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Why did Operation Market Garden in 1944 fail

51 bytes added, 08:06, 14 December 2020
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The operation was not a total failure as it led to the liberation of large southern Netherlands areas and gained hold of several strategic bridges. However, it failed to secure the key bridge at Arnhem, which would have allowed the Allies to cross the Rhine. The failure at Arnhem meant that any planned invasion of Germany had to be delayed. The Germans, although they had lost ground, we're able to establish a strong defensive line. In total, the Allies had suffered some 15,000 casualties and had many thousands more taken prisoner. The Germans had also lost equipment and vehicles that they could ill-afford to use. An unintended consequence of the offensive was a serious famine in the Netherlands. The Dutch railways stopped during the battle to stop German reinforcements from getting to the front line. In revenge, the Germans forbade the transportation of food, by train and in the following winter, there were serious food shortages throughout the Netherland’s and thousands died of starvation or malnutrition.<ref>Ryan, p. 378</ref>
====Conclusion==Operation Market Garden failed to meet any of its Objectives ==Operation Market Garden was a tactical defeat for the Allies, as it failed to achieve all its objectives. It failed to secure the key bridge at Arnhem, which meant that they were halted at the Rhine. This probably delayed the eventual Allied victory in western Europe. The operation failed because of a failure in planning, intelligence, and a lack of understanding of the terrain's nature. There was also a mistaken belief that the Germans had been all but defeated.  Moreover, Market Garden was fundamentally flawed as it mistakenly believed that airborne forces could resist heavily armed troops for an extended period. While not exclusively to blame, many of these failures resulted from Montgomery and his over-optimistic ideas and arrogance. The failure of Operation Market Garden was largely the result of General Montgomery's poor leadership and tactics.
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