Operation Market Garden was a military operation which lasted from September 17 to 25, 1944, that attempted to give the Allies a crossing point over the Rhine River, to open up northern Germany for an Allied invasion. The plan was to send off the paratroopers while simultaneously moving in land forces in order to take nine bridges in and around the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Nijmegen. The operation was the largest airborne operation at that point in WWII. Though the operation ultimately failed for the Allies, it would go down as one of the most famous battles of the war.
The operation was conceived by British commander General Bernard Law Montgomery, who believed that if the Allies could get deep into Germany by crossing the Rhine, the war would be shortened significantly. His plan consisted of two sub operations, known as “market” and “garden”. “Market” referred to the airborne aspect of the operation, where troops were to land by parachute and glider to take key bridges in the Netherlands. This would then allow for the ground troops, the “garden” aspect of the operation, to move across the bridges and the Rhine to create a bulge of Allied forces in Germany’s defensive line. If the plan was victorious, it would successfully liberate the Netherlands and create a pathway for Allied troops to move into the industrial stronghold that was Germany’s Ruhr region.
The landings began on September 17, as 1,500 aircraft and 500 gliders began to drop paratroopers towards their targets. Ground troops followed by making their way toward the bridges being taken, but they quickly faced issues. Small pockets of German infantry held off the ground troops long enough to allow their comrades to organize against the paratroopers moving in on them. As the paratroopers moved towards the Dutch town of Arnhem, they quickly began to be attacked by German forces. They attempted to radio to the ground forces to inform them of their situation but soon realized none of the radios worked, making it impossible to communicate and coordinate with their counterparts. Some of the airborne divisions were able to take their bridges regardless, but most of the bridges were destroyed in order to prevent their capture. With the first day of the operation coming to an end, the ground troops had barely managed to move forward at all, and the Germans were still bringing in reinforcements to deal with the paratroopers at Arnhem.
On the second day of the operation, the ground forces finally began to make some headway, reaching a few of the bridges they had hoped to capture. But these gains did not last for long, as problems struck the Allied forces once more. Unable to capture a bridge crossing the River Waal, American troops were ordered to attack from the other side. This would prove to be enormously costly, as almost half of the men sent to attack were killed or hurt just in trying to cross to the other side. Yet, the men who survived the attack managed to successfully take the bridge. It was too late, however, for the Allied paratroopers on the other side, as German tanks were devastating them and what little protection they had. In the following days it became clear that the Allied forces were not going to be able to capture the bridge at Arnhem, and the order was given to evacuate all survivors. Thus, the operation had officially failed.
Operation Market Garden cost the Allies anywhere from 15,000 to 17,000 casualties while the Germans suffered somewhere from 3,300 to13,300. It was only four months after the failed operation that the Allies would successfully cross the Rhine and reach Germany’s industrial center. The failure of the operation ensured that the war in Europe would continue on for longer than the Allies had hoped. A positive aspect of the operation, however, was the liberation of a large swath of the Netherlands, as many Dutch citizens were suffering and nearing starvation. Overall, the operation was a tough loss for the Allies, due to a critical communication breakdown and an unforeseen, powerful pushback from the Germans. The success of Operation Market Garden could have led to an end to the war by Christmas of 1944 like the Allies had hoped, in turn saving countless lives; instead, the war would rage on for several months longer.
Suggested Reading:
David Bennett, A Magnificent Disaster: The Failure of Market Garden, The Arnhem Operation (Casemate, 2008)
