The Allies believed that German defences in the area were relatively poor.
The operation called for the British paratroops to hold their positions for two days, after which time 30th Corps would relieve them. Meanwhile, the British 1st Parachute Division dropped 10km (six miles) west of Arnhem, aiming to secure the road bridge in Arnhem and the rail bridge to the west of the town. The US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed north and south of the Meuse, aiming to secure the crossings of the Meuse and Waal as well as the road south into Belgium. It was spearheaded by three separate aerial landings, the largest airborne offensive in military history. The operation was launched on 17 September under Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton's overall command. Receiving his orders from Montgomery, Lieutenant General Frederick Browning of the 1st Airborne Corps famously remarked that 'we might be going a bridge too far'. The operation required concentrated effort, the co ordination of land and airborne forces and a fair degree of luck. This 100km (60 mile) advance would only be possible if the bridges over all three rivers were secured beforehand. Market-Garden involved 30th Corps pushing forward from Antwerp, crossing the Meuse at Grave, crossing the Waal at Nijmegen and finally crossing the Rhine at Arnhem. As well as bottling up Zangen's German 15th Army - which had left France ahead of the Allied advance and taken up positions in Belgium - this would enable the British to attack the Ruhr from the north. Operation Market-Garden would outflank German defences within the Reich by crossing the River Rhine at Arnhem in the Netherlands. As he later recalled, 'I was expounding the doctrine of the single punch against an enemy who was now weak on his pins.'Īfter the port of Antwerp had been liberated in early September 1944, Montgomery proposed a novel knockout blow. While observing General Dwight Eisenhower's strategy of creating a 'broad front' to drive the German forces back into Germany, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was determined to demonstrate the efficacy of a concentrated assault. Axis: Field Marshal Walter Model's Army Group B SS Lieutenant General Willi Bittrich's 2nd SS Panzer Corps.Allies: General Miles Dempsey's 2nd Army, including 8th, 12th and 30th Corps Lieutenant General Lewis Brereton's US Army Air Corps Lieutenant General Frederick Browning's 1st Airborne Corps General Stanislaw Sosabowski's 1st Polish Airborne Brigade.
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