My latest boatshoe repair may be A Bridge Too Far
Posted By RichC on February 7, 2018
This ain’t my first rodeo (was looking for an excuse to use the idiom) as it pertains to stretching the life of my favorite pair of Sperry Topsiders.
The idiom this ain’t my first rodeo is generally traced back to the movie Mommie Dearest, in which the character Joan Crawford says, “This ain’t my first time at the rodeo.”
This time, as compared to the past couple epoxy repairs, I’ve added a blend of ground rubber within the epoxy mix. This time I’m hoping the "wear bars" will have a little more softness than 100% epoxy. So far so good, but I can tell the days are numbered for these older shoes. It might be time for even me to shop for a new pair and retire this old pair to "hinge duty."
***Speaking of idioms, my subject line reference A Bridge Too Far … for those too young to remember … to do with a 1970s book and movie based on the unsuccessful allied World War II military operation.
Operation Market Garden massed use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem. The operation required the seizure of the bridges across the Maas (Meuse River), two arms of the Rhine
(the Waal and the Lower Rhine), together with crossings over several smaller canals and tributaries.
The Allies captured several bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen at the beginning of the operation. Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks’ XXX Corps ground force advance was delayed by the initial failure of the airborne units to secure bridges at Son and Nijmegen. German forces demolished the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son before it could be secured by the 101st Airborne Division. The 82nd Airborne Division’s failure to capture the main road bridge over the river Waal at Nijmegen before 20 September also delayed the advance of XXX Corps.
At the furthest point of the airborne operation at Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division encountered initial strong resistance. The delays in capturing the bridges at Son and Nijmegen gave time for German forces—including the 9th and 10th SS panzer divisions, who were present at that time—to organize and retaliate. In the ensuing battle, only a small force managed to capture the north end of the Arnhem road bridge and after the ground forces failed to relieve them, the paratroopers were overrun on 21 September. The remainder of the 1st Airborne Division was trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge, having to be evacuated on the 25th of September.
The Allies had failed to cross the Rhine. The river remained a barrier to their advance into Germany until offensives at Remagen, Oppenheim, Rees and Wesel in March 1945. The failure of Market Garden to form a foothold over the Rhine ended Allied expectations of finishing the war by Christmas 1944.
Comments