The German progress with jet aircraft places them way ahead of us in this field. If they can make them in sufficient strength they may become a serio… - Lewis Hyde Brereton

Two messages from the War Department alerted us to the possibility of an attack by Japan at any hour.

Despite the failure of the 2nd Army to get through to Arnhem and establish a permanent bridgehead over the Lower Rhine, Operation Market was a brilliant success. The 101st Division took all its objectives as planned; the 82nd Division dominated the southern end of the bridge at Nijmegen until noon of D-plus-l, by which time it had been planned for the Guards Armored to be there; the 1st British Division similarly dominated the Arnhem bridge from its northern end until noon of D-plus-3, 24 hours later than the time set for the arrival of the 2nd Army. Hence the airborne troops accomplished what was expected of them. It was the breakdown of the 2nd Army’s timetable on the first day—their failure to reach Endhoven in 6 to 8 hours as planned—that caused the delay in the taking of the Nijmegen bridge and the failure at Arnhem.

I grabbed the phone and talked to General Sutherland, who informed me that the Japs had bombed Pearl Harbor ... and that a state of war existed. It came as a surprise to no one.