Arnhem - Operation Market Garden, september 1944
Operation Market Garden in September 1944 was the largest airborne operation in history. Its planners hoped to end the European war by Christmas 1944, using airborne formations to seize key bridges in Holland and on the Lower Rhine, over which ground troops would advance into Germany itself. On 17 September, over 35,000 airborne soldiers from three nations prepared to drop in Holland as ground forces raced forward to link up with them. The Allied planners underestimated the strength and tenacity of the German response, however. The execution of the operation was hampered by problems, not least the poor weather and stiff German resistance, and the ground forces failed to break through to Arnhem and to open the door into Germany. The failure of this ambitious operation and the thousands of Allied casualties that resulted have ensured that Market Garden has remained highly controversial.
Lloyd Clark, a specialist in the history of airborne warfare, gives a concise chronological overview of Operation Market Garden, from its conception to the end of the battle. Emphasis is given to both the ground and the airborne elements of the operation, and the contributions of American, British and Polish participants, as well as the often undervalued achievements of their German opponents. Richly illustrated with some 160 archive photographs and full colour battle maps, Arnhem offers fresh angles on the planning and conduct of the operation, shedding new light on a famous and still contentious offensive.