'All ranks now exhausted': Desperate telegram that spelled end of A Bridge Too Far battle when 9,000 British paratroops launched bid to break into Germany is found



Battle of Arnhem was biggest airborne operation in history at the time



Allied troops were to seize eight bridges in German-held Dutch territory

But it was to prove too much and Allies were overcome by enemy forces

Now, the desperate telegram calling for reinforcements has come to light

It was one of the boldest plans of the Second World War, the biggest airborne operation in history.



Nine thousand British and Allied tropps, dropped from the skies in a valiant bid to seize control of eight bridges in German occupied Holland.



But the battle of Arnhem - later immortalised on screen in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far - was to prove too much for British forces, who were overcome by an elite enemy force.



Now, a desperate telegram calling for reinforcements - sent from Major General Roy Urquhart on the front line to his commander Lieutenant General Frederick Browning - has come to light.

The telegram that spelt the end of the doomed A Bridge Too Far battle of the Second World War has come to light nearly 70 years later Operation 'Market Garden' (the Battle For Arnhem) was too much for British forces, who were overcome by the enemy's forces Brave British Paratroops at Osterboek, Holland, September 1944, in the battle for Arnhem The message was dated 9.14pm September 24, 1944, and few copies of it were made. After receiving the note, it was decided the 1,900 British paratroopers left standing at Arnhem should withdraw. They were successfully evacuated across the Rhine under the cover of darkness - and the noses of the Germans 24 hours later. It was General Browning - husband of author Daphne du Maurier - who coined the phrase 'A bridge too far' when assessing the reasons for the overall failure of the operation. The Allied troops had dropped into occupied Holland to break into Germany. Major General Roy Urquhart, pictured outside his headquarters, and the men of the British 1st Airborne Division, held a shrinking bridgehead at the Rhine River for nine days Market Garden's architect, Field Marshall Bernard 'Monty' Montgomery (above left), and Lieutenant General Frederick Browning, who coined the phrase 'a bridge too far' (and husband of author Daphne du Maurier)



The plan was for paratroops to take and hold valuable bridges - seizing them before they could be destroyed - while a column of armoured vehicles and reinforcements broke through enemy lines and used the bridges to drive into the heart of Germany.

General Urquhart and his men held a shrinking bridgehead at the Rhine River for nine days and faced a hopeless situation as ammunition ran out.

His radio message, through General Browning, was for Field Marshal Montgomery - the architect of the operation codenamed Market Garden.



In the message Urquhart warned that the remainder of his dwindling ranks faced ‘complete disintegration’ unless reinforcements didn’t come quickly.



The message fatefully reads: 'All ranks now exhausted. Lack of rations, water, ammunition and weapons with high officer casualty rate.

British prisoners captured in the suburbs of Arnhem, September 26, 1944

Thousands of British airmen were dropped from the skies in a bid to seize control of eight bridges in German territory

Out of the 9,000 British men, who were meant to hold Arnhem Bridge from the Germans for three days before being reinforced, 1,174 were killed and 6,000 were captured

'Even slight enemy offensive action may cause complete disintegration. If this happens all will be ordered to break towards bridgehead rather than surrender.

'Have attempted our best and will do so as long as possible.'

'So not to damage the Allies’ morale anymore than it had been, he ended the message: 'NOT for general distribution.'

Out of the 9,000 British men, who were only meant to hold Arnhem Bridge from the Germans for three days before being reinforced, 1,174 were killed and 6,000 were captured.

The telegram was handed by Monty to his adjutant officer, Captain Noel Chavasse, who retained important and historic documents from the war in his own archive.

A Bridge Too Far: Sean Connery starring as Major General Roy Urquhart, commander of the 1st Airborne Division in Holland. The 1977 film, directed by Richard Attenborough, graphically depicted the heroic failure of Operation Market Garden

Captain Chavasse’s father was Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, who is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice.

HOW THE BATTLE OF ARNHEM PROVED TOO MUCH FOR THE BRITS

The bold Allied operaton - codenamed Market Garden, to get across the Rhine and into Germany - involved the seizing and holding of several bridges in northern Holland. Thousands of paratroopers were dropped over Eindhoven, Nijmegen and Arnhem to take the bridges, while the Guards Armoured Division (XXX Corps) made its way along a 60-mile road to link up with them. Arnhem was the furthest point from the tank division and thus proved to be ‘a bridge too far’, a term coined by Lieutenant General Frederick Browning.

The main problem the British men faced was the unexpected encounter of two elite German Panzer tank divisions that happened to be resting in Arnhem. The operation was immortalised in an epic all-star movie that starred Sean Connery as Urquhart and Dirk Bogarde as Browning. Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins, Edward Fox, Gene Hackman, Robert Redford, James Caan, Ryan O’Neill and Laurence Olivier.

Captain Chavasse’s daughter has now made the document available for sale at auction.

The 15ins by 11ins piece of paper has previously been stuck to a piece of card and on the reverse is a signed photo of Monty.

Bernard Pass, of auctioneers Bosley’s of Marlow, Buckinghamshire, said: 'It isn’t the most valuable document but it is very historical.

'It spells out in black and white the grim and hopless situation the British found themselves in.

'This was one of the last radio dispacthes to come out of Arnhem and it was a ‘come and get us or we’ve had it’ message.

'The men staged a rearguard action for as long as they possibly could before the decision was taken to evacuate them in absolute silence and under the cover of darkness.

'It was only when the Germans woke up the next morning that they realised the British had gone and had left behind the wounded.

'The message was sent from Urquhart to Browning, who was in overall command of the British Airborne Division and had his headquarters close by in Holland.

'There couldn’t have been many copies of the radio message made up. One for Browning and one for Montgomery but not many more.'