Operation Pegasus

Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum, close to Arnhem in the Netherlands. Overnight on 22–23 October 1944, the Allies successfully evacuated a large group of men trapped in German occupied territory who had been in hiding since the Battle of Arnhem.

The fighting north of the Rhine in September had forced the 1st British Airborne division to withdraw, leaving several thousand men behind. Several hundred of these were able to evade capture and go into hiding, usually with the assistance of the Dutch Resistance. Initially the men hoped to be able to wait for the British 2nd Army to resume their advance and thus relieve them, but when it became clear that the Allies would not cross the Rhine that year the men decided to escape back to Allied territory. The first escape operation was a great success and over 100 men were able to return to their own lines, but a second operation was compromised and failed. Despite this the resistance continued to help the evaders and many more men were able to escape in small groups over the winter.