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[[File:82nd_Grave.jpg|thumbnail|350px|left|82nd Airborne Division dropped near Grave]]
Operation Market Garden, launched in September 1944, was an unsuccessful Allied offensive mainly fought in the Netherlands. It was the largest airborne operation in history up to that time. The operation was a daring one, and it was the brainchild of the British General Bernard Montgomery. This operation was even the subject of the 1977 star-studded movie <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0792839730/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0792839730&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=9a43d7d4c531bad29c0c0e65b6ce2267 A Bridge Too Far]</i> directed by Richard Attenborough. He intended the airborne offensive to allow the allies to break into the German heartland and to end the war quickly. However, this was not the case. The allied offensive was to prove to be a costly failure and may have even delayed their victory in Europe. Why did this operation fail? Was it Montgomery's over-optimistic planning, poor strategy, poor leadership, German resistance, or the terrain?
====Background==Why were the Allied advances grinding to half before Market Garden? ==
[[File: Montgomery E010786478-v8.jpg|thumbnail|200px|left|General Bernard Montgomery (1944)]]
The Allies had landed in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944. After establishing several beachheads in Normandy, the Allies managed to push forward into the Normandy countryside.<ref>Harclerode, Peter, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0297846825/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0297846825&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4d838669f1b185bdbb1d8898e27add71 Wings Of War: Airborne Warfare 1918–1945]'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2005), p. 45</ref> The Germans initially managed to slow the Allies advance. However, a brilliant piece of Allied strategy resulted in the encirclement of a large part of the German army in the Falaise Pocket. The combined Anglo-American divisions inflicted huge losses on the Germans. The German army was forced into a headlong retreat. Paris was soon retaken by the Allies.<ref>Harcerode, p. 46</ref> The German army was practically forced out of France and retreated towards Alsace-Lorraine and Belgium. It seemed to many that the Allies were on the verge of invading German, and some even spoke optimistically of ending the war by Christmas.
However, in truth, the Allied successes had brought their own problems. The Allies' supply lines were overstretched, slowing down the Americans and British in particular. The shortage of oil meant that Patton’s armored divisions had to halt their advance. This was to prove crucial, and it allowed the Germans to regroup in the west when it appeared that they would disintegrate, leading to the end of the war.<ref> Burgett, Donald. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0440236339/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=Reasons 9325&creativeASIN=0440236339&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=bc9650521b3cdf40b8caa8cfdffa4396 The Road to Arnhem: A Screaming Eagle in Holland]''. (Dell Publishing, NY, 2001), p. 9</ref> ==What was the rationale for Market Garden==? ==
[[File: Arnhem.jpg|thumbnail|325px|left|British prisoners taken at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden]]
By the Autumn of 1944, it was apparent to the Allied High Command that the Germans had managed to retrieve the situation and would offer stiff resistance to any future offensive. In August 1944, a British assault failed to take Antwerp's deep water deepwater port and had allowed some 80,000 German troops from Scheldt Estuary. This became known as the ‘Great Mistake’ and was perhaps one of the biggest in the entire war.<ref> Burgett, p. 37</ref> The Allied high command was reluctant to attack the Germans from eastern France, as the German government had constructed a massive line of defenses, consisting of fortresses, to protect their western border. This was known as the Siegfried Line. The British and the Americans had to go through the Low Countries to invade Germany and end the war.<ref> Ryan, Cornelius, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684803305/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0684803305&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=a59f073c4b3bf60e27b95e4efd51292c A Bridge Too Far]'' (Wordsworth Editions, London, 1999), p. 78</ref> The Allies believed that they would need an innovative plan to break the Low Countries and Alsace-Lorraine's German frontline. General Eisenhower and other leaders turned their attention to the Low Countries. It offered them ports that could be used to re-supply the Allied divisions, who still were reliant on the Normandy ports for their supplies. The more forward-thinking of the allied strategists became concerned about the Rhine.<ref>Ryan, p. 46</ref> This river would form a formidable natural barrier to any Allied advance, but if they liberated the Low Countries, it would allow them to cross the Rhine and then to cross into Northern Germany and then onto Berlin.
===What was Montgomery's Strategy=for Operation Market Garden? ==
[[File:British paratroopers in Oosterbeek.jpg|thumbnail|350px|left|British paratroopers at Arnhem (1944) during Operation Market Garden]]
The allies needed to break the Germans' resistance and cross the Rhine in the Low Countries. General Bernard Montgomery, the hero of the British victory at El Alamein, proposed a daring plan. As recounted in his memoirs, field Marshal Montgomery’s goal was to invade Germany by securing the bridges over the Lower Rhine in the Netherlands.<ref> Montgomery, Bernard Law. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007J1BXO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0007J1BXO&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1ed80a46adf53fbeae6a37e7dbcb15e2 Normandy to the Baltic]'' (Hutchinson & Co. London, 1947), p. 157</ref> This idea had several advantages such as by-passing the Siegfried Line. Montgomery wanted an airborne assault in the Netherlands to secure key bridges over the Lower Rhine. This would allow the Allies to enter into the Northern German plains, where there were no natural barriers, to their advance to Berlin.<ref>Burgett, p. 117</ref>
The operation would involve four airborne divisions. The paratroopers would land in the area by gliders, or they would parachute into the target zones. Some 50,000 troops were involved, and they would also be supplied with some light artillery. There were American, British, and Polish units involved in the massive airdrops. The ‘Garden’ part of the plan would involve several British Armored Divisions moving into the Netherlands to link up with the paratroopers and defend the bridges from any German counterattack. According to Montgomery, for the strategy to have worked, it depended on two things, the quick capture of all the bridges by the Allies and the ground forces linking with the paratroopers within days.<ref>Montgomery, p. 118</ref>
== What Happened during Operation Market Garden? ===
[[File:Sherman_tanks_of_the_Irish_Guards_Group.jpg|thumbnail|left|275px|Irish Guard Sherman tanks advance on September 17, 1944, during Operation Market Garden]]
Operation Market Garden began on the 17th of September 1944. It was a coordinated action by American, British a Polish Airborne, and mainly British forces. The operation began with heavy air raids to weaken any resistance. The paratroopers began landing at 13.00hrs around targets in the Netherlands, chiefly Eindhoven, Arnhem, and Nijmegen.<ref> Devlin, Gerard M.. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0860510689/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0860510689&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=649bb9080e6f13f739965427274aedcb Paratrooper: The Saga Of Parachute And Glider Combat Troops During World War II]'' Robson Books, NY, 1979), p. 117</ref>. The paratroopers had the advantage of surprise, and they achieved their objectives. The Germans had been taken completely by surprise. The initial phase of the operation was a total success. It had been feared that the Germans would blow up the bridges, which would mean that the plan would have to be aborted. The rapid capture of the bridges meant that the ground forces would be able to reach the landing zones and support the paratroopers.<ref>Devlin, p. 119</ref>
