John Frost Bridge ( John Frostbrug in Dutch ) is the road bridge over the Lower Rhine at Arnhem , in the Netherlands . The bridge was inaugurated after the end of World War II , and is named after Major-General John Dutton Frost (1912–1993), who commanded the British forces that reached and temporarily defended the pre-existing Rijnbrug ("Rhine Bridge") at the same location during the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. This was the bridge referenced in the 1977 Anglo-American film A Bridge Too Far , although the IJssel bridge in Deventer was used for the actual shooting of the film.
16-807: The World Liberty Concert was a concert that took place on 8 May 1995 next to the John Frost Bridge in Arnhem in the Netherlands . The concert was held in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Europe and is the largest memorial concert ever held in the Netherlands and was thought of by Arno Geul . Preparations lasted for about a year. Performances were provided by Alan Parsons (with Chris Thompson and Mick Mullins ), Art Garfunkel , Joe Cocker , Cyndi Lauper , Wet Wet Wet , Candy Dulfer , UB40 and René Froger . Also present
32-530: A longer version. John Frost Bridge There had been a floating bridge at Arnhem since 1603 but as the city grew in the early 20th century a permanent link across the Lower Rhine was needed. The Rijnbrug (literally Rhine bridge) was constructed between 1932 and 1935, but was destroyed by Dutch engineers in 1940 to slow the German advance during the invasion of the Netherlands . The Germans had need of
48-720: A similar bridge spans the IJssel . The Arnhem road bridge was officially renamed the John Frostbrug on 17 December 1977. On 8 May 1995 the World Liberty Concert was held at the bridge in honour of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Europe . It was one of the largest memorial concerts ever held in the Netherlands. Arnhem has three bridges over the Lower Rhine: the John Frost Bridge,
64-467: A small force of some 740 men were able to reach the northern end of the bridge, commanded by Lt-Colonel John Frost. On the night of the 17 September the British attempted to take the southern end of the bridge, using a flame thrower to destroy German positions in the bridge's towers. This accidentally ignited an ammunition store and the fresh paint on the bridge caught fire, illuminating the area for most of
80-483: A war whose long delayed ending, this concert commemorates and celebrates. In May 1944 the European continent had been a major battleground for almost four years. The country's provinces, cities and more importantly the people of Europe were devastated by the toll of mankind’s Second World War . Beginning just 50 kilometers upstream from this City of Arnhem , stretched the heartland of the aggressor's war industry. While
96-670: The bridge however, and a pontoon bridge acted as a temporary replacement while the road bridge was repaired. The bridge was finished in August 1944. In September 1944 the Allies launched the military offensive Operation Market Garden . The road bridge across the Lower Rhine should have been the final objective of the operation, and its capture was tasked to the British 1st Airborne Division . Unexpected German resistance in Arnhem meant that only
112-488: The concert. During the concert Walter Cronkite was positioned at the side of the Rhine, in a military Jeep . In his initial appearance at the beginning of the concert, Walter Cronkite both describes the reason for his presence and the reason for the concert: I am here tonight, because as a war correspondent , I was part of the allied airborne operation that for a brief moment in history, more than fifty years ago, focused
128-548: The live recordings of "White Dawn" and " You're the Voice ", the latter however as a "radio edit" that fades out after four minutes, while the live performance lasted a minute longer. Despite the lack of a full release, bootlegs of the broadcast are circulating. A studio recording of "You're the Voice" was recorded a few months earlier and featured on the 15-track edition of the Alan Parsons album The Very Best Live , albeit in
144-418: The night and forcing the British to abandon their attempt. The German forces in Arnhem eventually overwhelmed Frost's men, although this took several days. They had however succeeded in closing the bridge to German armour for some four days, twice as long as a whole division was expected to hold the bridge. The rest of the division held out at nearby Oosterbeek until 25 September before being evacuated across
160-435: The remains of the bridge. The temporary bridge was too low for ships to pass underneath and was replaced by a higher Bailey bridge. Later, a new Rijnbrug was rebuilt in exactly the same style as the destroyed bridge; it opened in 1948. The bridge was depicted in the 1977 film A Bridge Too Far , but because the buildings near the bridge in Arnhem had changed so much since the war, the film was actually shot at Deventer where
176-615: The river. Although the bridge survived the battle, it was bombed and destroyed by B-26 Marauders of the 344th Bomb Group on 7 October 1944. It was done to prevent the Germans from using it to send reinforcements south of the river during the German counter offensive against the Allied bridgehead. Arnhem was captured and liberated in April 1945 and a Bailey bridge was erected alongside
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#1732782533648192-414: The sounds of the factories were of course too far off to be heard from here, life was dominated by the ominous sound of a not so distant thunder. In total, Walter Cronkite makes 11 appearances during the concert, covering the history in chronological order: The evening concert was supposed to be released as video and CD. A legal dispute made only a single, You're the Voice , be released, which included
208-402: The world's attention on this crossing of the Rhine and this Dutch City of Arnhem . I speak tonight from hallowed ground, for here more than 1500 brave British parachutists died in a futile attempt to gain the bridge. 6000 were captured, many of them wounded. They represent for us tonight, the millions of others, soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians, claimed in history’s worst calamity . In
224-488: Was broadcast live and was initiated by a seven-and-a-half-minute introduction, showing the various preparations for the concert. The video featured a medley of classical songs of the soundtrack of the movie Glory . In total, the evening concert covered 21 songs: During the concert, Walter Cronkite narrated parts of history during and after the Second World War , in order to illustrate the historical meaning of
240-489: Was performed under the name of Alan Parsons Band . The musical performances were accompanied by historical readings by Walter Cronkite and an illustrative performance by the Royal Netherlands Army . The broadcast portion of the concert lasted about 2 hours, was attended by 85,000 people and was broadcast in 45 countries, of which 31 were live. The entire concert lasted over 12 hours. The evening concert
256-563: Was the Metropole Orkest consisting of 80 men and the Gelders Opera and Operetta Gezelschap (GOOG) choir. The event-specific configuration of The Alan Parsons Project , which had been a studio group only, was one of the first live performances of the band's material, albeit without cofounder Eric Woolfson (who had split from Parsons before Try Anything Once and the accompanying tour captured on Alan Parsons Live ); it
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