Arnhem’s Other Urquhart

By Jon Diamond The Hollywood military film devotee will remember the beginning of the epic, A Bridge Too Far, when a young British airborne officer named Fuller informs Lt. Gen. F.A.M. “Boy” Browning about Dutch Underground reports of tanks at Arnhem just prior to Operation Market-Garden. In the ensuing dialogue, Browning dismisses the reports; however, Fuller requests a low-level air reconnaissance to confirm or refute them. After his appeal for the flight is reluctantly granted, Fuller confesses to Browning that “everybody thinks I’m overanxious, sir.” Browning retorts, “Fuller, I wouldn’t be too concerned about what people think of you. You happen to be somewhat brighter than most of us. Tends to make us nervous.” The name Fuller was fictitious in the film’s script, ostensibly to avoid confusion. The real officer portrayed in the film was Major Brian Urquhart, of no relation to General Robert “Roy” Urquhart, commanding general of the 1st British Airborne Division. Brian Urquhart served as an intelligence officer during Operation Market-Garden. Urquhart’s rich life straddled both war and peacekeeping missions in the upper echelons of command and decision making. Urquhart's Accidental Enlistment Born in England in 1919, Brian Urquhart was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. After the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and

Back to the issue this appears in