Operation Market Garden

In June 1944 allied armies invaded Normandy and established a bridgehead. In August, Army Group B had been destroyed in the Falaise pocket and German forces had withdrawn to defensive positions in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Situation NW Europe September 1944

In the east, Russian forces had launched Operation Bagration clearing German forces from Belorussia and Poland.

The allies continued their advance in the west on a broad front, however by early September this was stalling due to shortages of fuel and transport.  Montgomery persuaded  Eisenhower that main effort be directed towards a concentrated thrust into Holland as a mechanism to concentrate limited supplies to achieve a crucial blow against the Germans. It was the assessment by many senior commanders was Germany forces were defeated and any resistance would be limited.

It was against this background and the desire by airborne commanders to execute operations that led to Operation MARKET GARDEN.

The concept of operations was to conduct airborne operations to secure bridge crossings in Holland in order to allow  XXX Corps to drive north, linking up with airborne troops securing the bridges, then establish bridgeheads north of the lower Rhine.

Operation Market operation would be entail the UK 1st Airborne Division securing the bridge at Arnhem, the American 82nd Airborne Divisor securing the bridges at Grave and Nijmagen, with the American 1001st Airborne Division securing bridges north of Eindhoven.

Operation Garden would then see XXX Corps driving north 67 miles (107 Km) to link the airborne forces over a period of three days.

The flanks of XXX Corps were protected by XII Corps left and VIII Corps right. Subsequent operations would then see the 52^nd Lowland Division establish further bridgeheads up to the Dutch coast 5 days after the start of the operation.

D – Day would be 17^th September 1944

The airborne forces would take off from a variety of airfields in the UK. .British transport planes towing gliders, US Dakotas full of paratroopers, escorted by fighters would fly along two routes which would be bombed and staffed to suppress air defences. The northern route would take the British 1st AB to Arnhem and the American 82nd to Nijmegen. The southern route would take the US 101^st Airborne to Eindhoven.

The shortage of air transport for all three AB divisions necessitated that the airborne deployment would take 3 days to complete.