I have just finished William Buckingham's book Arnhem 1944 which presents a scathing account of General Boy Browning's role as commander of British Airborne forces in WW2 and more specifically at Arnhem. Buckingham goes so far to suggest that if Browning were a German spy in an Alastair MacLean book it is hard to think of more things he could do to wilfully sabotage the outcome of Market-Garden. Buckingham charges him with:
- Approving the disasterous RAF plan to select DZ's and LZ's 8 miles from the target
- Acquiescing to RAF's preference to drop the 1 Airborne Divison in lifts over several days instead of two drops on a single day
- Deliberately supressing inteligence reports indicating presence of SS Corps at Arnhem.
- Using badly needed glider transport (36 gliders) to take his personal staff to Holland when it was a questionable necessity
- Interfering in the 82nd operation almost resulting in the loss of Nijmegan bridge
- After 30 Corps arrived at the lower Rhine, washing his hands of 1 Abn Div as no longer his responsibility. He spent his time seeking comfortable quarters in Nijmegan as the perimeter at Oosterbeek shrank.
- Sleeping in bed in his now secured comfortable quarters as 1 Abn Div was evacuated.
- Slandering Gen Sosabowski in an effort to shift the blame for his own failures.
Although Buckingham states his career was finished after the failure, he was still knighted and is still regarded as father of the Airborne units and I believe at least one barracks is named after him.
Is anyone prepared to defend his reputation or was Browning really the utterly self-seeking careerist that Buckingham suggests? Hero or villain, what say you?
- Approving the disasterous RAF plan to select DZ's and LZ's 8 miles from the target
- Acquiescing to RAF's preference to drop the 1 Airborne Divison in lifts over several days instead of two drops on a single day
- Deliberately supressing inteligence reports indicating presence of SS Corps at Arnhem.
- Using badly needed glider transport (36 gliders) to take his personal staff to Holland when it was a questionable necessity
- Interfering in the 82nd operation almost resulting in the loss of Nijmegan bridge
- After 30 Corps arrived at the lower Rhine, washing his hands of 1 Abn Div as no longer his responsibility. He spent his time seeking comfortable quarters in Nijmegan as the perimeter at Oosterbeek shrank.
- Sleeping in bed in his now secured comfortable quarters as 1 Abn Div was evacuated.
- Slandering Gen Sosabowski in an effort to shift the blame for his own failures.
Although Buckingham states his career was finished after the failure, he was still knighted and is still regarded as father of the Airborne units and I believe at least one barracks is named after him.
Is anyone prepared to defend his reputation or was Browning really the utterly self-seeking careerist that Buckingham suggests? Hero or villain, what say you?