The British seize Arnhem

Harzer's men began moving into the town by whatever means they found: trucks, tanks, halftracks, cars, trams, even bicycles. SS-Obersturmbannführer Ludwig Spindler, commander of the division's artillery regiment, was given command of the kampfgruppe that would hold the western edge of Arnhem. At the same time its tank, artillery and reconnaissance units began putting into working order the vehicles that had been deliberately disabled to stop them being transferred to the Frundsberg Division. In two hours, his 400 men and 40 vehicles were rolling out of their camp towards Arnhem town centre. They had orders to move ahead of the Frundsberg and secure Nijmegen bridge.

On the drop zones west of Arnhem, 8000 British troops were forming up and preparing to move off to their objectives. Within minutes, Krafft's trainee noncommissioned officers were in action, fighting in the forests around the British drop zones, delaying their advance for vital hours. One British airborne unit, the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (2 Para), slipped past Krafft's men and was soon marching into the town centre. Minutes before 2 Para reached Arnhem bridge, Graebner's column raced across the huge structure and within an hour the men were in Nijmegen. An improvised Luftwaffe and police kampfgruppe had already secured the strategic bridge, and Graebner had little to do. The Frundsberg Division was equally quick off the mark, and its reconnaissance battalion, under SS-Sturmbannführer Brinkmann, was on its way to Nijmegen. As the column of armoured halftracks approached Arnhem bridge, it came under fire from British paratroopers. 2 Para now held the northern edge of the bridge and several blocks of buildings nearby.

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