Operation Market Garden came to an end when the British Airborne troops were evacuated from Oosterbeek. The fighting South of the river Rhine continued. Counter offensives by the Germans were common. The first counter-attack took place on 26th and 27th September 1944, when five companies from the German infantry (four army and one SS) crossed the River Rhine without the Allies' knowledge. They managed to get as far as Randwijk before the British noticed what was going on. Once the Allies realised that a large number of German troops had managed to cross the Rhine, they despatched an entire brigade to wipe out the German bridgehead. The British infantry, with their own artillery to support them, were forced to cross open ground under enemy fire from Germany artillery and German fighter planes. After hours of shooting, a number of the German soldiers surrendered. This was to be the first of many more German counterattacks.