A brief history of the 1st Battalion, 50th Northumbrian Division

With the German army in retreat the 50th Div supported the 11th Armoured Div, with which the battalion in 231 Bde came under the Guards Armoured Division and advanced with them to be the first British infantry across the Belgian border and into Brussels on the 3rd September 1944. From Brussels the battalion followed the Guards Armour Div into Antwerp and on to form, and hold the bridgehead over the Escaut canal on the Belgian~Holland border.

This small advance over the border was the starting point for the ground forces involved in the airborne operation 'Market Garden'. The battalion was part of the infantry divisions defending the corridor behind the Guards Armour Div as they advanced to relieve the airborne forces defending the bridges at Grave, Nijmegen and Arnhem. In October the battalion went forward through Nijmegan and fought its last battle north of Bemmel in 'the island', an area between the rivers Waal and Lek. At the end of October the battalion was withdrawn.