'A Bridge Too Far' Then & Now - Nijmegen Bridge

Fulfilling a childhood ambition to drive across the Waal Road Bridge at Nijmegen in the Netherlands, famous for its role in Operation Market Garden and the film 'A Bridge Too Far'.

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; A Bridge Too Far (Dir: Sir Richard Attenborough, 1977); A London Inheritance; City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

NOTE: This video is not monetised, and all clips and photos included under the terms of Fair Use for educational purposes only.

[Roller_Ghoster]

My favourite thing on Youtube is WW2 "Then and Now" videos. Even better when they appear on Mark Felton's channel.

[jaysmith]

As a young G.I. in 1984 I got to march across the bridge during the annual "Nijmegen Marches, " or "Vierdaagse" in Dutch. It was a great time, and I really enjoyed the historic significance and Dutch hospitality!

[Knapweed]

I took part in the Nijmegen marches back in 1969 and earned myself the Queen Juliana medal. It was a brilliant four-day march and the Dutch were fantastic. I had two beautiful Dutch girls holding my hands, encouraging me, for the last two miles. One of my most treasured memories.

[chaptermasterpedrokantor]

Hey, you were in my city! So amazing to see that bridge that I drive across every day holds such a special place to you. You should have come in the summer, There's like popup cafe's underneath it where people can sit and relax, enjoy a band. or DJ. The Waalbrug as we call it is special to the people of Nijmegen. It is our symbol and driving across it from north to south feels like coming home. To the west, where the the brave men of the 82nd crossed the river in little boats, a new bridge has been built, exactly where they crossed, which is now called The Crossing in their honor. It has 48 lights, one for each soldier that died in the crossing and they go on every evening, one at a time. And people walk along the lights, the Sunset March, every evening.

[robh]

I did the same drive about 6 years ago, also fulfilling a childhood dream. Thanks for the A Bridge Too Far music as well. One of the great soundtracks of all time. God bless!

[battlejitney]

Love the music from A Bridge Too Far. Still one of the best war movie scores ever written.

[samuelclaessens]

WOW! I live in Nijmegen! I am 16 and have been interested in Nijmegen and history in general. I could tell you everything about my city and the history of my province, Gelderland! If you’d like to see photos and original maps of Nijmegen, you can ask me! Thank you for making this video!

[Spitfiresammons]

It’s good to see the historical bridge that survived the operation market garden still stands today.

[aaronlopez]

Dr, Felton, thank you for this episode it brought back memories for me, of a time when history was still taught in High School. Back in the 70s, I had a professor who was dedicated, a gift to his profession and students. thank you for your dedication to history and teaching the facts.

[JP-zuij]

My grandfather was 82nd airborne 504th and a pathfinder for the whole war. He jumped into Graves as a pathfinder and joined up with a heavy weapons platoon stick before taking over the now Thompson bridge in Graves. What most people dont know if they base their knowledge of the battle in Nijmegen off the movie was a bit different than real life. The island in the Waal was not there in 44. My grandfather crossed in the 2nd and 3rd crossing of the river. He had to actually cross back and get another radio with the return trip as his first was shot. There was multiple crossings. Secondly the battle across the river was not fast like in the movie. It took them almost 7 hours of fighting to reach the north end of the bridge from the shore. Besides that my grandfather said the movie wasn't all of that off. They did have to use their rifles to paddle as they did not have enough paddles. There were snipers in the bridge itself. There was also another unit with the boats getting them across who would take them back for the next wave. I don't have the papers on me and can't say which exact unit. The battle was fierce and he really liked the movie.

A few years ago I had the pleasure of visiting and staying in a boat hotel under the bridge. There's an amazing museum nearby in Groesbeck. Also the sunset bridge memorial crossing was amazing.

[kplaa]

Some years ago I spoke to a veteran of the battle, he was in the Royal Artillery and had to set up AA batteries around the bridge, there were two really harrowing memories in particular that haunted him all his life and part of his suggested therapy was to talk about it more and to re-visit the bridge which he did with his family, he said to me it all seemed a bit silly and unnecessary to go all that way when he was fine about it, until he clapped eyes on that bridge again, the next thing he knew he was running full tilt on that motorway to get across and only his young son in law was quick enough to catch him and prevent him causing an accident, after that day he said he realised he had to start listening to people and taking advice on how to deal with his PTSD, He was a lovely genuine guy and I was honoured and humbled that he chose to share his experience's with me that day.

[tomjackson]

Never seen anything quite like this. Mark turned a four minute movie into a Blockbuster!

[Anmeteor]

In the September 1987 I rode my Suzuki 1100 motorcycle the whole length of the XXX Corps planned route. It gave a whole different appreciation of the scale of the plan and why it proved to be impossible in the final execution despite huge effort by all the troops involved. Brave men and much blood on a perfect plan that didn't have enough margin for the myriad of small things that always go wrong.
As the saying goes,
No plan survives first contact with the enemy.

[jduff]

I was there with my band back in the early 90's and we had a few hours of free time, and I was able to walk through the very area of the fighting. Walking in the same footsteps of great people is good enough for a humble man such as myself. We drove over the bridge the day after our show. It's a sacred place where heroes fought and died on both sides.

[R.J._Lewis]

This video is a little funny to me because unlike your normal videos with well-researched and thorough scripts, it didn't teach us a huge load of information. But this is one of my favorite videos you've done because it's such a historically significant place and you've presented it in a scale and grandeur that it deserves from that event. Great stuff as always!

[larrylaunsteinjr]

Dr Felton, thanks for this video. I just watched A Bridge Too Far because of this video. Great movie.

[shanegibson]

Wow, the bridge hasn’t really changed at all! I love the historical work you do. Keep up the good work! Big fan of yours out of Detroit, MI USA

[Ryanboy]

One of my favorite movies. A bridge too far!! I watched these movies as a kid over and over. What a thrill to actually be there. I would have walked the bridge and definitely gone to Arnhem! Thanks for showing us what the bridge looks like today.

[frizzlefry]

If you visit Nijmegan, try and go to Grosbeek, there are areas where the gliders landed and the wood held by the Germans who pinned the allied forces down, My uncle was a para at Nijmegem and every evening the bridge lights illuminate one by one to remember the fallen, very emotional.

[deesdesmet]

The Nijmegen bridge that was filmed in "a bridge to far " was filmed in Nijmegen at the original bridge . I was at the bridge the day the filmed was taken .
There was no normal traffic, only the tanks, infantery etc. ( German first and British /American later )It was an exiting day !
"The bridge to far "in Arnhem was taken in Deventer. Reason was that in Deventer the municipality cooperated willingly and there where a lot of similair buildings around the bridge (although fake building were build as well.)
Dear Dr.Felton you did a good job .