Visitors can explore personal items, original uniforms and military equipment from the soldiers who participated in this historic airborne operation, which took place in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
Among the most notable items on display in the museum’s main hangar is the personal field desk of Polish General Stanisław Sosabowski, the creator and commander of the 1st Independent Parachute Brigade.
Made from orange transport crates and known as the "fragrant desk," it was a gift to Sosabowski from his men. The desk was recently donated by the general's grandson to the Polish 6th Airborne Brigade, which has inherited the battle honors of the 1st Brigade.
Other significant pieces in the exhibition include a parachute jacket worn by Maj. Stanisław Lucjan Karpiński, as well as a foldable bicycle designed to be dropped from the air into combat.
Visitors can also view original medals and a replica of the Brigade's Surge Polonia (Rise, Poland) colors.
Poland's 1st Independent Parachute Brigade, created by Sosabowski and based in Scotland, played a key role in the battle around the Dutch towns of Driel and Arnhem.
The brigade had originally trained for a mission to liberate Poland, but that plan was abandoned, and they were instead sent to fight in Operation Market Garden.
Operation Market Garden, which took place in September 1944, was the largest airborne operation of World War II up to that point. Allied paratroopers from, in the main, American, British, and Polish divisions, were deployed to seize key bridges in the Netherlands and create a direct route into Germany.
However, due to planning errors, flawed execution and fierce German resistance, the operation ended in failure for the Allies.
Sosabowski, a highly experienced military leader, had expressed grave concerns about aspects of the planning of the operation to British and American top brass at the time.
Gen. Stanisław Sosabowski. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Public domain
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Source: dzieje.pl