Dallas Baptist University

Dallas Baptist University

Department of History

Operation Market Garden: The Largest Airborne Assault of World War II

Submitted to:

Xxxx Xxxx

American History Since 1865

xx November 2001

Xxxxxx Xxxxx

Operation Market Garden: The Largest Airborne Assault of World War II i

Table of Contents iii

Operation Market Garden 1

‘Market’ – Airborne operation 2

‘Garden’ – Ground operation 2

The Largest Airborne Operation in History 3

Players 4

82nd Airborne Division Objectives 4

101st Airborne Division Objectives 6

1st Airborne Division (Britain) Objectives 7

Outcome: Success or Failure? 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY 11

Operation Market Garden

Operation Market Garden, the world’s largest airborne operation, has been marked as a military operation that fell short of its objectives. The Operation was one that if successful, would allow the Allies a strategic military staging area north of the Rhine River. This staging area or base of operations would allow the Allies to essentially cut the German soldiers in the West off from those in Germany, as well as providing a staging ground to perform strikes within Germany.

The main objective of Operation Market Garden was to capture the main bridges across the rivers Meusse and Rhine and the Maas-Waal and Wilhelmina canal in coordinated ground and airborne missions, setting the stage for the Allies to swing east flanking the Germans. The emphasis placed on the Operation was in part due to a V-2 rocket attack against London on September 8, 1944. This new “…liquid-fuelled rocket was capable of supersonic speed and could fly at an altitude of over 50 miles” leaving the British at its mercy [1]. The sites in which these rockets were believed to be launched from were in Holland, thus the Allied concentration on that area for the planned assault. Field Marshall Montgomery convinced Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander, to give him permission to prepare such an assault that could open up supply lines and ultimately lead the Allies into Berlin. The “brilliant scheme [Montgomery] had devised was to become the greatest airborne operation of the entire war” [2]. This operation as it turned out would be broken down into two distinct plans of assault - an airborne operation, code name ‘Market,’ and a ground assault, code name ‘Garden.’

‘Market’ – Airborne operation

The idea of using airborne troops in combat was still relatively new to the Allied battlefield. Up to this point in the war the American Airborne units had participated in various vertical assaults including Sicily, St. Mere-Eglise and Normandy. The purpose of the airborne units is to conduct a forcible entry, build up combat power as quickly as possible and conduct follow-on military operations as necessary [3]. Montgomery saw the Holland invasion as a prime operation for the elite fighting units of the United States, Britain and Poland.

‘Garden’ – Ground operation

The ground assault “…would be carried out by General Miles Dempsey’s Second British Army,” that would move from the Belgian-Dutch border 64 miles North to the town of Arnhem [4]. Once there, the force would link up with the British and Polish airborne force that had previously assaulted the town from above. The path to the city of Arnhem, Holland would be a long narrow one up a single narrow highway over many bridges that were to be captured by American Paratrooper units. This Northern advance would enable the Allies an approach into Germany that was least suspected by Von Runstedt thus allowing them to push through to Berlin.

The Largest Airborne Operation in History

The total airborne operation would consist of 33,971 men arriving on the battlefield by parachutes and gliders. This mammoth operation quickly turned out to be a logistical nightmare, as the leaders quickly realized the Allies did not have enough air transports for all of the troops. The solution to this problem would be to send the assault force in several lifts or waves. This allocation of aircraft would have “…nearly all of the 101st US arriving in one lift, nearly all of the 82nd US arriving in two lifts, but the British and Poles requiring three lifts” [5]. It was also decided that only one lift would be flown each day due to the lack of skills that the American transport pilots had in navigation and limited visibility flight. In all “about 5,000 troop-carrying and supply aircraft were used in Operation Market Garden, of which roughly 1,300 were paratrooper transport, about 2,300 were gliders for troop and equipment transport, and almost 1,300 were used for re-supply missions” [6].

Players

82nd Airborne Division Objectives

Major General James M. Gavin commanded the 82nd Airborne Division and was the youngest division commander of World War II. General Gavin was one of the first men of the United States Army to enter parachute training at Fort Benning, Georgia in 1941 [7]. Gavin was in command of one of the most prestigious and elite forces of the United States military, which was nicknamed “America’s Guard of Honor” [8].

“The bridges over the Maas at Grave and the Waal at Nijmegen were the targets of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division,” situating them between the 101st and the British 1st Airborne Division [9]. These bridges along with the task of clearing the high ground around the Groesbeek Heights was considered a much more challenging task than that of the 101st Airborne Division. In all, the Division was tasked with capturing, intact, seven bridges over the canals and river. Gavin set the order of priority of his division as follows: “…first, the Groesbeek Heights; second, the bridge at Grave; third, the crossings on the Maas-Waal Canal; and fourth, the Waal bridge at Nijmegen” [10].

The Waal Bridge was located in the middle of the town of Nijmegen with a population of about 90,000 people, and was considered to be the 82nd Airborne’s primary objective. According to General Gavin, “Early indications were that the drop had been unusually successful. Unit after unit reported in on schedule, and with few exceptions all were in their pre-planned locations” [11]. The Division was successful in accomplishing all major objectives during the assault including a daring river crossing of the Rhine to secure the Waal Bridge.

The Waal River bridge was being intensely defended by the German Army’s SS and Panzer brigades making it increasingly difficult for the elements of the 82nd to seize it. A plan was quickly devised by General Gavin that the bridge would have to be taken from both ends simultaneously if they were to succeed. This type of assault would require the paratroopers to make an unprecedented river crossing in makeshift canvas boats and assault the bridge from the far side. “Each craft weighed about two hundred pounds, and it was expected that each would carry thirteen paratroopers and a crew of three engineers to row them across” [12]. While the soldiers frantically paddled the rickety boats across the 400-yard-wide river, the Allied forces would fire on the enemy banks with tanks, mortars and machine gun fire creating a sort of smoke screen. “From the time of Julius Caesar a ‘crossing of the Rhine’ was considered a major military feat, to be attempted only after thorough preparation” [13]. This element of the 82nd had no preparation to speak of when it came to river crossings, but somehow after many grueling hours of battle they overcame the Germans and took the far end of the Waal River Bridge. This victory would enable the Allied armor to proceed on to Arnhem where the British 1st Airborne awaited their arrival.

101st Airborne Division Objectives

The 101st Airborne Division was commanded by Major General Maxwell Taylor, formally an 82nd Artillery Commander. The Division would be the unit located farthest to the south therefore it was essential that they take their bridges intact for the ground forces to move over. “The 101st had to secure the bridge over the Wilhelmina canal in Son, the bridge over the Dommel in St-Oedenrode and the bridges over the Aa and Zuid-Willemsvaart canal near Veghel” [14]. Once the ground units had reached their position, elements of the 101st Airborne Division were to support them in capturing the town of Eindhoven.

Many soldiers who have been in combat say that battle is nothing more than organized chaos, which is exactly what happened to the 101st during their assault. Many of the gliders were shot down upon their descent, troops were not dropped on their correct drop zones and they faced more German resistance than anticipated. One regiment successfully captured the two bridges located at Veghel over the Aa and Zuid-Willemsvaart Canal (the most northern bridges). Another Regiment of the 101st assaulted and successfully took the bridge over the Dommel intact. The most important bridge was the one located at Son, which was the southernmost bridge that they were to capture. The third Regiment of the 101st was tasked with this mission, but upon approach to the bridge the units faced heavy resistance from the Germans. The Regiment took an hour before finally overcoming the enemy forces, but by this time the German units had already blown the bridge up. Eindhoven was another target of the 101st that same day, but that mission was not accomplished until later in the battle [15].

1st Airborne Division (Britain) Objectives

The British 1st Airborne would be commanded by Major General Robert Urquhart and was tasked with “the single most important objective of Operation Market Garden…” [16]. The mission of the 1st Airborne along with a Polish Brigade would be to seize the 2,000-foot long bridge spanning the 400-yard-wide Lower Rhine at the city of Arnhem. The British and Polish units would be the ones located farthest away from the advancing Allied ground forces and would have to hold out the longest.

The British and Polish airborne landing went well, although they quickly encountered many problems including radio communications failure and the presence of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. There was heavy fighting between the British and the Germans around the Arnhem Bridge resulting in many British fatalities. The British forces were soon forced to retreat to Oosterbeek to escape the wrath of the German tanks. “Shortages of food, medicine and, most of all, ammunition began to create an unbearable situation for the British troops” [17]. Most of the re-supply planes unknowingly were dropping the supplies intended for the British Paratroopers into German hands. It was ultimately decided by the Allies to withdraw the ill-fated British troops marking the end of the battle at Arnhem. Some “…300 men couldn't be saved and surrendered” to the German forces marking the end of Operation Market Garden [18].

Outcome: Success or Failure?

Overall, the Allied forces suffered around 17,200 causalities during the Operation and counted themselves lucky. The Operation was successful from a military standpoint in that 90% of the proposed objectives had been seized, but overall the mission was a strategic failure. Without the town of Arnhem taken, the entire 80-kilometer stretch that had been seized held little strategic value to the Allies.

Operation Market Garden is viewed by many as a failure from a military and strategic standpoint since the ultimate objective, Arnhem, was never seized. The Operation was set up on a strict timetable with all units seizing their objectives at precise times in order for the follow on forces to be effective. Many factors were in play that caused the ultimate failure of the mission including intelligence failure, time of day for the drop and the vast area that had to be covered by the paratroopers.

Initial intelligence showed that there would be little to no resistance from the Germans in the objectives’ vicinities. This information proved to be false as the British quickly learned when facing the “…2nd SS Panzer Corps in Arnhem…” [19]. With the overwhelming firepower, the Germans were able to repel the British and Polish forces from taking the bridge that would ultimately have lead to the success of Market Garden. The second major factor was the time of day in which the Operation took place. The biggest advantage for airborne paratroopers is the element of surprise, which usually means arrival from the sky at night. The entire Operation took place during daylight hours due to the inexperience of the transport pilots and poor intelligence data. This led to the demise of many paratroopers as the enemy forces quickly sought their positions out. Another advantage taken away from the paratrooper units is the ability to arrive in force and quickly seize their objectives. Operation Market Garden stretched the troop landings out over several days splitting up units and causing delays in their missions. “Market Garden wasn't a total failure. The corridor served as a rally point for further assaults on the Germans and eventually led to the liberation of southern part of the Netherlands. The Dutch will always remember September 1944 and the soldiers who died for the liberation of Holland” [20].

As a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division I was privileged to see first hand the battlegrounds in which Operation Market Garden took place in the Summer of 1999. While training alongside the elite German paratrooper units we were able to make a few trips to various parts of Northern Germany and Holland including Nijmegen, Oosterbeek and Arnhem. The graciousness that the Dutch people showed us as we stepped onto their soil in our uniforms was beyond expectation. We met with survivors of World War II where they recounted stories of young American and British paratroopers coming in to their towns to liberate them from the oppression they had been suffering. The sincerity of thanks in which the survivors of the war spoke was in itself enough to consider the Operation a success.