Elite paratroopers dropped behind enemy lines in September 1944 found themselves so cut off they resorted to a homing pigeon for help. This episode dissects the Battle of Arnhem, the most crucial and disastrous chapter of Operation Market Garden.

We examine the ambitious two-part plan, the eight-mile drop zones that surrendered surprise, the ignored intelligence about SS panzers, the German mission-type tactics that built a blocking line, and the political scapegoating of the Polish commander Sosabowski.

• Why aircraft shortages forced the division to arrive in three lifts
• How dense forests killed the radios and left command headless
• Frost's stand at the bridge and the burning siege of Oosterbeek
• Resupply drops falling into German hands and the oarless river crossing
• The unjust blame placed on Genera ...