[Six Nifty .50s]

I have to wonder exactly what was photographed, and where. It's not clear if any of the few panzers that fought in Arnhem belonged to the 9th or 10th SS Panzer Divisions (I do not refer to those photographed after the battle). Elsewhere a company of non-SS heavy tanks (Tiger II) fought at Oosterbeek, with another company at Elst, but these units were in Germany when the battle began.

The film A Bridge Too Far fails to appreciate that Bittrich's Panzer Korps was almost completely destroyed in Normandy. The 9th and 10th SS divisions had more tail than teeth at that point. Most of their heavy equipment was wrecked or abandoned during the retreat to the Netherlands. Casualty reports suggested that division rear services and support units survived largely intact, but technicians and noncombat troops lacked the training to be employed as infantry. Bittrich was authorized to have about 400 tanks and self-propelled antitank guns. By 17th September 1944 he had about 35 panzers in working condition, and it appears that most if not all were re-tasked to Nijmegen, Elst or the Albert Canal area. The panzergrenadier battalions were also shattered in France and did not get many replacements. The armored recon battalion from the 9th SS was probably the only combat unit in good shape to intervene at Arnhem, but not for long thanks to bad leadership. In summary, Bittrich had a Panzer Korps only on paper and was so weak that he needed help from many other German units that were not mentioned in the movie.