Operation Market-Garden

English: Operation Market Garden (September 17-September 25, 1944) was an Allied military operation in World War II. Its tactical objectives were to secure a series of bridges over the main rivers of the German-occupied Netherlands by large-scale use of airborne forces together with a rapid advance by armoured units along the connecting roads, for the strategic purpose of allowing an Allied crossing of the Rhine river, the last major natural barrier to an advance into Germany.

Deutsch: Operation Market-Garden war der Codename für eine gescheiterte Luft-Boden-Operation der Alliierten im Zweiten Weltkrieg. Sie fand zwischen dem 17. und dem 27. September 1944 in den niederländischen Provinzen Noord-Brabant und Gelderland statt und hatte das Ziel, den deutschen Westwall zu umgehen und den englischen und amerikanischen Truppen einen raschen Vorstoß ins Deutsche Reich zu ermöglichen.

Maps

• 
  The allied plan for Market Garden
• 
  The allied Arnhem defence perimeter (planned)
• 
  The allied landings near Eindhoven
• 
  The allied landings near Nijmegen
• 
  Map showing the advance, and aftermath
• 
  Map showing the advance, and aftermath

The Battle

Preparations and Landings

• 
  Field Marshal Montgomery addressing men of the 15th (Scottish) Division during an investiture ceremony, 16 September 1944
• 
  Six American paratroopers of the First Allied Airborne Army receive a final briefing from their commanding officer before emplaning. 17 September 1944
• 
  Wing Commander G E Harrison (left), the Commanding Officer of No. 190 Squadron RAF, with his crew, recounts their experiences towing Airspeed Horsa gliders to Landing Zone (LZ) 'N' near Nijmegen, to Group Captain A H Wheeler, the Station Commander of Fairford, Gloucestershire, in front of a Short Stirling. No.190 Squadron flew a total of 98 sorties during Operation MARKET, and suffered heavy losses, particularly on 21 September 1944, when 7 out of 10 Stirlings failed to return from a resupply sortie, including that of Harrison and his crew, who were all killed. 17 September 1944
• 
  Paratroops of 3rd Platoon, 21st Independent Parachute Company, assemble at Fairford, Gloucestershire in front of Short Stirling Mark IVs of 620 Squadron RAF parked on the perimeter track. 17 September 1944
• 
  British troops of the 1st Airborne Division emplaning. Troops and equipment were transported to drop zones by 38 Group Royal Air Force and 9th US Transport Carrier Command. 17 September 1944
• 
  British Paratroops of 1st (British) Airborne Division give the 'V'-sign and "thumbs up" inside one of the C-47 transport aircraft. 17 September 1944
• 
  Long, twin lines of C-47 transport planes are loaded with men and equipment at an airfield from which they took off for Holland September 17, 1944. The C-47's carried paratroopers of the First Allied Airborne Army
• 
  An aerial view of a C-47 Dakota as it tows off a CG-4A Waco glider from a British airfield en route for Holland. 17 September 1944
• 
  A Short Stirling bomber taking off from RAF Harwell, Oxfordshire with a Horsa glider in tow - Operation Market-Garden, 17 September 1944
• 
  Part of the forces of First Allied Airborne Army crossing the Channel. Full air cover was provided by 1000 British and American fighters both during the flight and after the landings. 17 September 1944
• 
  American C-47 aircraft flying over Gheel in Belgium on their way to Holland for Operation 'Market-Garden'. 17 September 1944
• 
  A photograph taken through the window of a troop carrying glider during the journey out; the Dutch coast is clearly visible as are other aircraft of the assault force. 17 September 1944
• 
  An American C-47 aircraft, hit by flak returning from the Market-Garden drop, burns after crash-landing into a knocked-out German Jagdpanther in a field near Gheel in Belgium. 17 September 1944
• 
  C-47 Dakotas and paratroops of the 1st (British) Airborne Division silhouetted against a sky as they descend towards Oosterbeek, just outside Arnhem. They were dropped a little distance from the town to allow some organisation before going in to battle; on balance this proved to have been a mistaken tactic because of the time it gave the German forces to react
• 
  Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944
• 
  Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. 09/1944
• 
  A fleet of Allied aircraft flies overhead as paratroopers of the Allied Airborne Command float groundward in the invasion of the Netherlands, still another step towards the liberation of Europe., 09/17/1944
• 
  British paratroops of the 1st Airlanding Reconnaissance Squadron on the ground gathering their parachutes. 17 September 1944
• 
  The first two gliders to touch down, their wing tips interlocked after colliding on landing. In the foreground are the Headquarters Artillery Group. Nearly all the vehicles of the 1st Airlanding Reconnaissance Squadron (whose task it was to lead the race for the road and railway bridges) were lost on route as several gliders broke their tow ropes. 17 September 1944
• 
  Oblique photographic-reconnaissance aerial showing Douglas Dakotas dropping paratroops of 1st Airborne Brigade on to Dropping Zone (DZ) 'X', at Renkum, west of Arnhem. 17 September 1944
• 
  Vertical photographic-reconnaissance aerial showing Airspeed Horsa and GAL Hamilcar gliders on Landing Zone (LZ) 'Z' near Wolfheze woods, west-north-west of Arnhem. 17 September 1944
• 
  An aerial view of a (General Aircraft) Hamilcar glider which has been unloaded on the landing zone near Arnhem. The Hamilcar was the largest glider in use with British Airborne forces; some 38 'went down' during Operation 'Market Garden'. 17 - 25 September 1944
• 
  A group of German prisoners captured a few moments after the British troop-carrying gliders had landed at Wolfheeze. 17 September 1944
• 
  82d Airborne Division drop near Grave in the Netherlands
• 
  The haystack at right would have softened the landing for this paratrooper who hit the earth head first during operations in Holland by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. 24 September 1944

Advance of XXX Corps

• 
  Infantry of 50th (Northumbrian) Division moving up past a knocked-out German 88mm gun near 'Joe's Bridge' over the Meuse-Escaut Canal in Belgium, 16 September 1944
• 
  25-pdrs of 430th Battery, 55th Field Regiment, near Hechtel in Belgium, firing in support of Guards Armoured Division in the bridgehead over the Maas-Schelde (Meuse-Escaut) Canal, 16 September 1944
• 
  25-pdrs of 430th Battery, 55th Field Regiment, near Hechtel in Belgium, firing in support of Guards Armoured Division in the bridgehead over the Maas-Schelde (Meuse-Escaut) Canal, 16 September 1944
• 
  A Loyd carrier of the anti-tank platoon of 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards explodes during 30 Corps advance up the Eindhoven road at the start of Operation 'Market-Garden'. 17 September 1944
• 
  Sherman tanks of the Irish Guards Group advance past others which were knocked out earlier during Operation 'Market-Garden'. 17 September 1944
• 
  A Sherman Firefly tank of the Irish Guards Group advances past Sherman tanks knocked out earlier during Operation 'Market-Garden'. 17 September 1944
• 
  SSM William Parkes of No. 3 Squadron, 2nd (Armoured) Irish Guards, killed when his Sherman tank was knocked out during the advance towards Eindhoven, Operation 'Market-Garden'. 17 September 1944
• 
  A Bren Gun Carrier (Universal/Windsor) brings in a batch of German prisoners during 158 Brigade's attack. 158 Brigade (53 Division) was tasked to cross the Escaut Canal near Lommel in order to continue the advance into Holland. The Brigade's night attack was launched on 17 - 18 September 1944 and met fierce resistance from the German parachutist defenders
• 
  Sherman tanks advancing through cheering crowds in Valkenswaard, 18 September 1944
• 
  A heavily-loaded Universal carrier during the advance of 3rd Division, 19 September 1944
• 
  Infantry carrying assault boats in preparation for crossing the Meuse-Escaut canal at Lille-St Hubert, 19 September 1944
• 
  Vickers machine-guns of 2nd Middlesex Regiment, 3rd Division, fire in support of troops crossing the Maas-Schelde Canal at Lille-St. Hubert (St Huilbrechts), 20 September 1944
• 
  M10 tank destroyers of 77th Anti-Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, crossing a Bailey bridge over the Meuse-Escaut (Maas-Schelde) canal at Lille St Hubert (St Huibrechts) , 20 September 1944
• 
  A convoy of lorries under enemy artillery and mortar fire on the road between Son and Eindhoven, 20 September 1944
• 
  Bedford MWD trucks and other vehicles of the 4th Wiltshire Regiment, 43rd Division, in Valkenswaard, 21 September 1944

Liberation of Eindhoven

• 
  The people of Eindhoven line the streets of the town to watch armoured vehicles of British XXX Corps pass through. The 101st US-Airborne Division had captured the town on the previous day. 19 September 1944
• 
  Members of the Eindhoven Resistance with troops of the 101st Airborne in front of the Endhoven cathedral during Operation Market Garden in September 1944
• 
  Members of the Eindhoven Resistance in briefing with troops of the 101st Airborne during Operation Market Garden in September 1944
• 
  Daimler armoured car and trucks passing through cheering crowds in Eindhoven, 20 September 1944
• 
  Civilians dancing in the square of Eindhoven, the first major town in Holland to be liberated. Eindhoven was later bombed by the German Air Force. 20 September 1944
• 
  Children wearing orange ribbons and waving Dutch flags during celebrations in Eindhoven, the first major town in Holland to be liberated. 20 September 1944

Liberation of Nijmegen

• 
  Dutch civilians ride on a jeep during the advance towards Nijmegen, 20 September 1944
• 
  Carriers of 1/5th Welch Regiment, 53rd Division, crossing the Meuse into Holland, 20 September 1944
• 
  Cromwell tanks of Guard's Armoured Division drive along 'Hell's Highway' towards Nijmegen during Operation 'Market-Garden', 20 September 1944
• 
  Vehicles of the Guards Armoured Division of the British XXX Corps passing through Grave having linked up with 82nd US-Airborne Division. 17 - 20 September 1944
• 
  A large group of German soldiers who have been taken prisoner in Nijmegen and the surrounding area by American paratroopers of the 82nd US-Airborne Division. 17 - 20 September 1944
• 
  17-pdr anti-tank gun of the 21st Anti-Tank Regiment, Guards Armoured Division, guards the approaches to Nijmegen Bridge, 21 September 1944
• 
  Nijmegen and Grave 17 - 20 September 1944: British engineers removing the charge which the Germans had set in readiness to blow the Nijmegen bridge
• 
  Allied tanks of British XXX Corps cross the road bridge at Nijmegen during its capture
• 
  An aerial view of the bridge across the Waal River at Nijmegen. 17 - 20 September 1944
• 
  Four British paratroops clamber ashore from a small rowing boat at Nijmegen. They were captured at the Van Limburg Stirum School alongside Arnhem Bridge and taken to a transit camp at Emmerich in Germany, but escaped and found a rowing boat, in which they made their way down the Rhine and into the Waal to Nijmegen and freedom. Left to right: Cpl John Humphreys, Cpl Charles Weir, Lt Dennis Simpson, and Captain Eric Mackay, all of the 1st Para Squadron, Royal Engineers; they are shown here recreating the moment of their arrival at Nijmegen for the camera. 23 September 1944

Battle of Arnhem

• 
  Four men of the 1st Paratroop Battalion, 1st (British) Airborne Division, take cover in a shell hole outside Arnhem. 17 September 1944
• 
  Two British Airborne troops dug in, holding the Brigade Headquarters. 18 September 1944
• 
  Captain Ogilvie of the Glider Pilot Regiment (who landed in his kilt) standing beside a jeep with a patrol. 18 September 1944
• 
  Alan Wood, the war correspondent, typing his despatch in a wood outside Arnhem; with him are three members of the 1st British-Airborne Division. 18 September 1944
• 
  Four snipers, men of the Waffen SS taken prisoner in the suburbs of Arnhem photographed with their British captors. One of the Germans is only seventeen years old. All are wearing Waffen SS camouflage. 18 September 1944
• 
  Men of the 2nd Battalion, South Staffordshire Regiment, marching with their vehicles and equipment along a road between Oosterbeek and Arnhem. 19 September 1944
• 
  Aerial view of the bridge over the Neder Rijn, Arnhem; British troops and armoured vehicles are visible at the north end of the bridge. Had General Montgomery's ambitious scheme for seizing the Rhine bridges succeeded the war in Europe might have been shortened by many months. In the event, however, back-up forces were unable to come up quickly enough to enable the advanced airborne troops to hold the strategically vital bridge at Arnhem. 19 September 1944
• 
  A Dutch school damaged by mortar fire, being searched for German snipers by Sergeant J Whawell and Sergeant J Turrell of the Glider Pilot Regiment. An empty weapons supply cannister lies open on the ground in the doorway of the school. 20 September 1944
• 
  Men of C Company 5th Battalion, Border Regiment, waiting in ditches beside the road, ready to repulse an attack by the enemy who were barely 100 yards away. 20 September 1944
• 
  A wounded man being carried away from the Divisional Administration Area (note the stocks of ammunition and fuel dumped in the background) by stretcher at Oosterbeek.
• 
  The vital bridge at Arnhem after the British paratroops had been driven back
• 
  Major-General Roy Urquhart DSO and Bar (leader of the 1st British Airborne Division during the Arnhem Operation) plants the Airborne flag outside his headquarters (Hotel Hartenstein), the last British stronghold in the Arnhem area before the evacuation
• 
  1st Airborne soldiers use parachutes to signal to Allied supply aircraft from the grounds of 1st Airborne Division's HQ at the Hartenstein Hotel in Oosterbeek, Arnhem, 23 September 1944
• 
  Four British paratroopers moving through a shell-damaged house in Oosterbeek to which they had retreated after being driven out of Arnhem
• 
  British paratroops being marched away by their German captors. Some 6,400 of the 10,000 British paratroops who landed at Arnhem were taken prisoner, a further 1,100 had been killed. (German photograph). 17 - 25 September 1944

Aftermath

• 
  A panoramic view of the city of Nijmegen, Holland, and the Nijmegen Bridge over the Waal (Rhine) River in the background. The city was hit by German and Allied bombardment and shelling., 09/28/1944
• 
  The grave of a British airborne soldier killed during the battle of Arnhem in September 1944, photographed by liberating forces on 15 April 1945

Arnhem today

• 
  John Frost Bridge in Arnhem (Gelderland, Netherlands) 5 Mai 2005
• 
  Memorial Artilleriegun with John Frost Bridge in background (Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands) 5 Mai 2005
• 
  John Frost Bridge in Arnhem (Gelderland, Netherlands) 5 Mai 2005
• 
  Fickes Armstrong Artilleriegun in Market-Garden Memorial near John Frost Bridge (Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands) 5 Mai 2005. Build 1943 in Canada - those guns were used until 1965

Grave today

• 
  John S. Thompson Bridge (1)
• 
  John S. Thompson Bridge (2)

Commemoration

• 
  Airborne Monument at Airborne Museum Hotel Hartenstein (Oosterbeek, Gelderland, Netherlands)
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Dakota in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 16 September 2006
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Dakota in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 16 September 2006
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Hercules in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 16 September 2006
• 
  Parachutists landing on Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 16 September 2006
• 
  Parachutists landing on Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 16 September 2006
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of Hercules-airplanes in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Hercules-airplane in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Hercules-airplane with parachutists in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Dakota-airplane in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Parachutists dropping out of a Dakota-airplane in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Dakota-airplane with parachutists in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse Heide near Ede - 19 September 2009
• 
  Field artillery in commemoration of Operation Market Garden. Ginkelse heide 19 september 2009