271 - Arnhem - September 17th 1944 by Graeme Lothian

Arnhem - September 17th 1944 by Graeme Lothian.

Image size 25" x 15".

Eight minutes after the gliders had touched down at LZ-Z the first of the paratroops started to arrive at 1353. Thirty six C47s over DZ-X dropped the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment at 1403. On the ground are the discarded chutes of the 2nd Battalion dropped ten minutes earlier. In the middle distance can be seen the blue smoke used to identify DZ-X left by the 21st Independent Para Company. Dropped by the 14 and 59 Sqn/ 61 Troop Carrier Group which had taken off from Barkston Heath Lincolnshire the 2nd and 3rd Para Battalions which dropped slightly earlier had enplaned at Saltby airfield. Between 1353 and 1408 2276 paratroops jumped at an altitude of between 700 to 900ft.