-attack to retake Antwerp. Chester Wilmot agreed with this, claiming that the salient was of immense tactical value for the purpose of driving the Germans from the area south of the Maas and removing the threat of an immediate counterattack against Antwerp. Kershaw wrote that the north flank of the west wall was not turned and the 15th Army was able to escape. John Warren wrote that the Allies controlled a salient leading nowhere. John Waddy wrote that the strategic and tactical debate of Market Garden will never be resolved.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Arnhem was described as "a tactical change of plan, designed to meet a favourable local situation within the main plan of campaign" but the result "dispelled the hope that the enemy would be beaten before the winter. First and Third U.S. Armies had already been checked, the former at Aachen and in the Ardennes, the latter at Metz and south of Nancy. The failure to outflank the Siegfried Line finally dictated the pause in the general advance which Montgomery had feared" and meant that General Dwight D. Eisenhower "turned to Antwerp, which despite the long-delayed capture of Le Havre on 12 September, of Brest on the 18th and of Calais on the 30th, remained, as the closest, largest and best-preserved of the ports, the necessary solution to the difficulties of supply.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The battle was a costly defeat for the 1st Airborne Division from which it never recovered. Three-quarters of the division were missing when it returned to England, including two of the three brigade commanders, eight of the nine battalion commanders and 26 of the 30 infantry company commanders. About 500 men were in hiding north of the Rhine and many of these were able to escape during the winter, initially in Operation Pegasus. New recruits, escapees and repatriated POWs joined the division over the coming months but the division was still so understrength that the 4th Parachute Brigade had to be merged into the 1st Parachute Brigade and the division could barely produce two brigades of infantry. Between May and August 1945, many of the men were sent to Denmark and Norway to oversee the Operation Doomsday the German surrenders but on their return the division was disbanded. The Glider Pilot Regiment suffered the highest proportion of fatal casualties during the battle (17.3 per cent). The regiment was so badly depleted that during Operation Varsity RAF pilots were used to fly many of the gliders. As glider operations were abolished after the war, the regiment shrank and was eventually disbanded in 1957.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: German casualty figures are less complete than those of the Allies and official figures have never been released. A signal, possibly sent by II SS Panzer Corps on 27 September, listed 3,300 casualties (1,300 killed and 2,000 injured) around Arnhem and Oosterbeek. Robert Kershaw's assessment of the incomplete records identified "at least" 2,500 casualties. In the "Roll of Honour: Battle of Arnhem 17–26 September 1944", J.A. Hey of the "Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum, Oosterbeek" identified 1,725 German dead from the Arnhem area. All of these figures are significantly higher than Model's conservative estimate of 3,300 casualties for the entire Market Garden area of battle (which included Eindhoven and Nijmegen).


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Dutch records suggest that at least 453 civilians died during the battle, either as a result of Allied bombing on the first day or during the subsequent fighting. After the battle, the residents of Arnhem and its surrounding towns and villages were evicted from their homes, allowing the Germans to turn the north bank of the Rhine into an elaborate defensive position. Residents were not allowed to return home without a permit and most did not return until after the war. The Dutch homes were then systematically looted, with the spoils being sent to bombing victims in Germany. The Germans continued to fight Allied forces on the plains between Arnhem and Nijmegen. On 7 October, the Arnhem bridge was bombed and destroyed by Martin B-26 Marauders of 344th Bomb Group, USAAF. The buildings of Arnhem were bombarded by the Allies over the next few months and suffered further during the Liberation of Arnhem in April 1945.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Although the battle was a disaster for the British 1st Airborne Division, their fight north of the Rhine is considered an example of courage and endurance and one of the greatest feats of arms in the Second World War. Despite being the last great failure of the British Army, Arnhem has become a byword for the fighting spirit of the British people and has set a standard for the Parachute Regiment. Montgomery claimed that "in years to come it will be a great thing for a man to be able to say: 'I fought at Arnhem'", a prediction seemingly borne out by the pride of soldiers who took part, and the occasional desire of those who did not to claim that they were there.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Within days of Operation Berlin, the British returned to a heroes' welcome in England. A list of 59 decorations was quickly published for the 2,000 men who had returned and an investiture ceremony for the division was held at Buckingham Palace in December. Decorations for the 6000 who had not returned were not published until September 1945 and numbered only 25.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Five of the British participants in the battle were awarded Britain's highest award for gallantry, the Victoria Cross. Four were members of the Airborne forces and one was from the RAF. They were:


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The British and Commonwealth system of battle honours recognised participation in fighting at Arnhem in 1956, 1957 and 1958 by the award of the battle honour Arnhem 1944 to six units. After the liberation of the Netherlands, the Grave Registration units of 2nd Army began the task of identifying the British dead. They were buried together in a field that is on permanent loan to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission just north of Oosterbeek. There are nearly 1,800 graves in what is now known as the Airborne Cemetery, ¾ of which are for those killed during the 1944 battle. By 2003, there were still 138 men unaccounted for and human remains, equipment and weaponry continue to be dug up in the farmland around the city.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In Germany, the battle was treated as a great victory and afterward no fewer than eight men were awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The German dead were gathered together and buried in the "SS Heroes Cemetery" near Arnhem, but after the war they were reburied in Ysselsteyn.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The shattered Arnhem road bridge was briefly replaced by a succession of Bailey bridges before being rebuilt in the same style as the original. It was renamed "John Frostbrug" (literally 'John Frost Bridge') on 17 December 1977. On 31 May 2006, HM Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred two honours on the Polish forces who fought at the battle. The Polish 1st Independent Airborne Brigade was awarded the Dutch Military William Order for gallantry and Stanisław Sosabowski was posthumously awarded the Bronze Lion. In February of that year, an appeal was launched to raise funds so that a memorial to General Sosabowski and the brigade could be erected. The memorial was unveiled in September 2006 in a ceremony that sought to undo the injustice of 1944.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: Eusebius Church, which was largely destroyed, also lost its 32-bell carillon dated 1652. Petit & Fritsen constructed a new, 49-bell carillon for the reconstructed church between 1958 and 1964. Since then, the carillon became associated with the yearly war memorial services held each May. In 1994, 50 years after the Battle of Arnhem, four bass bells were added to the instrument, with the largest funded by several English organizations. One of the 1994 bells features a quote from the book and film "A Bridge Too Far".


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The Hotel Hartenstein, used by Urquhart as his headquarters, is now the home of the Airborne Museum. Several other memorials were built in Arnhem and Oosterbeek, and an annual parade is held in the area. A memorial near the museum reads: "To the People of Gelderland; 50 years ago British and Polish Airborne soldiers fought here against overwhelming odds to open the way into Germany and bring the war to an early end. Instead we brought death and destruction for which you have never blamed us. This stone marks our admiration for your great courage remembering especially the women who tended our wounded. In the long winter that followed your families risked death by hiding Allied soldiers and Airmen while members of the resistance led many to safety."


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: The progress of the battle was widely reported in the British press, thanks largely to the efforts of two BBC reporters (Stanley Maxted and Guy Byam) and three journalists (newspaper reporters Alan Wood of the "Daily Express" and Jack Smyth of Reuters) who accompanied the British forces. The journalists had their reports sent back almost daily – ironically making communication with London at a time when Divisional Signals had not. The division was also accompanied by a three-man team from the Army Film and Photographic Unit who recorded much of the battle – including many of the images on this page.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: In 1945, Louis Hagen, a Jewish refugee from Germany and a British army glider pilot present at the battle, wrote "Arnhem Lift", believed to be the first book published about the events at Arnhem. In the same year filming began for the war movie "Theirs is the Glory", which featured some original footage and used 120 Arnhem veterans as extras in most of the other scenes. In 1974 Cornelius Ryan's book "A Bridge Too Far", brought the battle to a wider audience, as did Richard Attenborough's adaptation of the book into the film of the same name in 1977. Frost, Urquhart and Arnhem veteran John Waddy were hired as military consultants.


title: Battle of Arnhem

text: English author Richard Adams, himself an officer in the sea tail of 250th (Airborne) Light Company, Royal Army Service Corps, based the struggle of the anthropomorphised rabbits in his 1972 novel "Watership Down" (adapted into an animated film in 1978) on the adventures of the officers of the 250 Company of the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem.


title: Masters of Horror

text: Masters of Horror is an anthology television series created by director Mick Garris for the Showtime cable network.


title: Masters of Horror

text: In 2002, director Mick Garris invited some director friends to an informal dinner at a restaurant in Sherman Oaks, California. The original ten "masters" attending were John Carpenter, Larry Cohen, Don Coscarelli, Joe Dante, Guillermo del Toro, Stuart Gordon, Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Bill Malone, and Garris himself.


title: Masters of Horror

text: Subsequently, Garris organized regular dinners with the group and invited other horror and other genre directors to attend, including Dario Argento, Eli Roth, Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, Tim Sullivan, Rob Zombie, Bryan Singer, Fred Dekker, William Lustig, Lucky McKee, Ernest Dickerson, Katt Shea, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez, James Gunn, Mary Lambert, Tom Holland, Peter Medak, Ti West, Lloyd Kaufman, and others. In 2005, Garris created and produced an original anthology television series of one-hour movies, written and directed by many of the "masters," which was originally broadcast in the U.S. on the Showtime cable network. In several international territories, the films were released theatrically.


title: Masters of Horror

text: The series debuted to excellent reviews in the U.S. on October 28, 2005, with the premiere episode "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road," co-written and directed by Don Coscarelli, based on the short story by Joe R. Lansdale. New episodes premiered every Friday at 10 p.m. EST throughout the series' two seasons. The show followed an anthology series format, with each episode featuring a one-hour film directed by a well-known horror film director. In 2009, Chiller began airing the show on their Sunday evening line-up of shows, and in 2010, Reelz Channel began airing episodes of "Masters of Horror" edited (despite keeping its TV-MA rating) and with commercials.


title: Masters of Horror

text: Episode 4, "Jenifer", was accidentally made available on-demand to a select audience at the same time as episode 2, "H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch-House". The episode was cut for graphic violence during its initial television broadcast, and the cut scenes can only be viewed in a featurette separate from the film on the R1 DVD release.


title: Masters of Horror

text: Episode 13, "Imprint", originally scheduled to premiere on January 27, 2006, was shelved by Showtime due to concerns over its content. Mick Garris, creator and executive producer of the series, characterized the episode as "the most disturbing film I've ever seen". It is available only on DVD and Blu-ray by Anchor Bay Entertainment, along with the rest of the episodes in the first season. "Imprint" was shown in the UK on Bravo (7 April 2006).


title: Masters of Horror

text: Series creator Mick Garris stated that Showtime opted not to show the third season and that film studio Lionsgate had begun funding the series. "The Hollywood Reporter" reported on September 25, 2007, that Mick Garris and Lionsgate signed a 13-episode deal with NBC. Instead of a third season of the show, a new show, "Fear Itself", was created with the same premise as "Masters of Horror". It premiered on NBC in Summer 2008.


title: Masters of Horror

text: A two-disc soundtrack was released for the series in October 2005 on Immortal Records. The album features heavy metal and hard rock acts with a few acoustic pieces. A second volume was released a year later.


title: Masters of Horror

text: IDW Publishing produced a series of comic book adaptations of several episodes from the series. The first four issues are two-parters, adapting "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road", based on the short story by Joe R. Lansdale, and "Dreams in the Witch-House". The first two comic covers were painted by the award-winning artist Jeremy Caniglia.


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: Okieriete "Oak" Onaodowan ( ; born August 16, 1987) is an American actor and singer known for originating the dual roles of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in the 2015 musical "Hamilton" and the role of Dean Miller in the ABC drama and "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off series "Station 19".


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: Onaodowan was born in Newark, New Jersey, to Nigerian parents. He and his five sisters were raised in West Orange, New Jersey, He attended Gregory Elementary School and Roosevelt Middle School and West Orange High School, graduating in 2005. Onaodowan briefly played football for his high school, but he stopped after an injury during practice. As a result of the injury, Onaodowan started to explore acting as an alternative extracurricular activity. While attending high school, he began performing with the New Jersey Youth Theatre. After high school, Onaodowan auditioned for and was accepted to the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. He attended for one year.


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: Onaodowan had roles in "Rocky the Musical" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" on Broadway and was in the ensemble of the first national tour of "American Idiot". He had the leading role in Young Jean Lee's 2009 play, "The Shipment," and played the title role in J.C. Lee's "Luce".


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: By 2015, Onaodowan was an experienced stage actor. He also had several screen credits, including Lou in the feature film "Thanks for Sharing" and roles in the TV series "Gravity" and "Blue Bloods". He originated the roles of James Madison and Hercules Mulligan in the musical "Hamilton" on Broadway. He won a Grammy Award as part of the cast album of "Hamilton".


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: On July 11, 2017, he took on the role of Pierre in the musical "Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812", replacing the outgoing Josh Groban. He took his final bow in this musical on August 13, 2017.


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: In 2018, he began playing the role of firefighter Dean Miller in the "Grey's Anatomy" spin-off "Station 19". On November 11, 2021, he exited the series, and his character was killed off onscreen. "Deadline" reported that Onaodowan had asked to leave in order to pursue other opportunities.


title: Okieriete Onaodowan

text: Onaodowan was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list in 2016 for his acting in "Hamilton".


title: Midnight Club

text: Midnight Club is a series of arcade-style racing video games developed by Rockstar San Diego (formerly known as Angel Studios) and published by Rockstar Games. "Midnight Club" is similar to the "Midtown Madness" series (previously developed by Angel Studios), with a focus on competitive street racing in open world urban environments. Throughout the series, players race through condensed depictions of New York City, London, Los Angeles, Paris, Tokyo, San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit.


title: Midnight Club

text: The "Midnight Club" series was inspired by the real life Japanese street racing group ("hashiriya"), known as the Mid Night Club, that hosted illegal street races on the Bayshore Route (known natively as the ) of the Shuto Expressway in the Greater Tokyo Area. Two kanji characters (, or "wangan") appear in each of the series' logos; the Japanese manga series "Wangan Midnight" — also inspired by the club — includes the same two characters in its logos. The kanji is removed from the titles in the Japanese versions of "Midnight Club: Street Racing" and "Midnight Club: Los Angeles" as to avoid legal conflict with "Wangan Midnight" rights owners Kodansha.


title: Midnight Club

text: In each game, the player begins with a relatively unmodified and slow vehicle. Higher-performance vehicles can be won or purchased by the player after competing in races against other club members. The goal is to defeat each of the other opponents (which include "city champion" and "world champion" racers) en route to becoming the new champion of the Midnight Club. Later installments of the series include real vehicle brands with sophisticated customization options for each, and "club" races, which consist of racers using vehicles of the same class.


title: Midnight Club

text: "", developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games, is the third game in the "Midnight Club" series. It is also the first game in the series to feature licensed vehicles and allow players to customize their cars and bikes with performance and visual upgrades. It was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox on April 11, 2005, and later ported to the PlayStation Portable in June of that same year. The three cities featured are San Diego, Atlanta, and Detroit. The name derived from a partnership between Rockstar and "DUB Magazine", which features heavily in the game in the form of DUB-sponsored races and DUB-customized vehicles. The PlayStation Portable port was developed by Rockstar Leeds.


title: Midnight Club

text: "" is an updated version of "Midnight Club 3". This edition has an extra map of Tokyo updated from "Midnight Club 2" which adds new missions to the game. Along with that come several new cars, new races, new battle maps, rims, vinyls, hydraulics, body kits, and music.


title: Midnight Club

text: "" is the fourth addition to the Midnight Club lineup. It was released for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2008 on October 20 for North America and October 24 for Europe. As the name suggests, the game is based in Los Angeles, featuring Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, San Fernando Valley, Downtown L.A., and most recently South Central. The designers used real street maps in developing the game. The game features online play and downloadable content. Licensed cars and bikes return, including new models and brands such as Ford and Mazda, which were absent in "Midnight Club 3".


title: Midnight Club

text: "" is the portable adaption of "Midnight Club: Los Angeles" for the PlayStation Portable. The port is developed by Rockstar London with Rockstar San Diego. The game features the map of Los Angeles used in "Midnight Club II" rather than the map used in the console versions of "Los Angeles". The game also features the city of Tokyo, using the map from "Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix".


title: Midnight Club

text: In January 2010, Rockstar had stalled plans for a future "Midnight Club" installment, and the development team was slowly dismantled. Take-Two Interactive re-registered the "Midnight Club" trademark in 2012. Although Take-Two has acknowledged the series in its quarterly financial reports while CEO Strauss Zelnick mentioned it while discussing newly acquired developer Zynga in a January 2022 conference call, no plans have been made to reboot the franchise .


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: All varieties of gypsum, including selenite and alabaster, are composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate (meaning that it has two molecules of water), with the chemical formula CaSO·2HO. Selenite contains no significant selenium – The similar names both derive from Greek ( 'Moon')


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Some of the largest crystals ever found are of selenite, the largest specimen found in the Naica Mine's Cave of the Crystals being 12 metres long and weighing 55 tons.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: "Selenite" is mostly synonymous with gypsum, but from the 15th century, it has named the transparent variety that occurs in crystals or crystalline masses. The name derives through Middle English from Latin , ultimately from Greek (, ). It got this name because people historically believed the mineral waxed and waned with the cycles of the Moon.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: The main distinguishing characteristics of crystalline gypsum are its softness (hardness 2 on Mohs scale, soft enough to scratch with a fingernail) and its three unequal cleavages. Other distinguishing characteristics include its crystal habits, pearly lustre, easy fusibility with loss of water, and solubility in hot dilute hydrochloric acid.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Though sometimes grouped together as "selenite", the four crystalline varieties have differences. General identifying descriptions of the related crystalline varieties are:


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Crystal habit refers to the shapes that crystals exhibit. Selenite crystals show a variety of habits, but the most common are tabular, prismatic, or acicular (columnar) crystals, often with no imperfections or inclusions. Twinned crystals are common, and often take the form of "swallow tail" twins.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Selenite crystals sometimes form in thin tabular or mica-like sheets and have been used as window panes as at Santa Sabina in Rome.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Selenite crystals sometimes will also exhibit bladed rosette habit (usually transparent and like desert roses) often with accompanying transparent, columnar crystals. Selenite crystals can be found both attached to a matrix or base rock, but can commonly be found as entire free-floating crystals, often in clay beds (and as can desert roses).


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Satin spar is almost always prismatic and fibrous in a parallel crystal habit. Satin spar often occurs in seams, some of them quite long, and is often attached to a matrix or base rock.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Desert roses are most often bladed, exhibiting the familiar shape of a rose, and almost always have an exterior druse. Desert roses form in wet sand, unattached to a matrix or base rock.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Gypsum flowers are most often acicular, scaly, stellate, and lenticular. Gypsum flowers most often exhibit simple twinning (known as "contact twins"); where parallel, long, needle-like crystals, sometimes having severe curves and bends, will frequently form “ram’s horns”, "fishtail", "arrow/spear-head", and "swallowtail" twins. Selenite crystals can also exhibit “arrow/spear-head” as well as “duck-bill” twins. Both selenite crystals and gypsum flowers sometimes form quite densely in acicular mats or nets; and can be quite brittle and fragile. Gypsum flowers are usually attached to a matrix (can be gypsum) or base rock.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Gypsum crystals are colorless (most often selenite), white (or pearly – most often satin spar), or gray, but may be tinted brown, yellow, red, or blue by the presence of impurities, such as iron oxides or clay minerals.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Gypsum crystals can be transparent (most often selenite), translucent (most often satin spar but also selenite and gypsum flowers), and opaque (most often the rosettes and flowers). Opacity can be caused by impurities, inclusions, druse, and crust, and can occur in all four crystalline varieties.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Selenite typically shows vitreous luster, but may show pearly luster on cleavage surfaces. Satin spar shows characteristic silky luster. Luster is not often exhibited in the rosettes, due to their exterior druse; nevertheless, the rosettes often show glassy to pearly luster on edges. Gypsum flowers usually exhibit more luster than desert roses.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: When cut across the fibers and polished on the ends, satin spar exhibits an optical illusion when placed on a printed or pictured surface: print and pictures appear to be on the surface of the sample. It is often called and sold as the “television stone” (as is ulexite).


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: All four crystalline varieties are slightly flexible, though will break if bent significantly. They are not elastic, meaning they can be bent, but will not bend back on their own.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: All four crystalline varieties are sectile in that they can be easily cut, will peel (particularly selenite crystals that exhibit mica-like properties), and like all gypsum varieties, can be scratched by a fingernail (hardness: 2 on Mohs Scale). The rosettes are not quite as soft due to their exterior druse; nevertheless, they too can be scratched.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Selenite crystals that exhibit in either reticular or acicular habits, satin spar, in general (as fibrous crystals are thin and narrow), desert roses that are thinly bladed, and gypsum flowers, particularly acicular gypsum flowers, can be quite brittle and easily broken.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: All four crystalline varieties can range in size from minute to giant selenite crystals measuring 11 meters long such as those found in the caves of the Naica Mine of Chihuahua, Mexico. The crystals thrived in the cave's extremely rare and stable natural environment. Temperatures stayed at 58 °C, and the cave was filled with mineral-rich water that drove the crystals' growth. The largest of those crystals weighs 55 tons, is long, and is over 500,000 years old.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: Gypsum is formed as an evaporative mineral, frequently found in alkaline lake muds, clay beds, evaporated seas, salt flats, salt springs, and caves. It is frequently found in conjunction with other minerals such as, copper ores, sulfur and sulfides, silver, iron ores, coal, calcite, dolomite, limestone, and opal. Gypsum has been dated to almost every geologic age since the Silurian Period 443.7 ± 1.5 Ma.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: In dry, desert conditions and arid areas, sand may become trapped both on the inside and the outside of gypsum crystals as they form. Interior inclusion of sand can take on shapes such as an interior hourglass shape common to selenite crystals of the ancient Great Salt Plains Lake bed, Oklahoma, US. Exterior inclusion (druse) occurs as embedded sand grains on the surface such as, commonly seen in the familiar desert rose.


title: Selenite (mineral)

text: When gypsum dehydrates severely, anhydrite is formed. If water is reintroduced, gypsum can and will reform – including as the four crystalline varieties. An example of gypsum crystals reforming in modern times is found at Philips Copper Mine (closed and abandoned), Putnam County, New York, US where selenite micro crystal coatings are commonly found on numerous surfaces (rock and otherwise) in the cave and in the dump.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: A nuclear explosion is an explosion that occurs as a result of the rapid release of energy from a high-speed nuclear reaction. The driving reaction may be nuclear fission or nuclear fusion or a multi-stage cascading combination of the two, though to date all fusion-based weapons have used a fission device to initiate fusion, and a pure fusion weapon remains a hypothetical device. Nuclear explosions are used in nuclear weapons and nuclear testing.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: Atmospheric nuclear explosions are associated with mushroom clouds, although mushroom clouds can occur with large chemical explosions. It is possible to have an air-burst nuclear explosion without those clouds. Nuclear explosions produce radiation and radioactive debris that is harmful to humans and can cause moderate to severe skin burns, eye damage, radiation sickness, radiation-induced cancer and possible death depending on how far from the blast radius a person is. Nuclear explosions can also have detrimental effects on the climate, lasting from months to years. In a 1983 article, Carl Sagan claimed that a small-scale nuclear war could release enough particles into the atmosphere to cause the planet to cool and cause crops, animals, and agriculture to disappear across the globe—an effect named nuclear winter.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: The first manmade nuclear explosion occurred on July 16, 1945, at 5:50 am on the Trinity test site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, in the United States, an area now known as the White Sands Missile Range. The event involved the full-scale testing of an implosion-type fission atomic bomb. In a memorandum to the U.S. Secretary of War, General Leslie Groves describes the yield as equivalent to 15,000 to 20,000 tons of TNT. Following this test, a uranium-gun type nuclear bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, with a blast yield of 15 kilotons; and a plutonium implosion-type bomb (Fat Man) on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, with a blast yield of 21 kilotons. Fat Man and Little Boy are the only instances in history of nuclear weapons being used as an act of war.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: On August 29, 1949, the USSR became the second country to successfully test a nuclear weapon. RDS-1, dubbed "First Lightning" by the Soviets and "Joe-1" by the US, produced a 20 kiloton explosion and was essentially a copy of the American Fat Man plutonium implosion design.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: The United States' first thermonuclear weapon, Ivy Mike, was detonated on 1 November 1952 at Enewetak Atoll and yielded 10 Megatons of explosive force. The first thermonuclear weapon tested by the USSR, RDS-6s (Joe-4), was detonated on August 12, 1953, at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in Kazakhstan and yielded about 400 kilotons. RDS-6s' design, nicknamed the Sloika, was remarkably similar to a version designed for the U.S. by Edward Teller nicknamed the "Alarm Clock", in that the nuclear device was a two stage weapon: the first explosion was triggered by fission and the second more powerful explosion by fusion. The Sloika core consisted of a series of concentric spheres with alternating materials to help boost the explosive yield.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: In the years following World War II, eight countries have conducted nuclear tests with 2475 devices fired in 2120 tests. In 1963, the United States, Soviet Union, and United Kingdom signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. The treaty permitted underground tests. Many other non-nuclear nations acceded to the Treaty following its entry into force; however, France and China (both nuclear weapons states) have not.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: The primary application to date has been military (i.e. nuclear weapons), and the remainder of explosions include the following:


title: Nuclear explosion

text: Only two nuclear weapons have been deployed in combat—both by the United States against Japan in World War II. The first event occurred on the morning of 6 August 1945, when the United States Army Air Forces dropped a uranium gun-type device, code-named "Little Boy", on the city of Hiroshima, killing 70,000 people, including 20,000 Japanese combatants and 20,000 Korean slave laborers. The second event occurred three days later when the United States Army Air Forces dropped a plutonium implosion-type device, code-named "Fat Man", on the city of Nagasaki. It killed 39,000 people, including 27,778 Japanese munitions employees, 2,000 Korean slave laborers, and 150 Japanese combatants. In total, around 109,000 people were killed in these bombings. Nuclear weapons are largely seen as a 'deterrent' by most governments; the sheer scale of the destruction caused by nuclear weapons has discouraged their use in warfare.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: Since the Trinity test and excluding combat use, countries with nuclear weapons have detonated roughly 1,700 nuclear explosions, all but six as tests. Of these, six were peaceful nuclear explosions. Nuclear tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the 20th century, most nations that have developed nuclear weapons had a staged test of them. Testing nuclear weapons can yield information about how the weapons work, as well as how the weapons behave under various conditions and how structures behave when subjected to a nuclear explosion. Additionally, nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength, and many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status by means of a nuclear test. Nuclear tests have taken place at more than 60 locations across the world; some in secluded areas and others more densely populated. Detonation of nuclear weapons (in a test or during war) releases radioactive fallout that concerned the public in the 1950s. This led to the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 signed by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union. This treaty banned nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, outer space, and under water.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: The dominant effect of a nuclear weapon (the blast and thermal radiation) are the same physical damage mechanisms as conventional explosives, but the energy produced by a nuclear explosive is millions of times more per gram and the temperatures reached are in the tens of megakelvin. Nuclear weapons are quite different from conventional weapons because of the huge amount of explosive energy that they can put out and the different kinds of effects they make, like high temperatures and nuclear radiation.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: The devastating impact of the explosion does not stop after the initial blast, as with conventional explosives. A cloud of nuclear radiation travels from the hypocenter of the explosion, causing an impact to life forms even after the heat waves have ceased. The health effects on humans from nuclear explosions comes from the initial shockwave, the radiation exposure, and the fallout. The initial shockwave and radiation exposure come from the immediate blast which has different effects on the health of humans depending on the distance from the center of the blast. The shockwave can rupture eardrums and lungs, can also throw people back, and cause buildings to collapse. Radiation exposure is delivered at the initial blast and can continue for an extended amount of time in the form of nuclear fallout. The main health effect of nuclear fallout is cancer and birth defects because radiation causes changes in cells that can either kill or make them abnormal. Any nuclear explosion (or nuclear war) would have wide-ranging, long-term, catastrophic effects. Radioactive contamination would cause genetic mutations and cancer across many generations.


title: Nuclear explosion

text: Another potential devastating effect of nuclear war is termed nuclear winter. The idea become popularized in mainstream culture during the 1980s, when Richard P. Turco, Owen Toon, Thomas P. Ackerman, James B. Pollack and Carl Sagan collaborated and produced a scientific study which suggested the Earth's weather and climate can be severely impacted by nuclear war. The main idea is that once a conflict begins and the aggressors start detonating nuclear weapons, the explosions will eject small particles from the Earth's surface into the atmosphere as well as nuclear particles. It's also assumed that fires will break out and become widespread, similar to what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the end of WWII, which will cause soot and other harmful particles to also be introduced into the atmosphere. Once these harmful particles are lofted, strong upper level winds in the troposphere can transport them thousands of kilometers and can end up transporting nuclear fallout and also alter the Earth's radiation budget. Once enough small particles are in the atmosphere, they can act as cloud condensation nuclei which will cause global cloud coverage to increase which in turn blocks incoming solar insolation and starts a global cooling period. This is not unlike one of the leading theories about the extinction of most dinosaur species, in that a large explosion ejected small particulate matter into the atmosphere and resulted in a global catastrophe characterized by cooler temperatures, acid rain, and the KT Layer.


title: Electricity meter

text: An electricity meter, electric meter, electrical meter, energy meter, or kilowatt-hour meter is a device that measures the amount of electric energy consumed by a residence, a business, or an electrically powered device.


title: Electricity meter

text: Electric utilities use electric meters installed at customers' premises for billing and monitoring purposes. They are typically calibrated in billing units, the most common one being the kilowatt hour ("kWh"). They are usually read once each billing period.


title: Electricity meter

text: When energy savings during certain periods are desired, some meters may measure demand, the maximum use of power in some interval. "Time of day" metering allows electric rates to be changed during a day, to record usage during peak high-cost periods and off-peak, lower-cost, periods. Also, in some areas meters have relays for demand response load shedding during peak load periods.


title: Electricity meter

text: As commercial use of electric energy spread in the 1880s, it became increasingly important that an electric energy meter, similar to the then existing gas meters, was required to properly bill customers, instead of billing for a fixed number of lamps per month.


title: Electricity meter

text: DC meters measured charge in ampere hours. Since the voltage of the supply should remain substantially constant, the reading of the meter was proportional to actual energy consumed. For example, if a meter recorded that 100 ampere hours had been consumed on a 200-volt supply, then 20 kilowatt-hours of energy had been supplied.


title: Electricity meter

text: Many experimental types of meter were developed. Thomas Edison at first worked on a direct current (DC) electromechanical meter with a direct reading register, but instead developed an electrochemical metering system, which used an electrolytic cell to totalise current consumption. At periodic intervals the plates were removed and weighed, and the customer billed. The electrochemical meter was labor-intensive to read and not well received by customers.


title: Electricity meter

text: An early type of electrochemical meter used in the United Kingdom was the 'Reason' meter. This consisted of a vertically mounted glass structure with a mercury reservoir at the top of the meter. As current was drawn from the supply, electrochemical action transferred the mercury to the bottom of the column. Like all other DC meters, it recorded ampere hours. Once the mercury pool was exhausted, the meter became an open circuit. It was therefore necessary for the consumer to pay for a further supply of electricity, whereupon, the supplier's agent would unlock the meter from its mounting and invert it restoring the mercury to the reservoir and the supply. In practice the consumer would get the supply company's agent in before the supply ran out and pay only for the charge consumed as read from the scale. The agent would then reset the meter to zero by inverting it.


title: Electricity meter

text: In 1885 Ferranti offered a mercury motor meter with a register similar to gas meters; this had the advantage that the consumer could easily read the meter and verify consumption. The first accurate, recording electricity consumption meter was a DC meter by Dr Hermann Aron, who patented it in 1883. Hugo Hirst of the British General Electric Company introduced it commercially into Great Britain from 1888. Aron's meter recorded the total charge used over time, and showed it on a series of clock dials.


title: Electricity meter

text: The first specimen of the AC kilowatt-hour meter produced on the basis of Hungarian Ottó Bláthy's patent and named after him was presented by the Ganz Works at the Frankfurt Fair in the autumn of 1889, and the first induction kilowatt-hour meter was already marketed by the factory at the end of the same year. These were the first alternating-current watt-hour meters, known by the name of Bláthy-meters. The AC kilowatt hour meters used at present operate on the same principle as Bláthy's original invention. Also around 1889, Elihu Thomson of the American General Electric company developed a recording watt meter (watt-hour meter) based on an ironless commutator motor. This meter overcame the disadvantages of the electrochemical type and could operate on either alternating or direct current.


title: Electricity meter

text: In 1894 Oliver Shallenberger of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation applied the induction principle previously used only in AC ampere hour meters to produce a watt-hour meter of the modern electromechanical form, using an induction disk whose rotational speed was made proportional to the power in the circuit. The Bláthy meter was similar to Shallenberger and Thomson meter in that they are two-phase motor meter. Although the induction meter would only work on alternating current, it eliminated the delicate and troublesome commutator of the Thomson design. Shallenberger fell ill and was unable to refine his initial large and heavy design, although he did also develop a polyphase version.