ABSTRACT
A complicated artillery plan was devised for the ground forces artillery to fire heavy concentrations just outside the perimeter as it shrank towards the river. Five of the Canadians and many of their airborne passengers died when boats either were hit or capsized through overloading, and some Canadians were swept downstream to become prisoners. The powered Canadian boats could cross the river in only three minutes but they frequently had to be taken out of service and have engines replaced, mostly through rainwater drenching sparking plugs or electrical circuits. 1st Airborne's estimate is 300; men who were there give a smaller number. Many of these were Borders and South Staffords, the last men to leave positions on the perimeter. The Battle of Arnhem was over, almost exactly nine days after the units of the 1st British Airborne Division had driven out from their camps and billets in England to the airfields.
