Talk:John Frost Bridge

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Military history: British / Dutch / European / German / World War II

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Blown bridges

The article says that the bridge was destroyed in 1940 and then again in 1944. Who rebuilt it in the middle of a war? I suspect that the one blown up in 1940 was the railway bridge. When John Frost came in from Oosterbeek, one of their options was to cross the river via the railway bridge so that they could attack the road bridge from both sides at once. But they found that the railway bridge had been destroyed -- SteveCrook (talk) 23:29, 17 April 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My mistake?

Not long ago I changed the article to reflect the allied bombing of the bridge in October. I'd previously never heard any mention of the Germans destroying the bridge post Market Garden, in books or at Arnhem itself, so I'd assumed the original ref was just mistaken (my bad). However, another book I'm reading at the mo (Osprey Military Campaign Series- Arnhem 1944) says that the Germans blew what remained of the bridge in Feb '45 (although it was still bombed in October and 'closed'). To be honest I'm not that confident in the book (a lot of details don't seem to tally with other books), but it's still a fairly reliable source in many other respects. There's precious little on the web or in my local library so I wondered if anyone else had any idea? Ranger Steve (talk) 21:33, 16 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Not to worry. If the date on this image is accurate, I can't see that the Germans would have had much left to do! Ranger Steve (talk) 20:22, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

If that's the road bridge, where is the town? -- SteveCrook (talk) 20:53, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Obliterated. Here's a higher res image. Compare it with the infobox pic here. Same place. Ranger Steve (talk) 21:06, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm, they did make a mess of the place didn't they. But despite that, the Dutch people are glad they made the effort, even if it didn't work out. And still, every year, the schoolchildren lay flowers on the graves of those Airborne forces that didn't make it back in a most moving ceremony -- SteveCrook (talk) 22:42, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

John Frost

According to John Frost's A Drop Too Many, the bridge was renamed on December 17 1977. Does anyone know any different or shall I change it? Ranger Steve (talk) 07:04, 27 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

That could be the difference between when they decided to rename it and when they had the ceremony to commemorate it. Was it reported in any newspapers? -- SteveCrook (talk) 20:15, 27 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I've looked into this before and had little luck. All John Frost's book says is that "On 17 December 1977, those fine Dutch people .... did us the most signal honour by renaming their famous old bridge: JOHN FROSTBURG" (capitals are his). He was invited to open it (although I cant say for certain that he went, although one site says he was reluctant but was persuaded to by Freddie Gough). Googling it does bring some English sites saying the same thing and quite a few Dutch sites with the words John Frost Brug and 1977 in the same sentance. I can't read Dutch but it seems to be fairly obvious what its saying. Can't speak for the validity of the sites, but John Frost's own book seems a fairly reliable ref. I can't imagine why Frost would refer to the date it was announced and not the date a ceremony was held to make it official. Ranger Steve (talk) 20:46, 27 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Try using Google translation, that translates from Dutch to English. It might not be perfect but it should give you the gist of what the articles are saying -- SteveCrook (talk) 21:42, 27 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

As I suspected - named John Frost Bridge in 1977. Is there any reference for the date in the article? I don't see one and I've not seen anything else giving this date. Ranger Steve (talk) 19:30, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

There's no reference given in the article, so just change it, giving your reference(s) -- SteveCrook (talk) 20:52, 28 June 2009 (UTC)[reply]

1977 was the year the film A Bridge Too Far was released so that may be what prompted the naming of the bridge. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.148.221.50 (talk) 15:33, 21 June 2015 (UTC)[reply]