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(View the map) Planes loaded with equipment bundles and nervous but determined paratroopers sped down the runways and into the air, leaving the English countryside like a green and brown checkerboard, behind them. Men peered out of the planes' windows with varying degrees of emotion; to many this was old stuff. They were veterans, but still they wondered if this was the time that the law of averages would catch up with them. Others said a silent goodbye to England, and wondered if they would ever see the place again. Others fidgeted nervously with their equipment, and in voices two tones higher than normal pitch would ask, "Hey Joe, look an' see if my reserve is fastened, willya?" The English coast passed under the seemingly endless string of C-47s that blackened the skies, and soon the first islands off the Holland coast loomed into view. Only a few flashes from enemy guns were spotted; one plane, with a thin trail of smoke streaming from its underside, began disgorging paratroopers. Anxiously men in other planes watched as the chutes blossomed; one, two, three, eight, nine - and then the plane, with a brilliant flash of fire and smoke, crashed into the flooded lowlands below. An American fighter, like an angry hawk, zoomed down through the formation of transport planes and loosed a hail of lead on the German anti-aircraft battery; the enemy fired no more. Dutch people standing beside little red and green-roofed houses waved handkerchiefs at the lowflying planes; German motor convoys could be seen to stop and the vehicles' occupants, obviously allergic to Allied aircraft, scurry for cover in ditches and nearby fields. At 1231, pathfinder men of the 504 landed on the DZ and thus became the first Allied troops to land in Holland; 34 minutes later the regiment, with C Company, 307 Parachute Engineers, "hit the silk" and the greatest airborne invasion in history was officially on. By the time the last plane of the last serial had droned over the horizon, elements of the 504 had assembled and were already on their way to their individual objectives. E Company, which was dropped according to plan on the south side of the Maas River, moved up toward the Grave Bridge and the remainder of the 2nd Battalion moved toward the same bridge from the north side. Though there were enemy units of company strength in the vicinity of the bridge, the tactical surprise achieved by the 504 was so complete as to deny to the enemy the full advantage of their extensive network of defenses. However, a sharp fire-fight lasting several hours ensued before the bridge was secured. The 1st and 3rd Battalions moved into their previously assigned sectors and several hours later the 1st Battalion reported that bridge number Seven was taken intact, after encountering conditions similar to those at the Grave Bridge, but that bridge number Eight had been destroyed by the Germans. The 3rd Battalion, originally intended to remain in reserve, was split up and deployed in support of the 2nd Battalion along the Maas River and also along the north-west perimeter of the regiment's zone of responsibility. By 1800, the 504 had accomplished its assigned missions; in just under four hours the regiment had jumped, assembled, engaged the enemy and taken its objectives - 57 miles behind enemy lines; an all-time record for assembly and efficiency as far as airborne operations were concerned. For the next two days the regiment held tight, improving its defensive circumference with little or no change in the general tactical situation. Combat and reconnaissance patrols were aggressively pushed forward with the enemy being contacted in increasing strength at all points.
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