17th Airborne Division (United States) Standish on 12 August 1944 before departing Boston Port of Embarkation on 20 August 1944. The 17th Airborne Division arrived in the United Kingdom on 26 August. Once in Britain the division was attached to U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps, under Major General Matthew Ridgway, which commanded all American airborne formations, and which in turn became part of the First Allied Airborne Army when it was formed on 21 August, under the command of Lieutenant General Lewis H. Brereton. Although attached to XVIII Airborne Corps, the division was not chosen to participate in Operation Market Garden, a large-scale airborne operation intended
Moerdijk bridges 1940, bridges were captured during paratroopers operation and held 4 days, until German forward forces arrived. In 1944, both the road and railway bridge were destroyed by the Germans, to prevent the Allied Forces from reaching South Holland. Moerdijk bridges The Moerdijk bridges in the Netherlands are bridges that connect the Island of Dordrecht with the Dutch province of North Brabant ("Noord Brabant") across the "Hollands Diep". The first bridge was built at the end of the 19th century, and was a railway bridge. The second bridge was built in the 1930s for road traffic, and is currently part of